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Faith to Follow your Heart PART 4
The following morning, Ellie found herself getting read for school very slowly. Normally she enjoyed her education, but she couldn’t shake the sense of dread as Liz dropped her off. The thought of bumping into Jake didn’t fill her with joy. For the first half of the morning she knew she could avoid him, but they had Personal Development class together just after lunch. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Jake, more that she was still struggling to decide whether Jake had chosen her because he waned to in the rounders game, or because he felt sorry for her. They hadn’t spoken since their argument on the rope bridge two days previously. Ellie did a good job of avoiding Jake, slipping into the toilets or running in the opposite direction whenever she saw him in the corridor. But all too soon it was time for her dreaded class. Keeping her head down, Ellie slipped quietly into the room. Making sure she avoided where he was sitting, Ellie sat down at a spare desk in the front row, just as their teacher entered the room. “Ok, quieten down please!” She said loudly over the din of 28 excitable teenagers. “Ok, I have a new assignment for you all. For this you will be put into pairs. I have already chosen the parings, so there will be no changing, is that understood? Their teacher informed. “Right, Tom and Alisha, Robbie and Kasey, Jake and Ellie …………………” Mrs Jacobs rattled off.
“What is with these teachers? Why the heck do they keep pairing us together!” She grumbled quietly to herself. “Ok, I want all the girls to get up and sit next to your designated partner.” Mrs Jacobs informed as the sound of scrapping chairs filled the room. Picking up her bag and folder, Ellie reluctantly headed back two rows to where Jake was located. “How d’ya do it Evans? How d’ya get paired with Jake again? Suck up to Miss Jacobs did ya?” Alisha snarled as Ellie pulled out the spare chair. “Just shut it Alisha!” Jake snapped. “You ok?” He added, turning to Ellie. He knew how spiteful the cheerleader captain could be. The last thing he wanted was Ellie to take the words to heart. “Yeah, I guess.” Ellie replied, trying to busy herself by foraging through her pencil case. “Ok, your assignment. I want each of you to write a project on this wonderful town you live in.” Mrs Jacobs told them, amidst groans from her students. “Now you can choose any angle you wish. You can write about it now, or how you think it will look in fifty years time, or perhaps what it was like fifty years ago. You can choose whatever you wish, but your project must be backed up with real facts, pictures and general information. I want to see you have researched the angle you choose. Now, you can spend the rest of the lesson deciding on the topic of your project.” The teacher informed. Picking up her pen, Ellie jotted down come notes on their assigmnet, purposely stalling talking to Jake. “So ………… erm ……… have you got any ideas?” Jake asked, breaking the silence that had descended upon them. “Erm,
I don’t know, you?” “Erm ……………” Ellie stumbled, unsure how to answer. How could she do drawings of the ‘aliens’? Include a self-portrait? “Oh, it’ll be excellent!” Jake said enthusiastically, franticly scribbling down ideas in his notebook, as Ellie sat silent beside him. “Ok, now homework is to make a start on the project. You’ve got two weeks and I expect to see substantial research done by Wednesday!” Mrs Jacobs told the class, just as the bell rang for the end of class. “So ……….. I guess we need to work on this together outside school.” Jake said, as they headed out the classroom. “Yeah, I guess.” Ellie replied, feeling slightly dizzy at the thought of seeing Jake outside of school. “Well ……….. how about after school today?” He suggested. “Yeah …………. Oh no, I have a shift at the Crashdown tonight.” She suddenly remembered. “Ok, well how about afterwards? What time do you finish?” “7.00pm.” “Great, I’ll meet you there then. It’ll be ok for us to study there won’t it?” He asked. “Sure, my mum will be there, she won’t mind.” Ellie replied. “Ok, I guess I’d better go. History awaits!” He said before disappearing down the hall. Watching him disappear down the hall, Ellie let out a deep breath. No matter what, she couldn’t deny she liked Jake. Her heart was definitely ruling her head. “So you and Jake go paired up again huh?” Andi asked, as she put on the silver antennas to her waitressing uniform. No matter how many times she and Ellie had complained to Mr Parker, he’d refused to get new uniforms. Jeff’s argument being the costume was part of the allure of the restaurant for sightseers, part of the heritage of the place, so they had to stay. “Yeah, what is it with the teachers at our school, why do they keep putting us together?” Ellie complained. “Well they can obviously see you two are perfect for