Always Been You (8 page)

“So how do I tie this thing properly?” he laughed.

“If you want me to show you then I need to grab a stool.”

“What do you need a stool for?”

“Cause it’s easier to show you how through the mirror.” I placed the stool behind him and climbed up. “Now face your reflection so I can position myself behind you.”

“And then what?”

“Now watch.”

Jacob’s eyes were locked with mine in the mirror, yet I couldn’t understand why he was holding in his breath. There was something strange in the way he was looking at me. It was so intense, I was positively sure my pulsating heart was going to burst right out of my clothes and thrash on the floor for all to see. But then just as I was about to pass the wide end through the loop, Jacob suddenly turned around and the tie slid to the ground.

My stomach automatically clenched, and the tightness in my throat intensified, threatening to steal my voice. The walls felt like they were compressing around us, squishing the air out of my lungs. We were so close I could even feel the warmth of Jacob’s breath against my lips. When his hand came up and gently brushed my cheek before tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, it was a move that was so uncharacteristically Jacob, it actually scared me. Regrettably, I didn’t have time to fully comprehend what had just happened. A sudden yell from the top of the stairs startled us apart.

I was so wrapped up with Jacob’s strange behaviour, I completely forgot I was standing on the stool. But instead of crashing to the floor, my startled gasp was cut off by Jacob catching me in his arms.

“You okay?” he asked me.

“I…I’m fine,” I said. “Um, thanks for saving me.”

“No problem,” he whispered and he quickly released his hold.

My voice instantly deserted me as a silence hung heavily in the air. I knew this would be the best time to exit gracefully, like maybe finding out what could be taking Matt and Amy so long, but I simply just stood there, staring at Jacob, still as stone.

“Don’t you kids look wonderful?”

Both jumping at the sound of the voice, we quickly redirected our gaze from each other and aimed them towards my mom standing in the hall.

“My goodness, Jacob, don’t you look handsome,” she sighed, walking up to him and patting him softly on the cheek. “And you, Jenna. You really should take the time to dress up like this.”

“And what’s wrong with the way I normally dress?” I asked her.

“You just look so much nicer and prettier this way,” she said.

“I think Jenna looks great all the time,” said Jacob, picking up the tie from the floor.

“Always the gentleman,” she smiled at him. “Oh, we must get a picture.”

“Mom, it’s really not necessary,” I said.

“Nonsense dear,” she said.
“Harold!”

“What?!”
my dad hollered back.

“Grab your camera and get over here!”

“Why?”

“Just do it!
That father of yours sometimes. Oh, where is he?
Harold!”

“Don’t get all testy. I’m h—”

Freezing in mid-sentence, my dad had this awed look on his face as he stared at me, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

“Oh, my baby girl,” he sniffed, wrapping me in a tight hug. “Come. We must take a picture to capture this moment.”

“Jenna, help Jacob with his tie,” chastised my mom. “And make sure its straight.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes dramatically in case my mom saw and grabbed the tie back from Jacob.

“Yeah, Jenna,” smirked Jacob, smothering his laugh with his fist, as I wove it around his neck. “Better make sure its straight.”

This time it was my turn to be smug as I purposely pulled the knot a bit tighter than I should. Jacob’s muffled chuckle quickly turned into a strangled cough.

“At least it’s on straight,” I whispered back.

Ignoring his glare as my face started to twitch, I then twisted back to face my parents with a pleased grin on my face just as the camera clicked.

“That was perfect,” said my dad.

“Harold, take some more of them,” said my mom.

“Baba, we really need to get going, or we’ll be late,” I said, stopping my dad from bringing the camera back up to his face when I finally spotted two identical grins at the top of the stairs.

Then before my parents could trap us in the hallway and take more pictures, I quickly grabbed Jacob by the elbow as he struggled to contain in his laughter again, and used my other hand to push both Amy and Matt out the door.

Despite the greying clouds overhead, and the hint of rain in the air, the sky was still bright when we were finally done with our pictures. Since it was still early, we all decided to catch a movie and grab some dinner. But instead of looking like we came out of a photo shoot, we all went home to change into something more comfortable to wear.

