Past Lives

Chapter 3

twelve years Ago

It was late summer and I was playing in my dollhouse at my backyard when I heard the loud hum of a car across the street, I went to check it out and it was a new family moving across the street from us, I was excited I would have a new friend to play with, I wished it would be a girl so we could trade dolls and play dress up.

I watched from across the street as movers went in and out of the house carrying boxes and A lady carrying boxes too, I still kept my eyes out looking if she had a kid and I looked at one of the windows and saw a kid already looking at me, A boy. Feeling disappointed I went back to play.

That night I remember mum telling me we were having guests for dinner and to be on my best behavior, I was watching one of my favorite TV shows when they arrived and I remember being angry because I had to leave the living room where we usually eat,I could watch my cartoon and eat at the same time but Mum said we had to eat at the table because we had guests so we have to be responsible.

I sat at the table while my mum went to get the door, my dad was running late again but that was getting normal, it made my parents fight a lot and made my mum sad. They walked into the dinning room and I actually got a good look at them and his mum looked young and she had a pleasant smile on her face and the boy looked to be about my age

“Go on, introduce yourself” his mum said and he sheepishly introduced himself

“Hi, my name is Jake” and I responded “I’m Ashley” I was being polite but all I could think about just to quickly eat my food and go back to my show.

We sat to eat with Jake sitting beside me, we didn’t speak to each other at all but from our mum’s conversation I gathered that he was also 12 years and was going to be enrolled in my school, I didn’t really mind, we were going to have our own friends and so I didn’t care.

I quickly finished my food and asked “Mum can I be excused?” she replied “Oh that was fast, sure but you should take Jake with you.” That was fine with me as long as he stays out of my way.

I tuned on the TV and put the show on I sat on the couch and he sat beside me “I love this show” he said which surprised me “really? Who is your favorite character?” I asked

“Sam, I love he is really funny and he is so underrated”

“Wow me too, Everyone I know prefers Kyle and I never got the hype” I said and he laughed. I finally found someone who understands me. We spent the rest of the night talking about the show and about the people we loved hated and agreed should be dead. maybe this won’t be that bad, I thought to myself, and I wasn’t wrong.

For the next couple of days during the break, he and his mum would come over for dinner and without discussing it we would both rush eating our food and watch the show together, eventually he started coming without his mom and not just for dinner we slowly started talking about other things too, our friends, parents and likes and dislikes.

We spent the rest of the break inseparable and when we resumed although we both had our friends we always ate lunch together and even our friends became friends, we would spend time in school together, take the bus together and still watch our shows together after school, we were best friends.

Years past and we were still inseparable but we were teenagers now, our interests grew further than TV shows and the friends we shared, we were closer in a way we couldn’t explain.

I had being on many dates but it always ended on the first date, I found myself comparing them to Jake, and would often think about him at all times of the day and I got butterflies in my stomach when I’m with him.

I knew I was in love with him. Somewhere along the line I stopped seeing him as just a friend I wanted more, but I couldn’t tell him, I didn’t want to ruin years of friendship, I would rather remain just a friend in his life than to not be in it.

but one night everything would change.

It was my 16th birthday and were going to a club in the city. It had always being my dream to live in the city where opportunities were endless and to have a big corporate Job. I loved my small town but it gets tiring having known the same people for all your life and I needed excitement.

I was so excited to finally step out of the town and even though it was just for the night but I would take it. I heard a knock at the door and knew Jake was here, I quicky put on my dress, adding some finishing touches to my makeup and grabbed my clutch and I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

I was wearing a deep plunged red dress with a slit that stopped midthigh, the dress hugged my curved hips and some cleavage was showing and I looked so different that the Ashley I knew but I love it.

I walked down the stairs with Jake looking up at me with awe, I felt butterflies in my stomach as I held his gaze, and in that moment I realized I wasn’t the only one who had changed, he no longer had his skinny frame but had put on muscles and his dusty blonde hair now fell to his shoulders in soft waves, but his eyes, they never changed.

