Freshmen Dorms

She sat down beside Evelyn.

"I'm sorry, Evelyn," Tiffany apologized, "I know this is my fault. Do you wnna go back to your room now?"

James tried to break out of Jacob's grip but it was iron tight, Jacob noticed Nova was trying to get on this and shouted to the dog, "Nova, dejar!" The last thing he wanted was the dog to get squished in this madness, the dog responded by turning around and running to sit with Evelyn.

James tried to take this opportunity to turn this around on Jake, but Jake sensed this and just shoved him hard into the ground, hard.

"Fuck you Darko, I'm ending this shit I'm fucking sick of it. Get over it!" Jacob shouted down at him, he kicked him before turning and walking down the hall, and going to the stairwell because no way was he waiting for that crappy elevator.

James moaned almost not really believing this situation that had just happened, had he really just lost a fight?? He never loses fights!

James stormed down the hall after Jake, and shit he was about ready to push him down those fucking stairs.

People in the hallway were now backing away, giving James a wide berth as he went after Jake. No doubt someone would call security soon. Evelyn threw Tiffany a glance - yes, she really did just want to go lie down in her warm blanket and fight off her fever, but this wasn't going to solve itself.

It was her fault, after all. Tiffany hadn't foreseen this.

Evelyn used the wall for support and got up, wobbled and made her way down the hall to the boys. She was too slow so she broke out into a shaky run, almost falling over.

Why today? Why now?

She managed to catch James as he shoved through a group of terrified girls, and grabbed his arm. Yeah, she was fully aware he might just turn around and sock her - but James had never hit her.

Then again, there was always the first time.

She fought down that fear and tugged as hard as she could to get him to turn around (which, in her state, wasn't hard at all); he was so angry, he'd probably not noticed she was holding onto him. "Stop! This is stupid, James. Let him go,' she said as firmly as she could with her whole body aching and her voice wobbling in nervousness.

James felt someone grab onto him and he shoved them back, he looked back and saw Evelyn fall to the ground he didn't even know that it was her that had grabbed him and he felt sick for even doing something like that.

Jacob saw this and was enraged, sure Evelyn pissed him off but no way would he ever shove her like that, Jake went to hit James once more ignoring all the stares and even the "yeah they're here on the fifth floor fighting, get rid of them."

James had been standing near the entrance of the stairwell, and Jake had climbed up the few steps he had went down to punch James, and as he approached ready to fight, James had shoved Jake hard watching him tumble down the same steps he climbed onto the landing.

Jake landed onto the landing, of the stairs, hearing something crack in his arm, and security had reached James and Jake, "Alright that's enough! Come on you you're out of here!" They said as they took James out of the building, and one of the guards helped Jake up the stairs.

James looked back, feeling kind of good that he probably broke that jerks arm, but he really did feel guilty for having knocked Evelyn over, even though it had been on accident, the guards pushed him out and told him the usual he wasn't allowed to come back into the dorms for starting a fight, so he just sighed finding a bench and sitting down.

***
After the guards left, and people were saying that Jake should go to the hospital, he went to where Evelyn had followed and using his good arm he helped her up, "Here." He said quietly, although she probably would want to knock him out as well.

Tiffany knew that the right thing to do was to stay out of this. Even though one part of her was telling her to stay and fix the mess that she had created. She really didn't know what to do.

She instinctively took her cellphone out and got into the elevator.

She texted Luke.

Luke, I think I don't wanna be a part of this huge mess. Can I just see you in the lobby?

Evelyn was so speechless, she couldn't think of a single thing to say to him. She glanced back at where she had left Tiffany and Nova and shook her head at her friend to indicate she needn't worry.

Evelyn glanced back up at Jake, who was holding her arm, and said quietly, "You should really....get your arm checked out." Her voice came out flat - she was so in shock about the past few minutes.

Luke replied: Wtf? Come downstairs n tel me. James jus got escortd out n Im gona c if hes ok.

Tiffany felt her phone ring inside her bag and pulled it out to read his text.

She replied telling him she was almost there.

When she got downstairs, she saw Luke and couldn't help but forget everything else and feel happy to see him again.

"Luke, HI!" She spoke in a lively voice, "I'm so happy to see you...regardless of the not so favourable circumstances."

"Its fine, probably sprained." Jake had diagnosed himself, wincing. It was his left arm, James couldn't have handicapped his right arm which he doesn't ever need to use if it really was broken.