each other!” Andi replied, as they headed out to the restaurant. “Hi honey, how was school?” Liz asked her daughter, as Ellie handed an order to the chef. “Ok I guess.” Ellie replied. “Get up to anything exciting?” Liz enquired, feeling the need to delve slightly into her daughter’s life. “No not really, just the usual stuff.” Ellie brushed her off. “Yeah usual stuff, except for being paired with Jake Sanders!” Andi added. “Andi!” Ellie snapped, glaring at her friend. “Jake Sanders? Who’s he?” Liz probed. “Only the class hottie.” Andi filled her friend’s mother in. “Andi!” Ellie snapped again. “She is so gonna get it when we’re alone!” She thought to herself. “Class hottie huh? Is he tall, sandy haired, blue eyed, well built ……………” Liz reeled off, watching the effect her words had on her daughter. “Erm ………… yeah. How d’yah know?” Ellie asked, confused. Her mother’s intuition was very well known in the Evans household, but her description of Jake was way too uncanny. “Well, that’s because he’s sitting in booth 4 right now, and he hasn’t taken his eyes off you since he walked in.” Liz replied, smiling at Ellie’s speed to turn round. “I guess ………. I should ………. go serve him.” Ellie said, hastily finding her order pad before rushing over to Jake’s booth. “So Andi, what can you tell me about Jake Sanders then?” Liz quizzed her daughter’s best friend. “Well
…….. he’s like the most popular guy in school.
He’s the captain of the basketball team, and there are loads of girls
at school lining up to go out with him.”
Andi replied dreamily. “Why
do you ask?” She added. Surveying from afar, Liz studied the young lad chatting to her daughter. She had seen Jake watching Ellie from the moment he had stepped into the restaurant. It was an intense stare, like he was trying to memorise her every feature. It was a stare Liz had seen before, about eighteen years earlier, and one she woke up to each morning. Max had sat at the very same booth, staring at Liz while she’d worked. To Liz it was very surreal to see history repeating itself. She could also see the effect the lad was having on Ellie. Her daughter copied her mother’s nervous habit, pushing her long brown hair behind her ears for comfort. She also chewed on the end of her pen, something Liz knew Ellie hadn’t done for years. Her body language also screamed shyness, like she wanted to be there but at the same time wanted to run a mile. Turning back to the paper she was writing, Liz conceded to herself that her sixteen year old daughter was indeed experiencing her first crush on a lad. She certainly was growing up fast, Liz thought. “Mum, is it ok for Jake and I to sit here and do our project?” Ellie asked once her shift was over. “Sure honey. Hi Jake.” Liz said. “Hi Mrs Evans.” “Please,
call me Liz. What’s your project
about?” She enquired. “Aliens?” Liz queired, throwing a quizzical look towards her daughter. “Relax mum. We’ve just got to do a project on Roswell in 1947.” Elie replied, trying to quell her mother’s obvious rising fear. “Yeah, with drawings on what we think the aliens in the 1947 crash would have looked like.” Jake added. “Right ………. Sounds like an ……… interesting project.” Liz replied, hoping her daughter was being sensible, praying Ellie wouldn’t be trusting of the wrong people. “Ok, let’s get down to work.” Ellie said, opening her folder. “You might want to take that off first though, or you run the risk of poking my eye out before the important basketball game tomorrow.” Jake said, pointing to the silver antennas on Ellie’s head. “Oh! My god! I didn’t even realise I still had them on. You must think I’m a total dork!” Ellie said embarrassed, as she pulled the hair band from her hair. He was right, injuring the star player before the big game would be a disaster. She could just imagine the hassles Alisha and her groupies would give her for ‘damaging’ their perfect boyfriend material. “No, actually I think they look quite cute on you.” He replied smiling. “You do?” “Yeah.” “Oh,
well Andi and I keep trying to get my grandfather to change the outfit, but he
says it’s part of the establishment. Its
been the same uniform for years, even my mother wore it when she used to work
here.” That night, as she climbed into bed, Ellie couldn’t help but think about their project. Jake seemed so excited and intrigued about aliens. She found herself wondering if Jake would be so intrigued if she told him her secret. She queried if he’d find the topic of aliens so exciting if he knew aliens really did live in Roswell. As she finally fell asleep, Ellie dreamt about what it would be like to tell Jake her secret, and have him accept her as readily as her mother had accepted her father. In her dreams everything was perfect, Jake accepted her ‘differences’ and everything was wonderful. Only in her heart though did she know that things were often very different and much more complicated in reality.
