Don't Hate the Player...Hate the Game(27)

I stood up from the couch. “Yeah, I guess I better get going. I’ll get those pictures for you as soon as I can.”

Her eyes widened as she shook her head wildly back and forth. “I don’t want to keep them. I want you to delete them!” she shrieked.

Holding my hands up in defeat, I replied. “Okay, okay, I’ll delete them.”

Avery exhaled noisily. “Good. I’m glad to hear we’re on the same page.” She then followed me down the winding staircase into the marble floored foyer. She smiled at me. “Thanks Noah. You know, for being a good friend to me and Jake.”

“Sure. And thanks for letting me come over.”

“Yeah, anytime,” Avery said, listlessly before closing the door behind me.

I walked to my Jeep, content in the knowledge I could cross one girl off the list.

***

Chapter Nine

After I left Avery’s house, I ended up back at Rolling Hills Cemetery. It was like an unseen force was drawing me there. I didn’t want to believe Jake had that kinda power from the grave, but I went anyway.

I made the slow drive around the circle to the mausoleum. When I got out the Jeep, I noticed someone was sitting on the grass in front of the building.

It was Maddie.

At the sound of someone behind her, she sighed. “Daddy, I said I’d call you when I was ready to come home.”

“Um, it’s Noah,” I muttered.

She whirled around, her face flushing a little. “Oh, I thought you were my dad.”

“That’s okay.”

“I didn’t expect anyone to be here.”

“Yeah, me either,” I admitted.

She nodded and motioned for me to have a seat on the grass next to her. I eased down and stared at the vault holding Jake’s remains.

“Hey, I didn’t tell you how great you sounded the other day at the funeral. That song was really beautiful,” I said.

She smiled. “Thanks. You sounded great, too.”

“Yeah, I guess Free Bird was an odd choice of a funeral song, but—”

“It was Jake’s favorite,” she murmured. “It was exactly what he would have wanted.”

I flicked a random blade of grass with my finger. “Maddie, I’m trying to understand all this stuff that’s been going on. You know, the ‘two Jakes’.”

She nodded. “He had a hard time with it, too.”

“He did?” I asked.

“Of course he did. Don’t you know how hard it was to be two people? The guy everyone expected him to be and the guy he really was deep down?”

It felt kinda strange to be having this conversation with Maddie about my best friend, but there was a part of me that was desperate for answers.

Finally, I shook my head. “But he shouldn’t have felt that way,” I protested.

“Why do you think so?”

When I didn’t respond, Maddie sighed. “He was looking forward to graduation you know.”

“Yeah, he thought college was going to be a blast.”

“No, that’s not it at all. He was going to “come out” so speak.”

My breath caught in my chest. “Wait, are you trying to say Jake was….gay?”

Maddie laughed. “No, Jake wasn’t g*y. I mean, he was going to truly turn over a new leaf. He had been looking forward to leaving town so he could do that. He’d even talked to his football coach about working with the volunteer organizations on campus.”

Okay, it was one thing contemplating Jake might be g*y, but it was a totally mind blowing to think he was looking forward to turning his back on partying to be a do gooder.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t imagine Jake doing much volunteer work,” I said.

Maddie smiled sadly. “Well, he was.”

“Whatever,” I mumbled. I thought talking to Maddie would give me answers, but I was starting to feel more and more confused.

She must have sensed my confusion because she said, “You know, it was like Jake was honorable to a fault. He did everything he could to please others—even if it was misguided.”

Seriously? Jake did things to please others? Since the moment we’d met, he’d been one of the most selfish ass**les on the planet. It was me, me, me, all the time. I shook my head incredulously. “But Maddie…”

She looked over at me. “I know what you’re going to say.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You do?”

“To you and to everybody else, he was a jerk 90% of the time.”

Well, I wasn’t expecting that. But it was certainly closer to the truth. “Pretty much.”

“But to me and my family, he was a perfect gentleman 90% of the time.”

Okay, and once again, that was totally out of character for Jake. “I just don’t get it,” I replied. I glanced back up at the vault. I still don’t get never understand why he felt like he had to be two people to me.”

“Well, think about it for a minute.”

I sat deathly still, trying to collect my thoughts. “What I meant to say is, I was his best friend, and I don’t understand why if he could be that way with you and your parents, then why in the he-,” I caught myself as Maddie arched an eyebrow at me. “the heck, he couldn’t be real with me.”