Freshmen Dorms

Jake rolled out of his bed and ran out into the living room holding Evelyn's phone, he sent the photo to himself knowing the second he handed the phone back to her she'd delete it.

While he still had her phone Jacob decided to set the photo as her background.

"JAKE!" Evelyn's boots thudded down the hallway to the living room. She burst in like an angry, redheaded Koolaid remix and caught sight of her phone's new wallpaper in Jake's hand.

Please tell me he didn't save it elsewhere....I will die if James sees that.

"Oh, you did NOT!" She abandoned caution and launched herself onto his back, digging her knees into his sides and snatching at her phone over his shoulder. She slung an arm around his neck in a chokehold to hold herself on and announced in his ear, "I swear to God if that turns up anywhere - !"

A hissing came from near their feet as a scared Lucifer bolted from his spot on the couch, licking shaving cream-type froth off his muzzle.

Jake normally would have been pissed, but he was too busy laughing his head off at the sheer ridculousness of this situation.

He glanced behind him and saw Evelyn's enraged expression and he broke out into an even bigger laughing fit.

He put his arms down by his side, reaching behind him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pinned her down onto the ground.

He tried to stiffle his laughter and heard a hissing sound, he looked up and saw Lucifer with what looked like whipped cream all over his mouth.

Jake wiped a tear away from his eye, and stifled his laughter, "Oh Lucy, it looks like the cat got into the whipped cream."

I think my left lung broke contact, Evelyn deduced, trying to breathe with the dead weight that was Jake half on top of her.

"Je vais te tuer quand je me lève, nigaud!" she managed to gasp out, knocking Jake's arms off, but she couldn't really move his legs, which were tangled in hers. She was going to murder this boy. "Where's my phone?!" She didn't care about the dumb cat. If Jake had fallen onto her phone and broken it, it was going to come out of his wallet.

"Ohhh French? That's muy caliente chicka!Don't worry your phone is fine, its in my pocket." He said patting his hand over the pockets of his sweats.

Evelyn wasn't relieved yet. She massaged the back of her head, feeling it throb against the cool wooden floor. "Give it over here."

She glanced sideways at Jake lying next to her - patting a flat pocket. Her eyes followed the line of his foot to see her phone lying on the floor. "It's over there, connard." She pushed herself up on her elbows and then couldn't move any further because her legs were pinned down.

Her face grew hot and she lowered her gaze. "Jake? Get off me."

***

Lucifer padded down the hall to the open door of Jake's room and slipped inside. He squatted on Jake's bed, giving a feeble meow as his stomach gurgled.

He felt much better after relieving himself in one of Jake's sneakers, lying in one corner of the room.

Jake got up off Evelyn grabbing her phone again. He decided to send out a mass text.

I <3 Jake Salazar

He hit "send" and after it sent to everyone in her contacts he handed Evelyn her iPhone.

"Here babe, I'm done." He smirked.

Evelyn felt a nudge of doubt. She wondered what Jake had been doing.

She glanced down at her phone as she crossed her legs, leaning back against the couch. Her iPhone screen looked normal.

Evelyn threw Jake a suspicious glance. "What. Did. You. Do?" she asked quietly.

"Oooh nothing." Jake said smirking and sauntering to his room to change his nose crinkled at the smell of something like a...

He saw that Lucifer decided to relieve himself on his shoes and Jake grit his teeth.

"Fucking cat!" He shouted picking up Luce and placing him in the living room.

He picked up his shoes and groaned at the smell, he picked them up and went to the bathroom to clean his shoes.

Lucifer was now huddled in Jake's closet, not feeling too great. He gnawed on some random jacket of Jake's and purred irritably. Cat hairs flew onto the fabric around him.

***

Evelyn decided Jake's quick typing meant a text. She steeled her gut and went to her Sent Messages folder.

Two were new.

To [All] Contacts
To James

She clicked on the first and groaned. Jake had sent "I <3 Jake" to everyone on her contact list...including aunt's family in Seattle!

She swore under her breath and then frowned at the second as she decided on Jake's punishment. James was near the top of her Recent Calls List so his name showed up in the personalized phone book app she had on her phone at the very top. Sending him a text required two correct clicks on the touch keypad.

Jake had sent James a video. What the hell?

Evelyn hit play and watched curiously. What was this? WHEN was this?

The screen was sort of tan. Jake's palm line appeared. Then came raucous yelling and the view flashed to the bright window and then the screen went dark again and laughter was heard in the background. Evelyn frowned, thoroughly confused. Was this from just now? When Jake had been holding her phone and she'd jumped him?

