Popping the Cherry (10 page)

My bare toes sank into the carpet as I crossed the room to the television, taking out the first disc ready to put on while dodging the games controllers and the guitar strewn in my path. The blank screen flickered to life and then the opening copyright notices came on, closely followed by the menu, complete with loud music. I dived on the remote control, frantically trying to turn the damned volume down before I woke the whole house.

‘I thought I heard someone up and about,’ came a voice from behind me.

‘Argh!’ I shrieked and jumped out of my skin, somehow spinning around and launching the remote control like a weapon towards the owner of the voice at the same time. I hadn’t even heard the door open, let alone the footsteps on the stairs running above my head.

‘Whoa. Steady there,’ said Jake, plucking the remote out of the air effortlessly then walking over to me. ‘Somebody’s a little bit jumpy tonight.’

I shot him a glare. ‘I can’t imagine why.’

My poor heart was ready to give up the ghost but I couldn’t help smirk at his appearance. He was wearing grey sweats and a baggy red T-shirt, with his hair all rumpled on one side and bed scars criss-crossing his cheek. I don’t suppose I looked much better, though.

‘Did Mum and Dad wake you up when they got in or something?’

‘Or something …’ I said, not wanting to go into detail.

‘So what are we watching, then?’ he asked, ignoring my outstretched hand and making a point of holding onto the remote. Such a guy thing to do. ‘Oh, one of my favourites,’ he said, after casting a glance at the screen. ‘Good choice.’ He plonked down into the sofa and patted the seat behind him.

That was it?
No interrogation about why I was up and getting ready for a movie marathon? No medical quizzing about how I was feeling? No psychoanalysis?

I didn’t know how to respond so I just eased down to next to him but he caught hold of me on the way down and dragged me over so that I was right up against him. He hit play on the movie, then reached over my head to pull the same blanket off the back of the seat that I’d been wrapped in earlier. The opening credits burst into life as Jake draped the soft woollen square over both of us, but then it all went quiet again.

‘Actually, I’m starving,’ he said. ‘Do you mind if I pause for a minute?’

‘Sure.’

‘Great, back in a sec.’

Two minutes or so later, I heard the microwave start to bleep, quickly cut off to the sound of Jake’s muttered curses where he’d been too slow or something. The smell hit me first. That buttery, salty, tang that you only get with popcorn, and my tummy let out an appreciative grumble. Sure enough, my nose hadn’t deceived me and I watched Jake return bearing a tray.

Smart thinking
. I never think to grab a tray at home and would have ended up making a few trips to carry the huge bowl of popcorn, and two pints of water that Jake had brought with him. As he lowered himself back onto the sofa, I spotted two bars of chocolate, as well as two more painkillers. I could have kissed him. I even leaned towards him before I noticed and checked myself.

Instead, I grabbed the tablets, chucked them in my mouth and washed them down with a great big guzzle of water. Let’s face it, the idea of kissing Jake was just plain weird. And what would he do if I did pull a stunt like that?

Jake got settled and took a swig of his water while I pulled the blanket back over our laps. He reached over my head again, this time to drape his arm around my shoulder and I stiffened. ‘Sorry, did that hurt?’ he asked, lifting his arm off me.

‘No, not at all.’ What was my problem? This was Jake, after all, not some jerk hoping to cop a feel. ‘You can put it back if you like.’

‘Are you OK, Lena?’ He was doing the lopsided eyebrow dipping thing at me again. ‘You look like you’re about to gnaw through your lip.’

‘Oops,’ I said, immediately stopping my teeth from sinking any deeper. ‘Er, yeah, I’m fine, thanks.’

He chuckled but lowered his arm back to rest on me. He was only being nice, and I had to admit it felt pretty comfy, actually, not to mention safe. So why the hell not? I thought, relaxing into him and telling my head to shut the hell up.

‘Now quit fidgeting and hit play so I can get started on the popcorn.’

‘Yes, sir,’ he said, giving me a mock salute with his free hand, then picking up the remote.

The film started up from where it had left off and Jake grabbed the bowl of popcorn, placing it on his lap so I could reach it too. More than once, we reached for it at the same time causing our fingers to brush together.

