Where is Jake

"Stop." I halted standing at the doorway about to exit the classroom. Matilda stood in front glaring at me, her hand blocking the exit. "What's up with you, you are asking weird. What happened?" She asked tilting her head to the side.

"Nothing." I muttered.

"Hey!" She yelled out. Enough to cause me to shriek moving backward. "Tell me what's wrong or I will punch you in the face."

"Matilda…

"I mean it." She gave me a stern look.

I sighed and it turned into a smile.

"Fine, it's just about Jake. " I lied. Even though Jake was part of the reasons, he obviously wasn't the main reason.

"Is it because he ditched or?" She asked, hinting at my lie.

"That…, and also because I am tired of this fake relationship stunt. I am happy it's coming to an end but I don't think I can talk to him until then. There is also our exam and at home, my dad has been acting strange. He hardly ever goes to work, plus they now argue a lot. My mom and dad have never argued about anything as serious as they are doing now. " I sighed. For some reason I felt a burden lift off my chest as I talked. I have been thinking about it a lot lately. I hadn't realised that I was holding onto these burdens all alone.

Matilda's face looked surprised yet sad at the same time. I opened my mouth to say something but felt her pull me in for a tight hug, this caught me by surprise yet I appreciated"Why didn't you tell me. You fool." She scolded. My body stiffened with my eyes widened.

"You should never keep anything from me, especially something like this okay?" She gently patted my back. I could feel my shoulder slowly becoming relaxed. I allowed myself sulk in her warm embrace, the Fragrance of her shampoo hit my nostrils. It smelt like peaches, I chuckled lightly remembering how she stole of my bottles of shampoo because she liked the scent and later became obsessed with it. It felt good she still uses it, even till this day.

"Everything will be okay," she reassured me. Remembering all the time we had spent together, how much she defended me and stood by me when I was in trouble. It made me feel bad for doing what I did to her. Lying to her really hurt me and I knew it would hurt her more. A drop of tear fell down my cheek and landed on her shirt.

Then she spanked me hard on my back, causing me to pull back. "And next time, promise you won't hide anything from me. Okay?" She raised her brow fiercely.

"Okay," I chuckled. "I promise not to keep anything from my best friend."

"Including when you make out with Jake."

"Matilda!" I yelled taken aback by her remark.

"Just kidding," she chuckled and I rolled my eyes. "It's good to have you back, that smile. '' her hand gently pinched my nose.

*****

The next day arrived quickly. In the morning, we all felt tense as we sat in our seats, waiting for the exam questions to be given out. I held my pencils tightly, feeling nervous as I tried to remember everything I had studied.

Matilda whispered, "Hey, Piper," from where she sat, giving me a warm smile to help me calm down.

I nodded and took a deep breath. The exam papers were handed out, and as soon as I got mine, I started.

Looking at the questions, I smiled because they seemed familiar. It made me feel relieved that my hard work had paid off.

Tick*

Tick*

With 10 minutes left, I was done. I had enough time to go over my work. Then, they announced, "Time's up." The exam for today was finished.

Matilda and I couldn't stop ourselves from squealing in excitement because we were both feeling the same amazing thing.

Time went by really fast, and now we were finally done with the last paper. I felt super happy that the hard part was over, but at the same time, I was tired from all those nights I stayed up late studying. It was like a mix of good and tired feelings. And on top of that, there was something else in the air – we were all looking forward to spring break, but there was something extra special: the Blackpink concert. Matilda and I were talking about it non-stop. Even though I was still a little mad about the thing that happened, the idea of shouting and having fun at the concert, and maybe even getting to meet the band, made me forget about being mad and just feel really, really excited.

But then, something started bothering me.

Jake!

I hadn't talked to Jake since before the thing happened, even though I had his contact info. What worried me more was that I hadn't seen him since before that happened.

Jake used to always be around. He was a loud and kind of proud guy who would find reasons to be close to me, mostly to make Samantha jealous. That's why we started doing all this stuff in the first place. But did things change? It didn't seem likely. If they did, he would have told me. But what if he's ignoring me on purpose now? Did I accidentally do something to upset him? Or maybe it's because of Owen...?

My mind got all tangled up in these thoughts.

"Hey, you should really think more about Jake," Ethan's words echoed in my head. Maybe he's sick? Perhaps he got hurt in an accident? All of a sudden, I was more worried about Jake. His friends might know something about it, considering how close they were.

Ethan was off-limits, leaving Owen as my only option. Not that he was a problem; Owen seemed like a more reasonable and honest person.

Walking through the hallway, I made my way to his classroom. As my eyes scanned the room, my gaze fell on someone I hoped not to meet.

Samantha.

She spotted me and we held each other's gaze. Then her lips curved into a grin. Unusual for Samantha, as she was one to always ignore me. Ever since the news of our dating spread, she had kept her distance. But now, she seemed like she knew something – something she was happy about. My mind immediately wandered to Jake, making me even more worried than I already was.

Breaking eye contact, I moved my gaze elsewhere, hoping to find Owen. Thankfully, I spotted him sitting in a corner, fully immersed in the book he was reading.

"Psst... Owen," I called out. He lifted his head in my direction, clearly taken aback by my sudden presence.

With my hand stretched out, I signalled him to come out of the classroom. Without saying a thing, he closed the book he was reading, placed it on his desk, and walked over to where I stood. As he did, I could feel Samantha's gaze still following him, her smirk still present. At this point, I knew she was aware of something.

"What do you want?" Owen asked, standing in front of me. I made sure we were outside the classroom, away from prying eyes, especially Samantha's.

"I know it's strange... and kind of weird for me to come up to you…"

"Just get straight to the point," he cut me off.

I shook my head as the realization hit me that I had been stalling. "Do you have any idea about Jake? I haven't seen him at all this week."

"Why didn't you call him and ask him yourself?" he said, sounding offended and irritated.

"I—I lost his contact, remember? My phone and all that." He stared at me, observing, before he opened his mouth.

"He transferred."