A half-hour later, I was in a pair of jeans and my favourite white hooded sweatshirt, standing alone in line and waiting to be let in to the movie we had chosen to see. While I was also waiting for the rest of my friends to arrive, and for Jacob to come back with the popcorn he had left to get, my head then suddenly began to spin, and the image of Jacob’s face while I was tying his tie appeared.

I was positively sure my face was etched with confusion with the way how Jacob had looked at me. Why would Jacob make his move now after all these years? Is it because Aaron was in the picture? Before I could finish that thought, I then began thinking about Amy’s logic.

Since Aaron and I had only gone out a couple of times after our first date, I doubt what we had could even consider us as being a “couple”. We’d never really had that particular conversation. If our dates were meant as more than casual outings, wouldn’t we have made time to see each other, despite our busy school schedules, just to see if that was true?

Shaking my head at all the unanswered questions flitting around in my head, I decided to forget about Aaron and Jacob when someone blocked my view. Within five minutes, I felt like wanting to hurl.

This guy was handing me cheesy lines, saying things like how my beauty had captivated his heart, or if I wanted another bone since the two hundred six in my body weren’t enough. If a guy was planning to try and pick up a girl, wouldn’t he find a better way than trying to repulse her?

Finally having enough of his lame attempts when he brazenly tried asking me for my number, I opened my mouth to tell him off when Jacob, who appeared holding a huge bucket of buttered popcorn with a wide grin on his face, wrapped his free arm around my waist.

“It figures the pretty ones are always taken,” the guy muttered.

“That’s right!” Jacob hollered after the guy, who ran a hand through his blond head as he walked away.

“Ahem.”

Jacob and I both spun around. Matt was marching towards us with a huge grin on his face, followed by the rest of our friends.

“This look like an interesting situation we seem to be witnessing, eh, Dev?” he said.

“You know, Matt, I do believe you’re right,” smirked Devon from behind him. “I think these two have been hiding something from us this whole time. What do you think, Alex?”

“I think you’re both right,” Alex said cheekily. “So what do you think it might be? That Jacob and Jenna are madly in love? We knew it all along of course.”

“The signs are there,” added Devon. “It’s just a matter of time before it happened.”

I was confused on what they were talking about when realisation hit me quick. Jacob must have noticed too. He hastily dropped the arm he still had around my waist.

“There is nothing between us, you guys,” said Jacob.

“Sure there isn’t,” sighed Matt. “You’ve probably been hiding this from us the whole time, and we just finally caught you. Being your cousin and all, I thought you’d at least have the decency to tell me about this. Finding out this way is a little disappointing, don’t you think?”

“Now that we all know, when are you guys gonna tie the knot?” taunted Alex.

“We just want to find out first before everyone else does,” said Devon. “You both owe it to us since you hid this little fact already.”

“And you have to warn us beforehand,” said Matt, amused. “I need the time to buy a tux. Of course I will be the best man—”

“Keep talking and you won’t even be at my wedding!” yelled Jacob.

“So there is a wedding!” said Alex, clapping Jacob on the back.

“I was just speaking hypothetically!” Jacob let out a low growl, grabbed my hand as he yanked Alex’s arm away, and stalked into the theatre with me in tow.

“Then like I’ve always told you, you’re blind as ever,” Matt said with a frown, following us in.

“Would you guys quit it?” I said in disbelief. “You didn’t even let us explain, and you’re trying to plan a wedding for us.”

“So, Jen, start explaining why we found Jacob’s arm wrapped around your waist,” Amy proclaimed, following behind me as Jacob pulled me up the steps.

“Oh, about that,” said Jacob. “I was just saving Jenna from this guy hitting on her.”

“And I was about to tell Jacob he didn’t have to,” I said. “I was almost turning green from his bad attempts to flirt with me. Who goes and says things like
‘Pardon me, but I lost my phone number. Could I borrow yours?’
”

“That must be one of the lamest pickup lines ever,” groaned Nikki.

“Maybe Jacob’s protecting you for himself,” said Matt.

