Always Been You (7 page)

“Well this isn’t going to work,” I said. “I thought it’d be okay but your hair isn’t quite long enough for me to curl it. I guess we’ll just have to use the wig Amy gave me in case I needed it.”

“Wait a minute,” interrupted Jacob. “I thought Posh Spice has short hair?”

“And how do you know that?” I asked, fitting the short, straight, black-haired wig over his head before parting it in the middle.

“I do have cousins who are girls you know,” he said. “How else do you think I know that?”

“I thought maybe you and Matt are secretly part of the
Spice Girl
fan club since you two know more about the group than the average normal male.”

“Funny.”

“Hey, can you finish putting in these bobby pins for me? I need to get that other thing I said you needed.”

“Exactly what is this thing?” he asked, as I headed over to my bag.

“This.” I held up a black bra and the colour suddenly drained from Jacob’s face. “If you’re wondering, yes, the guys all have to wear one too. It will help you look more like a girl.”

“Fine,” he sighed, taking it from my hand.

‘Hey, you should be thankful I didn’t ask for the bright pink one for you to wear.”

“Who has that one?”

“Not telling,” I grinned.

While Jacob was busy putting on the bra, I left the room and headed into the washroom to fill the water balloons that Amy had put in my back to give his body more curves. When I came back with the fake boobs, however, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to laugh or hide. I was impressed that Jacob’s sculpted chest resembled one of those Calvin Klein
underwear models, but I also found it amusing, and somewhat disturbing, to see the same amazing chest covered by a lacy bra that was twisted and upside down.

“Want me to help?” I offered.

“Yes, please,” he said, sounding relieved.

“Sorry if my hands are a bit cold,” I said.

“I’d rather have you do this then make me struggle with it,” he said, as I unclasped the bra and attached it the right way. “Hey, is it supposed to feel a bit loose in the front?”

“Thanks for reminding me.”

Giving Jacob the filled balloons I had placed on top of the bed, I then turned to grab the dress Jacob had hung on the door. But then just as soon as I took it off the hook, I unexpectedly heard a loud pop. One of the balloons had busted in Jacob’s hand.

“Couldn’t resist, could you?” I smirked.

“Not funny, Jenna,” he said, yanking the box of tissues from my grasp. “I guess it means I don’t have to wear this stupid thing.”

“Not so fast,” I said with an amusing grin. “I have something else to use as a backup.”

“Of course you have a backup. So where are they?”

“Do you promise not to squeeze these ones?”

“Why?”

“My father will kill me if these get damaged since I only brought these as a last resort.”

Seeing the confusion etched upon his face, I let out a sigh, rummaged through my bag again, and produced two clear silicone balls. His eyes went wide.

“You knew beforehand we were going to be dressed up like this?” he proclaimed.

“I was already thinking of finding a way to make you dress up like a girl as my form of payback,” I explained.

“You really are brutal, you know that?”

“Maybe, but I didn’t think I deserved to be treated the way how you treated me.”

“I know. And I really am sorry for ignoring you like the way I did. I don’t know what came over m—hold a sec. You said your dad…
he knows?
”

“How else was I going to get a pair of implants? And no, they’re not used. These are a sample pair.”

“How lucky of m—what are you doing?”

“Making sure they’re not lopsided,” I said, laughing at the pitch of his voice as I securely adjusted the fake boobs in place. “Anyway, I think we’re done.”

Jacob was grumbling as he turned to look into the full-length mirror behind him, but a second later, a huge smile broke onto his face once he saw how he looked.

“I look sexy,” he grinned. He was swivelling from left to right, the implants jiggling with every step. “Still a bit bouncy, aren’t they?”

“I thought all guys liked them bouncy?” I said without thinking.

Jacob stared for a bit before another huge smile broke onto his face. “Actually I like them to be a perfect size and not overly huge.”

Seeing his eyes drifting down my face and onto my chest, I loudly cleared my throat and slugged him on the arm.

“So is there anything else we need?” he laughed.

“You need to put these nylons on,” I said.

“I got a better idea. Why don’t you just save me the trouble of figuring out how to work these things and put them on for me?”

“I know. How about I just start the nylons for you, and you do the rest? That way, I can go and change into my tux.”

