Pacing my room on Monday morning I couldn't help but wonder (for the tenth time in the past hour) how Jake had felt about the kiss. It was to be expected though, I mean what girl wouldn't be nervous after kissing one of her friends who just so happens to be in all her classes and who also happens to live next door? The idiot didn't even mention it afterwards, so now I have no idea if he liked it or he thought it was a big mistake or-
Okay shut up Amelia, there is no need to wind yourself up. Tidy up your hair and take a walk to get rid of these ridiculous thoughts!!
Huh, who knew I had such a bossy conscience? After brushing my hair back into a quick bun and swiping on some lip gloss I gather my things and head downstairs.
Seeing as it was only half past seven, no one was in the kitchen. Chase did everything last minute so he probably wouldn't be up for another fifteen minutes or so and my parents were probably still getting ready themselves. After leaving a note to tell everyone where I was going I grab a granola bar for breakfast and head out the front door, locking it behind me.
The sun was just peeking up above the horizon casting a light glow on my surroundings, there was a thin layer of dew on the grass and most of the trees still had their leaves attached to them, though some no longer had bright green leaves but a murky brown. There was a slight chill to the air as I walked down the street wearing a light blue, waist length coat and some black jeans. I was still getting used to the warmer weather here in LA not to mention how most of the trees remained green and/or didn't lose their leaves, that was pretty rare back in New York. Shoving my hands into my coat pocket I breathe in the fresh, morning air. I feel myself slowly relax and a smile forms on my face as I focus my thoughts on the beautiful scenery rather than the ridiculous thoughts I was thinking earlier. A few minutes later and I had reached the neighbourhood park which was currently empty, I could almost imagine a tumbleweed rolling across the deserted playground.
Walking past the gates I take a seat on one of the park benches and pulled out my iPod enjoying the few minutes I had before school, to listen to some of The Script's songs. I was half way through listening to Science & Faith when I heard the sound of someone jogging come from behind me. Turning around I was graced with the sight of Jake in a white wife beater and black shorts, with headphones in his ear and a curious smile on his face when he notices me sitting on the bench.
Panting slightly he takes a seat next to me, after leaning back against the park bench he closes his eyes and I use the time to gaze at his face like the idiot I am. A thin sheen of sweat was lining his forehead and his short eyelashes rested against his cheek. My attention darts to his lips, the pink, full lips that were on mine less than twenty four hours ago. Jake shifts slightly and I quickly remove my eyes from his face, a blush forming on my face as I realized that I was checking him out so obviously.
I stare at the empty swings in front of me, pretending as if they were there most interesting object on Earth. I was pulled away from my one-sided staring competition when a hand lightly grazed my cheek and my right ear phone was removed from my ear.
"What are you doing out here so early?" He asks, my mind was elsewhere though. Specificaly on the sudden shoortage of distance between us. I could've sworn he was sitting an arm's length away from me earlier yet now there was only centimetres between us.
"Wanted to go for a walk, I was heading to school when I decided to stop here" I answer shrugging slightly.
"Oh cool, can you wait for awhile I'll just shower really quickly and I can walk with you to school?" He asks staring at me with those navy blue eyes that seemed to pierce through me.
I check my time quickly to see that it was five past eight, Jake would have to practically run all the way home to make it back on time. "Um, you do realize we have like twenty minutes 'till school starts right?"
"Give me fifteen" he leans forward and places a quick kiss on my cheek before running away. I blink my eyes in shock and bring my hand up slowly to my face.
"Damn boy and his mixed signals" I mutter with a groan. Now, I was even more confused! Fifteen minutes later and Jake was back wearing a black hoody and blue jeans.
"Took you long enough Carter, hurry up or we'll be late" I shout over my shoulder as I start walking to school, there's ten more minutes until homeroom and I did not want to be late. Mrs Brightmore seemed like a nice lady but I did not want to get on her bad side.
"Someone's in a rush to get to school. What's up?" Jake asks as he jogs to catch up to me, we were now walking side by side, our arms occasionally brushing each others.
"What? I can't just want to get to school on time?" I ask with raised eyebrows.
"Never said that but I can tell why you wanted to walk now, probably wanted to get some fresh air for all this grumpiness" he mutters speeding up so that he was now walking ahead of me.
"You are such a bloody jerk, you know that right?!" I retort as I too, increase my speed so once again we were side by side. "I never asked for you to join me in walking to school, you decided that all by yourself"
"Maybe, I was just trying to be nice. Ever thought about that Johnson?" he asks with a huff, whipping his head around to look at me. The two of us turn our heads to the front again and a thick, awkward silence engulfs us.