PART 5
It was Tuesday afternoon and the rain poured down in the small town of Roswell, New Mexico. It had been raining non-stop since early that morning, and as she stared out the window, she tried to remember the last time it had rained so much. Her US Government teacher was droning on, but very few of the students were actually listening, let alone taking the information in. The constant drumming of the rain made it easy for Ellie to slip in to a daydream, the steady beat of the rain relaxing her body and mind. Her daydream consisted of one main person, Jake Sanders. She thought about him doing what he loved best, pounding around the basketball court. Sweat coated his taut, tanned body, his muscles rippling as he bounced the ball. Ellie imagined herself in the stand, and Jake looking up at her. A huge smile spread over his face as he raised his hand up and blew a kiss her way. “Miss Evans?” A voice called her. For a moment she thought it was coming from her daydream, but then quickly realised it wasn’t.
“I asked if you knew the 21st president of this beautiful country you call home.” He said sarcastically. “Oh ……….. erm ………..” She stumbled, turning a bright shade of red. She could feel people around her turning to stare, and she couldn’t help but wish the ground would just open up and swallow her whole at that very moment. Her only hope was her teacher not asking what she had been thinking about. “I assume by your mumblings that you don’t know the answer. Therefore, Miss Evans, I suggest you listen rather than daydream, you might actually learn something.” He advised her sternly. “Yes sir.” She dutifully replied, needing the spotlight to be turned away from her. The bell signalling the end of school was a grateful sound to Ellie. Packing away her books, she eagerly scampered out of class, thankful to be away from her US Government teacher. Humiliation was an understatement, yet it had been worth it, the daydream of Jake had been hot! “Hey girlfriend!” Andi called, spotting Ellie by her locker. “Hey there.” Ellie replied. “So, wanna walk home together and hang out?” “I’d love to, but I can’t.” She replied, closing the door to her locker. “Actually, I’m going over to Jake’s.” She added quietly. “What!” Andi squealed. “Shhhh! Not so loud!” Ellie replied, putting her hand over her friend’s mouth. “Ok, but how come you’re going to Jake’s?” “Relax, it’s just a project we’re working on, nothing more.” Ellie assured her. “Ellie! You’re going to hang out with Jake Sanders, you’ve got to look your best girl!” Andi informed her. “Now, what are you gonna wear?” She asked, as they headed out the school doors. “Well ………. this I guess.” She replied, indicating her present attire as she put up her umbrella. “”Ellie! You can’t meet up with Jake wearing faded blue jeans and a grey sweatshirt. You’ve got to make an effort girl!” “And what, oh wise one, do you suggest?” Ellie bantered. “Well, now you ask ……….. I think your cream turtleneck, dark brown suede skirt and black knee high boots.” Andi reeled off. “You’ve prepared that!” “Yeap, but that outfit would knock him dead!” Andi grinned. Thirty minutes later, Ellie was at her house. She’d taken Andi’s advice on the clothing line, although as she packed her I-Mac laptop she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t feel comfortable in a skirt, jeans were much more her. “You ready sweetie?” Liz asked. “Yeah, and thanks for the lift mum.” She replied, grabbing her backpack and heading downstairs. “No problem, it’s raining so hard you’ll be soaked through if you walk.” Liz replied. Secretly though, Liz wanted to check out where Jake lived so she’d know her daughter would be ok. She wasn’t normally an overprotective mother, but Jake was Ellie’s first interest in boys, and Liz just wanted to make sure. Climbing out of the car, Ellie ran to the front door to avoid the rain. Pausing to catch her breath, Ellie stretched out a shaky finger towards the doorbell button. Waiting in the car, Liz watched her daughter smoothing down her clothes and running her fingers through her hair. To Liz it was obvious Ellie was trying to make a good impression. At first there was her nervousness, and then her attire. Ellie wasn’t known for dressing