To add another level of freaky to my day, I had some demented thrill race through me every time it happened, making my skin goose. Naturally I planned to blame it on the film and the incredible soundtrack if Jake noticed, which was partly true, anyway, especially the bit where Frodo and the other hobbits are hiding from the creepy ring wraith.

Sadly, the rest of me hadn’t caught up to speed, and my gaze kept drifting to his lips. I’d never really looked at them properly before—I mean, why would I?—so I hadn’t noticed that they were a totally different shade of pink from Gemma’s. And, whereas she complained endlessly that her lips were too thin, Jake’s were exactly the same but they suited him just fine and looked—damn it—highly kissable.

‘What’s up?’ Jake’s voice brought me crashing back to reality and erased the fantasy I had going on in my head.

Busted!

My vision snapped back into focus and I found Jake staring at me with a puzzled look on his face that made it look as if his eyebrows were trying to meet in the middle, except that one was a little bit higher than the other. The way he was looking at me caused my stomach to do a loop-the-loop and I prayed like mad he couldn’t read minds.

‘Just a bit of popcorn,’ I said, trying to sound normal, and almost getting it right. I continued the ridiculous lie by reaching up to brush the imaginary bit of popcorn away from his chin, where the sharp stubble of a day’s growth scratched my fingertip. ‘All gone now.’

My heart hammered away in my chest as Jake quirked an eyebrow at me and pressed his lips together as if to smother a grin. Even I could tell my cheeks were bright red, they were on fire. ‘Thanks,’ he said, choosing not to call ‘bullshit’ on me.

Disaster averted, I followed Jake’s lead and turned back to watch the movie. I’d either hit my head harder than I thought or I was in some sort of post-traumatic delirium because there was no way I fancied Jake.

Nuh-uh!

No way. It just wasn’t happening.

Every time I got the urge to glance his way, I dug my fingernails into the palm of my hand to distract myself, and it worked most of the time. If Jake caught me peeking at him, he didn’t let on, and we watched the rest of the film without any more interruptions, apart from when he laughed at me for jumping and covering my eyes.

‘Do you want to watch the next one, or do you need to get some shuteye now?’ he asked, as soon as the closing credits came on.

‘Next one,’ I said, without hesitation. ‘That was bloody brilliant! Are you sure you don’t mind? You don’t have to babysit me, you know.’

‘Are you kidding me?’ Jake clambered off the sofa and picked up the case for the second film. ‘And miss this?’ he said, waving the case at me before opening it and popping the disc out. ‘You’ve really never seen
Lord of the Rings
before?’

‘Never. Stupid, huh?’

‘In that case, we need more supplies. Same again?’

I nodded, the sentiment echoed by my tummy growling again by way of an answer. ‘Definitely.’

A quick trip to the bathroom was in order first, though. Sitting still for so long hadn’t helped my aches. I could barely move. My legs had seized up, making me walk like an old woman, so, instead of being ‘quick’, it took me ages, and Jake beat me back to the sofa.

What shocked me the most was realising how glad I was to feel his hands guide me back to the same spot beside him. It was a relief when he pulled me in close again and shifted until we were back into the same position, complete with his arm over my shoulder, as though neither of us had moved, let alone left the room.

Over the course of one night, his warmth and the weight of his arm had become familiar. Comfortable. Unfortunately, it wasn’t doing much for my sudden girly crush. I did, at least, get through the film without ogling him quite as much. Sort of …

Glints of red and a caramel sort of colour kept catching my eye, mixed in with darker chocolate-coloured strands, especially where Jake kept his hair longer on top. Basically, the kind of thing I would pay a fortune to achieve at the hairdresser’s, but they made enough money out of me already: I was there every six weeks without fail for my highlights to try to make my boring, mousy blonde more interesting.

Jake had run his hand through his hair a few times too since he’d first scared the bejeezus out of me, and I absolutely did not wonder what it would feel like to run my fingers through it. His bed head was back under control and falling into place as if he’d styled it. You could really go off some people. He was probably the kind of person that could get up and ready in five minutes flat, yet look as if he’d spent ages grooming himself to perfection.

After another snack-fest, we were on to the third and final film, and I’d finally cracked the urge to keep looking at Jake. Whether that was down to my crush passing already, or simply because I was too engrossed in the film was open to debate. Either way, it was a question for another day. Preferably one that didn’t involve a shedload of drama, a date with the police, and a constant stream of painkillers.

