Chapter 12
“I hope I’m not too early, Mrs Adams.”
“Oh no, you’re just on time,” said Mrs Adams as she ushered me inside her modest home.
Mrs Adams had phoned me in the morning to say that it’d be better if I came over to their house for my tutoring lessons because their car broke down. I accepted, but couldn’t believe that Jake was awake at this hour, even though it was around noon. Jake usually woke up at three in the afternoon.
The house was two-storied and looked homely, with a small garden at the front that must look beautiful during spring. It wasn’t as near as lavish as Leon’s house, but I found it pleasant.
“I tried waking Jake up,” said Mrs Adams as I followed her into the living room. “But he’s still snoring.”
“Maybe I could try waking him?” I asked before thinking.
Mrs Adams gave me a suspicious look. It was then that I realised that I wasn’t supposed to know Jake that well. Oops.
“Um…I meant…maybe he’d wake up seeing that his student’s arrived?” I said quickly.
She slowly nodded her head. “Yes, that might work. You could have a go.”
At that moment, her cell phone started ringing.
“His room’s upstairs on the left,” said Mrs Adams. “I have to take this call now. Good luck with waking him up; he’s a sound sleeper I’m afraid.” With that, she went inside another room, talking fast on the phone.
As I walked upstairs I looking at the family pictures hanging on the lavender coloured walls of the hallway. The family looked close, especially the siblings. Jake and his two sisters were together in every picture, grinning at the camera. They all had the same dark eyes, but the sisters looked most like their father while Jake resembled his mother.
I came upon a door that had several stickers plastered onto it and the words ‘Jake’s Room. Pesky older sisters not allowed.’ I chuckled at it, before knocking a few times and calling his name, but on receiving no answer, I entered.
The room was rather plain and not what I expected Jake to have. The walls were of a creamy white colour without any posters or decorations. Strong cologne hung in the air, and the room was a bit dark because the maroon coloured curtains were covering the window. A single bed was just beside the window with thick maroon bed-sheets tumbled onto it. A table with a black computer was at a corner with piles of CD cases and a stereo beside it. Jake’s black and red guitar laid leaning on the wall.
I looked around the room in confusion. Where was -
Upon closer inspection, I saw that the bed-sheets were…breathing. I took tentative steps towards it, and removed the blankets a few inches to discover Jake’s face buried in the pillow and his arms under it. He was wearing a plain red-shirt that was five sizes too big for him, and loose-fitting black track pants.
“Jake?” I poked his arm.
There was no response. If his chest wasn’t moving up and down, I’d be sure he was dead.
I shook him a little bit harder. “Jake. Wake up.”
He moved his arm to scratch his head, but he didn’t look like he was awake. I sighed and decided on a different approach.
Smirking, I leaned forwards and put my mouth near his ear.
“JAKE, WAKE THE HELL UP!”
Jake’s eyes snapped open and he jerked into a sitting position, looking alarmed and horrified at the same time. He looked like he was about to go fight a war.
“What the hell – who the – Rebecca?” he stuttered, staring at me with wide eyes.
I burst out laughing looking at his incredulous expression.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he mumbled.
“Nice to see you too.”
Jake squinted at me sleepily, scratching the back of his neck and covering his mouth with his other hand as he yawned.. His hair was in disarray everywhere, but he still managed to look good.
“What’s the effing time?”
“It’s noon, sleeping beauty,” I said, tugging at his messy hair.
He swayed unsteadily. “It’s way before I normally wake up. Did you have to come over now?”
I shrugged. “Your mum called me and told me to.”
He groaned. “Typical mum.” He fell onto his bed again.
“Hey, don’t fall asleep again,” I said, poking his arm. “I’ll scream once more.”
He opened one eye. “You know, I’m thinking of payback for that one.”
“Oh, really?”
He nodded. “But I’ll do that later. Right now I need my beauty sleep,” he said before turning his back on me.
