Lemonade

Chapter 23: Broken

Jackie's POV

Recap:

"River, speak to me... you can trust me."

He picked his head up from his knees and my heart broke as I looked into sad brown eyes. The red bloodstained whites of his eyes only triggered the immense hurt hidden in his chocolate orbs. With a red nose and a red face, River looked like a kid who just got told Christmas was cancelled.

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"When I was younger, I lived in a broken home." He started. "Mom and Dad seemed perfectly happy on the outside but once they were behind closed doors, hell broke loose. It started when I was about 10 years old. Mom started working late, coming back home late. She'd be wearing someone else's perfume. I think dad knew what was happening but was too proud to admit it. They started fighting. A lot actually. For 6 whole years. Turned out my mom was lesbian her whole life. One day the fighting got out of hand. It was the day of the accident."

Mom started screaming, going crazy. Turned violent and dad retaliated. He lost control of the wheel and drove off the highway onto the road down below. The car toppled over, landing on its ceiling." Looking off into space, he frowned. "I was in the car with them. I could've done something. I could've stopped them. Or something! After that I was known as the kid who became an orphan at 16. So to drown my sorrows, I became the biggest player ever." He looked at me, finally and gave a tight smile. "So now you know my story."

"Oh, River I'm so sorry."

"You didn't do anything. Can we change the subject? This is sad."

I turned to him. "What do you wanna talk about?" Smiling at him, I ran my hand through his hair.

"How old are you?"

"21." When I saw his eyes widen, I asked, "Why?"

He shook his head. "You're just... young."

Hold up. What does that mean? "I'm young?" I squinted my eyes, accusingly.

River raised his eyebrows and chuckled at me. "Yeah. Well, compared to me."

I stood up abruptly, shocked at his revelation. Quickly, I grabbed all of my stuff started pacing. My mind started buzzing with speculation and conclusion driving me away from him. "What do you mean 'compared to me'?" I sighed. "River, how old are you?" My voice was strained. And my right hand was twitching.

"30." He hesitated. I started going towards the door, stomping on the ground. "Jackie, come back!"

I was out of the door before he reached me, running down the stairs, not tripping, and slamming the front door behind me.

How could he keep that from me? He's 30. I can't believe River is THIRTY. He doesn't look a day over 25 but looks obviously can be deceiving. For the past month, I, Jacqueline Webster, have been dating a 30 year old. Oh my gosh. I'm so glad he hasn't met my parents because they would freak.

But if River is thirty, then how old are the other boys? They all look so young and new. I knew this was too good to be true. This past month was the happiest I had had in a long time. That 30 year old white boy really helped my world light up.