CHAPTER 7- CRACKS IN THE ARMOR.
448 Words
Jake Carter’s POV
There were two versions of Jake Carter. The one everyone saw—confident, sarcastic, unbothered. And the one who sat alone in the back corner of his room, staring at a photo of his mom taped to the wall behind his door.
He hadn’t meant to get close to Lila.
She was everything he wasn’t: structured, focused, soft without being weak. But after showing her around that day… something shifted. She wasn’t just “the new girl” anymore.
She was Lila. The only one who made him feel like he wasn’t just trouble in a hoodie.
At school, rumors moved faster than the bell. Jake heard them. That he was into her. That she was just another distraction.
And maybe that used to be true—for other girls. But not her.
Lila looked at him like she was trying to understand, not judge. And that scared him more than anything.
He slammed his locker shut and turned the corner, only to bump into her.
Literally.
“Jake,” she said, catching her balance. “You okay?”
He nodded too quickly. “Yeah. You?”
Her eyes scanned him. “You look... tense.”
He almost told her the truth. That his dad had come home drunk again last night. That he slept with his headphones on to drown it out.
But instead he said, “Didn’t sleep much.”
She didn’t push. Just stood there with that calm look he couldn’t handle.
“Come to the rooftop,” he said suddenly. “After last period.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“No one goes there. Just… come. If you want.”
And she did.
—
At the rooftop, wind in her hair, sun lighting up her notebook, Jake told her everything. About his mom’s death. His father’s silence. The anger he didn’t know how to let go of.
Lila didn’t say “I’m sorry” like everyone else.
She said, “That sounds heavy. But you’re carrying it anyway.”
He didn’t reply. But for the first time in months, his chest felt lighter.
She leaned against the railing beside him. “You don’t have to act like you’re fine all the time, Jake.”
He turned to her. “What if I don’t know how to be anything else?”
“You figure it out. One choice at a time.”
He let that sit for a second.
Then he smiled, a small real one. “You’re such a nerd.”
“And you’re not as tough as you pretend to be.”
He laughed.
And for the first time in a long time… he didn’t feel alone.
- Writer