"I'll go in a little are you sure you're gonna be alright?" He asked, this whole thing was still kind of settling on him too, he was a bit shocked that all of this happened.

James had been dumped out on the front steps of the building and Luke had walked out just as soon as he heard Tiffany's voice.

He heaved a breath as she ran up to him. His smile would have been genuine if not for his urge to strangle James. "Hey Ti, you look good," he said wanly. He looked over at where James was. "What the frig happened? And why is he even here? I thought he was meeting you."

***

"I'm," Evelyn paused her robotic monotone and shook her head. "I'm sorry." She felt her eyes sting again, but she wasn't sure what it was this time. It wasn't like James had meant to do that. She'd seen the horror in his eyes when he turned aorund and saw her...so why did she feel a crazy urge to break down? She wasn't going to put Jake through that again though, so she sucked it up. Her eyes teared up when she looked up at him again. "I really am...I was just so angry."

"Yeah, so here's what had happened," Tiffany began, "I called you and then you didn't pick up but James did, and then I told him I had called to ask you to hang out, but he said he'll tell you that I called, but then I felt that I wasn't asking him so I did, but Evelyn was already with me. So Evelyn decided to not hang out, obviously, so I suggested that I drop her off to her apartment and then wait there with her until James came. She thought I'd wait for James to come to her apartment, while I had thought I'd just go down to the lobby when he arrived. So then Evelyn decided to go to her friends. And I had to wait at Evelyn's. And then I was waiting for James when you called, and then I was talking to you, when I heard the noise, and I go outside and James was going at it with that guy."

She caught her breathe.

"That's all I know," She sighed, "Luke, dude, I feel awful. Can we walk around and talk? Maybe you can make some sense out of it."

Jake had a feeling he was being used there really was no other reason for her to plant a kiss on him, but he just felt a mix of stuff, on top of the throbbing pain of his right arm, on top of having to fight that moron, and all of this he did the only thing he could think of.

"So basically you made out with me, to piss off James and have him break my arm? Are you kidding me?! Do you know much shit I've been through these last two weeks with you? Why can't you two just be fucking normal and talk to each other! Don't you see that you're both hurting all of your damn friends! Shit!" Jake said kicking the wall next to him.

He glared down at Evelyn, "I mean fuck Evelyn... I know I'm the last damn person to talk about maturity and solving problems and shit, but I just fought your stupid ex and he broke my fucking arm all because you thought "hey lets piss off this guy by kissing Jake." Seriously, keep Nova, and just don't talk to to me anymore! I'm sick of all of this stupid bullshit!" He shouted.

Jacob turned and walked away he needed to get away from this stupid crap, and get his arm checked out.

Luke threw another glance at where James sat, still as a statue a few meters away. His eyes looked stony, even from this distance. Instinct made Luke want to go over and work it out with him but knowing James, he'd probably need a moment to cool down.

He'd been fighting Jake, no doubt. What had happened to provoke him this time? As far as Luke knew, Evelyn was at some friend's place so Jake had probably said something to provoke him.

Luke looked down at Tiffany and flashed a weak smile. "Yeah, sure. Probably not the best welcome to New York, huh?" He glanced over at James again, worried, and then led Tiffany toward the street.

[[Luke and Tiffany to Streets of Manhattan]]
***

Evelyn's jaw dropped. Of course, that's what he'd make of this situation. Then again, she had been aware she was using him.

Wasn't she? She felt so damned confused already and him screaming at her wasn't helping any. Hell, she'd been angry at James. But she'd honestly not wanted to involve Jake. At all. In fact, she'd been happy they ended things because she felt sick of getting him into this drama. So why had she done that?

Because I'm an evil ho. Then she shouldn't feel guilty. And she shouldn't feel sick that he thought she was using him. But she did. So very much.

She groaned aloud and followed after him. Again. She scooped up Nova before security found him and held him in her arms to shield him from their view.

The crowd scattered, giving them dismayed looks (Jake's yelling was going to give them all the lowdown they needed on this situation).

The guards dispersed the crowd soon and Evelyn caught up to the tall Spaniard before he reached his suite. She half-wondered what she was going to do, but her typical Evelyn-instinct kicked in so she simply grabbed his arm and hoped he wouldn't shrug her off. She could barely stand up straight right now - James' shove had made her hit the ground hard and pain wracked up her side - and her face was flushed with fever. Her eyes blurred in pain ad she was probably a sweaty mess right now as her body fought down the heat she was giving off.

