FB: When you open up your mouth to speak could you be a little weak

I’ll admit it. I was in full fledged pout mode. The bowling alley was hot, loud, and crowded. It was too hard for me to play on crutches, so I had given up, and banished myself to the sticky table behind our lane.

I was in a bad mood before we had even gotten here, when Jacob asked Jason to join us, and Jason denied, saying he needed more quality time with Kayla. I knew it was a dig at me, and he shot me a look as he was telling Jacob no. It hurt, which bothered me even more. I knew what Jason was doing, and I hated that I was still letting him get to me. I knew he was hurt that I was leaving him to spend time with Jacob, but if he really cared, he could have spent the time we had together with me. He was more concerned with hurting me in return though, than spending any time with me.

To put the icing on the cake, I think Michelle sensed my bad mood and was feeding off of it. She was all over all the guys, with the exception of Nick. Normally I would say that the wedding ring put her off, but seeing her with Sean, I knew that wasn’t true. I think Michelle was afraid of Toni, and that gave me a little bit of smug satisfaction.

Jacob also wasn’t paying much attention to me. Had I been in a normal frame of mind, I would have realized that he just wanted to have some fun. But, in pouting mode, it felt like a personal attack against me. I felt snubbed, and my feelings were hurt.

“You know what?” I said loudly, trying to catch someone’s attention. Nobody looked up.

I huffed to myself for a few moments, and then decided I was done. I was going to go back to Nick and Toni’s and go to sleep. I stood up.

“Hey.” I said, tapping Jacob on the shoulder. He spun around, mid laugh, a smile on his face.

“Hey hon, you need something?”

“I think I’m just gonna go.”

“Aw.” He answered. Michelle busted out a squeal, and he turned to look. “You sure? You want me to go with you?” He wasn’t even looking at me.

“No. Stay. Have fun.” I tried not to sound angry, but I was.

“I can call Mom. I’m sure she won’t mind coming to pick you up. You could hang at my hotel room.”

I sighed. I wanted to say no, but before I could, Jacob was already calling his Mom. I was a little embarrassed too, I hated that I had to be chauffeured around. I could drive with my cast, but I didn’t have my car in Indiana.

“Mom will be here in five. You want me to wait outside with you?”

“Nope.” I replied, not bothering to kiss him as I left.


I walked outside where my ears rang from the sudden quiet. The night air was cool, and felt good on my hot skin. I leaned against the rough brick building, idly checking my cell phone and trying not to eavesdrop in on the smoker’s conversation. It’s been my experience that when people think you’re listening, they’ll try to include you in their conversation. While I normally loved random conversations with strangers, I wasn’t really in the mood to talk to anyone.

Unfortunately, my theory didn’t work.

“What’d you do to your foot?” One of the smokers turned to me. I could tell by the way he was looking me up and down that he was trying to decide whether or not he wanted to hit on me.

“I broke my ankle.” I said, crossing my arms across my chest.

“Care to elaborate on how?” He asked, smiling.

“Twister.” I responded.

“Excuse me?” He asked, looking confused.

“I was playing twister and I fell, one of my friends landed on me.”

“Well, maybe when you’re feeling better, you and I can play some twister. Though I can’t promise I won’t fall on you…” He started walking towards me, but before he could reach me, Jacob’s Mom pulled up.

“That’s my ride. Bye!” I said, jumping in.


“Replacing Jacob already?” Sandy joked, taking off.

“Just drive woman!” I half joked. Really I just wanted to get back to the hotel. I was hoping to pass out and have Jacob leave me alone when he got back to the hotel.

“Not having much fun tonight, huh?” She asked after a few minutes of quiet.

“Not really.”

“Michelle’s hard to deal with sometimes, huh?”

I sighed. “She’s easy in all ways it seems, except getting along with.”

Sandy didn’t say anything for a few minutes, and at first I was worried that I had made her angry. I had assumed by the way she reacted to Michelle earlier in the day, that she was annoyed by her too. But, maybe I assumed wrong. I mean after all, Michelle was Jacob’s best friend. Sandy had to like her a little bit.

“I’m sorry.” I blurted out, trying to ease the tension in the car.

