She's So Sweet With Her "Get Back" Stare

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Shut. Up.

Tap.

No, seriously. Stop.

Tap.

I sighed inwardly. I was, at the moment, trying to get a head start on my project. However, the jackass next me, Jake, otherwise known as the most-popular-guy-in-school-who-gets-all-the-girls, had been drumming incessantly on the desk we were sharing while talking to Stacey. I’d heard he’d yet to get her into bed.

It’ll happen within twenty-four hours, I told myself.

Tap.

Laugh.

Tap.

Dude.

Tap.

Oh, Lord. I shut my eyes, aggravated.

Tap.

Giggle. “Oh, Jakey.”

Gag. I rolled my eyes.

Tap.

Another giggle.

Would you please just sit in his lap and make out instead of talking so loudly that your voice echoes around in my head?

Tap.

“Jake,” I said firmly. “Jake. Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake!”

He turned around in his seat to face me. “What?”

Well excuse me, Mister I’m-too-busy-flirting-to-hear-anybody.

“Stop. Frigging. Tapping.”

“Why should I?”

I slapped him on the head. “Because I said so.”

Idiot.

He glared at me and went back to his conquest.

I gave up on ideas and began to doodle all over my paper. I wrote my name, Natalie, in big bubble letters across the paper. My long brown hair spilled over my shoulders and onto my paper, so I tied it back with one of the many hair ties that lived on my left wrist.

I glanced over at Jake, who was now holding hands with Stacey, and felt a pang. They were both sluts and deserved each other, but I felt a little jealous.

But I mean, it’s not like I liked him.

Of course not.

What?

Like?

Jake?

No, no, of course not. What gave you that idea?

Okay.

Well, maybe just a tad.

Don’t ask me why, I just did. I was baffled at my own feelings. Come on, it was Jake of all people! Jake, with his shiny, black, emo boy hair. Jake, with his emerald green eyes that swirled when you looked into them. Jake, who could play almost every instrument known to mankind and do it well; dressed nicely; was surprisingly smart and funny; Jake.

Jake, who slept with every girl he came across and then threw them into the trash.

Not me though.

No way.

I was not getting into his bed. And vice versa. He may have had me hooked, but there was no way I was going to let him reel me in.

~

I was right.

Jake and Stacey had sex. Right after school.

Gross.

Man-whore.

Slut.

How did I know?

The fools forgot to shut the blinds in Jake’s room.

Oh. Did I forget to mention he lived directly across the street from me?

Yes?

Oops.

And yes. That did mean that I knew when he was having sex, or who his girlfriend of the week was. It’s a wonder I wasn’t locked up in a loony bin; that boy drove me crazy.

I shuddered upon seeing them and closed my curtains, which, sadly, meant I couldn’t let the sunlight stream in and warm my room, but oh well. I’d have to make do. I sat down on my bed to do my homework under the horrible fluorescent lights.

~

“You forgot to shut your blinds again yesterday,” I snapped at Jake, slamming my books down onto the table. Chemistry class made me grumpy; the situation made things worse.

Jake looked confused for a second. “Huh?”

Like you don’t know.

“Yesterday. Thank you, dear neighbor, for scarring me once again.”

His eyes lit up in understanding. “Oh. Wait, why were you looking over at my house?” He waggled his eyebrows.

Like I’ll ever tell you.

“Because, you pervert, I wanted to see if you were home so I could ask you for help in math.”

Partly true. I really did suck at math.

“If you say so,” he replied.

I rolled my eyes and plopped down into the seat next to him.

“Hey,” he whispered.

I ignored him.

“Pssst.” He poked me.

I stared ahead.

“Nat!” He shook me.

“What?” I finally snapped.

“There’s a party at my house on Friday. Wanna come?” he asked.

Yes. “Not particularly,” I told him.

He sighed. “Look, either you’ll be miserable at home, being bothered by the loud idiots across the street—yes, I do I know I was referring to myself and the people at my party,” he said when my lips twitched at his own insult, “—or you go to my party and be in a slightly better mood than you would otherwise. Okay?”

“Why do you want me to go so bad?” I asked him finally.

He looked uncomfortable for a second before answering, “It’s to make up for all the times I’ve ‘scarred’ you, alright?”

I folded my arms across my chest, lips twisted in a slight smirk. “If you say so.”

~

I looked across the street, wondering if I was really going to do it. Go to the party, I mean. My parents were conveniently out of town. Plus, he had a point the other day. I would probably be in a slightly better mood going than I would otherwise. I sighed and walked off of my front porch. Striding across the street after looking both ways, I noticed how many people were there. Would anyone even notice me? I doubted it.

“Nat!”

Of course, he had to notice me. “Hi, Jake!” I greeted him.

He hugged me with one arm, holding a red plastic cup in the other hand. I peered into it. It looked like beer. He noticed my inspection and asked, “Want some?”

I shook my head. “No thanks. I don’t drink.”

He shrugged and pointed out a group of people I knew. “There are some of your friends.”

“Thanks,” I told him, and walked towards the group.

An hour and some minutes later, I was bored out of my mind. My “friends” acted like idiots as they drunkenly stumbled around. I wished Beth, my best friend, was there, but she went to Florida for the long weekend.