in skirts very often, much preferring comfortable jeans. It was a battle every shift to make her wear her short Crashdown outfit. Seeing the door open and Ellie disappear inside, Liz put the car into drive and pulled away. “Hi. Wow you look great Ellie.” Jake commented, liking her outfit. “Oh, erm ….. thanks.” She stumbled, wishing in some ways she’d stuck with her jeans. The last thing she wanted was Jake to know she was making an effort around him. She wanted to play things cool, still not convinced he liked her. Each time they had been together it was for schoolwork, thrusted together by their teachers. She couldn’t imagine ever talking to Jake outside of school, they were quite different. Even still, she couldn’t deny or ignore the strange new feelings that swelled her body each time she saw him. She’d liked guys before, her and Andi had often eyed up new talent in the Crashdown, but none of them had made her feel like she did around Jake. “Shall we get started?” He suggested. “Yeah, sure.” She replied, following him upstairs. As she stepped into his bedroom, Ellie couldn’t help but feel slightly awkward. She’d never been inside a guy’s bedroom before, even Christian was very protective of his room, and to be in Jake’s bedroom too, that was too much. “You can come in you know.” He informed her, watching her still standing at the entrance to his room. “What? Oh, sorry.” She replied, snapping out of her daydream. Placing her bag on his bed, she pulled out her purple I-Mac laptop and proceeded to boot it up. “Hey, like your computer. I wanted a laptop, but my parents said a desktop was adequate to do my school work on.” He said, admiring the machine. “Thanks. It being a laptop means I can work at the Crashdown with it, or at my aunt’s or grandparents. I never know where I’m gonna be at the weekends, and my parents didn’t want me to use the excuse of not having a computer to not be able to do my homework.” Ellie replied, sitting down on the bed. “Right, so where do we start?” He asked. “Mmm, I think the net is a good starting place.” She replied. “Great, I’ll just log on.” Jake said, double clicking the icon on his computer and hearing the modem kick in. Their studying session was hard but very profitable. Jake found much information on the alleged 1947 crash, and Ellie started creating the project on her computer. “So, what do you aliens look like?” Jake asked, getting up to switch on his stereo. “Erm ….. not sure, I haven’t given it much thought.” Ellie replied. “How about small, green, Martian like creatures with green antennas.” Jake grinned. “That’s rather stereotypical isn’t it? Most of the pictures ever produced portray aliens like that. How about if we be a bit more unique?” Ellie suggested. “What do you have in mind?” “Well …….. if aliens really do walk the streets of Roswell, they’d stick out a bit if they were little green men, wouldn’t they? Therefore it doesn’t exactly give much weight to our argument does it?” “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I think I’ll have to think about it a bit longer.” He replied, foraging in his desk drawer for a drawing pad and pencil. The room fell silent once more, with the exception of the soft music in the background and Ellie’s steady clicking of her laptop keys. Little words were exchanged for a while, as Jake concentrated on his drawings. He was a good artist, but somehow he just couldn’t get his mind around aliens being anything other than little green blobs. Ellie’s words had got him thinking, and she was right, if aliens really did exist, they couldn’t be the orthodox image of aliens. So instead, Jake watched Ellie for a few minutes as she intently concentrated on what she was writing. The way her long brown hair draped slightly over her face framed her features perfectly, and Jake found a sudden urge to capture the moment. Busily gliding his pencil over the crisp white page, Jake started to work on the image forming in his mind. “How’s it going there?” Ellie asked, rolling her neck round in an attempt to stop it aching. She felt like she’d typed for hours, but she had got a lot done. “Erm ……. Slowly.” Jake admitted, realising he had concentrated on her portrait rather than his assignment. “Yeah?