They looked as blue as ever slowly drawing me in, and they held love and kindness and no matter what changed I knew I would always find love In his ocean eyes.

“Hey, I’m ready” I said standing at the bottom of the stairs still staring into his eyes.

“hey, I see that. You look beautiful” he said and no amount of foundation could cover the deep red blush that stained my checks

“thank you” I said in return.

“Emily and her date would be meeting us at the hotel, she said their running a bit late” he said

“Okay” I replied and we were off to the city.

We decided to spend the night at the hotel as driving back in the middle of the night was not safe. We decided to check into the rooms and wait for Emily and her date to arrive.

We checked into our room and it was a simple room but it had a beautiful view of the city, but I noticed something was different

“Hey Jake, there’s just one bed, didn’t we book a room with double beds?” I asked

“yeah when I made the reservation all the other rooms were taken, this was the only one left so I was hoping we could share the bed, you know like old times” by old times he meant when we were younger but we weren’t young anymore and the thought of sharing the same bed throughout the night made me hot but I decided to play it cool.

“Yeah sure, its no problem, thank you for this” We were okay financially but I wouldn’t have being able to afford this by myself and my parents wouldn’t have let me come by myself.

“You’re welcome” he said with a smile and my phone buzzed drawing me away from his gaze, It was Emily, her and her date had arrived and they were looking for us at the bar, I quickly typed a response and we left for the club.

We walked into the bar and it was noisy, I could barely walk through the crowd of people Jake held my hand as we found our way into the club we. We spotted mellon and her date and the bar and we went over to them, we drank, dance and had fun, I took a break from dancing and went to the bathroom.

I bumped into a guy while coming out of the bathroom and quickly apologized but he wasn’t having it he got into my face and started shouting “You f*****g slut, see what you did to my shirt, You’re going to pay for that” he said. I tried to leave but he kept blocking the entrance, I looked around for help but no one was around.

He grabbed my arm and shoved me against the wall, I struggled to get out of his grip but I couldn’t, I could feel his breath on my face and it recked of alcohol, he slid his hands up my thigh his body still on mine.

I could feel the tears role down my checks and I shut my eyes hoping this was just a nightmare, was his how my night would end and would this be the memory I hold of my 16th birthday, getting assaulted in the club.

Suddenly I couldn’t feel the weight of his body anymore, and his terrible breath was off my face and then I heard it next, A body crashing into the wall and I opened my eyeove see Jake hovering over his body on the floor, hitting him over and over again. I tried to pull Jake off him, I just wanted to go home but he wasn’t budging.

Security hearing the commotion rushed into the room and separated them, I tried explaining what happened but they were not listening, we were thrown out of the club and an ambulance was called for the other guy.

Still shakenI shot Emily a text telling her what happened and that we had gone back to the hotel.

We check into our room and I immediately went to change and take a shower, when I came out Jake was pacing the room still angry.

“How did you to come find me?” I asked, he stopped pacing and looked at me

“You were taking too long and I had a bad feeling. Are you okay?” And no I wasn’t I didn’t deserve to be assaulted

“No, I’m not” I replied

“Are you hurt?” he asked and started examining my face and I saw his knuckles were bruised

“No, but you are” I stood up and went into the bathroom and wet a towel, I took his hands and started cleaning them up.

I then took his face in my hands, cleaning the cut on his lip. We were so close I could feel his breath on my face and we could feel our bodies warmth.

He stared right into my eyes and said

“No one else gets to touch you, No one”

I was surprised he said that, I always thought my feelings were one sided but in this moment I wasn’t sure.

In that moment my fears didn’t matter, I was his and he was mine and without thinking I kisses him… I immediately drew back scared I had made a mistake and he looked shocked but he didn’t move and instead he drew me in again and didn’t let go, It felt foreign but so right and we fell asleep in each others arms and with a smile on my face.