Lies for Truth

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jolene’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “What?” she caught her tone before she yelled; the word came out as a hysterical whisper under her breath.  She grabbed Ariana’s hand. “Come on let’s go talk outside away from all these nosey bodies.”

Ariana didn’t have a choice; it was either follow her friend’s lead or lose her arm. “You can let go.” She pointed out as they crashed though the double doors going out to the parking lot. “Why are you acting like this?”

“Because this is huge! Until now you’ve never even had a crush on a guy but holy suck fest he’s your step-brother.” She went from giddy to sullen all within the same minute.

“I know that and nothing is ever going to happen. I just have to get used to him being around and the fact our family is intertwined. It’s a crush and those things pass.” It was a nerve wrecking situation but it was nice to finally voice it to someone.

“Yeah.” Jolene agreed as they sat down at the one the string of benches. “But wait a second you said you might love him.”

“No what I meant was I could love him.” Ariana backtracked her earlier confession because it wasn’t something she wanted to make real. No falling in love with Jax couldn’t be mentioned even as a joke.

“How the hell did this all happen?”

“After he helped me out with Charlie we started becoming friends. We talked for hours everyday and he’s really a great guy.” Ariana buried her face inside her hands; this was getting harder to talk about. Forgetting about the time and kiss she shared with Jax was not going to be easy.

“Not to mention hot too. I don’t envy you because I’d probably sneak in his room and have my way with him.”

Ariana laughed, only Jolene could make her laugh under all the stress she felt. “Let’s go back in before the bell rings.” She felt better after confiding in her friend, maybe that was the missing element in the plan to forget about Jax, she needed to talk to someone and get it out there.

~*~

Jax didn’t like leaving without Ariana. It was a sign of just how protective he was becoming. Since they moved in together he had been driving her back and forth to school and on the weekends she stayed home where he knew where she was at all times.

He didn’t want to control her or lock her away but he did want to know she was safe. She was too sweet and trusting, it’d kill him if something happened to her.

He got home and went inside through the basement door to avoid dealing with his family just yet. He loved them as much as he possibly could but there were times they could be overbearing. It wasn’t easy for him to be social and open up especially since his mother’s death.

He set his backpack down on the office chair and walked over to his bed where he laid down. He realized he was going to go nuts with his thoughts if he stayed there. He needed to take Ariana’s advice and forget about her and what could never be.

Jax got off the bed, grabbed his jacket and left upstairs to let his father know he was going out. “Where’s Dad?” he asked Julie in the kitchen.

She sat at the table eating ice cream. “He just got home and went upstairs to get changed.”

“Let him know I decided to go out for a walk. I’ll be back later.”

“Ok. Wait where’s Ariana?”

“She had a study group thing with her friend and she’ll be back later.” For a moment he wondered how she was getting home and shook the thoughts from his mind, he had to remember she wasn’t his responsibility. “I’ll see you later.”