Evelyn wished she had a scrunchie to push her hair out of her face, wanting to just lie down right here and pass out. "I wasn't using you," she said quietly. She glanced behind her to ensure security wouldn't spot Nova.

Jake heard that and couldn't believe she was saying that, he felt his stomach turn and was starting to feel bad again. But he shouldn't he shouldn't feel bad because she used him, she used him just to make James feel like shit, and of course he ended up a casualty in their stupid game.

He didn't look at her, and instead slid his arm out of her grip, "You're delirious, and sick you don't even know what you're saying." He said, hoping that it was because of her stupid sickness she was saying these things. He couldn't handle something like this right now.

"Maybe," Evelyn said just as softly as before. Her insides lurched as she said this, like they didn't agree. She wasn't trying to sound dead. She really couldn't muster up the energy. She literally felt so drained she didn't know how she'd make the walk back to her room.

Oh God, I am delirious. That explains so much. She set Nova down, more like dropped him clumsily. "We already agreed you'd keep him. Just...I'm gonna go. I'm sorry though," she finished dazedly, blinking hard to keep her headache back.

Why? Why was he still being so damn nice even after she had used him like that? Jake figured there was clearly something with him, but he opened his door a little and watched Nova run in, so security wouldn't see the small puppy running loose in the hallways.

Using his good arm, he slung Evelyn's arm around his shoulder, and helped her back to her dorm, thankfully their door had been open in all of this drama and he took her to her room and set her down on her bed.

"Here last thing I do for you Red." He said quietly, turning to leave.

Evelyn immediately collapsed back on her pillows, relief surging through her body at the instant load off her feet. She tilted her chin up just as Jake turned ot head out. She still felt hopelessly confused by the chaos in her mind.

She couldn't let him go with this misunderstanding though. That would be wrong. Then again, hadn't she just wronged James, so much? Why did she only half-regret it? She hadn't meant to use Jake. Not like that. She hadn't even thought she was using him, but wasn't she? Wasn't that what it was?

"I wasn't," she said abruptly, already feeling her voice strengthen now that she was lying down. "I wasn't using you. I never meant to either."

Don't you even stop, turn around and keep walking. Ignore her! Red flag, Alert! ayuda! GO AWAY!!


Jacob's thoughts were yelling at him or his conscience, normally he would take these warning signs and high tail it out of there. He stopped in his tracks, something inside him felt like butterflies in his stomach. He drew out a small breath, and said quietly again, "Evelyn." He decided to drop her nicknames and stick to using her name.

"Evelyn you're sick, just get some rest okay?" He ignored this, he was going to ignore all of these weird mixed feelings he was getting from Evelyn she was sick, and she was just saying things she didn't mean. Of course she meant to use him, that was the whole plan, to make James jealous or whatever it was.

He shouldn't have even yelled at her, because it was the truth. "Its okay Evelyn, that was the point of this wasn't it? You were supposed to piss off James and you did. I shouldn't even be mad, so just go to sleep and get better." His voice sounded small, he didn't get this, but the warning signals were going off and he just needed to get out of there.

Evelyn's delirious mind grew angry at this. Was he calling her a liar? She struggled a bit, but finally managed to lift herself up on her elbows, panting at the effort that took. Jake hadn't turned around but she could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was extremely tense.

"Why is it so hard for you to believe?" she asked irritably. Her fever was definitely making her cranky. This stupidly delusional boy was making it worse. "I'm not some evil overlord out to ruin your life. Not this time," she amended. "Why can't you believe me? It was all your fault." She grew angrier now. "Why couldn't you just be a tool, Sal? Why couldn't you just take Nova and walk off? Why are you even nice to me at all? Why'd you hug me? Why'd you even kiss me back when you had to know it would piss James off even more?"

She was so angry now, her eyes were overfilling, both with feverish tears and anger. She lifted an arm and swiped at them.

Jacob turned and faced her, she really did look sick and her propped up on her elbows and shouting like a banshee furthered this, he didn't know why he did any of this he was just trying to block this out and leave, but he couldn't! Because for some reason he was just being drawn here.

"I don't know! Okay I just don't know why I did any of it okay?! I can't explain it and its freaking me out alright?! I want to leave but, just..." He caught her green eyes in his dark ones and cast his eyes to the wall instead. Why, why now did she have to cry? Couldn't she have picked a better time to cry, maybe when he wasn't around?

"Okay I can't explain why I kissed you back... or you know what its fine its over, I take Nova, we made James mad, its just as much my fault as it is yours okay? I'm sorry I helped you, and I'm sorry I got involved." Jake said his voice wavered slightly, "I'm leaving and this, whatever this is its over okay?"