“Don’t be.” She answered. “You’re right. Look. What I’m about to tell you is between you and me, got it?”

I nodded, sneaking a peek out of the corner of my eye. I liked Sandy, but she did intimidate me. Her tone was serious, and I wasn’t sure if I had made her mad or not.

“Michelle…” She sighed. “Michelle’s a handful. She’s difficult to deal with, and she and I got into our fair share of fights when she and Jake started hanging around. And she was only seven when that started…”

“You don’t seem like the type to put up with that.”

Sandy laughed. “I’m not. But, Michelle’s a special girl. She knows how to get at you.”

“You can say that again.” I mumbled.

“Michelle’s mom died when she was really young, and her father was not a very nice person. To this day I can only speculate at what went on in that house. Even though she drove me nuts, I couldn’t send her home, and she spent a lot of time at our house. I think it was a sanctuary for her. She eventually got used to me being around, I think she was raised to view other women as competition, which is sad, again, considering she was only seven when I met her. Anyway, now-a-days, you see how clingy she is to me. She’s even more so with Jacob.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” I said, not bothering to hide my sarcasm.

“I know it’s hard, Ella. But it’s also sad, if you look at it from her point of view. Jake views her as a little sister. Nothing more. And, well. Jake’s the only guy who’s ever been nice to her. Who hasn’t used her and discarded her. She’s head over heels for him.”

“You’re not helping.” I sing-songed.

Sandy laughed. “I know, I know. I mean, if it does help, Jake’s never going to see her as anything other than his scrawny-little knocked kneed little sister. I just want you to know, there’s a reason why she acts the way she does. She’s really a scared, hurt little girl.”

“It’s not an excuse for her to act the way she does.”

“Now Ella, I’m not saying that it is. I said there’s a reason.”

“How does that make things any better though?”

“Well. It doesn’t help you out. But, it is better than if she was like that just because she could be.”

I nodded. It didn’t help me out, but it did make me feel a little better to know that Michelle hated all women equally.

“So. You and Blanco. What’s going on there?” Sandy asked, pulling into the parking lot of the hotel.

“I guess kind of the same thing as Jacob and Michelle. We’ve just known each other for so long, I think we both kind of stake claim on each other.” I shrugged.

“Well. Be careful.” She warned.

“Of what?” I said, laughing slightly. “It’s just Jason.”

“You see him as Jason, but I see him as someone who looks at you the same way Jacob does. And I’ve never seen Jake look at anyone the one he looks at you.”

This statement made me feel really uncomfortable for some reason, and suddenly I couldn’t handle the thought of being trapped in an elevator with Jacob’s Mom, even if it was only for a few moments.

“I’m going to hang out here for a little bit. I need some fresh air, that bowling alley was so stuffy.”

“OK. Well, here’s Jake’s key. I’ll see you tomorrow, for breakfast?” She asked.

I nodded, and took the key. “Night.” I called over my shoulder as I started to walk towards the pool. I waited a few moments after she went inside, and then followed suit. I didn’t really want to be anywhere but in a comfortable bed. The crutches were starting to cut into my underarms, and I was tired of hauling myself around on them.

As I exited the elevator, I looked up, and saw a figure sitting outside of Jacob’s door. I stopped short, for a second thinking it was Jacob’s Mom waiting for me for some reason. It took me a second to realize who it was.

“Jason? What are you doing here?”

He startled at the sound of my voice.

“Ella. I wasn’t expecting you back this soon… Where’s Jake?”

“He’s at the bowling alley… With everyone else. Didn’t you see Sandy?” Her room was right next to Jacob’s.

He shook his head. “No.”

“Oh… Well… Uh. What are you doing here?” I repeated myself.

“Jake didn’t come back with you?” He asked, craning his neck around me, like my body could conceal Jacob’s.

“No. He’s at the bowling alley. Like I said.” I was starting to get annoyed. “What. Are. You. Doing. Here?” I asked again.

“I wanted to talk to Jake. But… I’m glad I caught you…” He looked a little nervous. “You think we could spend some time together? I’ve been acting like a jerk. And I did miss you.”

I hid a smile. “Sure, Jason. Come on in.”