“I still say it’s not fair that you girls are forcing us to do this,” he muttered.

“At least you now know how much we go through,” I grinned. “Now sit on the bed so I can put these on.”

Once I slipped both nylons onto his feet, I then told him to pull the rest of it carefully up to his thighs, so they would be hidden under the dress, before leaving to the washroom to change.

As I buttoned up my frilly shirt, I couldn’t help but feel envious with how pretty Jacob looked. The brown mascara and eye shadow made his hazel eyes more striking than ever. His lips looked even fuller with the mulberry-coloured lipstick I chose. He was so gorgeous I swore he could easily pass for a beauty queen, if not for his lack of curves and the muscles on his arms.

Readjusting the orange tie Amy thought would be perfect for Halloween; I then slipped on the jacket and came back into the room to find Jacob still admiring himself in the mirror.

“You really like this, don’t you?” I said.

“Not funny, Je—” His sentence was derailed, and his eyes popped out of their sockets, once he saw the black stilettos with rhinestones straps dangling from my fingers. He fell on to the bed. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”

“Hey, we gotta keep the look consistent,” I said, as I helped him slip them on. “But don’t worry. I’ll make sure I’m standing near you in case you fall.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Placing my arm securely around his waist to keep him steady, we slowly headed out of the room and descended the stairs when a pair of voices came drifting from the foyer.

“Nikki, what are you doing now?” asked Devon.

“Your hair is falling out and your dress is crumpled,” she said, adjusting Devon’s pigtails and smoothing down the front of the dress. “There, isn’t that better?”

“It’s much better,” I said, causing them both to turn their heads.

“Oh, hey, Jenna,” said Nikki. “Where’s Jacob?”

“Jacob’s gone, but Jacqueline’s right here.”

Giving me a steely look for calling him Jacqueline, Jacob came striding into view. With his shoulders thrown back and one hand gracefully on top of the other, Jacob then surprised us by tossing his head to flip the wig over his left shoulder.

“
Hey gals
,” he said in a girly voice, making me snort out loud.

“How…did…you…?” stuttered Nikki.

“It comes out naturally,” he said. “Looking good, Johnson.”

“Bennett, you’re taking this cross-dressing way too seriously,” muttered Devon.

“I see we’re all ready.”

We all turned, and Nikki and I started to laugh. With the leopard-print jumpsuit looking a bit snug in a few areas, Matt was also sporting a huge brown wig that was sticking straight up and wearing a pair of chunky, four-inch black platform boots on his feet. Wearing a bright, red wig highlighted with gold, Alex’s blue dress, which almost resembled the original outfit with a huge British flag in the front, showed off a pair of pale, and very hairy, limbs. Against the contrast from the flashy, red platform boots on his feet, Nikki and I were almost tempted to put on a pair of sunglasses from the glare of Alex’s legs.

“How in the world did you get these?” Matt asked Jacob, as he wobbled over to prod one of Jacob’s boobs.

“Water balloons,” grinned Nikki. “I should’ve thought of that instead of using cotton balls.”

“I’m sure Matt likes those better than balled up tissues,” said Katie.

“Actually it’s better than that,” I smirked.

“You’re kidding?” gasped Amy.

“You mean these aren’t water balloons?” asked Matt, who was still prodding Jacob’s left side. “Then what are they?”

“Silicone implants,” said Amy.

“Where’d you get those?” asked Alex.

“Borrowed the sample ones from my dad,” I said.

“Well, real ones or not, he’s still looking sexy,” Matt teased. “Wait till the girls see his shoulders.”

“Never mind the girls,” grinned Alex. “I’m thinking of jumping Jacob myself.”

“I really didn’t need to hear that,” muttered Katie, as we finally headed out the door.

 
Chapter 5

Beautiful

I was never the type to take the time to try and improve my appearance. I preferred the natural look and always prided that I could make myself presentable at a moment’s notice. However, as a favour to my mom, I was currently sitting in front of her vanity, staring up at Amy’s scrutinizing face, with my head feeling itchy from the rollers in my hair.

“Can you please stop fidgeting?” she sighed. “I’m almost done getting these rollers out of your hair.”

“It’s just our graduation pictures,” I complained. “I don’t know why we’re going through all this trouble.”

