Wicked (Now Available on Amazon, Eden Books, Apple, B&N and Kobo!)

Chapter 3 💋

Aaliyah

The boy with those beautiful, blue eyes who always looks so serious has my heart. He took it without my permission when I was just twelve and I've never gotten it back since. That boy who only thinks about two things. Soccer...and her.

He looked so sad and angry today, sitting in the middle of our soccer field and frowning at the ball. As if the ball had done him some great wrong. Whenever he got upset, my soul ached to comfort him.

I asked him what the problem was and at first he grumbled 'nothing.' Then I smiled at him and took his hand in mine, made him look at me with those gorgeous eyes and asked him again, sweetly this time.

He told me he wanted to become a famous soccer player someday. That he wanted to be the best. Even better than my brother. But he doubted himself all the time. So I brought my arms around him and gave him the warmest, tightest hug I could ever give someone. Not even Abbu had ever received such a hug from me. No one had.

"You're going to be awesome," I had told him confidently. "I know it. And if you ever feel like giving up, just know that I'm always going to be the one to cheer you on."

He'd smiled back at me then. Wow. He was so handsome. And so tall that even when he was sitting down, it felt like he towered over me.

"What is that perfume, Aali?" he had asked me in a lowered tone. "I really like it."

I had blushed a little and pushed back my hair, exposing my neck to him. "Lilac," I said shyly.

He had leaned forward a bit to inhale it properly and I had started to feel this floating sensation in my gut.

"It's nice," he had murmured and his voice sounded deeper than usual. "You really think I can do it? Become great?"

I nodded and dared to run my fingers through his short, blonde hair, gazing up at him with adoration. "Yes, Jacob," I whispered sincerely. "I believe in you."

I brushed my fingers over the smooth but yellowed page of my journal, sighing at the words I had written two years ago. He didn't remember. He didn't remember this moment but it was stamped on my memory so clearly. Maybe because I read this diary entry almost every day, trying to recapture the feelings I had experienced. He'd been so sweet to me that day but I had quickly come to realise that Jacob's sweet side was a rare thing to witness. As was his smile.

Why was he so clueless? Why couldn't he see how much he meant to me? Did girls have to say everything out loud for boys to understand them? Was the way I looked at him not enough? We'd grown up together. He couldn't be that stupid. But then I guessed he couldn't really notice anyone else when he was still so busy making eyes at Jasmine. God, I hated her so much. She could write anywhere else in this big house but she chose to write right there in the kitchen in plain sight of him so he could ogle her to his heart's content. Bitch.

Angrily, I threw my journal across the room and stalked off to go find Abbu. I knew exactly what I wanted for my sixteenth birthday. I wanted Jacob Wells and I was not going to stand by and watch him be stupid anymore. It was time to do something about this longing that erupted inside my heart every time he so much as breathed around me.

****

"We should watch something else."

"Like what?"

"That new adventure movie you keep talking about. Is it out on Netflix yet?"

Jacob let out a sigh and stared at his phone screen. I narrowed my eyes at his profile. Sometimes, it felt like you had to pay this guy just to get him to speak to you. Or maybe he just acted that way around me.