She heard the expected thud and wondered if she should laugh. Then Jake's voice, breathless, muttered, "Oh Lucy, it looks like the cat got into the whipped cream."

More laughter. Jake's. Her voice said something vaguely French in the background but it was hard to tell. Everything in the video was dark as night.

"Ohhh, French? That's muy caliente chicka! Don't worry your phone is fine, its in my pocket." Jake was clearly amused. His voice came out teasing and oddly husky. He was far from the phone, Evelyn knew, which explained it.

She felt a sudden pit open in her stomach as her voice, sounding sleepy, but she knew she was more exhausted from her fall than anything, said ""Give it over here."

Slight rustling. She couldn't tell what. Sounded like fabric. Then her voice, sounding tell-tale embarrassed: ""Jake? Get off me."

More rustling. And then the video ended.

This had been sent to James about ten seconds before Jake had sent his mass text.

Evelyn felt the knot in her stomach grow painful. She stood up and her legs were shaking. Her eyes blurred and only one thought rang through her head.

It isn't what it sounded like.

What was James going to make of this?

James heard his phone beep next to him, he picked up off the table and saw that he had video message from Evelyn?

He was confused and opened the file and waited a few seconds for it to download.

The video opened and at first the screen was all tan.

He heard a voice, a guys voice which he recgonized as Jake. Then he heard some rustling and had a view of a window.

After the window it got dark again and he heard laughter, which was once again from Jacob.

He heard vaguly something French sounding, but he knew Evelyn's voice from anywhere.

Plus the Spanish.

He sat there a bit horrified and then he heard clearly

Jake get off me.

Then the video ended.

James blue eyes widened, had he had seen or heard what he thought he heard?

Had Evelyn and Jake made a sex tape ( a bad one at that) and really sent it to him?

He knew Evelyn was a little off after he saw her practically naked last night dsancing on a table.

But this?! This out of all things?

He wasn't sure what to say, or how to feel. A mixture of emotions were playing in. Hurt, anger, although stunned was at the top of his list right now.

Evelyn hadn't been here two weeks and she was already turning into a whore?

His phone vibrared indicating a text, he opened and read it.

I <3 Jake!

What the hell was wrong with her?!

***

Jake finished cleaning his shoes and went to put them back in his closet, he opened the door and saw Lucifer had made himself at home.

And coughed up a furball on his sweater!

God damn cat!

"Evelyn!" He shouted, "Come in here and help me get rid of Luce, before he destorys all my clothes!"

Evelyn had collapsed onto the couch, wishing she had a huge Life UNDO button. She ignored Jake's voice and lowered her forehead into her palms, massaging it like she could get the whole memory out of mind.

After yesterday, he's going to think I'm a whore, she concluded. Her mind flashed to the perplexed look on James' face when her mask had come off.

Had he looked disgusted? She couldn't remember...probably he had. She was horrified at herself, after all.

Evelyn felt wetness track down her cheeks and ignored it, too busy in trying to hold together the unraveling happenings. What would she do now? What could she do? Track down James and explain?

That would be torture...and if he found out - assuming he even believed her, which was highly unlikely after last night (she doubted even Luke would believe her, and Jake was a practiced liar) - James would just assume she'd held back on going there with Jake because of him. Which was highly untrue.

Sort of.

Evelyn's head was spinning and she closed her eyes, scrunching them shut in a pitiful attempt to stop the tears. Why the hell was she crying? She didn't owe that jackass anything. Why not let him assume she really had moved on?

She knew, even as she thought it, that that was too low for her. She couldn't do that. But explain? He'd never believe her. Or he'd decided she felt like explaining herself to him because she...what, owed him? Evelyn pulled up her knees on the couch and wrapped her arms around them, burying her face into the cold skin. Wetness tickled down her bare leg. She was stuck. Hopelessly.

James paced around the apartment, he was so angry he couldn't see straight.

He clenched his fists together and walked into the chair that Luke usually sat in at the table he had broken which had been fixed.

James enraged picked up the chair tossing it against the wall, his sapphire eyes clouded with anger.

Anger and just everything sweeping over him, he almost stormed out of the apartment figuring he could just go there and sock Jake, and yell at Evelyn but he knew the anger would wear off by then.

He picked his phone up off the counter and dialed Evelyn's number, he listened to it ring.

