Mending of the Heart: Jackie's Story

Chapter 4: Confessions

When Jackie arrived at Dianna's house, her face had mascara tear trails running down it. She was visibly upset and desperately needed to confide in someone. "Jackie, what's the matter?" Dianna asked leading Jackie into her room and sitting her down.

"Eric and I had a fight. He lied to me at school today." Jackie sobbed.

"What did he lie to you about?"

"Why he wasn't at lunch today. He told me he had some school work to catch up on, but then when he called me around six, he told me he was just talking to Ace."

"Why did he lie to you about that?"

"That's what I was wondering..." Jackie sighed.

"Did he think you would be mad at him? I mean since Ace and April are dating now." Dianna suggested.

"He should know I would understand. Now, I'm just fuming that he lied to me." Jackie explained. "I mean, what if he's been lying to me about this April thing the whole time?"

"Jackie, calm down and breathe. Tomorrow at school, you should take him aside and talk to him." Dianna suggested trying not to take any sides. "And I doubt he has been lying to you this whole time... It's just the group has just split into two now. For so long, we all were such good friends and in an instant the group had basically disintegrated." Dianna sighed. "It was shocking to all of us... I mean the guys are still talking obviously, but they choose the side that their girlfriends were on."

"But why would Eric feel the need to lie to me about talking to Ace?"

"Maybe he felt it was best. I can guarantee that Eric is kicking himself right now for lying to you." Dianna assured her. "Give him a call, I'm sure he'll be glad to hear your voice after the way you ended your last conversation."

With that thought, Jackie pulled her cell phone out of her front pocket and dialed Eric's number. She took a shaky deep breath and hit call. After the first ring, Eric answered "Hey babe."

Jackie swallowed hard, "Hey."

"I'm glad you called. I am so sorry I lied to you. I know that I was wrong, I... I just didn't want you to get angry with me. Even though you probably hate me now."

Jackie's eyes began to fill with tears, and she blinked hard to keep her tears back. "I don't hate you... It's just you lied to me, what am I supposed to think?"

"I know, I am so sorry, babe." Eric kept saying over and over for two minutes until Jackie stopped him.

"I... I have to go, bye."

"Bu..." Jackie hung up the phone before he could say anything more. She was silently crying as Dianna gently rubbed her shoulders to soothe her.

"You can stay here tonight if you want." Dianna offered.

"No, I have to get going, my mom and dad are probably worried." Jackie said when she calmed down.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." Dianna told her as she walked Jackie to the door.

As Jackie drove home, she could not help but wonder what was going to happen between her and Eric. She wanted to be with him, but not if she cannot trust him. She wanted to spend some time alone with him, so that they could talk about where their relationship was going. Though she figured this was impossible since there seemed to be no where they could be completely alone.

When she pulled into her driveway it was ten past ten, and every light was burning on the first floor. Liam and Natalie were obviously waiting up for her... As she turned off her car, Jackie looked at herself in her review mirror to make sure it didn't look like she had been crying. That's the last thing she wants to do tonight is have to explain what happened and why she was crying. As she entered the house, she realized the television was on. When she walked into the parlor, Liam looked up "Hey Jackie."

"Hi dad." Jackie said sleepily. "I'm going to go to bed. I'm exhausted." She did not really feel like talking, she only wanted to go to sleep.

***********************************

On Tuesday morning, Jackie woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. It was Eric, "Wow you're up at the crack of dawn." Jackie said as she answered her phone.

"Did I wake you?" Eric asked apologetically.

"Yeah." Jackie said sitting up in bed.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, minus the half-asleep fact." Jackie said.

"Are we good?" Eric wondered out loud.

"For now, why?" Jackie asked a bit surprised.

"I was just making sure."

"Can we make some time to talk alone after school?" Jackie asked as she got out of bed and began pulling clothes out of her draws.

"Where?"

"I honestly don't know, and I really don't care. I just want us to be alone long enough for us to talk without any interruptions or being over heard."

"We'll decide after school."

"Sounds good." Jackie agreed.

"Good, I'll see you in a bit." Eric said happily. "Bye babe."

"Bye, Er..." He hung up before she could finish.

Jackie tried to overlook that Eric hung up on her before she finished talking to him, as she got dressed. She went downstairs in a light teal dress that had short sleeves. She saw her family bustling around in the kitchen and eating breakfast. "Hey, you're up early again." Liam noted as she sat down at the breakfast table.

"I had a little help with that." Jackie stated grumpily.

"Who woke up your sister?" Natalie asked suspiciously, scanning the face of her little ones.

"None of them, it was Eric. He called my phone to talk a bit." Jackie explained hastily.

"Honey, what's going on?" Natalie asked in a concerned voice.

Jackie had forgotten how fresh the situation was, and her eyes told all. There was no sense in denying that there was a problem. Natalie always had that special talent of being able to read Jackie's face like a book. "Can I talk to you alone?" Was all Jackie could think of.

"Sure, let's go to your room. Liam, can you finish packing the kid's lunches for me?"

