Forever His & His Ghost

Chapter 19: Homecoming

"Please, please, please be my date?" Jaxon begged for about the millionth time.

      The last three weeks had gone by in complete bliss since Halloween. We were always together or at least within eyesight of each other. I couldn't be any further away from him, then he could me. I pretty much lived with him, and the few nights I did go home, I always made sure to slip in after Darlene was fast asleep and was sure to leave before the sun come up. Mom and dad weren't too happy about it, but I was eighteen, I could come and go as I pleased, and they didn't really push it too far. Mom just told me to protect my heart, she didn't want to see me broken again.

       Marie was always our third wheel, everywhere we went she was almost always with us, and Jaxon didn't mind, if I didn't, he always made a point to welcome her. Samantha and Darlene started the rumor mill at school and now unbeknownst to me, I was supposed to be pregnant, and Jaxon was taking the baby as soon as I had it. I didn't even pay attention; I was used to the rumors. Jaxon and I always laughed about it when we heard it, because the funny thing was, we hadn't crossed that line yet, I was as pure as the day I was born, well maybe minus a couple second bases and millions of kisses. We were in it for the long haul and in no hurry.

      Since I refused to use my old phone or even turn it on for that matter, Jaxon bought me a new phone and threw a tantrum when I tried to refuse it. He even went as far as buying himself a new one and changing all the account info on it. What we had, most said was just young love, but he was my soul mate, and I knew it, he knew it, and that was all that mattered.

      Now here we are two days before homecoming and a week before Thanksgiving, and he was asking me to be his date. "Jax, it doesn't work that way. Of course, I will go and support you, but I am not nominated, and you are, so you have to take one of the girls in the court."

     He shook his head and started pacing in front of the couch, something he has started doing a lot lately. "Not happening, if you don't go, I am not going. And if you go, I sure am not escorting one of them. And I promise, even if they crown me king, I swear I will throw the crown down and run to you."

     I swear he could make my heart melt a thousand times a day, and it always melted right into his hands. "Who am I to refuse a Prince?" I giggled grabbing his shirt and pulling him to the couch with me. He tickled me and peppered my face with kisses. "I Love you Jaxon," I managed to breath out between the giggles.

      "I love you Skyla."

      Friday morning came quicker than I anticipated, and I knew that tonight was the night, homecoming and I really did not want to go.

      "Babe, let me pick you up, please." Jaxon begged on the other end of the phone.

      "No, I promised Marie I would ride to school with her and Preston this morning. And then after, her and I are going shopping. I don't have anything to wear tonight," I pouted, hoping I made him suffer enough and feel bad enough he would dismiss me going.

     "Baby, you will look beautiful in anything. I don't care if you wear your PJ's, as long as you are on my arm."

     I laughed out loud and remembered quickly, I was still in my room and Darlene was just down the hall. "I will see you at school, okay," he grunted, "Okay Jaxon."

     "Fine," he huffed. "I love you."

    "Love you too." I hung the phone up, throwing it in my bag, I quickly made haste around my room for my morning routine.

      I took one last look in the mirror and grabbed my stuff. I cracked the door looking in the hallway to make sure no one was moving. I wasn't going with Preston and Marie, I had a surprise for Jaxon, and wanted to do my best at making sure it happened no matter what. Just as I shut the door, I heard a throat clear from behind me.

      Taking a deep breath, I turned slowly to be face to face with Darlene, snarling at me. "Well, if it isn't the queen herself granting us an audience." She spat at me.

     "I have to go sis." I made sure to hiss the s in sis.

     "I am warning you," she grabbed my wrist squeezing and twisting so hard, I immediately felt the tears fall, and I bit my lip to hold the scream. "If you show up with Jaxon tonight, the war will only begin. It's only been warnings till now, and this is the final one. Don't show up tonight." She threw my wrist down so hard, you would have thought it was on fire and burning her, and marched off to who knows where, as I literally ran out of the house, not stopping till I reached the corner at the end of our block.

       I took a seat on the bus bench and rubbed my wrist, looking down I could see it already starting to turn a little blue, I knew I had to hide this from Jaxon. I took my bag and grabbed a scrunchie, stretching it over my wrist and placing it where the bruise was starting to form, I hissed at the burning sensation I felt.

