Freshmen Dorms

Evelyn's hands flew to her mouth - she wasn't being overdramatic. She'd met Jake's parents, and that one time had given her such a strong vibe of her own parents, that the idea of them kicking their only son out was horrifying.

I highly doubt Mom and Dad would have been all too pleased to hear about my own nuptials either, she reminded herself.

"Oh my God," she mumbled and lowered her hands. "I...why didn't you say anything?! You idiot! I could have fixed it for you!" she exclaimed. "I could have told them it was all my idea! I don't have anyone to impress! It wouldn't matter if they thought i was a - a - a cheap strumpet! They'd just feel bad I conned their naive son into getting hitched!"

Nova wiggled in Jake's arms and dropped to the ground, bounding over to a chewy ball.

Jacob couldn't help but laugh a little, "My mother knows I'm not a naive boy. Listen they've put up with a lot of my crazy shit these last few years Evelyn. I mean my dad yelled and whatever he was pissed I expected it. But it was my mom that decided she didn't have a son and sort of disowned me." Jacob felt empty since Nova had escaped his grip.

"I mean, she was the understanding one. She was the one to always forgive me. But I went too far this time. I know they'll get over it. Just not right away. So I'm kind of avoiding them." Jake stated.

She heaved a sigh, feeling a pit of guilt smarting against her stomach. "You moron," she muttered under her breath, frowning up at him. He looked defeated even as he spoke nonchalantly and Evelyn resisted an urge to give him another hug. "Look, this wasn't all your fault. In fact, the marriage thing was Seth and Ash's idea! You were drunk, you would have gone along if they'd told you to jump off Brooklyn Bridge!" she said, tugging at her bracelet again. "I can talk to them, apologize, whatever, make it so it's not on you, because believe it or not, boys are still naive no matter how experienced they claim to be. You're putty in girls' hands, Jake," she added slightly smugly.

"You don't have to tell me that twice. I'm very well aware, I'm weak when it comes to girls I like." Jake agreed with her there.

She threw up her hands and then glared at him. "You're missing my point! I can fix this for you! Look, give me your landline number. I'll call your mom right now."

"Evelyn don't, please I appreciate it and stuff. Just don't. She'll come around." Jake pleaded, he knew his mother needed time.

"She shouldn't have to look back on this and be disappointed," Evelyn argued. She frowned and reached over, grabbing his hand, fingers tightening on his. "Look, this will be a permanent ugly mark on your already long record. And this is something she clearly feels really mad about. So a little sugarcoating won't hurt. C'mon, you're her only kid, I doubt she wants to be mad at you and this will be a perfect excuse where she can pin the blame on your skanky ex-girlfriend," she added, grinning. "She needs that excuse."

Jacob sighed, looking down at Evelyn. "Okay fine, you can try talking to her. But she can be pretty stubborn." Jake warned her taking out his phone and looking for her number.

"I'll call tomorrow morning. It's already ten," Evelyn said, picking up her phone to save the number.

"Yeah my mom goes to bed at like eight on a Friday night. She should be free tomorrow, she usually chills at home on Saturdays." Jake noted.

Evelyn peered over at his phone, ignoring his proximity as she saved in the number. She drew back hastily. "Uh, right, I'll give her a call tomorrow." She hesitated and then said, "Can you use the door?"

"I would but I left my window open." Jake smirked.

Evelyn gaped at him. She frowned. "You promised me a rope!"

"I promised you that when we were together." Jake said, opening her window.

Evelyn flinched, falling silent and looked down at Nova as he flounced around their feet. She chewed her lower lip but couldn't really come up with anything to say. Her stomach twisted.

Jake realized what he said might have come off a little harsh. But he really couldn't help it. He really was doubting Evelyn even bothering to commit to this whole friendship thing. Because honestly every time she did this she'd avoid him for weeks on end, and hide out at Ashlee's or whatever. And then be all silent and stoic when he did run into her.

So she couldn't blame him for being that way.

