Lunch time. I tried to avoid Morgan, honestly, I did. But her long legs move faster than I remember. Ember was across the lunch room with our friends, I wanted so badly to go explain everything to her, but Morgan caught and tugged me away before I could. I know Ember saw. At least I trusted Alex and Zack wouldn't tell her too much about the blonde girl in front of me. Ember needed to hear everything come from my mouth, not theirs.


"So, I got the contract. Did a few shoots and whatnot," Morgan smiled, twirling her blonde hair between her freshly painted nails. "They let me come home to graduate. Do you know what that means, Jacky? You can come back with me! You and the guys. I just know you'll make it LA! We could be famous together, baby!"


Was I seriously considering her offer? I think, that maybe, I was. Until I saw Ember storm from her table. There was a voice inside of my head telling me to go after, but I also knew that she needed her space and this was a conversation we needed to have away from the public eye. We couldn't risk letting our relationship get out right now. Rian and Cass still didn't even know.


"Look, Morgan.. A lot has changed since you've been gone. You chose your dream over me and that's something I never would have done with you."


"Jack, I didn't chose modeling over you. I promised I'd come back for you and here I am. And now I'm offering you something great in return. Baby, please," she placed her hand on top of mine. From the corner of my eye, I could see Alex, Rian, Zack and Cass all staring me down. "Just give us another chance. Neither of us even got closure. We can be better this time. We can be real."


Shit, her voice sounded so sweet and promising. Just a few months ago, hearing her call me baby was the highlight of my day, but now it just made me feel sick. I missed Morgan - I admit that - But I loved Ember. And Ember would never be okay with me being friends with Morgan. More than that, I can't tell Morgan about Ember so there's nothing to stop her from openly trying to get back into my heart, and my pants.


"I met someone while you were gone," I managed to say, chosing my words carefully. "She's the complete opposite of you and she makes me happy."


"Are you dating her?"


"Kind of. She, uh.. Doesn't go to this school?"


Morgan looked crushed at first, which meant she bought into my lie, but then her face lit up.
Oh God, I know that face. She won't stop until she gets what she wants, she never does.


"Then what she doesn't know won't hurt her." And that's when the bell rang, leaving me a sweaty, confused mess. "See you later, babe."


Morgan leaned over to kiss my cheek. A shiver went down my spine as I wiped away her lip gloss. I couldn't fall back into her trap again. Sure, she was everything to me once but now someone else has my heart. Someone who was going to kill me on the ride home.


Knowing that Ember and I shared the next few classes, I decided to skip. What surprised me was seeing Alex and Zack already waiting for me by my car. Growling to myself, I slid in the driver's seat and laid it back, pretending not to hear them when they mocked my actions.


We all just laid there for a while, not speaking. They understood that I had a lot to take in right now. I thought of what it was like when I was with Morgan, the way everyone looked at me with jealous eyes. The way she treated me like a Prince.. The way we didn't have to hide our relationship.


And then I thought of Ember. The girl who showed up and mended my broken heart when I thought it was already mended. The fireball that kept me on my toes, that I'd die for if I had to. It meant something to me that, despite everything, we still wanted to be together.


"Jack, you have to tell her what's going on," Alex mumbled from his seat. "She's freaking out. Probably thinks you're already screwing Morgan again."


"Did you tell her who Morgan was?"


"No," Zack spoke this time. "We're leaving that to you. Besides, I think Ember could take her, and as hot as that would be, we don't need the entire school to know that your sister is beating up your ex because she's jealous."


"Dudes. Can we stop calling her my sister now?"


"I think it's kind of hot," Alex nudged me. "You're banging your sister."


"I don't recall saying anything about us having sexual relations."


"Come off it," Zack snorted, flicking me in the head. "She has that girl look on her face. Or, she did, until Morgan showed up. You're banging your.. Ember."


"I'm sure after I tell her about Morgan there will be no more banging of anyone anytime soon."


"Speaking of," Alex muttered, sitting up in his seat so he could look out of the window. "School just let out. I'm just gonna slip into my car so I'm not here when Ember punches you."


"I'm going with."


A loud groan escaped my lips as I pulled my seat up. My fingers were tapping against the steering wheel and I was really hoping Ember still wanted a ride, because if she didn't, that means Morgan would have enough time to stop my car and corner me again. I sat there for at least ten minutes, nervous that Ember actually didn't want to ride home with me, because Rian and Cass were already getting into Alex's car. Asking them where Ember was had crossed my mind, but Alex already mentioned how angry she'd been today and I didn't want to make them question our relationship before I could tell them about it.


Finally, I spotted Ember walking across the parking lot. She seemed happy, talking to a girl with red hair that I knew to be Hayley. She was a pretty down-to-earth chick but we never really hung out outside of school, unless we were going to the same party. I'd rather Ember be friends with her than someone like Morgan, anyway.


Hayley gave Ember a small hug before she waved her off, and it was the I noticed a wave of confusion wash over my girlfriend again. When she got closer to my car, I started the engine, wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible. Ember must have picked up on that because she slid right into the car without saying goodbye to the guys and Cass.



"I'm trying really hard not to be mad at you," Ember began, watching the parking lot disappear, "but I really need to know who that was and why she hugged you like that. Better yet, why you've been avoiding me since she showed up."


"That's Morgan. That's the ex."


Ember nodded, as if she already knew that's what I was going to say. I slowed the car down a bit, since there were no other cars around us and we needed to talk this out before we got home.


"Why'd you break up?"


"Uh," I didn't want to have this talk with her, but it couldn't be avoided. Ember and I had never talked about our past.. Anything, before. Lovers, friends, ex's. It was all a mystery. "She got this modeling contract and had to move to LA."


"Figures," Ember growled. "How long were you with her?"


"A year, give or take a week or two. But when she got the contract, that was it. We were done."


"But you didn't want to be, did you?"


"Well.. No, it was just so sudden. But that doesn't mean it wasn't for the best. I mean, I was going to meet you regardless and I'm pretty sure we would have ended up together whether or not Morgan had still been in the picture."


We were close to the house now and I knew Ember was still on edge about Morgan. I couldn't blame her, honestly. I would freak out when guys even tried to hit on her.


"When did you break up, Jack?"


"About," I sighed, putting on the blinker and gripping the steering wheel. "About three weeks before the wedding."


Her face fell. I knew there wasn't much time in between Morgan and I breaking up and me falling for Ember, but that shouldn't even matter. Ember was the one I wanted to be with. Ember was where I belonged. But she didn't seem to think so.


"So I was just a rebound?" Ember questioned, her fingers wrapping around the handle for her door. "So she could just show up again and steal you back. Thanks for the heads up, Jack."


She flew out of the car and slammed the door behind her. Growling, I ripped the keys out and followed after her, but I couldn't catch up. She was in the house and on the couch beside her dad before I could even get a word out.


Fucking great.

Notes

Poor Jack and Ember. ):