Always Been You (14 page)

“Sure,” she grinned, as I quickly clamped my mouth.

It was nearing midnight by the time Amy and I felt like going to bed. As we headed out of her room to brush our teeth, our attention was then caught by the light coming from the living room. Quietly, we tiptoed down the steps to see who was still awake and was shocked to find Jacob still passed out on the couch. I guess we were so busy caught up in talking about my problems I had with Ethan, we couldn’t believe we had forgotten Jacob was still here.

“I guess you’ll have to go wake him,” whispered Amy.

I nodded my head as she headed back upstairs to check on Tessa, who had started to cry, and slowly approached Jacob when a silly grin began working around my face. Jacob was curled up in a foetal position, hugging a pillow to his chest. He looked so peaceful I really didn’t want to disturb him, but I knew he wasn’t allowed to stay the night. Except, just as I bent down to wake him, Jacob unexpectedly tossed the pillow aside, threw an arm out, and pulled me flush against his body.

I let out a surprised squeak, then quickly sucked in a breath as Jacob started shift. When he finally settled down, I then prayed my thumping heart wouldn’t betray me as I carefully attempted to manoeuvre out of his grasp. I only got as far as an inch when Jacob suddenly tightened his grip again, mumbled in his sleep, and brought me higher up his chest.

Completely stuck in his iron grip, I figured it was better just wake him, even if he might die of a heart attack once he saw me in his arms. But before I was even able to open my mouth, someone abruptly whispered my name. This time I managed to catch myself before I squeaked and nearly bit my tongue. Silently, I cursed under my breath, thinking I was caught by one of Amy’s parents, and tried searching for some kind of feasible explanation on what had happened when a sense of relief washed over me to see that it was only Amy standing by the doorway.

“What are you doing?” she whispered excitedly, a slightly scandalized, yet amused expression on her face.

“I’m trying to get out,” I whispered back. “What else do you think I was doing?”

“To me it looks like you’re trying to seduce Jacob while he’s asleep,” she smirked.

I held up a finger to my mouth in what I thought might be a threatening manner as Jacob released me and continued to resume my escape. However, just as soon as I pulled free, Jacob reached out again. As he began to flail around his arms, I then grabbed one of Tessa’s stuffed toys, shoved it into his outstretched hands, and backed away. Suddenly, Amy let out a snort.

“Oh, this is too funny,” she chuckled softly, as Jacob began kissing the elephant. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back into his arms? You’d probably enjoy it more than Tessa’s toy.”

Narrowing my eyes at her, I quickly grabbed Amy by the arm since her internal battle not to laugh out loud was making Jacob shift again, and pulled her towards the stairs to explain.

“W…what exactly h…happened?” she giggled.

“I knelt down to wake him and he just grabbed me,” I said.

“Are you telling me that when you tried to wake Jacob, he suddenly reached out and grabbed you, and from what I saw, held onto you like he was afraid to let you go?” she said in disbelief.

“That’s exactly what happened!”

“Are you sure you weren’t trying to sleep with him?”

“Of course not!”

“Positive?”

“Yes po—”

Amy’s eyes went wide.

“He’s awake, isn’t he?”

She nodded her head.

“Who are we talking about?” asked Jacob.

“No one important,” I answered evasively and gave Amy a pointed look. “Did you have a nice nap?”

“I did, but I didn’t know it was so late,” he yawned, glancing thoughtfully at his watch. “I was having such a nice dream…”

“What kind of dream?” Amy asked. I hissed at her.

“It was wonderful…” he trailed off, staring at the wall with an odd look upon his face.

“I see,” she grinned. “Anyway, Jacob, I just want to say thanks for helping out with Tessa today and to also tell you goodnight before Jenna shows you out.”

“Oh, goodnight, Amy,” he said distractedly.

“See you upstairs, Jen.” She subtly flashed me another meaningful smirk, which I thought was highly annoying, and disappeared up the stairs.

“So what made the dream wonderful?” I prompted, curiosity gnawing at me.

“I don’t remember, but I think I better get going so you can get your beauty sleep…not that you need it though,” he grinned drowsily at me.

“I will accept that cheesy line since you’re half-asleep right now,” I said.