Can I see?” “Well ………… ok.” He replied, slowly turning the large pad around to face her. The soft exclaim from Ellie didn’t go unnoticed by Jake, even though she put her hand to her mouth to try and stifle it. It was a portrait of her, and she looked …… beautiful in it. But he was supposed to be drawing aliens for their project, why had he drawn her? Did he know? Had Jake suspected something? She couldn’t stop the rising panic that was bubbling its way to the top. “Th ……. That’s …… me.” She stumbled, blinking away tears in her eyes. “W …… why?” “I
just couldn’t get inspiration for the aliens, so I thought I’d draw you
instead.” Inside Ellie couldn’t help but feel the wash of relief spread over her body. Taking a deep breath she tried to calm her racing heart beat, he’d drawn her because he wanted to, nothing more. He didn’t suspect her to be an alien, and it wasn’t a picture to put in their project, it was just because he thought she was pretty. “Wow, Jake thinks I look pretty!” She thought to herself. “It’s really good.” She told him. “Thanks, not sure if I’ve quite got your hair right. If I just ……..” He trailed off, stretching out a hand to push her hair back slightly and in the process gently touch the soft skin of her cheek. “There, that’s better.” He replied, smiling softly at her. Staring back at him, Ellie’s earlier attempts to calm her racing heartbeat became ineffective. He was smiling at her, but it wasn’t a normal smile. There was something special in it, a kindness and sweetness not normally displayed to a friend. The feel of his fingers lightly brushing against her cheek make her feel dizzy, her breathing swallowing somewhat. All that effect just by a simple smile and touch. At that moment, Ellie wasn’t sure whether to enjoy the feelings coursing through her body, or bolt out of the house. “You are really pretty Ellie.” He said, tilting his head slightly so he could look into her eyes. “Erm ……. Thanks.” She said shyly, dipping her head downwards slightly. The urge to kiss her was so great inside his body. He really did like her; he’d liked Ellie for a long time. Yet she always seemed out of reach, like a princess on a pedestal. She was very pretty, yet never dated anyone, it was as if she was too perfect to be asked out by guys. Other guys never seemed to go near her, she was out of reach, like having some sort of invisible force field around her to protect her perfect body. Taking a deep breath, Jake decided to grab his courage in his hands and go for it. Snaking his fingers out, he placed them gently under her chin and carefully tilted it back upwards, so he could once again stare into her chocolate brown eyes. Dipping his head forward, he moved within centimetres of her soft red lips. Her heart was pounding so hard she was convinced Jake could hear it. Her head giddy at the thought of what was going to happen. Her breathing quickened and her body involuntarily shook slightly. Rising panic also coupled the wonderful feelings. The feelings were all new, she’d never felt anything like them before. But they were strange and scary too. She didn’t like the way her body reacted to Jake, the way her head felt dizzy, her palms sweaty, her heartbeat so fast. In her mind alarm bells started ringing. What if her feelings weren’t normal, what if teenagers weren’t supposed to feel like that around other guys. As Jake inched closer, Ellie could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes. The strange feelings were flooding her body too quickly, she felt like she was drowning, sinking to the bottom of a very big pool. She needed air, she needed space, and she needed to get out of the smothering caldron atmosphere in Jake’s bedroom. Just before he touched her lips, Ellie suddenly jumped to her feet. Jake sprung back in surprisement; she’d done the last thing he’d expected her to. He’d thought she wanted him to kiss her, those were the signals he was getting, but he’d obviously been wrong. Frozen in shock for a moment, when he actually regained the use of his body, Jake saw that Ellie was frantically packing away her computer. Nearly ripping the power cord from the socket, Ellie hastily pushed it into her backpack. Grabbing her coat from the back of his chair, Ellie dashed from the room. She needed to get out into the fresh air, so that she could allow the tears forming in her eyes to cascade freely down her face. She felt awful, so confused by everything that was happening, she needed some normality back into her life. She needed to regain her balance. Watching her dart from his room snapped Jake back to life. Jumping to his feet, Jake ran after her. By the time he’d made it downstairs, Ellie had ran out into the pouring rain. “Ellie!” He shouted over the drumming water. He could see her running down the road, soaked through already, but not letting up. Her feet still pounded against the sidewalk, the sound of his voice having no affect. “What did I do wrong?” He thought to himself, still standing at the open door. He felt confused, and suddenly didn’t know what to do. Should he run after her or leave her be? Inside his mind his conscience fought a battle to see which choice would reign supreme.