“Oh, no you don’t, mister,” I said, grabbing his arm to haul him out of bed.
Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. My knees buckled and I fell over him. He switched positions so that I was on my back and he was beside me, snaking his arms around me and pinning me down.
“Gotcha,” he whispered, smirking at me.
His breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine. Even though I liked my current position, alarm bells were going off in my head. HOLY SHITE! What if his mother comes in? I wriggled, trying to get out of his embrace.
“This is your payback?” I asked, trying not to stutter.
He grinned. “Yep. Now lemme sleep.”
To my horror, he buried his face in my neck, his breath tickling me.
“Jake!” I squeaked, controlling my giggles. I was extremely ticklish.
“Your hair smells nice,” he mumbled.
“Gerroff me!’ I exclaimed, struggling and thrashing my legs, but he put his legs over mine and rendered me helpless.
“Honey, if you thrash around like this when a guy tries to get you in his bed then it’ll be a teensy bit of a problem,” he said, practically speaking on my shoulder, his voice slightly muffled.
I froze, feeling my heart in my throat and my cheeks instantly heating up. Jake chuckled.
“I knew that’d make you stop flailing your arms around like a goose,” he said smugly.
“Goose?”
He nodded on my shoulder. “I hardly make sense in the morning. Get used to it.”
“Jake…your mum…” I said uneasily, trying to get out of his arms, but to no avail.
He pouted. “But you’re so cuddly.”
“Jake…”
“Oh, alright.”
He finally raised his arms and I scrambled out of the bed, smoothing down my clothes. He had an amused look on his face as he sat up.
“Jeez, it’s not like I have cooties or anything, Rebbie.”
“I didn’t – it’s not like I -” I stuttered, making Jake laugh.
“Chill, darlin’. I’m just joking,” said Jake, shaking his head at me in amusement as he finally got out of bed to freshen up. “Wait up in the living room. I’ll be downstairs in fifteen minutes.”
I carried myself downstairs with jelly legs. That was certainly unexpected.
Honey, if you thrash around like this when a guy tries to get you in his bed then it’ll be a teensy bit of a problem.
I gulped, my heart still pounding furiously. I put a hand on my chest, taking deep breaths to calm myself down. He was just fooling around, that’s it. It wasn’t anything more. It could never be anything more. He thinks of me as just a good friend. I shouldn’t get my hopes up so much.
The living room was spacious and sunny. The walls were wallpapered in aqua, broken up by lacy, blue curtains on the windows. A small bookshelf was in the corner, surrounded by blue sofas and a flat-screen TV. I plopped down on one of the sofas.
“Okay, let’s get this business started,” said Jake as he strolled into the room and sat down beside me.
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An hour later, my head was hurting.
“God, Jake this is hopeless,” I groaned, covering my face with my hands.
“No, it isn’t,” Jake said encouragingly. “You can now do a few sums which you couldn’t do before. That’s a great improvement in one day.”
“But I can’t do all of them. You have to help me through most of them,” I said, peeking at him through my fingers.
Jake laughed, rubbing my back. “Sweetie, it’s just the first day. You’ll be kicking me out in a month, trust me.”
I chuckled, sinking back into the sofa and relaxing. Jake sat back too. I was acutely aware of the arm that was on the back of the sofa, touching my shoulders, but I tried to stay focused.
“Where’s your mum?” I asked, noticing that I didn’t hear from her for the whole hour that I was here.
Jake shrugged. “I think she went shopping. She was saying she had some errands to run.”
Jake yawned. I smiled at him.
“Still sleepy?”
He nodded, locking his dark eyes with mine. “As soon as we’re done, I’m going back to bed.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re lazy,” I commented.
He grinned. “Thank you.”
A comfortable silence issued, during which Jake still hadn’t taken his eyes off mine. I felt the butterflies coming back to my stomach again.
“What?” I asked softly.
Jake shook his head. “It’s been a long time since we’ve known each other, yeah?”