I was about to close the front door, but didn’t notice Jacob had poked his head back in. As a result, Jacob gave me an odd sort of one-sided kiss on the lips when I lifted my head. He hesitated for a bit, but then all he said was “Goodnight.” I wasn’t sure on how to respond after what had just happened, but I answered just the same. With a final smile, he then turned around and grabbed the open door, shutting it softly behind him.

For a few minutes, I stood in the front hallway, not sure if I was able to move my feet. When I finally felt a slight twitch from my left leg, I then slowly turned to head back upstairs, subconsciously raised my fingers to where Jacob’s lips had touched me, and broke into a wide grin.

“What’s got you all happy all of a sudden?” asked Amy, as I entered into her room.

“N-nothing,” I stuttered, feeling the heat in my cheeks rising up a notch.

“Uh huh,” she said, looking sceptical. “Anyway, what really happened with Jacob when you tried to wake him up?”

“I told you already,” I said, glad for the chance of topic.

“Then how come you left out the part about him whispering something along the lines of ‘My Jen’?”

“He probably was asking for his pen so he could sign autographs in his sleep,” I said unflinchingly. “Besides, how do you know he said that? He’s never called me Jen before.

“I’m telling you that’s what I heard.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” I yawned. “Now, can we please drop it and go to bed? You’re right about taking care of Tessa. I’m really tired.”

“You only want to go to sleep so you can have pleasant dreams of a certain wavy-haired, brown-eyed guy,” she smirked.

“If I said yes to that, will you let me sleep?”

“Yes.”

“Then my answer is yes.”

As she turned off the light, I thought I would indeed dream about Jacob. But like most nights when you want to dream, they just wouldn’t come.

 
Chapter 10

Spring Break!

After several days of rain, the spring air at Jericho Beach Park smelt of damp earth and fresh cut grass. The sky was overcast, the sun trying to break itself free from the confinements of the clouds. The waves were crashing against the beach shore, in the sky came the sounds of seagulls soaring above, and there was even a cool breeze of ocean air assaulting my senses as I hopped out of the van we had rented for the day.

We had chosen the west side of the park where there was an open grassy area, some tennis courts, and even a football field. And with miles of sand, cherry blossom trees starting to bloom, and an awe-inspiring view that combined the Pacific Ocean to the west, the North Shore Mountains to the north, and the downtown core of Vancouver to the east, this was the perfect place to hold our senior class picnic.

“So who’s doing what?” asked Jacob.

“Matt’s manning the barbecue,” said Amy.

“I can’t believe you’re making me do that,” exclaimed Matt.

“I thought you wanted to learn something new?”

“I do, but don’t you remember, Ames? I can’t cook.”

“I know you can’t cook. Do you think we’d be having this conversation if I did?”

“And you thought I was the idiot,” he muttered to himself. Amy flicked a chip at his head. “What the hell was that for?”

“You called me an idiot.”

“I did not call you an idiot.”

“Yeah right,” she huffed. “Remind me to yell at you once we’re done with this picnic.”

Jacob and I rolled our eyes simultaneously at the argument brewing between our friends when he suddenly moaned. Hannah Miller was heading our way. Her…fondness of Jacob had grown since they had square danced during our last gym class before winter break.

“Hi, Jacob!” she said brightly, flirtatiously flipping her brunette head over her shoulder. “I came over to see if you guys need any help unloading the van.”

“We’ll be fine,” he said quickly.

“Oh, okay,” she said, sounding dismal. “I guess I’ll see you later then.”

“Why didn’t you just tell her you don’t want to hang out with her?” I whispered, as we watched her walk away.

“I’ve tried that,” he grumbled. “Don’t you remember? I even purposely flung her across the gym floor and she still doesn’t get the hint I’m not interested.”

“Like you said, you’re just too irresistible for your own good.”

“Funny, Jenna,” he murmured.

With the van finally empty, Jacob and I then were about to lug all the volleyball equipment to the beach when Matt hollered for Jacob to help him out with the barbecue. Since I was left alone, I thought the task of dragging the net to the beach would be a feat. I was lucky that someone took pity on me and lifted the other end.

“And how come you’re doing this by yourself?” asked Riley.

“Everyone else is busy,” I said. “Why?”

