Confessions and forgiveness

                                    

                                          
Hailey walked back home, frustrated. She had seen Milly talking with Jake casually as if he hadn't betrayed all their trust. She didn't want to argue with Milly at the time so she had just left without actually saying anything to Jake. She saw reason in Milly's words, though, and knew that Jake wouldn't hurt Milly again. She hoped. Hailey decided to talk to Drew and see if he had any idea why Jake would do anything like this. She Then realised, she was supposed to meet Drew earlier today. She sighed, now frustrated with herself instead of Milly. She messaged Drew, asking him to meet up with her at the front of their school early the next morning. He agreed and Hailey walked back to her house. She went into Zander's room to ask his opinion, once again, on the situation. she was still confused on why he was so calm about what Jake had done. After all, Zander was the one that trusted Jake least out of anyone. "Hey Zander" She greeted, Startling him. "What do you want, Hailey?" He asked, annoyed at being interrupted. "I wanted to ask, again, why you don't share the rest of the clubs hatred towards Jake anymore" She replied. "I mean, you used to hate him more than anyone and now, you just seem like you don't care" He hesitated, and replied "It's because I told you guys he was up to something. You all just chose to ignore me. I knew he would do something like this." Hailey sighed. "Maybe we should have just believed you in the first place" Zander felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He hesitated, and said "Hailey?" Hailey turned and looked at him. "Yes, Zander?" He hesitated once more, and finally replied. "Jake didn't make that post." Hailey paused. "What do you mean?" Zander then recounted all the events he had witnessed, Hailey's face growing more shocked as he went on. Finally, once Zander finished, Hailey yelled "you didn't tell us this before?!" Zander flinched from rage in her voice. She lowered her voice. "Zander, you should have told me this earlier." Zander sighed. "I know, i just thought that if i told everyone, that Jake might not even want to join the music club again" Hailey pondered his words for a moment. "Well, do you have any idea of how we could get Jake to join the club again?" She asked him. He rolled his eyes. "Maybe start by telling the rest of the club that he didn't back stab us?" Hailey sighed. "I know that, but Jake probably doesn't trust us anymore so what do we do to earn his trust back?" Zander looked annoyed. "How should I know?" Hailey thought for a moment. "Maybe I'll just go say sorry?" She thought out loud. "That could work" replied Zander. Hailey left Zander's room and went to the front door. She put on shoes and a jacket and walked through the front door into the frigid, autumn cold. She walked down the sidewalk towards where she knew Jake lived. As she walked, she noticed Jake's friends walking the opposite way, on the other side of the road. Her and Drew locked eyes and she felt a hot anger start to rise up inside her. Drew must have felt the intensity of her stare and started walking faster after breaking eye contact. She was about to run across the road towards him but realized that she had just passed Jake's house. She turned away from them and walked up the pathway to Jake's house. She noted that both cars in the driveway of his house weren't there. She figured that Jake's uncle was just out or something. But she was confused on why BOTH cars had disappeared. She got to the front porch of his house and was about to knock, but she hesitated. Was this really a good idea? What if he just yelled at her and didn't forgive her? What if he just ignored her? What if- she stopped herself. Thinking about the "What if's" in this situation wouldn't do anyone any good. She took a deep breath, and knocked. She heard creaking of floorboards and the door knob turned. The door was pulled open and Jake was standing there, hair in a mess covering his face. Hailey immediately felt guilty. Was it her fault that he looked and felt like this? Jake seemed surprised to see Hailey. "Do you need anything?" He asked her. She was surprised at the kindness in his voice. "Well, I just came to say I'm sorry" she told him. He flinched back. "Your being serious?" He asked her. She nodded her head. When Jake flinched, the hair parted just enough for her to see his eyes clearly. She was shocked at what she saw. He had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and had dark streaks running down his face, most likely due to crying. She felt her eyes start to water as she realized, she had done this. She had driven him away, put him down and screamed at him to the point that his mental state started to degrade. She started crying unexpectedly. She hugged Jake tight. "I'm so sorry, Jake" she stuttered between sobs. He was taken aback by the sudden outburst but hugged her back. "It's alright, Hailey." Hailey calmed down a bit after hearing that but was still upset. "Was being kicked out of the music club the reason this happened?" She whispered painfully. Jake said nothing. "Was I the reason you stopped taking care of yourself?" She asked, this time a bit louder. Jake hesitated, and shook his head. Hailey was surprised. "Then, what was?" She asked him. "I'll show you" he told her. He led her into his house and grabbed something from on his kitchen table. It was a piece of paper. He handed it to her and she read it. When she finished, she was silent. "I'm so sorry" she whispered. Jake hugged her. "It's not your fault, Hailey" she smiled and remembered something. "Jake?" She asked. "Yes?" He replied. "If you still want to, would you like to join the music club?" Jake smiled. "I would love to"