Author's POV

After the girls and boys basketball team played their game of scrimmage, the principal of the school took the mic as the audience quieted down.

"Thank you to everyone that came out this fine afternoon to enjoy games of basketball as well as games of bean bag toss."

The crowd laughs at the principal's corny joke.

"I want to thank all of our staff and teachers that helped with this last minute project; cafeteria workers that made a few snacks for you all; the cheer squad who baked some delicious goods for us; the basketball teams here, of course; and I want to thank the Wesley High Bumblebees for showing school spirit and putting together this wonderful fundraiser event. As you know, Christmas is next week for those who celebrate it, and though you'll be giving and receiving gifts for the next few days, one lucky student from Wesley High will be getting a gift early. Julie, please tell the audience the news," the principal announces.

The principal passes the mic to Julie and the crowd cheers.

"Thank you. Hi, everyone. My name is Julie Martinez, I'm a senior at Wesley High, and a current member of the cheer squad. I approached our principal and told him about my idea for this event today, because I think our school needed a good reason to come together, enjoy sports and games and good food, and support one another in a safe space. I'm super thankful that he agreed to this idea, because it turned out wonderfully! What do you all think?"

As Julie raises the question, the crowd gives a round of applause. After everyone is quiet, she begins again with a huge smile on her face.

"I'm excited to make this next announcement so without further ado... let's get to the chase! Some lovely math teachers of ours gladly counted the amount of donations collected from today's ticket sales and concession sales and came up with a huge amount. The total amount of money collected for the school this afternoon is... $4,000!"

The crowd goes wild.

"But that's not all. Half of the fundraising money will go to one lucky student who is very deserving of the money, I must say. You actually might've seen him scoring a few points during the scrimmage game today. He's a member of the Wesley High varsity boys basketball team."

Among the crowd, the guys of the boys basketball team look around at each other in disbelief about what they're hearing. They seem excited.

"Ladies and gentlemen, help me congratulate... Jake Ruiz!"

Jake gets up from his place on the bleachers and looks extremely shocked as his teammates pat him on the back and cheer him on. They push him up towards the center of the gym as the crowd gives another round of applause. As Jake approaches the principal and Julie, she passes him the mic and asks if he wants to say anything.

"I'm completely shocked. Um... thank you for this. I appreciate it very much," Jake says. His teammates run and give him a group hug.

"And that's a wrap. Thank you again, everybody! Drive safe and have a nice holiday!" Julie remarks with lots of energy, waving to the crowd as more cheers fill the gymnasium.

***

JULIE's POV

After everyone was gone and we finished cleaning up, I looked for Jake so I could congratulate him once again. Walking down one of the school's hallways, I see him giving his last interview to the local news channel. When the news people leave, I run up to him.

"Jake! Hey, congratulations!"

"Thanks, Julie. You did it. You actually put this whole thing together... impressive," he says while wearing a huge smile. Wow, I never noticed he had dimples.

"I try. I mean, thank you," I smile back.

"$4,000... wow. That'll definitely help. But, UCLA is almost ten times that much. I could get into a community college. Maybe apply for a loan... it might just work. But my dreams of UCLA might have to go down the drain," he says in defeat.

"It doesn't have to. I wanna do you a favor," I look into his eyes and place my hands on his shoulders.

"What?"

"I can get my parents to give you a check for $20,000..."

"...whoa, what? No."

"Yep. I want you to come to my house with me so we can get the check cut and make a deal. I promised you I'd help you out, so..." I say.

"Yes, and you have. But... I don't need you're money," Jake states while frowning a bit. "I don't need you or your parents buying my college education like... like I can't take care of myself--"

"Jake, just trust me. Let me do this kind act for you. It's really no big deal."

"But why? So you can put it down on your list of volunteer hours? I'm not a charity case," he sucks his teeth and shakes his head.

"I know! You're a smart, charismatic, talented young guy that deserves to be taken care of for once in his life. So... please." I flash my signature smile and bat my eyelashes. He sighs and looks at me, still skeptical. "Just come to my house and at least let me tell you more details. I also might've pocketed the last of the cheer team's bake sale brownies and might be willing to share..."