“We still need to look at least presentable,” she said.

“Easy for you to say. You always look great.”

“As long as I have makeup on. Without it, I’d probably end up scaring someone shitless.”

“Yes you would.”

“Hilarious, Jen.”

“So explain to me again why we’re doing this?” I laughed.

“Like I said, we need to look decent. Besides, your mom really wants this too.”

“I know she does, but I was just going to slather on some lip gloss, not redo my whole face, or even my hair. I even agreed to wear this black Chinese dress my grandma got for me, and you know how much I hate fitted stuff. I can barely sit properly because it’s so short.”

“That’s so typical of you,” she sighed. “Knee-length is not short. And stop squirming.”

I ignored Amy and continued to squirm in the seat, murmuring under my breath. Usually girls would go through three hours of torture in getting themselves ready if it was the prom. Since it was the end of November, and we were only taking our composite pictures in our cap and gown, I couldn’t understand why we were going through all this trouble. But no matter what I thought, even though I was dolled up to look like a short runway model, I still looked average in comparison to Amy.

As always, she looked beautiful. Her dress was a flirty, pink, mid-thigh halter dress with a rhinestone band around the waist that emphasised her curvy figure and slender legs. Her eyes were smoky, looking sexy and sultry but not overdone, with a tinge of shimmery lilac on the lids. Her lips were painted a peachy pink, and the left side of her hair was held back with a single diamond clip.

“There, now you look perfect,” she announced.

I turned to look in my mirror, and I had to admit Amy did a great job. My hair was parted to the right and the ends were slightly curled. My eyelids were lined with a touch of green shadow that emphasised the darkness of my eyes, making them brighter and larger than normal. My lips had the faintest hint of colour which matched the pink from the cherry blossom pattern on my dress.

“Ooh, wait till he sees you like this,” grinned Amy. “He’s going to flip!”

“Wait till who sees me?” I asked.

“Jacob of course!”

“Amy, I’m not doing this because of Jacob.”

“I know you’re not, but trust me when I tell you he’s going to enjoy what he sees.”

“And what about Aaron?”

“Just because you’ve gone out with him twice doesn’t automatically make it serious. So technically it should be no problem if Jacob decides to show some interest in you.”

“Jenna! Amy!” my mom called. “Jacob and Matt are here!”

Amy pushed me out the door. “Now go see if you can woo him,” she grinned. “I’ll be down in a bit. I still need to readjust my hair.”

In my opinion, I didn’t think her hair needed to be fixed. Every brown curl was perfectly just so and not a hair was out of line. But knowing better than to comment as we headed into my room, I then quickly grabbed my sweater, let Amy do what she needed to do, and headed toward the stairs.

My heart suddenly lurched into my throat. Jacob was standing at the bottom of the stairs by the foyer mirror, and he looked incredible. His wavy hair was swept back, making it sexier than usual, his collar was flipped up, and the black suit he wore was tailored perfectly across his chest.

Although my eyes were wide with admiration, my expression was nothing compared to Jacob’s as he swept his eyes over me from head-to-toe. I had to remind myself to breathe as I drew nearer, and hoped I wasn’t imagining the emotion I saw burning in his eyes.

“I think my cousin likes what he sees,” whispered Matt. “You look really good, Jen.”

“And you look very handsome yourself,” I grinned.

“I’m always this handsome,” he said staunchly. “So, where did Amy disappear to?”

“Oh, she ah…she’ll be down in a minute,” I stuttered, feeling nervous under Jacob’s lingering gaze. “She’s in my room fixing her hair.”

“Right, like I can believe that,” he grumbled.

Once Matt disappeared up the stairs, I then slowly turned to face Jacob and found his face full of emotion with his lips curved into a warm smile.

“You look amazing, Jenna,” he said.

“So do you,” I smiled back.

“Hey, do you know how to work this thing?” he asked, holding up a burgundy tie.

“Are you trying to tell me someone as suave as you don’t know how to tie a tie?”

“Not when there’s no need to wear them in school,” he said, his cheeks going red.

“You’re cute when you blush, you know,” I grinned.

“I’m cute all the time,” he grinned back. “Devastatingly handsome too.”

“Oh, give me that thing before your big head explodes,” I scoffed.