The Apocalypse (29 page)

"Oh yeah," Ethan agreed, taking out his cell phone and texting. "Mercedes is a great girl. She hasn't dated much since Jake either, has she?"

Nearly wincing, Jake resisted the urge of giving Ethan a dirty look but only because Kirk would probably question its significance. Ethan had the biggest mouth; he could make any awkward conversation ten times more awkward. But Jake supposed that Ethan really didn't know that he was making things bad.

"She hasn't." Kirk shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "That's why I figured I'd ask, Jake. You're really over each other?"

Jake sighed. "I can't answer for her, but yeah, I'm over it. That was back in the summer." He stood up and went after the forgotten basketball, eager to get away from Kirk's intense gaze and questioning.

Kirk glanced over at Brent, seeming suspicious of his silence. But then he apparently decided to drop the subject, for which Jake was grateful. He really hadn't expected the topic to bother him so much.

"You guys hungry?" Kirk asked. "I'm starving."

"Oh God, me too," Ethan answered instantly. "Anyone wanna hit Marion's? I'd kill for some pizza right now."

Kirk grinned. "That sounds great. How about you, Brent? Jake?"

Jake shook his head, lying to get away from Kirk for awhile. "Can't. I've got some other stuff to do."

"Brent?"

"Nah, I've got to get home and make sure that beastly mutt didn't tear up any more furniture before my mom gets home," Brent replied, speaking of that dreaded Christmas present. "If there's another pee spot on the rug in the dining room, I'm taking the dog to the pound."

Ethan cracked up. "Dude, Brent, I don't know why you got your mom a
dog
for Christmas. Especially a puppy. They're reckless!"

"If you kill that dog after we chased it for so long, I'll kill
you
," Jake threatened with a laugh.

"Whatever." Brent got up off the floor and started for the door. The other guys made to follow him out into the parking lot, where the sun was beginning to set. Kirk locked the gym's doors behind them.

"Oh man, I'm so hungry." Ethan all but ran to his car, which was parked by Kirk's on the curb. "Come on, Kirk! See you losers later."

Kirk said goodbye to Jake and Brent, and the two remaining guys stalked off to the middle of the parking lot, where they'd parked in their designated parking spots. Call it habit—or stupid, whichever is preferred. Jake fumbled with his cell phone as he walked, texting a reply to Isaac's request to play video games. Since his mood was suffering a little, Jake told him that they'd play tomorrow instead.

"Do you want me to hit Godfrey?"

Taken aback, Jake stared at Brent's sudden question. That had sprung from nowhere. "What? No. Why?"

"For Cedes," Brent answered as though it should have been completely obvious. "Everybody knows that subject is off limits. At least I thought everybody did. I'll deflate his tires or something, dude. Yeah?"

"No."

Brent sighed. "What if he starts dating her?
Then
I can hit him? Oh, do you want the honor? I'll lie and say I didn't see you do it. I'll say he ran into a locker door or a cactus or something, and you had nothing to do with it."

Jake couldn't resist laughing a little at that. Brent was loyal to a fault, which Jake forgot sometimes. Maybe he could talk to Brent about his newfound split personalities. Or…maybe not. "No, man, seriously. If he makes Mercedes happy, then it's cool. I really am over her."

"Bullshit. And she's not over you either. Neither of you guys have dated since then, and that's proof that—"

"She asked me to hook her up with Kirk, Brent." Jake shrugged and stopped when he reached his truck's parking space. "And I don't care. Really. We're better off as friends."

"Then I'm finding you a girlfriend." Brent paused and grinned. "Right after I find myself one. Or hey, Mollie's New Year's party is in a few days. We'll both find new chicks then. Okay?"

"Like who?" Jake asked, but only because he didn't want to admit that he still didn't feel like dating. "We know all the girls around here. All the girls we know will be at that party. That's not really new."

"You wanna drive down to the ghetto? We'll find new girls there."

Laughing, Jake shook his head and unlocked his truck's door. "No, I think I'm good. But I do think that you should talk to Tisha at Mollie's party. You or Ethan, I don't care. She's pretty nice."

Brent looked confused. "What's with your Tisha-kick? I didn't think you liked her. Don't we hate Hannah Ayers and all that surrounds Hannah Ayers?"

Jake raised a shoulder in response. "I dunno, Brent…I really don't."

"Huh."

Silence hung in the air between them for a couple of minutes. Jake doubted that Brent knew what to say to something that probably seemed very foreign to him. Accepting the concept that Hannah and her posse were likeable? It might as well have been said in Russian.

"Well, I'd better go check on that dog," Brent said finally. He gave Jake
a
long look. "But let's do something while we're still on break. Maybe go check out the ghetto."

Jake laughed lightly and got into his car. "Will do, Brent. See you later, man."

Leaving the school behind, Jake had a sudden thought, although it disturbed his sanity to realize that his thoughts kept going back to one source: Hannah. Perhaps it was because he wanted rid of her so badly. But regardless, he had the sudden thought to go find
a
Gin Blossoms CD. He knew his mother would have the Rascal Flatts at home, so now he just needed that other group.