"I was joking." Jake recovered. "I don't know if we even have any rope, hence why I haven't been using it."

"You have a right to be pissed, Jake," she responded simply, tucking her hands into her jeans pockets and moving her eyes up to his. She forced a smile. "Forget about it."

"I'm sorry I don't wanna be but I am. I can't help it. Listen though even though I sound like a broken record and have tried to leave a hundred times. I'll leave for real this time." Jake climbed out her window holding onto ledge, before stabilizing himself so he could walk back.

Evelyn watched him, leaning out her window, until he slid into his. She drew back and slid her window closed, before sinking down on the carpet by Nova and rubbing his head. "Jake's pissed," she informed the beagle glumly. "And I deserve that, but I'm not gonna go into something serious until I know I'm comfortable with it." Nova snorted at her and she frowned at him. "Oh, thanks for siding with me."

***

[[Ashton and Lola from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]]]

Lola raised an eyebrow at Ashton, "What are you talking about? Ryder doesn't even live here anymore. After Ryder ratted Jake out and sent him to juvie. Jake beat the crap out of him, and Ryder moved back to Tennessee. Why would you guys beat him up for something that happened almost two years ago?" Lola asked, confused.

Ashton halted and blinked down at her, pressing the elevator call button. "Uh..."

Wait a second...did she not know? But how? Seth had specifically said he neeeded Lola's help tracking Ryder.

Before the whole potential of being a father had arisen, of course. Seth probably forgot.

"Uh..." Ashton hesitated. God, he sucked at lying under pressure sometimes. "Because," he decided not to ruin her night. "I don't know, Jake said he texted you," he said hastily.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped in. Ashton hit 5.

***

Seth picked up his head when Jake's window slammed shut. He wiped drool off his cheek and got off the living room carpet, walking dizzily over to Jake's room. "Ooooh, Saaaaal?"

***

Evelyn was frowning at her Facebook, simply sufing but now...

Her finger hovered over the mouse. She clicked a few times, uncertain.

Is it complicated? No, it's not...

Was she single then? But she wasn't really looking. At all.

That didn't mean she wanted Jake to wait around. That was cruel. She bit her lower lip, puzzling over this, and then groaned and finally made up her mind.

RECENT ACTIVITY

• [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Evelyn went from being "it's complicated" to "single."
  
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• [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Evelyn went from being "in a relationship" to "it's complicated."
  
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Jake had come back and logged onto his computer when he did he noticed that Evelyn had already changed her status on Facebook back to single.

Honestly he was so fed up with all of this crap, he just decided he wasn't even gonna list himself anymore. That way people wouldn't bug him about it.

"Hey Seth." Jake greeted him gloomily.

***

"Ashton what are you talking about?" Lola wondered just what he was on about?

"Didn't he text you last semester?" Ashton asked, a little nervously, wondering if he was getting his stories mixed up. No, Seth had told him about that.

***

Seth paused and stalked over to Jake's seat, slinging an arm around him. "Wuzz with the long face, bro?"

"Text me about what?" Lola asked firmly. Getting a little irritated as well.

***

"Nothing Seth, just had a shitty day is all, work sucked and all of that." Jake lied, he figured Seth would find out soon enough.

Ashton shrugged. "Seth just said Ryder said hi to you? I don't know," he added honestly. To his relief, the elevator doors opined up on the fifth floor and he stepped out. "Wanna walk upstairs?

***

Seth squinted at Jake's monitor. "Yooo, wazz with da no face guy?" he asked, confused. He patted Jake's head. "You's not ugly, bro! Put up a picture!"

***

Evelyn was wondering the exact same thing. She had flicked back to Facebook, noted Jake's status and also noted there was no Jake Salazar is Single on her newsfeed.

Smart move. Rachel didn't have her added but she had Jake on her FB. Why, Evelyn didn't know. But she supposed it made it easier to insult her.

Evelyn looked over at Jake's name in the list of people online to chat. She stopped her hand from clicking his name and closed out the tab, ignoring the dull ache inside her as she got up and readied for bed.