"Sorry, I was being a bitch" I reply with a sigh just as the school building cropped up on the horizon.
"It's fine... I was being a douche yesterday...so I guess we're even now" Jake replies nudging me with his elbow with a slight smile. The walk continues on the tense silence no longer hanging over us as we discuss our favourite artists (his is Linkin Park, Eminem etc.) and movies that we like.
"How could you not like The Hangover?! That movie is hilarious!!" Jake asks me outrage written all over his face.
"It's a stupid story line! A couple of friends get hammered then do some completely outrageous and stupid things, what kind of a plot is that?" I argue back not willing to back down. We were having this argument for about the third time now, since Jake still couldn't get it through his thick head that not all people have the same taste. We were now walking in the hallways a couple of minutes after the bell, yet we couldn't seem to go our separate ways.
"Your taste in movies needs huge adjustments. I bet you loved watching the Princess Diaries as well?" he asks with a smirk. He leaned against the wall outside my homeroom as students walked past us into the classroom.
"Hey! There is nothing wrong with the Princess Diaries! Anne Hathaway is beautiful in that!" I huff with a small frown.
"Uh-huh...Whatever you say Amelia" with that he gives me a quick peck on the cheek before walking down the hallway to his own class. A couple of girls that were just walking into the class stopped in their tracks to stare at me. Their mouths were slightly open in shock and their piercing eyes were starting to unnerve me. It was like I was some sort of science experiment that they wanted to do tests on, the objective- what makes her so special that Jake is kissing her cheek? Trying to distract myself from my wild thoughts I gesture inside.
"Are you guys going in?" I ask quietly. Their eyes scan my figure from head to toe before the group of four finally walk into class throwing me one last look of curiousness and slight jealousy. Sighing with relief I quickly make my way to the back of the class trying not to let the whispering and the constant glares and glances thrown in my direction, intimidate me. I curse under my breath as I realize that the girls in my homeroom won't be the only ones to throw judging glances my way because not only is Jake popular but he is also quite the babe magnet. The group of four girls had attracted a larger group as the other girls in my homeroom joined in on the fresh gossip, this really wasn't looking good for me.
It turns out I was right, it really wasn't a good thing for me because by the time second period rolled around everyone had heard about the 'kiss'. It was torture to walk down the hallways to chemistry in third period with all the stares, glares and whispers. As for Jake, the idiot either hadn't heard the rumours (the truth had become quite distorted by now) or wasn't bothered by them as he was completely calm in class. He was, however a lot more affectionate than what would be considered normal. So far, he's spent the whole morning playing with my hair and it seems all his chairs in class have a magnetic connection to mine, as they are a lot closer than before. Not only do our arms brush every time one of us move but our legs are also in close proximity. I really didn't get what was going through this boy's mind, the secretive smiles he sent my way were really starting to get to me. It was like he knew something I didn't, yet at the same time the smile was soft and sincere, causing butterflies to fly in my stomach.
I wasn't the only one to notice this strange behaviour, Daniel had been sending us strange looks the whole morning. We were half way through Chemistry now, and Jake was currently measuring some hydrochloric acid in a beaker so I was saved from his touchy-feely behaviour. I couldn't help but sigh in relief when the time came for me to head to the field, to start warming up for the soccer game at lunchtime.
"Good luck for the game" Jake tells me as I pack my bag.
"Thanks Jake, have fun mixing chemicals all by yourself" I shoot him a small smile. He rolls his eyes and shoots me a dry smile.
After signing out with the teacher I make my way to the gym changing rooms where the girls were getting changed into our uniforms. The uniforms were identical to the boys' with slightly loose blue shorts and a loose white shirt with our numbers printed on the middle; our surnames were also printed on top. My shirt had the number four printed seeing as I was a defending midfielder unlike Jake and Hailey who were strikers (number 9) and Courtney who was a defender (number 2).
When I entered the changing rooms the talking suddenly stopped as all the girls turned towards me. I sigh quietly as I make my way towards Courtney and Hailey near the back of the changing rooms. They both give me curious looks and pull me down to sit next to them.
"What's with you guys?" I whisper to them, despite the fact that everyone had resumed talking.
"What's with us? What the hell is happening between you and Jake?" Courtney whispers harshly.
"Nothing! I swear nothing major happened Jake's just....acting strange right now. Look can we talk about this later, I just want to focus on the game right now" I quickly escape their grasp and get changed into my uniform, I really didn't want to deal with the load of questions that they planned to throw my way.