PART 6
As she pounded along the sidewalk, Ellie hardly noticed the rain tumbling down around her. Tears drenched her cheeks mixing with the pouring rain. When she eventually slowed to a walk, Ellie foraged in her bag for a hair band. Pulling her sopping wet hair back, she tried to keep walking. Her top was very wet under her jacket, and she wasn’t sure if her suede skirt would ever recover from such a soaking. It was a little after 9.00pm and she felt truly awful. The fiasco with Jake continued to play non-stop in her mind. She’d bottled it, plain and simple. She’d been just about to experience her first kiss, a monumental milestone in her life, and she’d freaked. Just thinking about it made her tears fall even harder. Grabbing his jacket from the peg, Jake hesitated for only a split second before stepping out into the cool rain. Running in the direction Ellie had disappeared into, Jake tried to remember where she lived. Allowing the rain to cover her even more, Ellie wandered how they’d ever get their assignment done. They still had much work to do, but Ellie knew she wouldn’t be able to face Jake again. She’d humiliated herself, running out on him like that. No matter what she said, she was convinced he’d never understand how scared she’d been. She’d had a chance with the guy of her dreams, and blown it in spectacular fashion. “Ellie!” A voice called through her sadness. “Ellie!” It called again, as she tried to put a face to the sound. Suddenly it hit her, she knew who it was …….. Jake. Quickly putting her hands to her face, Ellie tried to wipe away all evidence of her over spilling emotions and tears. “Ellie,
wait up!” He called out, as he
watched her quicken her pace. Breaking
into a jog, Jake covered the distance that separated them. “Ellie …….” He
started. “Leave
me alone Jake.” She said, not
looking at him, she didn’t want Jake to see the blotches on her face
representing her over-spilt tears. “No
Ellie, please just stop.” He
insisted, taking hold of her arm to slow her walking movement. She
tried to shrug his grip away, but it was no use, Jake had been ready for her
response and just held tighter to her. Stopping
them both dead in the middle of the deserted road, Jake swung round so that he
could look Ellie straight in the eyes. He
had to know what was wrong, why she’d run out like she had.
He was afraid it was his actions; perhaps he’d been too forceful,
forward or such. Women were still
very much of a mystery to Jake Sanders. “Please
Ellie, just talk to me.” He said
softly. “There’s
nothing to say.” She insisted,
staring at the ground. “Yes
there is, there’s plenty to say Ellie.”
He replied, putting his fingers gently under her chin to lift her head so
that their eyes met. “To start
with there is why you ran out on me.” He
added calmly. As
their eyes met, he felt like he could see deep into her soul.
She was scared, nervous, and even a bit shy perhaps; it wasn’t
something he was used to seeing in Ellie. She
always struck Jake as a very confident and assured person.
She always seemed to know what she wanted and wasn’t one to care what
others thought of her. To see her
feeling uncertain was a nice surprise to Jake, made him realise she was only
human after all. “I
don’t want to talk about it Jake, I’m sorry I ran out, but I just want to
forget it.” She replied, dropping
her head once more. “No
I won’t just drop it Ellie. Was
it something I did? Was it me?
Please ……. I need to know.” He
insisted, watching her shiver involuntarily due to the cold. The
torrential rain continued to pour down around them. By now they were both soak through, Ellie even more so than
Jake. She’d only brought a short
denim jacket, and it was giving her little protection against the monsoon style
weather. As
he waited for her to answer, Jake took off his jacket. Although Ellie tried to protest, he would have none of it,
quickly slipping the jacket around her shoulders. If they had to stand out in such dire weather conditions he
was determined to make sure she didn’t catch a cold or worse. “It
wasn’t you Jake, not personally anyway.”