“And here I thought Jacob would be helping you out since lately you two seemed to be always attached at the hip,” he teased.

“Always the joker,” I sighed. “Hey, the weather turned out perfect, don’t you think?”

“Yes, but I’m not really looking forward to this.”

“Why not? All our friends are here.”

“And that’s why I didn’t want to come. The last time I was at a picnic, something humiliating happened and I was scarred for life!”

“It couldn’t be that bad, could it? It’s not like everyone saw you nude,” I replied blithely when Riley suddenly blanched. “No way.”

“It’s not funny, Jenna,” he snapped. He tried to look hurt but his acting skills were sorely lacking. A smile upturned at the corners of his mouth.

“Did you have an awkward dive into the water and your shorts came off?”

“At least I could’ve hidden in the water,” he sighed. “Some friends and I were playing football when one of them tripped and accidentally pulled my shorts down with them.”

“Riley, you weren’t naked under there, were you?” I asked in a scandalized tone.

“Do you wear underwear under your swimsuit?”

“No.”

“Then you got your answer. Besides, you weren’t the one who needed to promise your buddies huge favours so they wouldn’t spread around rumours. And to make the situation even more humiliating, I also fell on some poison ivy and had the itches for weeks.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I really wish I’d been there,” I added in amusement.

“My friends and family witnessing my humiliation was quite enough,” he said flippantly, poking me in the side. “If you were there, being my first girlfriend and all, I would’ve been completely mortified.”

“Then I guess it was a good thing I wasn’t there,” I grinned. “Speaking of girlfriends, how’s Yvonne been?”

“I’m not sure. We broke up last week.”

“Oh, Ri, I’m sorry.”

“It’s no big deal,” he shrugged. “We barely saw each other. To tell you the truth, she’s not the right girl for me anyway since I…well…I like someone else.”

“So who’s the new girl?”

“I’m not sure I should tell you.”

“Come on, Ri. You always tell me who it is.”

“Well, from what I can tell you, I think she’s very special. We get along so well that we’re a perfect match for each other. The more time I spend with her, the more I want to be with her. Plus she’s amazingly hot, but she doesn’t even think she is.”

“So why don’t you tell her? She sounds perfect for you.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do right now.”

A strange feeling crept up the back of my neck.

“I’m still in love with you, Jenna,” he went on. “I know we’ve tried in the past, and it didn’t turn out, but I’ve been wondering if that was the right decision. I was hoping that maybe we could try again.”

“Um…” I bit my lip nervously.

“Oh, I see,” he sighed. “You like someone else, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry, but…”

“It’s fine, Jenna. I guess I just thought that, you know, you and Jacob were only just friends. But I guess I’ve noticed for some time that things have changed this year with you both. Jacob seems happier around you, and you seem happier when you’re around him. I know it takes a certain person to win that special place in your heart. And after witnessing his New Year’s kiss, Jacob has found his way there. At least one good thing came out of all of this.”

“What?” I asked him.

“Even if we did only go out for a short time, at least I’m able to tell everyone I dated the girl that Jacob Bennett dreams about,” he said cheekily. “But seriously, I really did have fun when we were together, and still do. I just hope what I said doesn’t ruin our friendship.”

“You’ll never have anything to worry about that,” I said. “I’m just glad to see you’re okay with everything. Most guys usually don’t take rejection so easily.”

“Like I said, it’s because I don’t want to ruin the friendship we have. You really are very special to me, Jenna.”

“And me to you,” I grinned, returning his hug.

“Now let’s get this thing untangled so we get some food,” he said. “That smell of hamburger meat cooking on the barbecue is making me hungry.”

Eventually getting the net set up after the wind blew it out of our hands a few times, we then clambered to our feet and headed over to the gigantic canvas marquee. The tables looked like they were heaving with food. From numerous platters of sandwiches, overflowing bowls of potato salad and fruit salad, a huge array of cold drinks, and massive plates of burgers and hot dogs, it took all my willpower not to overeat. Once I filled my plate with a different variety of things, I then joined Riley, and we found a place to sit that overlooked the sailboats by the pier.

The food had tasted as good as it smelt, leaving the both of us pleasantly full. But then just as Riley and I were about to lean back onto the grass and relax from the meal, Jacob appeared and grabbed my hand.