The Makeover

28

"She don't see her perfect. She don't understand that she's worth it or that beauty goes deeper than the surface."

Scars To Your Beautiful, Alessia Cara

28|Birthday Celebrations and Realisation

Jake drove me all the way to a place where no high rise buildings were in sight. The cobblestone roads we drove on made the car rise into the air every time we went over a bump.

I could even see farm animals grazing and the clear blue sky being met by nature. We were driving through the countryside, it seemed.

It's beautiful, I had thought to myself as we passed a field with a huge windmill in the middle of it. Purple flowers were scattered all over the green grass and small birds circled the sky. I had only seen it for a moment, but it was enough to make me feel at peace.

Every single time that I saw a cornfield, I couldn't help but reminisce about running through them at my gran's farm. The nostalgia settled in the pit of my stomach when we drove past them.

Ever since our conversation had ended back at school, Jake and I had gone into a comfortable silence. All we seemed to be doing was enjoying the scenery and listening to the radio.

Sometimes I would catch Jake's eye, but eventually one of us would look away - Jake, at the road and I, out the window.

Jake didn't consume my mind too much, because the view was captivating. If I did think about Jake, it was because I envied him.

He could see the view I was seeing every morning when he woke up and every night before he went to bed. The sound of nature was probably his lullaby.

Just as we passed a fenced area, I looked over at Jake to watch him as he drove. His fingers tapped lightly on the leather steering wheel and his hazel-flecked eyes were focused on the road.

A few strands of hair flew into his face and with a quick sweep of his hand it was back in place.

Jake smiled widely as Fourth Of July by Fall Out Boy played on the radio station. His tapping became more enthusiastic.

"You like Fall Out Boy?" I asked him incredulously as he continued to tap his fingers on the wheel. His smile widened even more.

"Yeah, of course." He confirmed and started singing along under his breath. "It was the fourth of July. You and I were-you and I were fire- fire- fireworks that went off too soon."

After a while, I stopped battling with myself and sang too. I nodded my head back and forth to the beat of the song causing my hair to fly everywhere. "I wish I knew how much you loved me. I wish I cared enough to know."

I was enjoying the music so much that I didn't realise that Jake had stopped singing and was glancing between me and the road every few seconds as if he was watching a tennis match.

"You can sing?" Jake said more than asked. His mouth was agape and he kept blinking rapidly as if he couldn't believe it.

I chuckled under my breath and bit my lip. "I guess so?" I meant for it to be a statement but the last word went up into a question.

A nervous laugh escaped me as I avoided looking anywhere near Jake. My eyes wandered along the view from outside the window again.

"Beautiful." I heard Jake mumble under his breath.

I turned my head further towards the window so that Jake wouldn't be able to see the blush that had suddenly adorned my cheeks. An instant smile took up my features as I focused more on Jake's singing than the view outside.