Chapter 21
MJ POV
Jake and I have been a couple for twenty-three days now; it has been the most spectacular twenty-three days of my life. Pretending only to be friends, though, really sucks. I want everyone to know I'm with Jake, but it's not only Darian that I'm worried about upsetting. I'm also afraid of disappointing my dad. I know he likes Jake, but he has always been very adamant about the "No Boyfriends" rule.
I re-read my early acceptance letter to Notre Dame and trace the gold-embossed letters with my fingertips. I'm so close to graduating, and with the graduation date looming over us another date is weighing heavily on my heart. I'm petrified that I will end up being another one of Jake's won't make it past day thirty statistic.
Kelly peeks her head through my bedroom door and enters my cluttered room with a hop in her step as she drops onto my bed. I place the letter down on my nightstand. She always looks like she just stepped off the set of a movie. Her auburn hair is lustrous, makeup perfect and a wardrobe that's better than any you would see in a teen magazine. She's always on trend.
It's Saturday afternoon, and we're supposed to go shopping. I smile when I remember what Jake said just a few weeks about me ditching basketball practice for shopping. It's almost Christmas, and this is the first Christmas that I'm buying Jake a present as my boyfriend.
"Have you figured out what you're getting Jake yet?"
"No! It was so much easier when he was just my friend, what are you buying Jax?" I ask Kelly trying to get some idea of what a girlfriend might give a boyfriend.
"A lump of coal. We had a fight last night." Kelly's lower lip juts out into a pout.
"What, why?" I tried my best to sound concerned, but these days it seems as they were always breaking and making up.
Kelly lets out an exaggerated sigh "About Prom, he says he's too old to go to prom. I told him if he was too old for prom than he was too old for me and hung up on him."
"Did he call you back?"
"No, but he will. He might not be in high school anymore, but I am, and I want to go to my senior prom. So, when he calls, he will ask me to Prom."
One thing about Kelly, she's optimistic. She's also the only person who knows about Jake, and she and I have been a great ally. She covers for me when I use the "I'm spending the night at Kelly's house" excuse to my dad when I'm spending it with Jake. I hate lying to him, to everyone, but it's better this way. We kiss for hours in his bed, on his couch, on the floor or wherever else we can. It's like our lips are making up for lost time.
We only have five months until we graduate and six months to Jake goes to Berkley. Notre Dame has been hammered into my head since I started Kindergarten, and there wasn't ever any doubt of where I wanted to go. I wanted to be next to my dad, next to Jake and Darian. I never imagined that they would go to out-of-state schools. We're all going our separate ways, and it seems almost impossible to digest.
"Hey Kel, can I ask you a question?"
"You're my best friend; I would be pissed if you thought you couldn't."
"Okay, well I mean it's a personal question."
She looks up from her magazine."Is it about sex MJ?" she asks playfully, her lips curving into a smile.
I roll my eyes again, "Yeah, maybe" I say biting my lip.
"Ask away" she sits up and faces me, with a way too eager grin on her face.
"This is embarrassing," I say covering my face with my hands.
"You're embarrassed about what? That you are or aren't doing it?"
YOU ARE READING
A Veiled Perception
RomanceA Veiled Perception MJ James, a high-school senior, who is on the fast track to a promising future in the world of collegiate basketball, In the Hoosier State where Basketball is everything. Abandoned by her mother, raised by her single father, a me...
