< Chapter 18: New & Old Acquaintances >

♥ Jamie's POV: ♥

I twirled my fingers around in a set motion, repeating the process until my hair was nicely braided. Once secured with a hair-tie, I stared at myself in the mirror, eyeing myself up and down.

"Mom!" I shouted, exiting my room. "Mommy! Mother!"

"Yes, honey?" she yelled back. I made it downstairs where I found my Mom placing Jason on the baby seat.

"Are you sure you'll be alright with Jason while I'm gone?" I asked worriedly. Somehow, it doesn't feel right when I'm away from Jason for too long. He needs me, and in a way I need him too. He's the closest thing I've got to feeling like I'm with Justin. After all, I can tell he's going to be so much like his father.

"Darling, I told you it's alright. You haven't gone out with friends much and, regardless of the baby, you have to enjoy your youth once in a while," she said.

I let out a quiet sigh and picked up my blue cross-body purse before grabbing my keys and slipping them inside the front pocket.

"I'll be back before it gets dark," I told her. "If you need help with him, just call me."

"What, you think I can't handle one baby? I practically raised you and Justin both," she smirked proudly.

I laughed and nodded at her. "Alright fine, you win."

When I stepped outside the house, my body felt stiff. I felt the strangest I've ever felt in my entire life. Here I am, about to have a nice day with my friends, except I'm a mother who's engaged to her best friend.

Not to mention I cheated on him. Even though I actually didn't. But I still did. But.. ugh.

I want to crawl into a hole and sleep my life away.

But I can't do that today. We all promised Chaz we'd meet this new girlfriend he's excited about, and we all made plans to meet at the ice rink at 3:00pm. Which means I have about half an hour to get there.

Since that's more than enough time, I decided to walk all the way to the rink. The air was fresh and the sun was out, so I really had nothing better to do.

I clenched my hands into fists and continued walking down the street, looking up at my surroundings. I began to imagine that Justin was next to me, his brown eyes gazing into me, his smile reassuring me that everything was alright.

I shook my head and stopped in my tracks. "No," I said to myself out loud. "Try not to think of him, Jamie. It only makes it harder."

"Think of who?"

I gasped quietly and turned around, wondering who it was that heard me speaking to myself.

My eyes widened and I took a step back in surprise. "Megan?! How are you here?"

"We haven't seen each other in a while and this is how you greet me?" she teased, pulling me into a hug. I hugged her back before pulling away and looking at her. "You look cute today. Did you get yourself a date?"

"I—"

"I'm just kidding," she laughed, locking arms with me. "I know Justin's on tour so I wanted to come by and keep you company. I guess I just ran into you instead."

"Well I'm glad you're here to take my mind off things, at least," I admitted, beginning to walk forward with her. "Our friends are going ice skating to meet Chaz's new girlfriend, by the way. That's where I'm going."

"Chaz has a girlfriend?!" she almost shouted in surprise.

"He does now, I guess," I smiled at her. She was her usual self today, and I was happy to see nothing's changed. "You wanna come? I'm sure they won't mind."

"Oh, I don't want to butt in there uninvited," she shook her head in disagreement.

"But everyone would want you there," I pleaded. "Come on, please? We all haven't seen you in so long."

Megan glanced at me with temptation. "Will there be food?"

"There will be food."

"ALRIGHT, I'm definitely going," she waved a hand in the air in victory. We both laughed and engaged into a long conversation, just catching up on things.

Before we knew it, we were outside the building with the indoor ice rink. We were a couple of minutes early, but we spotted Ryan sitting on one of the benches, playing a game on his phone.

"Look who's early," I smiled as we skipped over to him. Ryan looked up from the screen.

"Megan?" he blinked a couple of times, confused to see her all of a sudden.

"Nice to see you too," Megan rolled her eyes with a goofy smile on her face. We chatted until Phoebe showed up, and Chaz later arrived right on time. He actually looked like he cleaned up nicely for once, and he greeted Megan and the rest of us with excitement. He was holding the hand of a very pretty girl that looked around our age, whom I rightfully assumed to be Hanna.