Evelyn almost fell off the couch when her phone vibrated in her hand. She caught her breath, not realizing she'd been steadily crying the whole time. Her eyes landed on the screen.

Oh crap, oh, no, no, no,, not answering.... Her heartbeat rose in panic.

She hit Ignore quickly. Jake's bedroom issued scuffling noises.

He figured she would ignore his call, he wanted to go over there but he wasn't sure if she was in her dorm or that morons.

He waited a few minutes before calling her again, this time he entered in the code to make his number private hoping she wouldn't catch on.

Evelyn was lying sideways on the couch when the phone rang a few moments later. She glanced at it and saw UNKNOWN NUMBER.

Jake and Lucifer were still fighting it out. She stared at her phone uncertainly. What if James...?

Why was she hiding? a snide voice in her head demanded. She had every right to sleep with whoever she liked. The sooner James got that, the better...

She had to get past this mentality of feeling guilty every time she looked at a cute guy and admitted he was cute. She and James were over.

She picked up her phone and hit Answer. "Hey James." Who else would it be?

"You know, I didn't want to do this over the phone, I would rather be face to face. But do you know why I've called you instead?" James said his voice sounding unnaturally calm.

Evelyn bit her lower lip and reached up, grabbing a pillow off the couch. She hugged it to herself and lowered her voice so Jake and Lucifer's ongoing battle would shield her words from him. "I have an idea, I think." Her voice came out wobbly and exhausted, but she didn't care.

"It's those eyes. I'm so hurt or angry, or whatever the case may be, and all I do is look at those hypnotic green eyes of yours and...poof its gone. All the feelings, the nastiness. It's like I'm under your spell and I used to be able to find myself ready to tear you down so easily once, and now I can't, I can't do it anymore." James' voice cracked slightly.

"Do you even have the slightest idea, what you do to me? It's like... I loved - no, wait, I love you. I changed myself to be someone you would want to be with. I did so much, and you're here not even two weeks with some dude you just met and you've already given it up?" James leaned against the wall and he found himself sinking down to the floor as he spoke.

"I mean do you even know anything about him? Other than that he lives in the dorms, and grew up here? What, do you honestly think he'll stay with you now that he's gotten what he wants?" James said icily, his eyes darkening.

"Tell me, what do you think?" he asked, really wanting to hear what she would say.

Evelyn almost dropped the phone, her hand shook so badly. She didn't know what to say. She tried to form thoughts but they were half-coherent and always ran before she caught up with them.

There was that guilt, burning her from the inside.

But there was also, unexpectedly, a sudden thrill, a devilish delight that he was saying all this. He'd hurt her so many times with this same tongue, viciously and unmercifully, and now this?

She said nothing.

"I mean its just the icing on the "fuck you" cake huh? James the bastard is incapable of loving anyone, and will blink a pretty blue eye just to get a lay?" James said flatly.

"And Evelyn, the girl who dances on tables with little next to nothing on while guys throw money at her like she's a stripper. Hey if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck it must be one right?" He added sarcastically.

James ran a hand through his hair, his eyes stung and he blinked hard, letting out an uneasy breath.

"Hey maybe all those times we ended up in the hospital, I should have just let you die? Yeah...I would have gotten over the grief of you being gone and the scars would heal, but I would trade that all for the fucked mind game you've been spinning for the last two years." James really couldn't believe he was saying any of this but he really didn't care.

"But hey I guess I was just the first one to find out huh? Whoo fucking hoo right? Hey post it on Facebook while you're at it, I'm sure Ash and Luke will be thrilled." He went on to say.

James sighed and his voice came out uneasy but he didn't mask it, he didn't care. "Its terrible to wish bad things on other people, since our lives sucked that badly, but I honestly hate you with every fiber of my being, the disgust and hatred I feel for you, you're scum to me and I honestly don't wish you well. I wish that you are miserable for the rest of your life and I hope that you feel even an ounce of what you've put me through these last couple of years ." He felt a tear roll down his cheek.

James wiped it away, no way was he shedding tears for this bitch, he lowered his voice to almost a whisper, "You don't deserve to have anyone love you."

Evelyn listened. She took in and felt full every single word he spat. She owed him that.

Because she'd made up her mind not to tell James the truth.

It was suddenly, startlingly clear why everything with Jake had led up to this point. James was now repeating every insult she'd ever thrown at him. She felt that lash, possibly what he must have felt all those times she'd told him she hated him. And recently, there had been a lot. She'd also told him she wished he were dead. That slap stung when he threw it back. She'd wished misery on him.