I show him my pocket full of baked goodies in ziploc bags. After I do a little shimmy, he grins.

"You sure know how to persuade someone," he chuckles.

"Aye, what can I say. The charm doesn't lie," I confidently reply. He chuckles again.

"...your house?" He asks.

"Aaaaaah! Yes! Come on, my parents can't wait to meet you. It'll be fun!"

I pull his arm and skip out of the school doors towards the parking lot before he can refuse. I passed by Chris and Diggy on the way out. Both of them looked at me confused. I told them that I had some business matters to take care of and that I'd hit them up later. Then, Jake and I got into our separate cars and drove to my house.

DIGGY's POV

Julie just left with Jake. She looked all happy and she was skipping. It was kinda weird, especially since what happened yesterday. Julie texted me and told me that we were over. For good. No explanations, no nothing. I don't know why she broke up with me, but I want to find out.

Now, Diggy Simmons never chases girls, but I felt the need to follow her to her house after the fundraiser. I have some things I want to say to her.

***

JULIE's POV

~At Home~

"It's so nice to meet you, Jacob. We're glad to help you with your financial problems, even though we've never had the chance to meet you until now," my mother says with a big smile.

"You can call me Jake, and thank you Mr. and Mrs. Martinez," Jake politely responds.

"Well, here is the contract that we typed up, so you can take a look at it so you know what you're agreeing to," my father starts to explain, getting right down to business. We're all standing around the kitchen table as my parents give Jake more details about the money deal. "Whenever a big amount of money is being shared with another company, there must be a record of it and an agreement between both partners, so there won't be any problems."

"So, I'm a company?" Jake asks in a defensive tone.

"No. Just saying when my business partners with another business, that's what we have to do. It's called crossing your T's and dotting your I's to make sure we're all on the same page," my father replies, never missing a beat.

"Yeah. Don't worry, my parents are true business owners. They've been making contracts for years!" I assure Jake. 

When he finishes skimming over the contract, I grab onto his arm and pull him upstairs to my room. I tell him that he can sign it in my room so I can help explain any questions he has.

***

"Honestly, I just wanted to get you away from my parents. They can be smothering at times," I add with a dramatic eye roll.

"They're not too bad," Jake says with a shrug.

I smile and sit on my bed, patting a comfy spot next to me.

"Here, take a seat. Welcome to my abode..." I say with a grin.

"Ah, okay..." He replies, seeming a little hesitant, but he walks to the bed and sits beside me. He grips the contract between his fingers while looking down at it.

"Welp, since you've read everything, you just need to sign now. But before you do, there's one more thing..."

"What's that?"

"Close your eyes," I smile.

"Don't kill me or nothing, okay?" He says as he leans back a little.

I giggle and reply, "I won't. Now close your eyes."

He does as I say and this gives me a chance to admire his beautiful face. I always thought he was cute since I saw him during basketball practice. Placing my hand on his cheek, I lean in and kiss him with no regrets. He quickly pulls away and opens his eyes.

"Julie, what are you doing?"

"Relax, Jake." Rubbing his arm, I try to kiss him again, but he moves back.

"Stop! What are you doing?" He raises his voice a bit, wiping my lip gloss from his lips.

"Do you want $20,000 or not?" I say with an attitude. I expected him to react differently.

"Are you a prostitute or something? You want me to make out with you in order to get money from you?!"

"Make out... or if it goes any further, I wouldn't mind," I reply with a smirk.

"You're sick. What the hell? Forget your stupid money, I'm leaving!" 

Jake tries to stand up, but I won't let him. I grab him tightly and push him back onto the bed, climbing on top of him. I begin to kiss all over his cheek and try lifting up his shirt as he struggles to get off the bed. I wish he wasn't so squirmy -- I really need this right now.

DIGGY's POV

Mr. and Mrs. Martinez let me into the house. They asked me a few questions that I quickly answered before they started talking about how they love me and their daughter together. Talking about ever since I've been with her, she's been extremely happy, and I'm glad that you're a part of the family. Mr. Martinez, sipping his glass of wine, didn't look too moved by what his wife was saying. He just sat in his chair, thinking about whatever. Growing impatient, I asked Mrs. Martinez if Julie was upstairs in her room. She replied that she was helping Jacob sign a contract. What contract? And who's Jacob?