After half an hour of warm ups the bell for lunch went off signaling the start of the game. We were versing one of the high schools nearby, St Therese. A couple of minutes later the referee blows the whistle and the teams are off. The teams jumped into action, the forwards immediately running towards the ball. Kelly got to the ball first and started dribbling up the field and several passes later the ball was coming towards me (and the opposition's goal). My hair was flying behind me as I ran towards the ball, my surroundings completely blurred as I focused on the field and the players occupying it. My head was completely in the game as the adrenaline kicked in, my heart pumping faster than ever; this feeling of exhilaration was one of the reasons why I loved soccer so much. With a swift kick I sent the ball back towards our goal which caused cheers to erupt from the slowly forming crowd of students who were watching the game in their lunchtime.
By the time half time rolled around I was exhausted, St Therese was good. It was easy to tell by the way the players communicated effortlessly between themselves and how they controlled the soccer ball. Coach Heather was convinced that we could take them on judging by the pep talk she gave us the minute we left the field, I can only hope that she's right. I guzzled down the water in my bottle and glanced at the scoreboard where the digits eight and six were up, WestOak was leading but only by two points. It was anyone's game at this point.
"Nice work, out there Johnson" I turn around in surprise, period four had already begun so why was Jake still outside? He had his hands in his jean's pockets and was currently watching my every move with his intense navy blue eyes.
"Thanks, but shouldn't you be in class?" I ask him, aware of the stares my fellow teammates were giving us.
"Being a couple of minutes late to class never hurt anyone....besides I'm not the only one" he gives me a small smirk as he looks to my left, following his gaze I see a sight I was not expecting. Currently in a tight embrace, lips locked were my two blonde friends Courtney and Lucas.
I felt my mouth open in shock and quickly turn away so I don't look like a creep. "When the hell did that happen?" I ask myself, slightly annoyed at Courtney for not telling me.
"Does it really matter? We all now it was going to happen sooner or later anyway" Jake says as he looks down at me, it's strange that I hardly ever noticed the slight height difference between us....
"Well I should get going, see you in music" he gives me a small smile before he reluctantly turns away to get to class. I watch his retreating back with a smile on my face, it's amazing how far our friendship has grown over the past few months.
The rest of the game flew by in a blur and before I knew it, the game was over and we had just scraped a win (ten to nine). We shook hands with the other team before heading back to the changing rooms where we all squealed with excitement and happiness. One group hug and ten minutes later we were all calm enough to head to class, all twelve of us sporting huge smiles on our faces. Hailey and Rayne (the co-captains) were the happiest of all as they practically skipped to class, their hard work had finally paid off.
I headed to music, sore but happy, thank goodness they have showers here because I would hate to stay in my sweaty soccer uniform for the remainder of the day. The music class was set up so that there was a mini stage on the left with two drum sets already set up. At the back there was a large storage cupboard where the other instruments were kept and at the front was the teacher's desk. There were no desks however as we were all required to sit on the floor in front of the teacher, it reminds me of elementary school.
Once everyone had arrived Miss Meyers starts the class, she was a beautiful young lady with blonde hair and grey eyes. She clapped her hands to get the class' attention before speaking.
"Okay class, today I have a surprise for you all" she pauses for suspense and the class gives her their full attention, suddenly interested in today's lesson. "You have your first assignment of the year!" this was met with a chorus of groans. With the end of the semester nearing teachers were already setting us all tests, preparing us for our midterms next semester so an assignment was definitely not exciting news.
"Oh come on! Where is all the enthusiasm for a duet perfomance?! Now I've already partnered you lot up, so I suggest you get to know your partner before deciding on a song. And no, the both of you don't have to sing I will allow one person to play an instrument. You will be performing next week on the Wednesday so don't wait until the last minute to get this sorted. So the partners are..."
We were paired off, Daniel and Rebecca were paired together while Cameron was paired with another guy; I however happened to be paired up with the popular....Mr Carter.
"It's meant to be..." Jake drawls as we take a seat near the back of the classroom. I give him a funny look as I cross my legs and get comfortable.
"Want to elaborate on that, oh great one?" I ask sarcastically. Jake shuffles closer to me and puts his hands behind him on the floor so that he was leaning back.
"I mean that we are always getting paired up together, whether it is shifts at the diner or lab work in chemistry. It's like we were meant to be" he explains as if that explains everything.
"Sometimes I really wonder about what goes through your head Jake. Anyway do you want to start discussing the project now?" I ask him, looking back at him.
"Nope. Let's get to know each other first" he replies enthusiastically, I give him a confused and slightly annoyed look.