I nodded. “Almost a year,” I stated.
“Wow,” breathed Jake. “It’s amazing.”
I tilted my head. “How so?”
“Well, look at us,” started Jake. “We met online. You weren’t even supposed to like me. Heck you hated me, remember?”
I chuckled at the memory. “No, I didn’t hate you. I was slightly annoyed by you.”
“Same thing,” Jake said, shrugging. “So, we miraculously became friends, and now, here you are, in my house and I’m tutoring you. It’s…like…” he trailed off, looking at me intensely.
“Like?”
“Like, fate wanted us to be…together…”
My breath caught. Together. Did he mean -?
“You’re such a good friend you know,” he continued. “You help me out a lot, you’re always there to listen to me, and you understand me so well…I got lucky…”
It was weird. A bittersweet feeling washed over me. While I was ecstatic hearing his words, I was also slightly disappointed that he didn’t feel anything more than that. I silently chided myself for thinking so selfishly. Why couldn’t I be happy with what I already had?
Jake leaned forwards and kissed me on the cheek. I felt my cheeks burning and I was unable to think. Sure, it was on the cheek, but it was affecting me…immensely…
“Thanks,” he said.
“For what?” I managed to murmur.
“For just being you,” he replied, grinning and tugging playfully at my hair. “Now, come on,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. “I’m starving. Wanna grab something to eat at the coffee shop?”
I nodded weakly. He smiled and, still holding my hand, led me to his car. I vaguely wondered if he felt the same electricity I felt whenever we touched.
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We were having a great time at the coffee shop. I sipped my coffee as Jake told me of his high-school stories between bites of his club sandwich. Most of his stories were of the pranks he and his friends used to pull at school, so we were laughing a lot.
The colourful coffee shop was at its busiest in the afternoons. As I chatted with Jake, I spotted two familiar figures coming towards us.
“Rebecca, fancy seeing you here,” said Ace, glancing at Jake before smiling at me. The other one was Natasha, and I groaned inwardly seeing her.
“Yeah, just hanging with a friend,” I said. “Jake – Ace and Natasha from my school,” I introduced.
Jake waved and Ace nodded his head. Natasha looked curiously at Jake before mouthing to me, Who’s he?
I ignored her, and turned towards Ace. “So, what’re you guys doing here?”
“Our homeroom decided to have a little party,” Natasha answered.
It was then that I noticed my other classmates at the far end of the coffee shop. Some of them looked curiously at us, especially the girls. I kicked myself mentally. I should’ve paid more attention to my surroundings. Now everyone at school was going to bother me about Jake.
“Are you on a date?” Natasha asked bluntly.
Jake raised his eyebrow at Natasha’s straightforward question. “Yes, we are,” he said before I could even open my mouth.
Ace looked slightly disappointed while Natasha looked alarmed. “Really? Rebecca, you never told us about him,” she said.
Jake pretended to be shocked. “Really, Rebbie? You never told her about me? I’m hurt, honey.”
“I – what – Jake, let’s go,” I managed to stutter.
“Where you going?” Natasha asked nosily.
Again Jake beat me to an answer, “To my house…for a heavy make-out session, in case you were wondering.”
Jake and I left Natasha and Ace looking completely bewildered. As soon as we came out of the coffee shop, I hit his shoulder as he started laughing.
“What the hell?” I exclaimed. “Now everyone’s going to pester me at school.”
He put his arm around my shoulders. “I couldn’t help myself. That girl was too nosy, and I loved seeing the expression on that guy’s face. Priceless.”
“What do you mean?”
“He likes you,” said Jake, grinning at me.
“No, he doesn’t,” I countered.
He pinched my cheek. “Yes, he does…now, babe, let’s go back to my house for that make-out session, eh?” he added, winking.
Even though I rolled my eyes on the outside, I felt my stomach doing a back-flip. I sighed inwardly. If only he wasn’t joking…