Jamie's POV

I can't wrap my head around what just happened... I can't breathe. The pain isn't doing it's job, I'm not calming down. I throw my blade into the backseat in frustration and tug my sleeve back down. I want to leave but I don't know where to go. The tears start to flow again and I lay my head on the steering wheel and just let them go. Everyone knows... Everyone...

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on my window. I look up to see Niall standing there, so I unlock the doors and he goes around to climb into the passenger seat.

"Why don't we go somewhere to talk?" he suggests.

"Okay..." I hesitantly head towards my house. That's about as private as we could get, and if I'm having this conversation I want privacy.

"I'm really sorry, Jamie. I am. She's not always... She hasn't always been so..." he stutters. Niall looks torn up, and from what I've gathered, he isn't the type of person to worry.

"It's fine," I assure him, "It's not like she was lying."

"It's not fine. She's just jealous because you're the first girl he's shown actual interest in since... well, since her. And you're so... Not her. Then Harry went and made that comment... That's what pushed her over the edge."

"What comment?" A comment that was enough to cause that? Must have been harsh.

"She asked why he would be interested in you if you're not a whore.... And he said because you're nothing like her..." he mumbles.

Oh... Wow. Harry said that? To Alexis? Whatever. That doesn't change the fact that my life was fine before that curly-haired jerk walked into it. Screw him. Everyone knows now. Alexis King is plotting my death. He just made everything bad.

The car is silent until we pull up to my house. I motion for Niall to follow me and make my way to the door. I unlock it and lead him into the kitchen... The kitchen where I kissed Harry just yesterday. It seems like forever ago that we made that deal.

"You want food?" I ask him as he sits down.

"Yeah, I could eat."

I pull a few bags of chips out of the pantry and toss them at Niall. After I grab myself a water bottle, I sit down on the bar stool next to him.

"So," I begin, "What do you want to know?"

"Just... Tell me your story." No one has ever said that to me before. The few people who know either lived it with me or just asked a few questions then left.

"I was 14 when... it happened... That was in September... 15 when she came in March. I had a tutor, Ms. Holland, who used to come to teach me. My mom didn't want anyone to know, because it would ruin her reputation. So she didn't let me leave the house. Ashton and Nate were the only people allowed in. They used to come see me, bring me food and movies... Tell me stories about the school drama. I think that's why she hates me. My mother, I mean. Because I had her. I had Charlotte, then she was adopted by this really great family we'd picked out. A thirty-year-old couple. She had cancer and couldn't have kids. I've seen her a few times. She's going to be two in five months. She calls me JJ. Thinks I'm her cousin. If it had been up to my mother, I would have had an abortion. But I couldn't do it..." I realize that I'm crying. Charlotte is truly the prettiest baby I've ever seen, and the thought that I could have prevented her existing is scary.

"If you don't mind me asking... Who's the father?" he's looking me straight in the eyes when he asks this, and I guess he can tell that I do mind because he doesn't let me answer, "Never mind. I don't need an answer. It doesn't matter. Jamie?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we could be really good friends..." he blushes, "I mean, if you don't hate me for ever talking to Alexis..."

"I think I'd like that, Niall," I reply honestly.

His face breaks into that familiar grin and he scoops me up into his arms, "Now, no more serious talk. Let's get your mind off the Wicked Witch of East High, shall we?"

I sighed, but went along with it as he put me down and ran down the basement stairs. When we got down there he burst through the doors and I didn't have time to think before he pulled me into the pool with him. We were both fully clothed and this was enough to break through my mood and actually make me smile.

Niall wanted us on equal ground, so he told me about himself. He moved here from Ireland when he was in seventh grade and quickly made friends with Harry over their common homesickness. He considers himself the sidekick, but lately he's been frustrated with some of the behaviors of their friend group. He even told me that he thought Ashton was really pretty, and had been working himself up to talking to her since he saw us sitting at our table on the first day of school.

"What a coincidence. You're crushing on a girl with two friends. And Harry just happens to pick up one of those two after you've been trying to get the courage for months? Seems like fate to me," I wink. This is interesting. Niall and Ashton... I could definitely see it.

Niall and I are laughing and splashing each other when I hear the door open. I don't stop to consider that we're both stripped down to our underwear until I see the look on Harry's face.

"Am I interrupting?"

Notes

I'm feeling good about writing today. This is pretty fun. Let me know if you have any suggestions, or if you just wanna chat about the story. I love reading comments, even if they're as simple as saying you enjoy the story.

--JKM