"If this is your way of getting out of doing work-" I began threatening him but he interrupts before I could say anything else.
"It's not. Think about it, what do we really know about each other? Because I, for one don't know a lot about you"
"Well...what do you want to know?" I ask him slightly nervous as to where he was going with this.
"Let's play twenty questions, as cheesy as it is. That way we can both ask our own questions....so what's your favourite colour?" he asks with a slight smile.
"Navy blue and purple....I can never decide between the two" I answer him before realising that navy blue just so happened to be the colour of his eyes...gosh I hope he didn't pick up on that little fact.
"Like the colour of my eyes huh?" he teases bringing his face closer to mine. Worst. Luck. Ever. I roll my eyes ignoring the blush that blossoms and ignore him.
"My turn....what's your favourite colour?" we move backwards until we were leaning on the back wall.
"Very original" he snorts before answering "Black. Hmm....most embarassing moment"
I let out a groan as I remember my most embarrassing moment "I was thirteen, Chase, Jason and I were trick or treating. There was this one house that went all out every halloween and had a haunted house theme, that year they had some really freaky decorations which included a pile of carved pumpkins. Anyways long story short Chase freaked me out and I tripped into the pile of pumpkins and got one stuck on head which took forever to get off. I swear no matter how many times I washed my hair, the pumpkin smell stayed on me. It's why Jason called me pumpkin that one time he called"
Jake had his hand over his mouth as he tried to contain his laughter while I was blushing like mad. "Do you have any pictures? Because I would love to see them...pumpkin" he asks draping his arm over my shoulder.
"Oh shut up Jake and don't ever call me pumpkin again" I grumble "Besides I already know your most embarrassing moment, tell me what did you love the most about dressing up in woman's clothes?" I tease him, nudging his shoulder lightly.
He groans and swipes his hand over my face "I was five okay! And Daniel had dared me to do it, Aidan only knew about it because my Mum took a picture of it and placed it in the family photo album"
"Ooh I need to get my hand on that album" I tell him clapping my hands in excitement.
"Never. Going. To. Happen. Babe" He grinds out and I let out a small laugh.
"Okay then, no need to be so aggressive" I giggle slightly. "Hmm...Hidden talents?"
"I can play the guitar" he shrugs casually while I gape at him. I've always wanted to learn how to play an instrument and one of my favourite ones was the guitar, unfortunately I never had the time to what with all my soccer practices.
"I've always wanted to learn! Isn't it difficult though?"
"Nope, well at least no if you get the hang of it. My dad started teaching me when I was only seven. Once I got good enough to play a verse or two we would go down to the garage and strum together. It was our version of father-son bonding. Of course Aidan decided he wanted to be different and learned how to play the drums instead" Jake tells me, smiling softly at the memory. "So what about you? Any hidden talents?'
"Nope. You already know that I'm good at soccer and cooking there really isn't that much else that I'm good at. I'm an okay singer, not very good at dancing and I'm pretty good in writing news article for the school newspaper back in New York"
"Well, look at you Miss All rounder" Jake tease me and I roll my eyes. Is it possible for someone to be sweet yet a jerk at the same time? "First boyfriend?"
"Umm..Damien Black. It was the cliche childhood friends turned sweetheart thing. We had known each other since elementary school and in freshman year we decided to give dating a go, in the end however we realized we were better off as friends and that's the way it's been ever since. How about you Mister Player?" I ask him with a slight nudge.
"You will be happy to know Amelia that I don't swing that way" Jake teases me and I roll my eyes.
"You know what I mean! First girlfriend?"
"Pass" Jake mutters a strange look on his face and I raise an eyebrow at his behaviour.
"What? You've dated so many times that you can't even remember your first girlfriend?" I ask only half serious.
"No. I remember her, I just choose to not talk about her now drop it" Jake answers giving me a peircing glare. I mutter a quiet 'okay' and change the subject not wanting to aggravate him further. All the while I kept thinking about what could have caused Jake so much anger that he couldn't even talk about his ex girlfriend.
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Sorry if there were mistakes with the soccer stuff, I actually dont play the sport myself so I had no clue how it works so I had to google it. Feel free to point out any mistakes though :) And yes, it probably is too late to introduce Miss Meyers properly but I'm an idiot so that pretty much explains her late appearance. The next few chapters aren't exactly well planned so sorry if they're crappy.
The whole 20 questions thing was for Jake and Mia to get to know each other better,,,I don't think I did a good job though.
Last update for a long time guys sorry....here's an early Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years to all you awesome readers!!! Enjoy your holidays :)