Chapter 46 || Act Casual
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* * Nicole's POV * *
I sat in English writing all my notes down my notebook. Its a wonder my hand hasn't fallen off yet.
Soon enough the bell rang signaling the end of class.
As Jake and I were about to leave Ms. Cast calls me over.
I tell Jake to meet me by my locker before heading to Ms. Cast.
"Sit," She says nicely as she gestures to an empty desk chair, "Nicole I wanted to talk to you about your work. I've noticed you've been handwriting your work and haven't been submitting your online work. Is everything okay?"
"Oh yeahh... My mom took-" I coughed, "uh broke my laptop... on accident."
She looks at me skeptically before taking in my words, "Can I offer you some extra credit to boost up your grade?"
"Yes please!" I plead knowing my grade has dropped since my mom has come home.
She hands me some papers before explaining the assignment to me.
"Thank you," I say cheerfully as I put the papers in my backpack before heading out of the classroom and to my locker.
I see Jake casually leaning against my door twiddling on his phone surrounded by Alice and the rest of the boys.
"How does it feel to be Liam free for a whole week!" Alice cheers as I enter the group's circle, "Putting a restraining order on him was the best thing you could've done!"
"I couldn't agree more," I say with a smile, "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"
"We're probably just going to chill and hang out somewhere. I wish you could come!" Alice stats with a frown.
"You have no idea how much I want to be with you guys. Literally." I say while crossing my eyes.
"I'm taking you home," Jake demands as he wraps his arm around my waist.
"What?"
"I'm taking you home today" He restates.
"Jake you know my mom-"
"Oh I don't care what she says. If she lands a finger on you I'll punch her so hard that she'll fly all the way to the north pole." Jake says as he playfully tightens his grip around me.
I roll my eyes, "You'll say anything to flex on your strength."
"Hey if you got it flaunt it," He says with a snap of his hand.
I laugh.
Then his face gets serious, "But I'm seriously not joking."
"Oh believe me. I know you aren't." I say as I stand on my toes to kiss his cheek.
I notice a faint blush appear on his face as I pull away.
He's too precious.
We all say our goodbyes before exiting the school.
Jake holds my hand, and I follow him as we run to his motorcycle.
I hope onto his bike when Jake says with a wink, "Don't forget your helmet! Safety first."
I laugh as I put on the helmet.
When Jake gets on his bike I tightly wrap my arms around his waist and ask, "Hey Jake can you drive slowly so we have more time before I have to go home?"
He turns with a grin, "Or we can drive fast but longer."
I laugh as Jake's motorcycle roars to life.
The wind blows through my hair as Jake speeds down the street.
"WOOHOOO!" I shout as Jake takes a sharp turn.
"Sh*t!" Jake shouts as he swerves out of the way for a rabbit that was hopping to the other side of the room, "I mean oh Sugar! Sorry." Jake says covering up.
I shrug, "You know it doesn't bother me anymore."
"Really?" Jake chirps.
"Yeah, I'm totally cool with it... I mean as long as you don't yell and swear at me in anger. My mom does that. I guess that's why I hated swearing... because my Mom always swears at me," I say as Jake stops at a red light.
"Nicole I would never yell at you," Jake says, "Well I mean I'm not speaking for my past behaviors but I speak for myself now and in the future."
I laugh.
Jake shakes his head in frustration, "And man I hate that b!tch."
I laugh and I lightly nudge him, "She still is my Mom."
"Mom or not. It doesn't give her the right to treat you the way she does."
"I know," I sigh, "Hopefully my Dad will be home soon."
"Are you going to tell him when he gets home?" He asks as he starts driving again.
"Yes. No. I don't know?" I say, "What difference does it make if I tell him or not? If I do my Mom may just take it out on me. If I don't maybe it will all go away."
I feel Jake sigh as I rest my head against his back.
There was a moment of silence before Jake said, "You better hold on tight Princess."
I clunge to him for the life of me as he revved the bike and speed down a deserted street.
I cheered as we zoomed down the street.
"This is amazing!" I shouted.
I felt Jake chuckle against my body.
The smile on my face slowly faded away as I heard sirens come from behind me.
Jake laughs, "Whoops. There aren't usually cops in this area."
Jake pulls over to the side of the road and even tho I didn't do anything illegal my heart is racing.
Cops scare me to death.
They are like fear on feet!
"Do you realize how fast you were going?" The cop said to Jake.
"Yeah. No one was on the road." Jake says as he hands him his license and registration, "No one ever comes down this road."
"I caught you didn't I?" The cop says.
