Chapter 8 Jason

The loud crash had the car coming to a gruesome halt as my head hit the steering wheel lightly.

I held my head as I turned to look at the passenger side to see Maya clutching the seat belt, still reeling from the initial shock.

There was a light ringing in my ear as I tried to stable myself. I looked at the windshield looking at the car parked right in front of mine.

I came down from the car to confront the bastard who had tried to kill me.

The driver's side of the other car opened and Reagan came out grinning.

"Are you crazy?" I asked as I walked over to him angrily.

" I should ask you....are you blind or something?" he asked, and I could hear the amusement in his voice.

"You can't even drive..... the same way you can't get a win," he said, smirking.

"You are crazy," I said, poking his chest.

"I'm not the one barking like a dog now, am I?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders?

" See....you can't even handle your car..... the same way you can't handle your spot on the team.....and you want to blame me.... piss off man," he said, walking back into his car, driving off.

I stood there looking at his car as it drove off. I shook my head and let out a bitter laugh as I checked the damage that he had done to the front of my car.

I took a deep breath and went back to check on Maya.

"Are you OK?" I asked as I opened the door and walked back into the car.

"Yeah," she said slowly, still holding onto the seatbelt like a lifeline.

"I'm sorry about this," I said, trying my best to sound sympathetic.

"It's fine, I'll just walk home," she said, picking up her bag.

"Come on.... I can still drop you home," I said, trying to reason with her as she opened the door and stepped out.

"It's fine, thank you," she said coldly before slamming the door and walking away.

I punched my fist at the steering wheel. "fuck" I shouted as I buried my face on the steering wheel.

Minutes later, I pulled up at Chad's house. I walked in expecting the same cold air as before when Chad walked up to me scanning me

"Are you OK?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"Yeah," I said, trying to sound dismissive.

"Your head is swollen, are you sure you are fine?" he asked again, and knowing he wouldn't drop the question until I answered him, I told him what happened.

"That bastard," he said in anger as he balled his fist.

"It's fine.... My car just has a little scratch. I'll fix it," I said, trying to reassure him.

"I'll go get my first aid box, just go freshen up," he said, tapping my shoulder softly before walking off.

I was so relieved Chad had decided to start talking to me.

Even if the world decided to keep me silent, a silent treatment from Chad was like hell because he was the only real support I had other than my dad, who only wanted to control me.

After having my bath, I went out to meet the first aid box on my bed.

I threw on my clothes before sitting to treat the huge bump on my forehead.

Minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come on," I said as I applied the last ointment, closing the bottle.

The door opened and Chad walked in.

"How's your head?" he asked, pointing his head to make his point.

"I just finished applying treatment," I said, closing the box and setting it down.

Giving him room to sit

"How's things with Maya?" he asked, taking a seat on the bed as I climbed in to rest on the headboard.

"Better.... I guess," I said, shrugging my shoulder.

"You guys figured out a way yet?" he asked, crossing his hands over his chest.

I took a deep breath, hesitating before laying it on him.

"I asked her to be my fake girlfriend," I said, sighing.

"You what?" he asked, raising his voice.

"I thought it was a good idea," I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"You thought it was a good idea to fake dating a girl. You almost ruined her life?" he asked, uncrossing his arms and turning to look at me fully.

"If we told the Internet what really happened by adding our own twist, we could win them in our favor," I said, trying to reason with him.

"You very well know Tiffany is a lunatic.... she'll find out," he said in panic.

"Not if we play the part well," I said, convincing him.

"How?..... Do you two hate each other?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"That's why I'm trying to make peace....today I got her Chick-fil-A and offered her a ride home.....not that I actually dropped her home though, but at least she agreed it's something," I said with enough conviction in my voice

"I just hope it works out," he said, sighing.

"It will," I said, beating my chest.

"What about your dad.....have you talked to him recently?" he asked, crossing his arms again, looking serious.

"My dad's just behaving like a princess," I said, complaining.

"Did you apologize, and he rejected it?" he asked, looking at me sternly.

"Countless times.... he just keeps dropping my call..... I'm pretty sure he has blocked me," I said, shrugging my shoulder.

"You just have to clear the air and convince the coach," he said, assuring me.

"Speaking of coach....how's practice?" I asked eagerly.

"It's chill..... Nothing's the same without you, man.....you have to fix your shit and get back on the ice," he said, running his hands through his hair.

"I will, I promise," I said, reassuring him.

The next day, I had cornered Maya on her way to class, asking her about what we had talked about and also apologized for yesterday.

She asked to meet up in the library after class, to discuss things better, after assuring me that she wasn't angry.

I got to the library ten minutes late.

"For someone who is desperate....you sure don't keep to time," she said, writing as I breathed heavily above her.

"I had a class that ran late, and I had to run here," I said, pleading as I sat down.

"You are pardoned," she said, closing her pen before looking at me.

"I have drafted my proposal, and you have to sign," she said, pushing a paper into my view.

I picked it up and read through it, a small laugh escaping my lips.

1. No physical contact unless there's a need for it

2. No visiting unannounced

3. No prying into each other's private lives. This is strictly just business.

4. Party A (Jason Whiteson) and Party B (Maya Hilton) will both go their separate ways after the reason for the contract has fully been met.

5. No payment should be made before the stipulated time stated in the agreement.

6. Failure to abide by this rule would cause fracture in the agreement.

"You really planned this out, didn't you?" I asked, taking the pen to sign?

"Now that this is out of the way," I said, pushing the paper back to her.

"What's next?"

She sighed, hesitating for a while before answering.

"We make the relationship public."

We were still talking when my phone pinged, Chad had sent me a video link.

And requested I watched it.

Maya brought peeked into my phone trying to know what I was doing.

I clicked on the link, and it directed me straight to Tiffany's Instagram account where she had made a post concerning the crash between I and Reagan yesterday.

"What the fuck" I said as I clicked the clicked play.