      I knew better than to get involved with the popular kid at school, especially in a small town. I knew better, what was I thinking, there is no way I can go through with this tonight. I have already gone through so much torment behind closed doors with those girls, how much more can I bear. Holding my head in my hands and closing my eyes, every moment with Jaxon flashed before my eyes, his eyes, that smile, the look on his face looking up as he caught me when I fell, the first time he told me, he loved me. No, I won't let them take it away, he deserves better.

      Taking several breaths, I forgot all about the surprise I wanted to fix up for Jaxon and just let my mind lead my feet to the school. The campus was just beginning to start buzzing with voices of the students as they slowly starting making their way to the building. I only have a few more months left, but at the same time for some reason I felt like everything would go a totally different direction than I had originally planned.

       I froze standing there next to the sidewalk as arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me roughly back into a hard chest, but I relaxed almost immediately when I realized I was safe. "Baby you, okay?" He whispered in my ear, kissing my cheek.

     "Yea just startled me that's all. Missed you."

     "Missed you more." He turned me around in his arms never removing his arms from my waist until I was staring into those beautiful amber eyes that followed me even into my dreams. I just gave him a smile before kissing his lips softly.

      "Let's go." I whispered, taking his hand and leading him to school.

      School went by quickly, Jaxon dropped me at each class, and waited for me outside the door when they ended. Lunch we spent sitting on the steps outside, with Preston, Marie and Mark. The buzz around school all day was about the homecoming court and the four girls in the running, Samantha of course, and three other girls I didn't even know. Mark had agreed to escort one of the girls as well as two other football players who were all nominated. Samantha told the whole school that Jaxon was escorting her.

      "What's on your mind?" Jaxon whispered as he held my hand and led me to my final class for the day.

     "I just find it funny that Samantha has it so bad for you but isn't she like your cousin or something."

    "Well, yes, technically on paper she is."

     I glanced at him, and he was staring straight ahead, "Her mother could not conceive children, Samantha was adopted as a newborn. She didn't even find out till about nine years ago. I think she was nine or ten when her mom and dad told her.'

      Then everything clicked, no wonder she had it so bad for Jaxon, they weren't even really related. "I see." I stopped in front of my class. "This is me. See you after." I kissed his cheek and left him standing there as I rushed to class.

     Just like clockwork Jaxon was standing outside the door when the bell rang and he didn't even wait to lead me out, he tossed me over his shoulder, also a new behavior, and ran through the school straight to his car, with me kicking and giggling the whole time.

     "Hey, you two love birds, I thought I was getting my friend this afternoon to go shopping?" Marie crossed her arms leaned against his car as he sat me down and wrapped his arm around my shoulder pulling me close to him.

     "Yea, about that. Can I come? My treat, the whole afternoon, for both of you." Jaxon shyly asked.

     Marie beamed, "Sure, but Preston's coming too."

    "Deal, come on, I will drive." Jaxon said opening the door for us, it didn't take long for Preston to catch up and we were all four loaded up and headed out for some shopping.

       After an hour of looking at the dresses, I couldn't find anything, honestly, I didn't even think I wanted to wear a dress at this point, I was terrified of showing my wrist. "Marie, it's supposed to be cool this evening, why don't we go with leggings over size sweaters and fur lined boots. And I am hungry."

      She stuck her head out of the dressing room, "I was kind of thinking the same thing looking at these super cute dresses. All I can think is how cold my butt is going to get in them."

      I let out a deep breath, "Okay come on, I seen some cute sweaters over there." I pointed to a rack at the back.

     Another thirty minutes we both went with black leggings, and long oversized sweater dress type tops. Hers was a burgundy color with gold buttons that ran from her shoulder down the front to end over the opposite hip. Mine was a plain royal blue, and I paired it with a black belt and silver buckle to set just above my hips. We left there and all went to the diner for dinner, before it was time to go get ready. We all parted ways from the diner, and I went back to Jaxon's place to get ready.

     "I am going to take a quick shower." I told him as I made my way through to the bathroom.

     "Don't be too long," he hollered from the couch.

     Jumping out of the shower, I brushed my teeth, blew my hair dry, applied a thin layer of make-up and then realized I hadn't even brought my clothes in with me. I just shrugged it off, wrapped the towel around me and ventured through the apartment to find my clothes. Jaxon was sitting on the edge of the bed playing on his phone, but he immediately brought his attention to me when I stepped next to the bed to grab my bag.