"Yeah, but that's just me. I'll be the only person you catch on this road. If you're looking to catch people speeding go down Main Street and hide behind the dumpster people speed over there all the time and they can't see you. Trust me."
The cop nods his head and heads back to his car.
"How are you not nervous? I'm shaking like crazy."
"It's just a speeding ticket. He may even let us off the hook, but even if I do... it was totally worth it." He says as he flashes his thousand-watt smile my way.
The comes back and hands Jake his license and registration, "Look kid I'm just going to give you a warning this time. I know you're just trying to show off to you girl but do obey the traffic laws okay?"
Jake smiles, "You betcha... Guess I got a bit carried away. So if you take a left up there and then a right you will see a white building. Across from it, there is a dumpster. That's the perfect spot for a speed trap!"
The cops nods, "Thanks. Be safe you to."
Jake revved his engine, "We will!"
The cop laughs and shakes his head before heading back to his car while I am just sitting there completely shocked.
"What... Just... Happened?"
Jake begins driving again, "I gave him some valuable information and in return he pardoned me, and besides like he said... I'm just a stupid kid trying to impress his girl."
I blush as I rest my head against his back.
* * Jake's POV * *
I smile as I feel her breath against my back.
Minutes later we arrived at her house. Before parking, I drove by her house to see if her Mom's car was in the driveway... thankfully it wasn't.
I don't know what I would do if her Mom hurt her on my account.
I park behind a bush, take Nicole's bag, and walk inside.
"What time does your mom usually come home?" I ask as I look out the kitchen window to make sure that my bike is hidden completely.
Nicole shrugs, "I have no idea. It's like when she decides she wants to come home ya know?"
I shake my head with a grunt of frustration before turning to Nicole with a smile, "You hungry?" I ask as I kiss her forehead.
"No I'm good. I had a big lunch."
Pitty.
I followed Nicole into her room.
My palms were sweaty but I stuffed them in my pockets to hid that little detail.
Jeez. Jake get a hold of yourself!
I placed her bag on her bed before walking to the window to checking my bike again.
When I turn around I found Nicole emptying her bag to get her homework.
I watched her dumbfounded as she mesmerized me.
Something about her just makes me crazy for her.
My heart was racing as I began pacing.
Just come out and tell her! You've been holding it in for so long now!
What if she doesn't feel the same way?
Does it really matter? Does it change how you feel?
No.
Then tell her!
I sigh as I pace back and forth completely forgetting Nicole is in the room and basically watching me have a silent argument with myself.
"You alright Jake?" She asks as she looks at me with her big beautiful innocent brown eyes that make me go weak at the knees.
Be a man!
Tell her!
"Nicole?"
"Yeah?"
I take a deep breath.
She straightens her posture as I sit next to her on the bed.
I brush my hand through my hair and let out the breath I was holding.
"God you're so beautiful," I say breathlessly trying to build up the courage.
A blush forms at her cheeks.
"Every time I look at you it's like I'm seeing you for the first time. You're so talented and beautiful and you don't even know it. The way your hair bounces about your face makes me want to pull you close to me. The way you smile makes me weak at the knees. Who I kidding every time I look at you my heart skips a beat," I take her hand in mine, "Nicole I love you and I've been in love with you for the longest time."
Her lips part into a shocked smile, "You do?"
I nod as I cup her cheek with my hand, "I love you so much!"
A tear strolls down the side of her cheek as she pulls me into a kiss.
For f*cks sake, my heart was already racing like crazy... the feeling of her lips against mine will probably make me have a heart attack.
"Jake," she says breathlessly through our kiss.
I smile against her lips.
You have no idea what you're doing to me Nicole.
"Jake I-" She starts to say and looks me into the eyes but she stops when the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.
We immediately get up and peek out the window to find her Mom's car parked in the driveway.
I f*cking hate that b*tch.
I quickly run into her closet and hide behind her clothes, "act casual Nicole."
Her face was beat red from everything that had just happened and all she was able to say was "Yeah-uh-huh."
I chuckle at her cute little expression on her face, "Pretend to do homework" I whisper.
She nods and rushes to her bed, "Right. Good idea."
I shut her closet door and pray to god that her Mom didn't see my bike.
I hear Nicole's Mom enter the house and make her way to Nicole's room.
"Nicole?" She says sourly.
"Yeah? I'm in my room." She says smoothly.
I hear her mom open her bedroom door. I could tell she was surveying the room.
"What is that?" She asks.
Sh*t.
"What's what?" Nicole asks innocently.