"Yeah, do what you have to do." Liam replied understandingly.

When Natalie entered Jackie's room, Jackie quickly closed the door. She quickly cleared off the oversized wicker chair that sat in the corner of her room, and offered it to Natalie to sit down. Jackie sat on the edge of her bed and told Natalie everything that has been happening. Of course, she left out the intimate details that was a different subject all on their own. When she was finished telling her mom, Jackie sat silently to hear what her mom had to say. When Natalie did not reply after two minutes, Jackie looked at her eagerly and asked "what should I do, mom?"

"Honestly sweetheart. That's a decision I think you need to make on your own. But before you do, you should really talk to him alone."

"We plan to talk in private later today, but there's no place around here that we can be completely alone for more than ten minutes." Jackie protested with a sigh.

"What about the cliff?" Natalie suggested surprised that Jackie had not thought about that. "I mean I know you all hang out at the creek where Aunt Leanne use to hang out, but what about my old hang out? Or ask aunt Stacey or Uncle Sam about their old hang outs."

"Those are options. I don't know why I didn't think of that. Thanks mom." Jackie said happily giving her mom a hug and left the room.

Once she got to school, she spotted Eric's car. April pink mustang was next to it. Both Eric and April were standing in front of his car laughing. Jackie felt a surge of jealousy and rage run up and down her spine. Instead of parking on the other side of his car, Jackie drove to where Blake's black Chevrolet pick-up truck, with a four-inch lift, was parked. The truck was just big enough to hide her and her car.

As she walked quickly across the parking lot, she spotted Blake and Dianna sitting on a bench in front of the school. "Hey girl." Dianna called out when she saw Jackie approaching.

"Hey Dee. Hi Blake, what's up?" Jackie asked casually taking a seat next to Dianna and trying not to look over to Eric's car.

"We're just sitting here enjoying the warm day." Dianna responded.

"And the colorful scene around us." Blake added pointing to the changing leaves on the trees that surrounded the school.

"Nice. By the way, Blake that new look of your truck is awesome." Jackie stated changing the subject.

"Thanks, I just got it back yesterday." Blake said proudly.

"Speaking of yesterday, did you get a chance to talk to Eric some more yet?" Dianna asked.

'Damn, my plan didn't work' she quietly thought to herself. Jackie had no way of avoiding the issue now. "He called me this morning, and I planned to talk to him some more this morning, but he's kind of busy at the moment..." Jackie said nodding in April and Eric's direction.

No one said a word they just sat there and watched as April placed her hand gently on Eric's forearm. They seemed to be in deep conversation. Before Jackie could say anything else, Blake was on his feet walking away from the bench. She gave Dianna a curious look, and just shrugged her shoulders.

Blake walked so quickly towards Eric, Jackie thought that there was going to be a conflict. Luckily, Blake just went up to Eric and said something in his ear. Whatever he said caused Eric's smile to drop like a stone in water, and his head whipped around. When he saw Jackie, his eyes were blank.

Blake returned just as quickly as he had left. "Let's go inside." Blake suggested holding both his hands out to the girls.

Stunned at Eric's expression, Jackie was barely able to form any words, "What... What did you say to him?"

"I just reminded him that he had a girlfriend who was waiting for him and watching." Blake answered coolly.

"You didn't have to do that." Jackie began, but stopped when Blake held up his hand.

"I did. He needs to really take your feelings into consideration." Blake said quickly giving Dianna a kiss and headed off to class.

Later that day at lunch, Eric caught up to Jackie as they headed to their usual picnic table. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. As they sat down, Eric leaned over and kissed her neck. "I'm sorry about this morning. We were just talking..." He began to whisper in her ear, but she shrugged him off.

"I don't want to hear it. Though I do realize, that you are apologizing a lot lately." Jackie snapped.

"I know, and I'm sorry." Eric began. "I agreed with you this morning that we really do need to talk alone."

"Eric, I can only make this work if you want to make it work." Jackie replied in all honesty.

"I know and I do. Believe me, Jackie, I want this to work; I want us to work." Eric said his voice cracking at the right moment. Catching Jackie off guard and almost made her feel sorry.

"Meet me at your car after school, and we'll go somewhere to talk." Jackie said as she finished her lunch.

"Can't I just meet you at the creek?"

"I'm not going to the creek." She simply replied.

"Where are you going?"

"You'll see after school, if you're really interested in working things out between us." Jackie said leaving the table.

After school, Jackie got in her car and drove over to Eric's. He was there waiting for her, casually leaning on the trunk of his car. When she stopped, he approached her car and leaned through the window, "Hey babe."

"Are you ready?" Was all Jackie could muster through all her frustration.

"Yeah." Eric replied with a cool smile and went to his car. As soon as he started his engine, Jackie pulled away so he could back out. He pulled up beside her and said "after you."

She always fell for his unbelievably smooth smile. In fact, every girl in school falls for it. Unfortunately for him, Jackie's anger was more powerful that the effect of his smile. As much as his smile forced a slight change in her mood, she still managed to keep a straight face.

