"Damn you look rough" Ethan laughed at Jace.

Jace rolled his eyes at Ethan. Tony soon joined their circle and everyone hollered.

"You're back!"

"Yeah, the flu kicked my ass man" Tony laughed.

Tony turned to Jace and winced.

"Damn did practice get rough without me or what?"

"No! He was fine yesterday I don't know what happened to him" Ethan laughed.

Taylor walked up to the group with some cheerleaders and gasped dramatically at the sight of him.

"Baby are you okay?!"

"Taylor I told you not to call me that."

Tony leaned against the wall and observed the two as everyone talked. He had a tiny crush on Taylor the end of their sophomore year but never acted on it because he knew it would go away, and it did the second she opened her legs for Jace.

"I want to know what happened!"

Jace rolled his eyes.

He was doing good at the basic stuff on a skateboard and decided to try some more harder tricks. It was not a good idea as he kept falling and he didn't get any sleep last night because of it.

He had a few scratches on his face from falling face first into a rose bush, big dark bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess.

"It's nothing, I'm heading to class."

§

After school Blake kept her head down like she had all day. She didn't talk to anybody and avoided any conversation with everyone.

"Blake!"

She groaned loudly but kept walking so she can skate out of the school parking lot. The principal told her she couldn't skate out of there anymore and had to wait until she got to the end of the sidewalk.

"Blake!"

She continued to ignore the voice of Jace and when she reached the corner. She put her skateboard on the ground and when she heard his voice closer she sped off.

When she got home her mom was humming happily in the kitchen baking cookies.

"Hey Blake!" she beamed.

"Hey."

Blake grabbed a bottle of water and gulped it down immediately. She crushed the bottle and threw it in the trash as her mom scolded her.

"We have a recycling bin" she sighed.

"Oops."

Blake picked her shoes up and held her skateboard in the other.

"I'll be in my room."

Blake put her shoes on her closet shelf and placed her skateboard against the wall.

She laid in bed and played her music loudly as she sang quietly. She was glad that she got singing skills from her dad. Blake liked listening to his songs when she missed his voice extra a certain day.

"I'll be lying awake counting all the mistakes I made, replaying fights" she sang softly.

She tapped her sock covered feet to her exposed wall above her bed frame gently as she stared at the family picture she had placed there.

"I lost my mind, and nobody believes me."

She tapped her pointer finger against her bed as she also tapped her feet. She mumbled some parts of the song as she continued to stare at the picture.

"Hey Blake?"

Blake turned her attention to her mom and paused her song.

"Yeah?"

"I'm heading out, is that okay?" she asked.

"Yeah" she shrugged.

Her mom smiled at her and looked around her room.

"I like what you did."

Blake nodded and looked back at the family picture.

"I'm glad you are doing better mom."

"I am, I signed up for a yoga class and I met a friend there. We both lost our husbands and well she just gets me."

Blake nodded.

"I'm glad."

"Well I'm off to my class, I'm glad you're doing well too Blake."

She didn't say anything as Susie shut the door and continued blasting her sad music.

Her mother didn't seem to care whether or not Blake was hurting to her. Blake looked after her mom for the last couple months, Blake has been looking after herself since then too.

Her mom just let herself go and Blake had to pick up the pieces as a sixteen year old, now seventeen year old. Now everything was hitting her slowly and she knew she was going to break soon. But her mom was happy so she didn't want to bother her with her problems.

So she decided to do what she did best.

Blake changed into spandex and a sports bra and tied her hair up into a high pony tail. She continued to blast her music and groan loudly when someone had knocked on her door.

She had a suspicion on who it would be and her suspicion was right when she opened the door.

"Why are you just always showing up now?"

Jace stared at Blake at the little clothing she wore. It showed off a tattoo on her upper thigh with two dates inside a clapperboard with a microphone next to it and a rose tattoo that he had seen before on her forearm. She looked so attractive and he gulped as his mind went blank.

"Stop staring at me like that you perv, why are you on my porch?"

"I uh, um, I was um..."

"Can you spit it out? I don't have all day" she groaned.

"I was um, I was calling you earlier and uh was wondering if you're um okay?"

Blake rolled her eyes.

"Yeah I heard you, I didn't want to talk then and I don't want to talk now. Goodbye."

Jace stopped Blake from shutting the door all the way.

"Wait!"

She groaned loudly.

"What the fuck do you want Jace?"

"I'm sorry for always bothering you but I'm stubborn and I don't quit so this will keep happening until we become something."

Blake cocked her eyebrow.

"Something?"

"Yes."

She stepped out of her house and stood right in front of Jace. Since she wasn't wearing her combat boots she was an inch smaller than him.

Blake stood on her tippy toes and put her lips to his ear.

"In your dreams Johnny boy" she whispered.

She backed up and into her house with a smirk as Jace stood there stunned. Blake shut the door and Jace finally let out a breath.

"I need a cold shower" he mumbled to himself as he jogged off her porch.
———
9-23-20