"Your papers! They are all over the place. It's a no wonder your grades are dropping," She hisses, "You know what I don't care. I'm going back out. I'll be back."
Her mom storms out of the room which is followed by the door being slammed shut.
I waited until I heard her leave the house and turn the car on before I hopped out of the closet.
"Well that was eventful," I laugh as I make my way to Nicole who is just completely aggravated by her mother.
"You know my grades are dropping because I can't do any of my online homework!" She shouts.
"Awe, come here baby" I say as I wrap my arms around her and pull her into a giant bear hug.
We just sat there like that for a while.
I didn't want her to move. She was so cute in my arms and I was so enjoying holding her.
When she tried to pull back I gently pulled her into a hug again, "No- No- Come back. You're not going anywhere."
She laughs as I wrap my arms around her and rest my chin on the top of her head.
Then, of course, my phone rings.
"Are you kidding me?!" I shout.
Nicole found this amusing and let out a laugh.
I shake my head as I pull out my phone, "Hey mom what's up?"
"Can you come home? The sink handle thing just broke I have no idea how to stop the water from spurting everywhere."
I sigh, "Yup. I'll be home in five," and then hung up.
"Welp looks like I gotta go Princess."
She pouts.
"Trust me I would so rather be here with you," I say as I plant a kiss on her cheek.
She giggles as she touches her hand to her cheek.
I could tell she was still a little love-struck from earlier.
I wish her mother hadn't come home. I would have liked to know what Nicole would have said, but I'll just have to wait until the right moment.
I grab my keys and lift open the window.
"You know we have a door right?" She asks.
I grin, "Yeah but the window is right here."
I swing my leg over through the window, "See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," She responds as she rushes to the window to give me a kiss.
I rest my hand against her neck as I return the kiss.
"Bye," I say softly.
"Bye," she replies with a cute little smile.
* * Nicole's POV * *
And just like that Jake jogged over to his bike and drove off. Not without waving goodbye of course.
I smiled as I watched him ride away.
I strike with joy as I plop onto my bed.
Jake loves me!
He really loves me!
"AHHHHHHhhhhhhh" I cheer as I start jumping on my bed.
If only I had my phone I would call Alice right now and tell her everything!
I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to tell her everything.
I sit on my bed giddy as I hug Jody - the bear Jake got me.
My eyes widened.
Alice will probably ask what I said back... I didn't say anything... my mom interrupted me before I could say anything.
I do love him. Right?
I begin biting my nails.
How do you know what love feels like?
I've never been in love before!
What if I mess up and Jake realizes he made a mistake.
I groan... why am I so bad at this.
God I need to talk to Alice right now.
Seconds later I heard a car drive stop at my house.
I immediately rush the window in hopes to find Jake on his bike, but when I looked out the window nothing was there.
Maybe he is hiding his bike in the bush.
I shake my head, no Nicole he had to help his Mom, it's just my mom coming back. She probably parked her car in the garage.
I sit back on my bed and hug Jody with a smile.
I hear the front door open.
"Mom?" I shout.
She doesn't answer per usual.
I roll my eyes as I walk back to the window.
You know I didn't actually hear the garage door open...
I peek my head out the window to see if I can see the garage but I can't. I shrug I usually can't hear it anyway.
I take a step back and shut the window cause it was getting cold outside.
Walk over to my desk to look at the picture frame the was resting on my desk... I had completely forgotten it was there.
I pick it up and look at how happy my dad and mom are. I'm only two in the photo but my dad is pushing me on a swing and my mom is sitting on the ground watching from the grass.
I wish I could remember that day... I honestly can't remember a time where my mom was that happy around me.
I sigh.
Just as I was about to put down the frame something was forcefully placed against my face covering my mouth and nose causing me to drop the picture causing it to shatter on the ground.
And before I knew it everything went black.
• • •
{A/N}
I'm sorry for the cliffhanger 💕 Gotta keep you on your toes and get your minds thinking?
If there are typos I apologize - I again DIDN'T proofread lol I'll do it tomorrow.
I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to finish this before bed but I literally forced myself for you guys!!
And time to sleep XD
Thank you all for being such supportive readers!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!
Shoutouts to @quiet_raindrops @pinnxapple_1636 @-araptureprophecy- @bookworm2319gsbc @abdulqaadirkafaar @Maker_of_mischeif and @fatmamohamedadel @babbyfifi Thank you all!
Don't you worry Yessss I will be finishing this book!! ❤️
We are almost done there are roughly 5/6ish chapters left
*cries*
Don't be a silent reader 🌸
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Alyssa Rose