44 Memories buried deep in the heart

Zara walked through the corridor and saw a group of students cracking jokes about her so she slid in a corner. She dialed Jake's number and it went on voicemail. She dialed it again and left a message, If you don't receive my call, I know where you live.

She angrily disconnected her call and in a few minutes Jake called back. Zara answered, "Hello?"

Jake didn't say a word. "Where are you, J?"

Jake only replied, "Don't walk to my place, I am leaving it anyways."

Zara shouted, "What?" but Jake had disconnected the call. She ran to the cafeteria, not minding the other students who guffawed at her. She opened the pantry and saw Jake crouched on the chair, his head in his hands.

"Where the hell are you going?"

Jake didn't look up but replied, "You kind of answered your own question."

Zara stormed up to him and pulled his hands away to see his eyes streaked with tears. She instantly sobered, "What..what is the matter, J?"

"It..it is Grandpa."

Zara inched closer to him and took his face in her hands, "J..what happened to Mr. Turner?"

Jake scooted away from her and gripped the side of the table. Zara shot him a perplexed look as he wiped his face, "Grandpa just survived a heart attack. He barely made it, but the doctors say that his heart has become very weak."

"When..when did this happen? And why didn't you tell me?"

Jake turned around to the kitchen and began doing his chores, "I don't think you want me around anymore."

Zara pulled at his arm that made him whirl around, "Jake, this is messed up."

He took a step closer, "I also heard about the..doodle."

Zara blinked, "Word travels fast here."

Jake took one more step towards her that made Zara step back. Eventually, she hit the wall and Jake stood uncomfortably close to her. And then in one swift motion, he pulled her close and hugged her as he sobbed on her shoulder.

Zara turned stiff as he embraced her but seeing him in pain made her hug him tightly. She tried to speak softly, "Are you alright?"

Zara was stunned to hear this. Mr Turner may not have been Turner's blood relative but Jake did revere him as his real grandparent. Zara didn't know what else to say as Jake shuddered in her arms. It was unusual for him to be so open, so vulnerable.

His openness made her talk about something that had been lurking in her mind since a long time. "Jake, I think I am losing it."

Jake looked at her face and she continued, "This is probably a bad time with you being already tensed about Mr. Turner but I think my brain is short-circuiting or something. First, I fall asleep for a week and then wake up as if nothing happened to me, then I see weird things that you guys can't."

Jake tried to reassure her, "Hey, hey. You are alright. Whatever gave you the idea."

Zara was almost moved to tears, "I have dreams that sometimes make it hard for me to know the difference between fiction and reality. Back at the picnic spot, you said there was nothing but I did see Rebecca fighting off some weird people. Or maybe, I am literally going mad."

Jake wrapped his arms around her. There was so much she didn't know and for a human she had fared very well. But how would he tell her? He didn't have the heart to tell her the secrets that he was keeping from her.

He soothed her back and tugged her hair behind her ears, "Well, we didn't want to scare you at first but your therapist did say that you had been unconscious due to some childhood trauma."

Zara couldn't understand, "How would something from my childhood affect me now."

Jake made her sit on an empty chair and handed her a glass of water, "You have to be strong, Z. I spoke with your mother everyday while you were knocked out. You have had some issues growing up."

Zara couldn't believe Jake knew secrets from her childhood that she had not even told Veronica. "Mom..mom told you? Everything?"