Through the gap around the curtains, I could see the sky brightening up outside, chasing away the last of the darkness. It wasn’t long before the birds began tweeting in the garden, launching into a full-on dawn chorus. A new day, admittedly one I didn’t expect to see a great deal of, given that my bed was calling my name almost as loudly as the birds were welcoming the new day outside.

My folks are generally early risers, even after a late night, so I’d already decided to call them to come and get me. I could get the dreaded chat out of the way, rather than have it hanging over me. On the plus side, my mum could call in sick for me, too, so I could take the day off.

‘Do you want a lift home or anything?’ Jake asked. ‘If we go soon, you could just stick your coat on over your PJs and crawl straight into bed when you get in.’

It was as if he’d interpreted my thoughts yet again in that spooky way of his, unless he knew me so well that he could read me like a book.
Nah!

‘That sounds good, actually,’ I said, stifling yet another yawn. Battle was waging in my eyes, and it was getting harder by the minute to keep them open. ‘But only if you don’t mind.’

‘I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it. Just let me go and throw some jeans on, OK?’

‘OK. Thanks, Jake.’

‘No worries, it’s been fun,’ he said. ‘Maybe we can do it again sometime?’

Say what?

‘Yeah, I’d like that.’ I wasn’t just being polite either, I really meant it. It had been fun. No pressure, no hassle, no second guessing. What was there not to like? ‘Do you think Gemma will be ticked if I’m gone when she wakes up?’

‘She’ll be fine once I tell her you needed your own bed.’ Jake stood and reached for my hands to help me stand up, then made for the door once I was upright. He made it halfway before he stopped and turned around to face me. ‘D’you think maybe we should keep last night to ourselves?’

‘Huh?’ Did he mean the attack or the movie marathon? It was a bit late to be the former, since he was the one to involve the police.

‘You know, just in case she gets the wrong idea.’

‘Who? Gemma?’

‘Yeah, who else? You saw how weird she got when
I
came to pick you up instead of her. It might save us both a load of earache.’

‘Oh, yeah, I see what you mean,’ I said, not wholly convinced but now wasn’t the time to question his motives, not when he was doing me a favour. I didn’t want to know if it was more a case of his being too embarrassed to be associated with me, anyway; plus, he was bang on about Gemma acting weird. ‘I guess it can be our little secret then?’

‘Cool.’ With that, Jake nodded and left the room.

Left to my own devices, I carefully gathered my stuff up. Every movement took forever. My phone was still up in Gemma’s room but I was in no mood to attempt the stairs. It would be like having my left arm severed to leave it behind but far less painful. Jake bounced into the room looking far too awake. Dressed in dark-blue jeans and the same hoody he’d worn the night before over his T-shirt, he held my beloved phone in his hand.

‘Oh, you remembered it,’ I said, my voice bordering on an excited squeal and earning me a raised eyebrow from Jake.

‘You looked just like Gollum, then, you know. I hope you’re not going to go all “my precious” on me.’

My cheeks burst into flame again. ‘Course not,’ I mumbled.

‘Good,’ he said, teasing me with it until finally handing it over. ‘You ready?’

‘Yep, I’m ready,’ I said, stowing my
precious
phone in my coat pocket. We snuck out of the house together, trying not to make a sound, and were back at my house within minutes.

‘Home sweet home,’ Jake said, dragging the handbrake on.

‘Yeah.’ Except I couldn’t quite bring myself to open the door.

‘You OK?’

‘Yeah, it’s just …’ My words tailed off so I sucked in a deep breath. I puffed my cheeks out, even though I could tell Jake was looking at me, before letting it out in one big blow. ‘Right. Time to face the music. If they decide to lock me up for ever, you will come and bust me out, won’t you?’

Jake laughed and instantly defused my nerves. ‘Sure thing. But I doubt it will come to that,’ he said, patting my good knee. ‘Besides, it’s too late to chicken out now: they’ve already seen you.’

‘What?’ My gaze whipped to my house and, sure enough, my mum was peering through the front window at us. ‘Oh, God, here goes, then …’

I opened the van door and stepped out, trying not to show how much it hurt. Jake reached across the passenger seat, ready to close the door from the inside for me, not fooled for a moment by my act. But
he
wasn’t the one I needed to convince anyway.