Jacob turned this time and he left he didn't want to hear what she was going to say, he just needed to get out and its what he did, he walked out of her dorm room closing the door behind him he stood out in the hallway not sure what to do now but he was just relieved that he had gotten out.

Yes, that was definitely it.

He couldn't have made that point clearer. And she honestly should have been relieved. Hopefully now James and Jake would want nothing to do with her. Not that Jake ever really had. He was just caught in this mess by accident. So it really did make sense he'd want out.

Evelyn inhaled slowly and then dropped back down, then rolled over onto her side and curled up under her blanket, feeling chills run down her whole body. She suddenly wished she had Nova's comforting presence here. Or hell, even Ashlee's obnoxious one would do. But then she remembered she was mad at Ashlee. She forgot why. But she could excuse that now. She felt so cold. Evelyn wrapped her arms around herself and wondered what was going through James' mind. Her chest contracted and it was suddenly so hard to breathe. She stopped herself before her mind wandered to Jake. Colder now. She really, really didn't even want to think about him any more. She shouldn't even have reason to. That was all done and gone. She buried her head under her pillow to muffle the sudden sniffle that came quietly no matter how much she fought it down.

***

Seth was getting just a little worried now. He and the twins had broken out the tequila quite early. It was barely four. They were now playing an alcohol-enhanced game of poker. He wondered if Jake was all right. Had he and Red finally killed each other or what?

"Fold," Ashton muttered, staring at the money chips Seth had just placed in the main pile.

Jacob had exited the suite, as he walked back to his room he tried to unbend his arm in the position it was currently in and moaned loudly, it still hurt like hell but he was sure it was only a sprain.

He couldn't explain why after talking to Evelyn just now still left him with all these weird chills, and things but he wasn't in the mood to confront that, he knew he had left his wallet back in their dorm and he needed it so he could fill out forms at the hospital.

Boy was his mom gonna be thrilled to hear this one.

Jacob walked back into their suite, and was a bit surprised that Seth and the twins were like how they were earlier except maybe slightly drunker and playing poker and judging by Seth's smirk, they were both losing.

Jake opened the door to his room, and went in and grabbed his wallet off his nightstand.

"Going to the hospital, I'll be back later." He said nonchalantly.

Seth glanced up from where he was trying to get Nova to not eat his poker hand. His eyes landed on Jake's arm but this wasn't really anything new. "Let me guess, Red socked you in the arm so hard you fell down three floors over the stairwell railing?"

Ashton snickered but then caught sight of Jake's expression. The guy was a virtual stranger to him but his eyes looked a hell of a lot more disturbed than if he'd just been sucker-punched by his pseudo-girlfriend.

Antonio laughed at Seth looking back at Jake, and the guy did look like he had been put through the ringer, "You okay dude?" He asked, he knew that him and Evelyn weren't dating but holy crap if she did that to him.

Jacob sighed he didn't really feel like telling the whole damn story so he just made it as brief as he could, "Long story short, Evelyn gave me Nova, James was here for I don't know what reason. Me and him fought because she wanted to piss him off so she kissed me, James and I fought, security came to try and break up our fight, James came after me he knocked her over, I went to punch him and he pushed me down the stairs."

He caught his breath, "Security escorted him out, and now I'm going to get my arm checked out."

There was a momentary pause. Ashton looked confused. Seth couldn't really think of anything ot say either.

"You know what," he said finally, lifting his poker hand away from the puppy, "You shoulda just let her keep her damn mutt and let us assume she punched you." He really didn't know what to think. Why had Jake even let Evelyn kiss him? He wasn't stupid. he had to have known what James might do.

It was clear it didn't take much to provoke James when it came to that damned redhead/brunette.

"Whatever Seth." Jake mumbled, walking out of their suite he really wasn't in the mood to listen to him if anything he was hoping the freaking doctor would give him real strong pain medication he wanted to sleep.

[[Jake to The Hospital]]

***

James had really already had enough of this day, he couldn't believe all of this that just happened. He really felt like absolute crap for having knocked over Evelyn, hell he even felt a little bad for shoving Jake down a flight of stairs.

He didn't blame Jake for coming after him, because had it been the other way around he was sure Jake would have done the same to him, James finally got up from the bench and since he had been ditched by Tiffany and Luke he figured he might as well head back to the apartment.

[[James back to the apartment]]