“Or he could be getting hints on how to pick up girls,” snorted Alex.

“I still think it’s because he’s already has the hots for you, Jen,” whispered Amy, staring at Jacob’s hand still holding mine as he guided us down the row to some seats.

The lights started to dim before I could come up with a retort. But rather than doing nothing once Jacob had let go of my hand, I quickly grabbed some of his popcorn and threw it at her head.

 
Chapter 6

Winter Break

The snow was crunching loudly under my feet, and the flakes were falling around me, coating the world in white. Each hot breath exiting from my mouth flew out in crystallised clouds. It was so cold, I had to bury my face deeper in my woolly, green scarf for warmth as I trudged my way through the thick snow towards Amy’s house. My jaw then dropped at the sight before me when I finally made it to the front gate.

A thin layer of snow was sprinkled on the tops of bushes, some evergreen trees, and coated each barren twig. The bird fountain that stood in the yard was frozen over. In the driveway, I could see some partially filled footprints leading to Amy’s green Beetle that was covered completely, except for the headlights peeking through. Everything was hidden under a coating of smooth, powdery, white crystal ice, except for the walkway Amy’s dad had cleared.

I carefully made my way down the trampled path, trying not to slip on the icy walkway, and came upon two snowmen carollers in the middle of the lawn. They looked like characters from a Dickens
novel, standing in front of an old-fashioned lamppost.

The female was dressed in a long Victorian outfit made of green velvet, had a white, fake fur muffler covering her hands, a matching cape around her shoulders, and a fur-trimmed bonnet on her head. The male, who had a handlebar moustache, looked very dapper in a black trench coat with a tail, had on a top hat made of wool, and wore a plaid green scarf around his neck. Both had the usual eyes and mouths made of charcoal and a carrot for the nose. But while the male was bald, the female wore a curly blonde wig. She even had false eyelashes and some blush sprayed onto her cheeks.

Instead of cobwebs on the porch, thick garlands with clear Christmas lights encased in ice were draped up and around the posts. A soft tinkling of a bell came from the holly wreath swinging gently to the breeze against the front door. More lights along the edge of the house were lit up, even though the day was sort of bright. Everything was tasteful and not tacky, unlike some. Her neighbours across the street had their yard covered with all sort of inflatable decorations, like a six-foot-tall Santa swaying in the wind.

A sudden cold breeze assaulted my nose when I reached the front steps, bringing sounds of merriment and laughter to my ears. As fast as I could, I tromped my way through the thick snow, followed the laughing voices of my friends to the back of the house, when something white came streaming towards my head.

“What took you so long?”

I quickly wiped the snow from my face, spluttering out the bits that had gone into my mouth, and was shocked to see a chortling Jacob standing in front of me.

Ever since Alex had joked about our non-existent wedding, it was as if we couldn’t keep a conversation going between us anymore. I thought maybe it was because we had run out of things to talk about, but then I began wondering if I was starting to annoy him. On the occasional times we did bump into each other, it felt like he was pulling himself away.

Amy thought it was because I had gone out on my third date with Aaron a week before the start of our winter break. But from what I could remember, even if my dates with Aaron were only friendly outings, it really shouldn’t matter who I went out with. At the movies, Jacob had basically told everyone we were just friends.

I was half-glad he was here, but with all the pent-up frustration of being ignored once again, I quickly gathered a huge handful of snow, packed it tight, and hurled the ball at him. I guess I must have been madder than I thought. The force of my snowball hit him so hard, it made Jacob stumble backwards, and he disappeared into the drift.

“Wow!” he said. “And here I thought you couldn’t hit the side of a barn.”

“Funny,” I said. I bent down to help him up when someone caught my eye. “Hey, am I seeing things or is Matt wearing some really tight pants?”

“You’re not hallucinating,” he smirked. “He told me Amy forced him to wear them. Man, he must have it bad to go through all that trouble to look like some ballet dancer.”

“And what is wrong with ballet dancers?” I said.

“Don’t you think they look very girly in tights and ruffles?”

“Actually I think they look rather sexy dancing around stage. With those tight pants, you can see how perfectly their—”