CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

Em
my calls aren't sending through :(( call me when u can baby i miss you. take care!!

Reagan read the message over and over for the few seconds it was there until it swiped off the screen. By the time it was gone, she realized that her hands were white and shaking from how tightly she was holding onto the phone.

"Reagan?" Jack asked, sitting up, "What's wrong?"

She didn't know how to respond to that.

She handed him her phone and Jack looked confused, staring back at his picture, wondering what was wrong, until another message popped up.

Em
can't wait to see you in seattle. got u a present ;)

All the blood looked like it drained from Jack's face and for a few tense seconds he just stared down at his phone.

Reagan didn't know what to do too.

It felt too long but when Jack gulped, "Reagan," she was snapped out of her trance.

She pushed herself off of him as if any contact with his skin felt like touching violent wildfire and she stood at the corner of her room, needing to be as far away from his as possible.

"Please get out," She whispered.

It hasn't come yet. Reagan didn't feel it yet, she presumed. She knew she was furious and hurt and betrayed but she didn't feel it yet. All she knew was that the boy she thought for a moment she actually loved was now someone she couldn't stand the sight of.

"Reagan—" He said back, reaching out a hand to touch her and it might have been the way she pushed herself further against the wall that made him retract it, "Please."

"Please get out," She repeated, staring resolutely at the floor.

The air inside her room suddenly felt suffocating at the thought that Jack was in there with her and for the fifteen seconds it took Jack to stand up and walk to the door, she was sure she held her breath.

Through her peripherals, she saw him twist the knob and stop. With his hand on the door, he turned slightly to catch a glimpse of her, looking at her one last time and whispering, "I know what it looks like. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about her. But can we please talk about it tomorrow?" He gulped again, "Please."

It was coming. Reagan could feel the emotions coming. The heat on her skin was getting harder to ignore and she balled her fists to will herself to calm down.

"Get out," She breathed out, feeling the odd feeling of having tears pool at the corner of her eyes, "Now."

Jack obeyed. She didn't see it but she heard the door opening and his footsteps.

When the door closed, that's when it came.

The moment Jack was out of eyeshot, the anger and hurt came like a tidal wave and Reagan's knees buckled beneath her.

She didn't cry as much as she thought she would. She didn't feel like screaming or running away like she usually did when she was upset. She just sat in the corner of her room, staring at the door he went through, and let the pain of the thought that the guy she thought she loved wasn't the person she knew sink in.

+

Reagan woke up at eleven in the morning for the seventh time since the night before, knowing that she purposely ignored the five times her dad knocked on her door.

She wanted to sleep again, save her from the trouble of facing the people on the other side of her door she once thought she didn't want to see leave. She tried her best not to think about Jack and the messages until she actually knew the entire story but she couldn't help it; her body felt numb and she didn't want to face him. Anyone, for that matter.

It wasn't until not even ten minutes since she was awake, she was forced to.

The first thing she heard was her doorknob shaking and she didn't realize what was happening until she heard the familiar sound of Zach's hiss from the other side of the door, saying, "You're supposed to slot the card between the door and the frame not the through the key slot, dimwit."

Reagan sighed, pushing herself off the mattress and pulling her hair to one side as she stood up from her bed. The closer she walked to the door, the clearer the voices were outside her room. She guessed she had to face them at some point and delaying breakfast was already a big enough sacrifice.

The moment she unlocked her door and swung it open, she heard the loud voice of Logan yelling, "See, I did it, take that Za—"

And then they all froze once they realized Reagan was on the other side of the door. Logan, Zach, Jonah, Daniel and Corbyn were all staring back at her wide-eyed, looking as if they didn't actually have a plan on what to say once they actually saw her.

"Hi," She deadpanned, for the first time not feeling the slightest bit of self-consciousness with the raspiness of her morning voice, "What do you think you're doing?"

That prompted Logan to cough stand up straight, likely at an attempt to look authoritative and mature.

"We were worried," He said, "I'm about ninety-five percent sure something bad happened sometime between hanging out in the highway last night and this morning because Jack's eyes are bloodshot and you usually wake up at the ass crack of dawn, already watering the flowers or singing to the birds."

Zach rolled his eyes from beside him.

"And, well, now," Corbyn said, "Now that we see you, you don't look well yourself. Now we're ninety-nine percent sure something bad happened last night."

Reagan stepped back and sighed, opening the door wider in a gesture to let them in.

"Not that it's any of your business," She said sadly as she took a spot sitting down cross-legged on the edge of her bed before she paused, "Well, it's not my business either but who's Em."

That's where the awkwardness settled in.

Almost everyone shared a look with each other, obviously trying to be discreet about it, when they could've just screamed what the hell should we tell her and it would just be equally as subtle.

"The truth," She added, putting emphasis on how she spoke, and that's when Daniel sighed.

"I wanted to tell you," Daniel sighed, "But it was never my place. Jack should have."

"Well he didn't," She sighed, feeling the familiar constriction in her chest finding its way to suffocate her again, "Just tell me."

Daniel looked like he didn't want to say it. Reagan knew she should feel terrible for forcing Daniel in this position when he obviously didn't want to betray Jack.

Just as Daniel was about to speak, Zach beat him to it.

"That's his girlfriend."

awkward

oops

thoughts so far? also are there any scenes ud like to see before this story ends?

anyways i have 3 main story ideas id like to go through with once this is over pls help me and vote for which one you'd be interested in reading

1. TEENAGE VOW (IN A PARKING LOT)
the one about a girl with one too many cigarette sticks, a boy who just lost his way home, and a fortunate night in the heart of the city that led them to the best night of their lives.

aka ofc is a party girl/the stereotype "future drop out awardee" and jack is the wholesome mama's boy who took night classes in the city bc he values his future/career/ultimately family. she was too young to buy liquor so she asked random stranger jack to buy it for her and they get inseparable since then

2. PENNYROYAL TEA
or the one about two musicians'

summer in loire valley, france.

aka ofc is a classically trained violinist and daniel is a world-famous pop artist who just happens to know how to play the cello and they all perform in loire valley for some fancy event. they basically hate each other bc daniel thinks girl is a music snob and ofc doesnt like him back bc hes famous and must be a pompous prick but they get forced to play a piece together and the music nerds bond over strativariuses and stupid chateaux acoustics

3. UNTIL MORNING
the one about two overambitious students and too many coffee cups during campus after hours.

aka the uni fic ive been dying to do :(( idk which boy i'll use yet (likely zach just bc i dont have a fic of him yet) anw he's a freshman IT student who spends time in school until 3 am and ofc does the same bc shes running for student body. they see each other at the vending machine at 3am too often then they start talking there and going to each others fav indonesian food place at god knows what time and theyre so supportive of each other even though theyre from 2 very different crowds

ofc ill still consider other story ideas these are just my current favorites but if any of these interest u pls lmk (':

i hope if get to update more often from now on thank u again for the sweet people who havent given up on this story and how long its taking for it to finish