      He gave me a smile and was in front of me with his arms around me in the blink of an eye. "Easy there tiger," I growled playfully.

      "It's just, this, this is perfect. And definitely something I could get used to seeing every day. But I don't think you can wear that tonight." He kissed my cheek. I smiled at him, but it didn't take long for his eyes to roam down from my eyes to my lips, to my neck, and finally landed on my chest. It was kind of sexy until he stepped back and stared at me, and I swear he looked angry. I felt my heart bottom out until he softly grabbed my arm and pulled it to him, paying attention to every detail. Crap! I shouted in my mind. "Who did this?" He seethed.

      "No one." I squeaked.

     "You know baby, you can't lie to me. Who did this?" I opened my mouth, and he shook his head shutting me up. "Don't try to tell me some crap, I can see the finger indention's perfectly. So, tell me who did this?"

     He was angry, and I didn't want to fight, not tonight. "Jax, it's nothing, seriously."

     "Who?" He boomed and I could see the vein in his forehead pulse.

      I swallowed hard, "Darlene, it was an accident though. I swear."

     I pulled him to me, wrapping my arms around his neck and buried my head in his chest, after a minute he started to relax, "Baby, I have seen the bruises before, was it always her. I swear I am going to kill her." I pulled back to look him in the eyes, how did he see the bruises, I have kept them hid along with the pain from everyone. I was careful, I knew I was, so how did he see. I was afraid to say anything, afraid he might be baiting me into telling him something, he only suspected. He must have read my thoughts, "No I am not guessing here, hoping you will tell me something. I am telling you; I have seen the bruises on your abdomen. I remember the cut in your eyebrow that magically appeared. I have seen the little bruises that occasionally show up on your lip and the little breaks in the skin where it looks like your lip was busted. You always hide it all from me. I am supposed to take care of you, I am supposed to protect you, but you take it all and bear it all on your shoulders."

      My heart was racing out of my chest, and I tried to break away, but he pulled me closer, his eyes softening, "Jax, not now. Please, I need to go get ready, unless you would rather me leave." My voice was soft, and I dropped my head to look at the floor. I can't do this tonight; I am not ready for this talk.

      He softly placed his forefinger under my chin and lifted my face to look him in the eye. "Skyla Dukot, I love you more than anything, and so help me if you plan on walking out that door, I will tie you to the bed, and if you plan on not accompanying me, I will handcuff you to my wrist. We will discuss this later, but you go get that cute butt in there and get ready, we don't want to be late." I kissed his lips, quickly, grabbed my bag and sprinted to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me and letting the deep breath out I didn't even know I had been holding all this time.

       Walking to the lit-up football field, I could feel my nerves getting the best of me, I was trembling from the inside out, my nerves were all over the place, I wasn't sure if I wanted to scream, if I wanted to run, if I wanted to hide, or if I was ready to square my shoulders up and meet it head on. Jaxon could sense it; he kept my left hand in his and his right arm around my waist keeping me pulled close against him. "Have I told you how beautiful you are?" He whispered, softly placing a chaste kiss on my temple.

      "I don't think I can do this," I finally breathed out.

      "Then let's go." He offered.

      No that isn't fair to him, he deserves this, he will never get to come back and repeat senior year. It isn't fair for me to keep him from that, and one for sure, if I knew nothing else, I knew that he would surely take us back home and never look back on tonight. Well not for at least a couple of years, and then he would start hating me for all the things I stole from him and making memories of his own. Okay, I can do this. I stood a little straighter, squared my shoulders, and kissed him on the cheek. "Let's do this."

      "That's my girl." He winked and we made our way to the football field.

      "Jaxon, buddy I thought you were bringing one of the girls on the court. That is tradition. And your girlfriend doesn't belong on the field." Coach yelled at Jaxon as we stepped on the field. Great, all that confidence I showed five minutes ago was completely blown out the window.

     "Coach, when have I ever been traditional. And I have a girl, I am not going to shame or embarrass her for the sake of some high school homecomings want to be queen. So, take it or leave it. And my girl, stays here till after the ceremony, then she can go to the bleachers, but not a minute more." Jaxon glared at the coach, and I tried to hold my smile back.