She had the most stunning, black hair I've ever seen and her eyes were a strong, emerald green capable of captivating anyone's attention at any time. My jaw dropped slightly. She was gorgeous.

"Guys, this is my girlfriend, Hanna Leith," he announced proudly. "Hanna, these are my friends."

"Hi," Hanna waved at us. Her voice was a bit quiet and shy, but I could tell she was just nervous to meet us.

"Hey Hanna, it's so nice to finally meet you!" Phoebe was the first one to speak. They shook hands and I stepped up next.

"So I guess you two established you're in a legit relationship now," I smiled, reaching my hand out. "I'm Jamie Hughes."

"Nice to meet you," she spoke softly, firmly shaking my hand. I could tell she knew who we were, but didn't want to bring up the fact that we're best friends with a celebrity. I guess she wants to have a normal day with us, and because of that I think I like her already.

After all the not-so-formal introductions, the real fun began. We went inside and a wave of nostalgia washed over me. This is the ice rink we always go to for ice skating. Not to mention, Justin and I's first genuine date was in this very spot.

I sighed and shook my head again. Try not to think about him.

"Everyone ready?" Chaz shouted as he propped himself up on the rink and lent Hanna a hand.

"I'm right behind you!" Megan called after him, stepping onto the rink and immediately slipping forward.

"Whoa," Chaz grabbed her from falling, "You're as reckless as ever."

Megan shot him a glare and Chaz grinned, immediately adding, "I'm kidding."

"Give her a break," Ryan stepped in next. "She hasn't skated in forever."

"Exactly," Megan nodded, "Thank you, Ryan." She playfully glared at Chaz again and I laughed. Glad to see Megan's fitting back in well.

When I finally got my ice skates on, Phoebe and I stepped into the rink together and we skated for a while, talking about different things. I asked her how Noah was doing, and usually she'd return the favor and ask about Justin, but this time she didn't, probably because she knew I didn't want to think about him since I'd start missing him.

Suddenly, an Ariana Grande song blasted through the speakers, and Chaz immediately began dancing wildly, as he always does. Hanna almost died from laughter, and when she finally calmed down, she joined her boyfriend. When Ryan and Megan decided to dance as well, Phoebe and I had no choice but to join, and suddenly we were all engaged in an insane dance battle.

We were lucky there were only 2 other people inside the ice rink with us, and they were a lot older than us, so they were probably shaking their heads and murmuring to themselves. We kept at it until one of Justin's songs began playing, and my friends all cheered as I looked up in shock.

So much for not thinking about him..

We were skating all around the rink, racing back and forth and dancing and twirling all over the place. But the more I heard his voice through the speakers, the more I longed to have him next to me, and the more I missed his touch, and the way he says my name. I wanted desperately to call him at that instant, but I knew he's busy and that he'd call me when he has the time for it.

Before I knew it, I was upset. Even though I was having so much fun today, I couldn't help but think about Justin. I felt myself getting distracted, and suddenly, someone crashed into me. Hard.

"Oh my god!" I heard a screech. "I am so, so sorry! I wasn't looking!"

It all happened in an instant. I tumbled backwards and smashed into the wall, feeling my body drop to the icey floor head first. My vision blacked out for about 3 seconds before I opened them again, and the roof above me was blurry.

"Whoa, whoa, she's bleeding!" I heard Ryan yell.

"Quick, call an ambulance!" Hanna's voice resonated in my ears.

"I'm already on it!" Was that Phoebe's voice?

I felt my entire body in pain. So much for having fun.

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#PlotTwist :3

Hey guys! Like I mentioned in my other book I'm Only Human, I'm back from my hiatus!

I apologize for not updating in a while but, like I said before, there's been stuff I've had to deal with.

But I'm back now and now that IOH is officially over, I'll be updating this book more often. I won't have a set schedule such as the weekly updates like I used to, because I really just want to ease into it. But hey, this means I might update like 3 times a week if I really feel like it.

I hope you guys are excited to continue this story as much as I am :)

So what did you think about this chapter? Hanna and Megan made their appearances! But agh, poor Jamie ;)

- Nina xx