She replied softly. “It’s
me ok, just me, no one else.” She
replied sadly, remnants of her alien ancestry slamming through her body.
She was different, she’d clearly shown that by bolting like she did.
Most teenagers were eager to experience their first kiss, even Andi, yet
she’d freaked. In her heart,
Ellie was sure she was very different to Jake. “What’s
you? Tell me Ellie.” He pushed. At
that moment she felt very silly, what if he hadn’t been planning to kiss her,
what if she’d read all the signs wrong? Right
then she realised she’d probably made an even bigger fool of herself by
running away. “You
don’t need to be scared Ellie, I promise I won’t do anything to hurt you.
I …… I just wanted to kiss you.
I’m sorry I freaked you, I didn’t mean to.
It’s …….. it’s just you’re such a great girl, and ……… and
I really like you.” He admitted,
waiting for her reaction. “You
…….. you like ………. me?” She
stumbled clearly in shock by his words. “Yeah
Ellie, why is that so hard to believe?” He
questioned. “Because
you’re the Basketball Captain and one of the most popular guys in school Jake.
You could choose any girl you like ……….. why me?”
“Because
you’re not like the other girls at school.
You don’t fall at my feet every time I walk into class, or rush to sit
next to me at lunch like Alisha and her gang.
I’m no one special Ellie, just a good basketball player, I just want to
be treated normal.” He informed
her. Time
seemed to stand still at that moment, the two youngsters standing in the middle
of the deserted road, rain teeming down around them. A few strands of hair fell away from her loosely tied
ponytail. Lifting his hand, Jake
scooped up the strands and tucked them behind her ear.
Locking eyes they both stared at the other, holding their breath as they
waited to see who would make the first move. He
hesitated for a moment, afraid he’d scare her off once more, but he knew he
had to kiss her, at that moment he felt like his whole life practically hinged
on it. She was so beautiful, so
perfect; he had to know what it was like to kiss her too. Moving his head forward slightly, Jake waited to see what
Ellie did, to gauge her reaction to his advance.
Watching
him lean in, Ellie fought the strong will to turn and run.
She was close to home; she could make it if she ran fast.
But, she really did want to kiss Jake, she wanted to so much.
It was time to stop her fears ruling her head; it was time to start
listening to her heart for a chance. Taking
the fact that she didn’t pull away or flinch as a good sign, Jake glanced
quickly at her eyes once more before moving in. Gently, ever so softly, he brushed his lips against hers.
At
that very moment, Ellie thought she was in heaven.
Just a feather light touch conjured up amazing images through her mind,
her body feeling like it was floating. Her
heart raced at optimum speed as a giddiness took over her mind.
All of this from a brushing of lips, she couldn’t comprehend it. Pulling
away, Jake looked at her face for any sign of fear or regret.
Seeing none, he decided to proceed with a more daring kiss.
Slipping his hand around her waist, and the other gently behind her head,
Jake leant in and kissed Ellie once more. This
time it was a more passionate kiss, making Ellie feel dizzy and drunk on the
feelings flowing through her body. The
thunderous rain continued to pour, but nether noticed or even cared.
All that Jake and Ellie cared about were the feelings kissing the other
was creating. The pouring rain
served to do nothing other than continue to soak the young couple.
Rain fell down their faces, but neither cared, both concentrating solely
on the magical kiss. From
her vantage point in her bedroom, Liz could see the two shadowy figures in their
clinch. She’d seen pretty much
the whole exchange, from Ellie stopping to pull her hair back, to Jake running
down the street, to their exchange of words, to their inevitable kiss.
Although she had no audio to go with the action, Liz didn’t need to be
a genius to know what had happened. She
could guess that something had occurred somewhere along the evening of their
study. Whatever it was that had
happened had scared her daughter, and Ellie had bolted.