      "Aw to be young and in love again. Good choice my boy." Coach patted Jaxon on the shoulder. We both looked at him with raised eyebrows and he laughed, "My wife and I were high school sweethearts, and I was like you, she was the only one I had eyes for, and there was no way I would have had another woman on my arm. But this stays between us." He pointed between the three of us. "Sky, is it?" I nodded. "You can go over there and sit with Jaxon until after the ceremony.

     "Thank you."

      "Pleasure is mine. You two remember no matter what happens in this life, love really does conquer all." He walked away leaving Jaxon and I speechless as Jaxon led me to his spot on the bench and pulled me in his lap.

      The night festivities began with the homecoming court entering the field. All the girls had a football player that was also nominated on their arm. Everyone except Samantha, and I swear when she saw me standing on the other side with Jaxon's arm around my waist, I could see the steam rolling out of her ears. I am pretty sure I witnessed the birth of Satin's daughter that night, I just didn't know it at the time.

      The announcer announced the court one by one, along with their dates. When he got to Samantha, the crowd giggled and whispered as she was announced attending without a date, and she marched up the field. Then they announced Jaxon and I, he held his arm out with a smile, I didn't waste time tucking my arm into the crook of his elbow and allowing him to lead me up the field. Once we were in front of the crowd, the announcer called the names of the nominees as they stepped forward one by one. When he called Jaxon's name he stepped forward and reluctantly turned loose of me. That was my cue to sneak away. The announcer was going on about each nominee, their name, their future goals, their accomplishments about their span in high school, by the time he was done I was already halfway up the stairs headed to the bleacher where Preston and Marie were.

      "I present to you this year's Homecoming King and Queen. Ms. Samantha Harrison and Mr. Jaxon Nyte." The announcer boomed over the speaker, and I felt my heart sink a little.

      I turned just as I felt Jaxon's eyes on me, and he was already at a dead run, leaving Samantha standing in the middle of the field by herself, and if it was possible, she was as red as an apple, and yep, I definitely could see the steam from here.

      I tried to move but my feet were glued right where I stood, I couldn't breathe until Jaxon reached me, and in one swift move I was in his arms and he was spinning me around the infield, well I think that's what it was called. And the crowd was hooping and hollering, pretty sure I heard some cat calling and whistles too. "Hear that baby girl, that's for you and me." He whispered.

     "You silly boy." I playfully slapped his shoulder. "But I love you, nevertheless. Now go beat some red hound butt." I cupped his cheeks placing a kiss on his lips, right there in front of the whole crowd.

      "Yes ma'am." He teased as he sat me back down and headed back to the other players and I mindlessly made my way to Marie and Preston.

     The first half of the game was gruesome, our team was some of the biggest guys out there, but man those little ones hit hard. And they all seemed to be after Jaxon, I had never seen him take a beating like this on the field, but he kept getting back up and going, each time he got up he would throw a kiss through the field to me and run off to play again. It was like with each hit my heart stopped, and with each flying kiss it sent a shock starting it again. I don't think I had been on such a roller coaster ride with my emotions before.

      Halftime came and instead of going into the locker room Jaxon ran straight to me, grabbing my hand and leading me under the bleachers. He pushed me against one of the bars and lifted me around the waist crashing his lips into mine. After what felt like a lifetime, he slowly placed me back on my feet, and pulled away just a bit, "I missed you." He giggled.

      "Silly boy, I was right here."

      "True, but not in my arms." He pouted. "Here," He pulled his phone out and snapped a selfie of us together. I kissed his cheek just as the camera snapped. "I want to do something else okay, just roll with it." I nodded my head, it's UN-telling what he has up his sleeve, but I trust him.

       He pulled his voicemail up and hit record on the answering service part. "Hey, you've reached Jaxon," his voice making me smile and he nodded for me, "And Skyla," I giggled at the sound of my voice, like the girl I was, hopelessly and helplessly in love with him. "We are probably busy with each other, but leave it, and we will get back to you when we can." And we both giggled like fools right before he ended it.

      "I can't believe you did that." I slapped him still giggling. "But I love you."

      "And I love you." He kissed me and then led me back to the bleachers where he left me with Preston and Marie while he went back to the field.

      That night when we returned to his apartment, I already knew what I wanted to do, I knew what I was going to do. I gave my self completely heart, body and soul to Jaxon. Everything was right, everything was perfect, and life was just how I wanted it to be for the rest of my life, me and Jaxon against the world, two halves made whole in this big world of unknowns.

I would Forever be his come what may.