But she'd always hoped he'd fall in love. Elsewhere. Even if he was a heartless ass incapable of returning feeling (but she doubted it at times like these when he acted like he did have a heart), she'd never wished he'd die unloved. It had always been James telling her she was incapable of real friendships and relationships.

In some distant part of her mind, she registered that she was biting down so hard on her lip that blood trickled down her chin.

This was good. This was closure. It had all come full circle - and too much. They'd waited so long.

"You're right, I don't," she said softly, trying not to let the poor phone slip out of her grip. She cleared her throat. "But you do. Not by someone like me. Have a nice life, Jamesy."

Evelyn ended the call and then buried her face in her pillow and screamed one last woeful cry. Then she sat up, breathing hard, and headed for the bathroom to clear herself up before Jake noticed.

The call ended, and that was that. Every terrible thing he wanted to say, every little thing, he had finally said it--it was over.

James put his phone down on the floor, and he found himself lying there on his side.

For the first time in four years, James let the tears stream down his face, and he cried silently.

He hadn't cried since the death of his father but he cried now, because his heart hurt him so much.

All the pain it endured these last two years, it was too much. He rubbed his eyes and they stung so bad.

He didn't care; he just could honestly be careless. He was so numb and frozen on the inside.

James screamed into the carpet on the floor, muffling his breakdown as best he could.

He sat up and made his way to the couch, his eyes red he lay down, wishing he had never uttered a word to Evelyn Mathesson.

As she splashed water on her face and dabbed it away with a piece of toilet paper, Evelyn tried to absorb the enormity of everything that had just happened.

She leaned her hands on the bathroom counter and lifted her gaze to her reflection's eyes. Right now, with water clinging to her lashes and running down her cheeks, it looked eerily like she was still crying. Her eyes were darker than their usual emerald - a haunting green so dark it looked almost brown.

Evelyn watched her Adam's apple bobble in her throat as she swallowed painfully. "It's done?" she muttered, and then wondered why she'd made it sound like a question. Of course it was done. She didn't think she could hold up to another tongue-lashing from him.

Not of that caliber.

Evelyn reached up and undid her ponytail and then combed her tangled hair with her fingers. With raw eyes and flushed cheeks, her clothes in disarray after her and Jake's little scuffle, it was almost easy to believe she really had done what James was accusing her of.

Evelyn inhaled a few more times and then let her weary mind move on to the next question: why had Jake sent that to James?

She didn't know if she should go find the Spaniard and stab him with the nearest sharp object or kiss him for finally breaking her out of this vicious cycle. Why would Jake even do that? He didn't have ot pretend to be possessive in an open relationship. He didn't know it had been recording. And he hadn't had enough time to playback whatever had been recording and see if it was worth sending to James.

But James had a point. How well did she know Jake anyways?

Well enough, a surprisingly confident voice replied. That same voice which her egged her not to tell James the truth. It was that demon inside her, what James once called the "siren". But she did, in between her and Jake's spontaneous and random conversations, feel like she knew more about Jake than she'd realized she did. Including the random fact that Lola had gotten him more of some kinds of candy than the rest, probably because he liked that more.

Evelyn's reflection looked just like she had when she was twelve and her dad died and her stepmom told her she was living with her. Completely disoriented, not able to make head or tale of anything. She was distinctly aware a spot in her chest hurt with every thump of her heart.

But she didn't regret James saying all that he had. It was out of his system and maybe now, he'd be able to get over her and move on.

What about me? she wondered. She'd given him his release. She didn't know yet if she had hers.

She'd give herself one. She'd go out and find a cute guy and forget all about the boy with the pretty blue eyes who'd made her high school years both memorable and hell.

That was the plan.

Evelyn straightened, placed her scrunchie around her wrist, leaving her hair down, and then figured she'd go get her bag from Jake's room and redo her makeup before moving on with her life.

For real.

She stepped out of the bathroom and down the hall into Jake's room. She didn't know what to say to him - she couldn't believe a fairly decent guy like him would do such a thing - so she simply stepped in, ignoring Jake and Lucifer, and picked up her bag, slinging it on.

Jake watched Evelyn stalk in silently and grab her bag without even casting him a glance.

He knew the mass text wasn't something that would upset her that much.

Jake shot a dirty look at the cat and followed Evelyn.

"Listen I didn't think you would get that mad, its just a text. I'll tell everyone it was me." He said.