She decided to go to Stacey's old hangout, which she had texted her aunt about earlier that day. It was near an old abandoned watermill. It was nothing to special, but once you went out back the view of the trees were amazing.

She pulled up next to the old mill and got out of her car. Eric backed into the spot next to her car and got out. "I never took you for a girl that knows all the hang outs in town."

"This is not an old hang out." Jackie explained.

"It's not? Then what is it?"

"Just an old water mill."

"I can see that, but why are we here?"

"Because this is a cover. The real spot is out back, unless you're not interested. We will have to hike through the woods a few minutes to get to it."

"Lead the way." Eric replied stepping out of her way.

When Jackie stopped walking, they entered a clearing to an open field, the mountains and colorful trees were essential aspect to the background. The late afternoon sun felt warm, and the general atmosphere of the open field was calm and delightful.

Jackie proceeded into the field and sat down. She took a deep soothing breath, and waited for Eric. He slowly made his way over to her, still taking in the view around him, mesmerized. "How do you know about these hang out areas?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're the one that brought everyone to the creek, and now this place. Do you have any others you're not sharing?" Eric asked with a laugh.

"Well let's see... There's the creek, this field, the cliff, and the old shack. The old shack is a place where we can through a huge party. I've heard you could do wonders there with the right help of course." Jackie smiled slyly.

"Again, how do you know about all these spots?"

"I have a big family, that is very open with me when I ask the right questions. The creek was my aunt Leanne's old hang out, this field was my aunt Stacey's hang out, the cliff was my mom and dad's hang out, and the shack was my uncle Sam's hang out."

"I see. So, what do you want to talk about?" Eric asked as he brushed her hair away from her face and nibbled on her ear.

Jackie shrugged him away, "We need to figure out where we both stand."

"What do you mean? We're together."

"I mean, we need to be on the same page here." Jackie explained.

"I'm here with you." Eric said pulling her into his lap.

"You are, but I'm talking about us being on the same page everywhere and all around." Jackie was trying to breathe deep to help keep her emotions from getting the best of her. "I mean, for instance let's start with you and April. What's really going on there? I'm not saying you can't talk to her, just let me know where you stand on this whole issue."

Eric began kissing her lips softly. "Are you saying that you don't care who I talk to as long as I tell you?"

"Yes. That way there, you don't feel compelled to lie to me."

"That sounds fair enough." Eric replied as he kissed her chin and moved to her neck.

"Where do you stand?"

"I'm talking to everyone, and most importantly I'm here with you." With one quick movement, Eric laid her down on her back and continued to kiss her gently and eagerly. "Does that make you feel any better about where we stand?" Eric smiled looking into her eyes. She felt like she could get lost in his deep ocean blue eyes.

"A little." Jackie breathed.

"Do you want me to make you feel even better about us?" Eric asked slipping his hand under her dress. The very touch of his warm hands on her stomach and thighs sent chills up her spine. She didn't answer, she just allowed him to continue to kiss her. After two minutes or so without a reply from her, Eric stopped kissing her and removed his hands from under her dress.

He lifted his head up and examined her brown eyes, "Do you want to?" After a few more silent minutes, Eric pulled away and sat up. He rubbed his face then hung his head between his knees. "Jackie, is it that hard of a decision to make?"

As soon as his reaction fell into place in her brain it was almost devastating to her. "Yes, it is. I mean, I was just thinking about all the possibilities that could arise from it." Jackie began.

"I see." Eric replied looking up at her.

"I mean think about it... If we do it today, right here right now, so many things could happen and change as a result of it. We could either push each other away or we may come too close to fast. Or..." Jackie continued.

"You're worried about getting pregnant? Honestly, do you think that I'm that irresponsible? I mean granted I have my days, but give me some credit."

"Your right, I should not let that worry me. I'm sorry." Jackie replied leaning over and kissing his soft lips.

He pulled away and looked sternly at her. "You left out one other idea."

"What's that?" Jackie asked.

"Where we'll be after high school?"

"That's months away." Jackie said leaning in to attempt to kiss him.

This time he leaned into her kiss. She reached out and stroked his fingers through his fluffy brown hair. He laid her back down on the ground and began to kiss her more intensely.

As he began to slip her dress up, her cell phone began to ring. When she quickly checked who it was and saw Robert's number, she decided to ignore it. After the fifth phone call from Robert, Eric got annoyed "He always knows when to call, doesn't he?"

"Yup." Jackie replied as disappointed as he was. "Hello?"

"Jackie, listen I was wondering if you could watch Orion again for me on Saturday." Kayla's sweet voice asked.

"I'm going to have to think about it, and get back to you, because I was going to hang out with my friends." Jackie replied anxiously.

"Okay, thanks. Bye."

"Bye." Jackie hastily hung up her phone and turned back to Eric. "Sorry about that. Now, where were we?"

"I believe we were right here." Eric replied happily. He kissed her lips and pushed her gently back down on the ground. His hands ran over every curve of her body, as if he was trying to memorize everything about her. This was a moment they would never forget...