He made the short drive through town to Wal-Mart, figuring their music department was vast enough for that. If not, he could always have Isaac break into Hannah's bedroom for him, since she'd certainly have her favorite song somewhere. But Jake easily found a greatest hits CD of the Gin Blossoms. He also found one for the Rascal Flatts, which he bought simply because all the best songs would be on one CD, and he wouldn't have to listen to all of his mom's CDs to find the best songs.

Country music. One could only handle so much of it.

At least if that one was Jake Allen.

In Wal-Mart, Jake also saw the two titles of movies that Tisha and Libby had cited as Hannah's favorites. Since they were marked under ten dollars each, Jake briefly considered buying them. But…how weird would it look for him to be buying chick flicks? It simply wasn't going to happen. So Jake just purchased the CDs, a package of Hershey bars, and a frozen bag of tater tots. The movies could be rented instead.

Jake stopped at Wendy's on the way home and picked up a chicken sandwich combo. All that talk with the girls and basketball with the guys
had
made him hungry, despite what he'd told Kirk.

It was dark by the time that Jake got home. He parked in his driveway and started collecting his stuff. Jake pocketed the list he'd written with the girls, grabbed his Wal-Mart bag, which had spilled on the way, and balanced it all with his Wendy's bag and cup. Just as he was about to let himself out of the truck, the driver-side door opened, causing Jake to drop everything in the passenger seat from shock.

Whipping his head around, Jake saw Hannah standing there. "Oh, it's you," he murmured, sighing a little. "You just scared me half to—"

Jake was cut off as Hannah's arms wrapped around his neck and she pushed her body against his. Very surprised, Jake opened his mouth to speak, but Hannah's lips pressed against his, silencing him with a lingering kiss.

After a moment, one of Jake's hands found its way to Hannah's hip, and Hannah felt his lips move against hers. She leaned as close to him as she could, kissing him lengthily. Finally, after another long moment, Jake pulled back just slightly, so Hannah opened her eyes to admire him. But she was more than taken aback by what she saw, as Jake's eyebrows seemed to be knit together in confusion, not raised with admiration. Hannah swallowed, waiting for him to speak.

Oh crap
.

"What was that for?" Jake asked softly, still seeming puzzled.

Hannah's mouth slowly opened, but no words came out. She wasn't sure. All that she was sure of was that that was the last thing she'd thought he'd say. Regret and disgust with herself hit Hannah like a freight train, and she jerked away from Jake quickly, anxious to put some definite distance between them.

"Hannah…"

Spinning on her tennis shoes, Hannah fled from Jake's truck and headed for her house, ignoring Jake's calls.

For the love of God,
what
had she been thinking?
What
had she been
smoking
?
What
had possessed her to run to Jake when she saw that he'd returned home? Hot tears filled Hannah's eyes when she came to the conclusion that there was no way she was ever getting within eyeshot of Jake again. She couldn't understand why kissing him had seemed like such a good idea before, when clearly it was just stupid. After reading her diary, Hannah hadn't stopped thinking about Jake and how great he'd been to her, and something ignited inside of her—something that wanted to act on the feelings she had for him, the feelings she'd apparently had for a long time.

When Hannah had thought about kissing Jake before, she'd imagined that he'd kiss her back—which he had—and then smile that perfect smile of his. She'd hoped more than anything that he'd secretly harbored feelings for her too, but
why
had she been so bold about it all?

Sniffling hard, Hannah pushed open the door to her house and made a near run for her bedroom. Once there, she locked her door and threw herself onto her bed. What was so wrong with her? Was temporary insanity something rather common after all? Could she use that excuse to cover her display of unwanted affection? Or could she just ignore the whole thing entirely and hope that Jake kept his mouth shut about it?

Soft sobs erupted from Hannah's throat as the image of Jake's confused face popped into her mind. Had her previous self been so forward? Apparently not, since Jake was so confused; he must not have known that Hannah had been so crazy about him. Why was
this
Hannah so forward? Why was it so necessary to come clean with Jake about something when she had no reason to believe that he felt the same way that she did? Had hitting her head so hard killed a few thousand brain cells?

Humiliated and hurt, Hannah cried and cried. She wasn't sure if she was crying more for her pain or her stupidity, but before she cried herself to sleep, Hannah wondered if she was really mourning the complications that her amnesia and personality change had just handed her.

It was late when Hannah finally woke up. Sometime during the night, she'd wiggled under her blankets, fully clothed, and slept deeply. But now her rumbling stomach woke her up, and Hannah groggily lifted her head to read from her alarm clock.
11:17
, it read. She'd certainly exhausted herself from crying.

Hannah sat up and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror across her room. Her makeup was smudged, and her hair seemed tangled. She moved to stretch her arms but groaned at the tension and stiffness that had spread through her body. Deciding that a long, hot bath would do the trick to ease her pain, Hannah grabbed clean clothes from her dresser—dark green athletic pants from Hollister and a pink t-shirt—and started for her door. Just before she exited, something made her stop.

Tossed into the corner of her room were the clothes that she'd borrowed from Jake after Formal. Hannah swallowed, remembering her humiliation from the previous night. It sickened her to think of how she'd slept in Jake's clothes many times since then. More disgusted with herself, Hannah viciously kicked his clothes into her closet and slammed the closet door. Only then did she leave her bedroom, more than ready for her refreshing bath.