Ch. 6

Nikki

Cody sits with me while Jay heads to the store. I had so many questions about Jay that I decided to ask Cody about.

"Cody? Can you tell me more about Jay?" I ask.

Cody looks at me.

"He's not looking to fuck, if that's what you're asking." He says.

"No, no. I don't wanna hook up with him. I just want to know more about him." I answer.

"Jay is..."

Cody pushes air out of his lips and looks up. He looks back at me.

"He's dealing with a lot. The loss of Ellie, his dad is abusive, his dad favors Jay's older brother. It's not until recently that Jay became suicidal. You know I'm the one that pulled him from the lake?"

"Yeah. I do." I say.

"Talk about a shitty moment. I'm on the phone with his brother Kyle and his mother because they haven't seen him for hours. I decided to go to the one spot he and Ellie used to go to and I found his car, but not him. I expected to find his body floating. It was like he was under a spell and it was so fucking creepy. Like, he gets up slowly and starts wandering to the pier. He reaches out and then he just falls in the lake. I yell into the phone 'he's in the lake!' and I just drop my phone and jump in after him. The scary part was, he wasn't fighting. He wasn't trying to come up for air or anything."

His entire re-telling was completely animated. I put my hand over my mouth and wide-eyed.

"I pull him out of the water, and he's coughing and what not. And I'm like 'what the fuck, Jay?' and it seemed like  he was upset that he made it out alive. So I forced him into the car and his mother took him to a therapist. They said if he keeps this shit up, he can earn himself a trip to a psych ward. Seriously. And now we're all babysitting him to make sure he's okay. He said he was with you today, was he really?"

"Yeah, I asked him to come to the beach with us."

"Okay, cool. Do you mind if we exchange numbers so we can keep tabs on him? He's unhinged lately and I think he needs us more than anything right now." Cody asks.

"Yeah, of course." I said, pulling up my messages and hand him my phone.

Cody types his number in and texts himself and hands me back my phone.

"Thanks, Nik. Only until he's better. He's like my brother, you know?"

"I know. I've learned a lot about him recently. And all it took was asking if he wanted help in math." I chuckle.

"Ahh yeah. The Starbucks chick. I remember you now."

He wags his finger.

On the drive home from the party, Jay was on my mind. I couldn't help myself and bring it up to the girls.

"Do you like him or something?" Becca asked.

"Who?" I asked.

"Jay."

I felt my cheeks get warm.

"No. I don't know. Maybe? But I'm not gonna throw myself at him. He's dealing with a lot right now. He needs a friend instead of a girlfriend."

"So you're waiting it out?" Becca asked.

"I don't know. I mean, I went through shit with Brandon not too long ago. So I don't know if I'm even ready."

"Brandon's a douche and he deserves a swift kick in the balls." Becca said.

"Does Jay know about Brandon?" Shannon asked.

"I haven't brought up anything really about my personal life. It's been about Jay and Jay only. He doesn't need to hear my bullshit." I say.

My phone vibrates and I hold up my phone and look at the screen. A text from Jay.

Jay: Let me know when you get home, please.

I smile and type back:

Nikki: okay, Jay. The girls are staying at my house tonight.

Jason: okay thumbs up emoji

I lock my phone.

When we get to my house, we go up to my room and the girls peel out of their "slut clothes" and get into shorts and tank tops. I sit on my bed and open my phone to text Jay.

Nikki: We have arrived safely home.

Jason: Glad to hear that.

Nikki: gonna watch some Netflix and stuff our faces now. I'll text you in the morning. Goodnight, Jason.

Jason: Goodnight Nicolina.

My name looks great when he types it. I smile and lock my phone. I pick up the collar of his t-shirt. It smells like him. My heart melts.

The next morning, the girls and I wake up after a night of horror movies and junk food. We start to get ready for the day and clean up my room.

"We're going to the food festival today?" Shannon asked.

"Oh my god, I hope so. I'm dying for Indian food." Becca says.

"But you're Hispanic," Shannon says.

"I'm expanding my palate." Becca answers.

"Don't be jealous because you can't eat spicy food."

Shannon giggles and we say goodbye to my mom and we head out the door.

"Let's stop for coffee. I'm dying for a coffee." Becca says, getting in her car.

I climb in the back seat and take out my phone. I go on Facebook and scroll through until I get bored. Then I go to my messages and send Jay a text.

Nikki: good morning!

Jason: morning

Nikki: the sun is shining and we're on our way to stuff our mouths with a load of food.

Jason: lol that's a bit excessive.

Nikki: wanna come?

Jason: I just wanna chill at home for a bit. I'm shot.

Nikki: okay! Maybe we can hang later?

Jason: sure. Just text me later. I didn't get home til 4.

Nikki: go back to sleep. Text me when you wake up again.

Jason: ok

"How long did Cody's party go til last night?" I asked.

"Pshhh, like 5am." Becca said

"How do you know that?" Shannon asked.

"I have Cody's number. We were texting all night." She smiles sheepishly.

"You hoebag!"

Shannon shoves Becca's shoulder from the passenger seat.

"What?! He's cute! Jay's cute. Tyler's even cute. We got guys if we want 'em."

"Yeah, Tyler is pretty hot." Shannon's cheeks turn red.

"Did you see his body in the pool?"

I smile at the girls gushing over the guys.

"I invited Cody and Tyler to the festival. You should invite Jay." Becca said, looking over her shoulder at me.

"I did. But he says he's tired. He left Cody's around 4 this morning."

"Bummer. No big. I'm sure we'll see him later." Becca says.

I hope so. I enjoy his company.

Half way through the food festival, Cody, Tyler, Shannon, Becca and I were having a deep discussion. About everything. Life, school, grades, families, you name it. We all know each other's birthdays now and we put it in our phones so we wouldn't forget. I found out Jay's birthday is June 12th.

After the food festival, Shannon goes with Tyler in his car. So Cody, Becca, and I go to Becca's car.

"The night is still young, ladies. Wanna do something else?" Cody asks.

"Yeah, but can we bring my car home?" Becca asks.

"Yeah, of course. Lead the way." Cody smiles.

Becca and I get in her car and we head to her house which takes 20 minutes. Once she's in the driveway of her house, she runs in with her overnight bag and comes back out momentarily. I was standing in the driveway and Cody pulled up. Becca goes in the passenger side and I go in the back behind her.

"I was thinking we can go bowling," Cody smiles.

"Oooh I love bowling." Becca says, excitedly.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." I say.

"Alright, let's go!"

Cody makes his way down the street and onto one of the busy roads. Minutes into the drive, a call comes through the speakers of the car.

"Kyle? What does he want?" Cody asked, puzzled.

"Kyle? As in Jason's brother?" I ask.

"Yeah. Hang on," Cody presses a button on his steering wheel.

"Yo?"

"Cody!" He yells.

"What's up?" Cody says.

"Jason... he's not breathing..."

"What the fuck happened?" Cody asked.

"Him and my dad got into a fight. Yelling, fists were being thrown, he went up to his room a little while ago and he hasn't come out. Mom went to check on him 10 minutes later and he's on the floor not breathing."

Kyle's out of breath and panicking. Cody whips the car around so fast that my vision gets dizzy and he speeds down the street.