Most
mothers would have been grateful to see their sixteen-year-old daughter running
from a potential love interest, but not Liz.
She could tell how much Ellie longed for a soulmate, someone to love and
receive love back from. Someone to
have fun with, and ultimately share the secret that weighed her down each day.
With
that in mind, Liz had been secretly happy when Jake had run down the road and
stopped Ellie. Although she hardly
knew the lad, Liz had a feeling his intentions were honourable, and that he
really did feel something for her daughter. The looks he’d given her the previous day in the Crashdown,
and then running after her in the pouring rain sealed that thought. Eventually
breaking their clinch, both Jake and Ellie dragged in deep breaths of oxygen
desperately needing to rejuvenate their air-starved lungs.
They stayed there for a moment; as if afraid moving would break the
magical spell the were under. “I
should go inside now, my parents will probably be wondering where I am.”
Ellie said tentatively, finally speaking and breaking the silence. “Yeah,
you’re right. Can …… can we
work on the project again tomorrow?” He
asked. “I’ve
got to work tomorrow, sorry.” Ellie
replied sadly. “It’s
ok, we’ll work something out. I’ll
see you at school tomorrow?” “For
sure.” She replied, smiling for
the first time since before running out on Jake. Turning
round, Liz slipped away from the window; safe in the knowledge Ellie was ok.
Max had gone to bed not thirty minutes earlier, exhausted due to an
excessive workload that month. Christian
and Abbie too were safely tucked up in bed, the house very quiet.
Slipping into the inviting bed next to her husband, Liz laid down and
instantly felt Max’s arm instinctively slip effortlessly around her body.
It was just the way she liked it, sleeping in his arms, he always made
her feel safe then, like nothing could harm them.
Liz knew she wouldn’t sleep until Ellie was safely in bed, so instead
she just listened to the constant beat of the rain on the windowpane, and
thought about what the following day had install for her. Stealing
one more quick kiss, Jake walked Ellie to her front door.
Taking his jacket back, Jake waited until she had disappeared safely
inside before starting his walk home. He
couldn’t help but smile at the evening’s events, and as he played them over
again in his mind the walk home seemed effortless. Although it had nearly turned out so very wrong, the end
result had been even better than he could have imagined. Kissing Ellie was like nothing he’d experienced before, and
he hoped it was something he could experience again soon. Slipping
into the house, Ellie quietly walked up the stairs, stepping over the third
creaky step as she tried not to wake anyone.
She was surprised the house was dark; everyone had already turned in for
the night. Looking at her bedroom
clock, she could tell why, it was a little after 10.30pm. Prising
herself out of her wet clothes, Ellie hung them up in the bathroom she shared
with Christian. Involuntarily she
felt her body shiver as the coldness of the rain finally hit her skin.
Realising the only way she’d sleep that night was if she got warm,
Ellie grabbed a towel and turned on the shower to hot.
Stepping
inside and closing the door to the shower cubical, Ellie allowed the hot water
to run over her cold skin. She
hadn’t realised how cold she’d been until she had stepped into the warmth of
her parents’ house. As
the hot water covered her already wet hair, Ellie was surprised she’d not come
face to face with her father at the top of the stairs. All previous times she’d been out with Andi to the cinema
or bowling, Max had always waited up until Ellie was safely home.
Yet this time, fortunately, he wasn’t there waiting to question her.
She was grateful though, that she didn’t have to explain why she was
soaking wet, or why she and Jake had been outside for so long, or the rosy tint
to her flushed cheeks. Finally
stepping out of the hot shower, Ellie quickly dried and slipped on her vest top
and shorts. Pulling back the
covers, she eagerly slipped into bed, suddenly realising how tired she really
felt. Closing her eyes, Ellie fell
asleep quickly, as her mind continuously played the magical kiss she’d shared
with Jake that night. Upon
hearing the shower stop, Liz contemplated checking that her daughter was ok.
Deciding that the morning was a much better time to make sure whatever
was happening with Jake was what Ellie wanted, Liz closed her eyes and allowed
the sleep to envelope her body.
TBC .......................?
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