As I walked up the stairs to the second floor, I called Julie's name, but she didn't answer. Standing in front of her bedroom door, I heard a male's voice saying 'stop'. I knocked, then opened the door to find Julie kissing all over Jake.

"Jake? Julie?!" I can't believe what I'm seeing.

Turning their attention to me, Julie gasped and pushed Jake away. She jumped off of the bed with a look of disgust on her face.

"OMG, Jake! I'm not going to sleep with you! Just take the money and leave!"

"What?!" I yell.

"Diggy--" Jake began before I cut him off.

"Are you trying to sleep with my ex-girlfriend?! Really? Less than 24 hours that we broke up and you just couldn't wait, huh?" I asked. I was enraged.

"NO! She's lying! She was trying to sleep with ME!" Jake yells as he stands to his feet, putting his hands up in innocence.

"You're horrible! Daniel, please tell your friend to leave," Julie runs into my arms as she begins to cry. By this point, I'm extremely mad and I almost want to punch the brains out of him.

"I thought I could trust you, but it seems like I can't trust anyone these days. Go to hell, Jake!"

I storm out of Julie's room and down the stairs with Julie right beside me. We go outside and walk down the long driveway as I kick rocks along the way.

"I'm glad you came when you did. Who knows what could've happened..." Julie cries into my shoulder.

I face her and grab her arms, forcing her to look at me. "Why did you break up with me? And tell me the truth," I ask.

Julie sniffs as her tears come to a stop. Her face is serious. "I knew you wouldn't want to take care of a baby, so I broke up with you so you could be free. You're going to UCLA next fall and you wouldn't need any baby mama drama on the sidelines..."

"You did this so I could be free? Julie, there's no way that I'd imagine that I'd be a father during my senior year of high school, and I don't want to be one. Regardless of that fact, I would take care of that baby, because it's my responsibility, too. We made this baby together. I would never leave you by yourself," I pour my heart out.

"...that's sweet. But I'm fine, honestly. I don't want you to take care of the baby, because I found someone else more fitting," she says.

"What?"

She sighs and I let go of her arms. 

"Daniel, baby... you're sweet. But, I really broke up with you... to be with Chris. I lied... when I told you it was your baby. It's really Chris's baby. I love him..." she says in the most chillest tone, like she ain't just stab me in the heart.

"Excuse me?"

"It was all a game! Ugh, I told you that the baby was yours so you'd want to break up with me, but I couldn't wait anymore... so I broke up with you." Julie chuckles a little as she reveals this to me. How does she think this is funny at all?

"How can you be with Chris if he's with Sam?"

"Oh, see that was a lie also. They just acted like they were dating to get you jealous of them -- well, Sam. She wanted you to feel what it's like when your best friend ditches you for another person, and, boy, did you break her heart! Anyways, she told me that if I wanted Chris back, I had to break up with you, so here I am. It was her idea to make me fake my pregnancy with you. I broke up with you, she broke up with Chris, and now I have him back. Revenge is sweet, no?" Julie smiles and walks confidently back up the driveway to her house.

So many emotions were going on in my head that I wanted to kick or punch something. Or someone. What kind of a best friend--?! Lying, pretending, faking. Sam's the one that put me through this mess! All I wanted was an honest, loving relationship with someone and Sam ruined that because she was being a jealous little brat! TRUST NOBODY, because they'll only turn around and stab you in the back.

Hopping into the driver's seat of my car, I speed off, blasting the radio very loud. I beat my fists on the steering wheel of my car to let out my anger. Pulling my short, curly hair and mumbling under my breath. I'm sure the passengers of the cars that I was passing thought that I was crazy, mental, or just a typical teenager that didn't know how to act civilized. Probably all of the above. But I don't care.

I beat on the steering wheel once more and turned the radio up to its highest volume while bopping my head to the beat. I wasn't even focused on the road, so I didn't realize that I was driving 50 miles towards an intersection that had a red light. When I looked ahead, it was too late, and I smashed into the side of a minivan...