I stood on Jake’s front porch awkwardly before walking onto his lawn. I stood there, looking up at the stars, and decided, to hell with it, I don’t care about grass stains, and then plopped my behind onto the soft, springy grass. I pulled out my iPod, set it on shuffle, and placed the ear buds into my ears. I settled back onto the grass and decided I was happy that I was wearing shorts, for the springy grass beneath me tickled my legs. “Oh, happily ever after…” I sang quietly to myself.

“Hey,” a voice interrupted my singing.

I sat up, my cheeks threatening to turn red. “Hi.”

Awkward.

Jake sat down next to me on the grass. I studied him quietly until asking, “Why aren’t you inside? It is, after all, your party.”

He sighed. “Those people are all boring,” he told me. “Either that, or they’re drunk and acting like idiots.”

“And?”

He looked startled. “And what?”

“Aren’t they your usual crowd?”

“So?”

“I’d think the person who throws the party and invites all the people should be in there having fun.”

Jake grimaced. “Sure, sure.”

I rolled my eyes. “Where’s Stacey?” I resisted the urge to say her name with hate in my voice.

“Not here.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Look, stay out of my business,” he snapped.

Excuse me. Lifting my hands up defensively, I said, “Fine, fine.”

“You wouldn’t like it if I did it to you,” he told me.

“Sure.” I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah? Well fine. How come you’re not here with a date? Hm?”

I shrugged.

“No one likes you?”

I whipped my head around to face him. A smirk played at Jake’s lips. “And who would?” he continued.

I glared at him. He smiled at me. “Knock off,” I said curtly.

“That’s exactly what I’ll do. Thinking of you tonight,” he replied.

I gave him a little shove and laughed. “Perv.”

He grinned. “Hey now, you brought it up.” He put his cup to his lips—I hadn’t even realized he had it with him—and gulped the liquid.

I stared at him.

He leaned in. “You have really pretty eyes,” he whispered, and a few seconds later, captured my lips with his. I melted into it, it felt amazing, but then I tasted the alcohol and jumped up. “No! No! You’re drunk!”

“No I’m not.” He burst into laughter.

I stared at him. “You are totally drunk, Jake!”

He nodded, still laughing. He laughed, and laughed, and laughed. I stood up and grabbed his arm, standing him next to me. He instantly toppled over, and I grabbed him to keep him from falling over. “You are in no condition to stay on your feet,” I told him.

He nodded. “There are people having sex in my room,” he garbled.

I rolled my eyes and walked him across the street to my house. Please don’t let me get in trouble for this, I prayed as I opened the front door, flipped on the lights, and helped Jake up the stairs. We had three rooms, but one was an office, and there was no way I was letting him sleep on my parents’ bed. I didn’t want him to sleep on the couch, either, in case my parents came home early.

“Here,” I told him, setting him onto my bed. He flopped back. I took off his shoes and told him, “Be right back.” I went to change in the bathroom. When I came out, he was under my covers, seemingly asleep. I was about to leave the room when I heard a voice inquire, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to sleep on the couch,” I told Jake.

He shook his head sleepily. “No. That’s not fair. You’ll sleep here.”

I stared at him. Did he just say what I think he said?

He beckoned to me. I sighed and joined him under the covers. I soon discovered that he had his shirt off, for I felt the warmth from his bare skin through my thin tank top. He poked my back. I turned around. “Yes?” I whispered.

He said nothing, just stared at me sleepily. Then, leaning in slowly, he kissed me once more. I kissed back lazily, too tired to fight it. Besides, why fight something that felt so good, something that made my blood rush and my heart pound?

Why, indeed.

~

I awoke the next morning to an empty bed. I searched around for a note. No note, no nothing. I checked my phone. No messages.

Nothing happened last night, I told myself.

Just a kiss.

I pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top, yawning. I walked down the stairs to eat something. After I ate some cereal, I went back upstairs and got onto the computer.

The rest of the long weekend went like that. There was no activity across the street; nothing from Jake.

I woke up Tuesday morning not knowing what to expect. I guessed things were going back to how they were before, but I didn’t want that.

Maybe he too was busy to check up on you.

Yeah, right, I thought as I pulled in to the parking space. I got out of my car and entered the school. I was at my locker when I saw him. Jake. He was pressed up against Stacey’s locker, kissing her. She was kissing him. They were kissing. Each other.

Well, damn.

Tears prickled behind my eyes, and I turned away from the image. “I don’t need you,” I whispered.

The bell rang, and I went to my first period class, Chemistry. Great. This is really what I need right now.

“Hey, Nat,” I heard. I looked up. It was the demon herself, Stacey. She smirked. “I heard what happened with you and Jake. Pitiful.” Her clones giggled. “Next time you try to steal my man, at least try to do a better job.” She turned away and sat down and her seat.

Bitch, my mind screamed. Are you surrounded by red flames yet? I sat down in my seat angrily. I felt Jake sit down next to me. “Hey, Nat,” he said quietly.

“You need to go to Hell,” I told him coldly just as the teacher began the lesson. For the first time in that class, I was happy to have something to do. As soon as we were dismissed, I stormed out of the class.

“Nat,” I heard.

I ignored him.

“Natalie!”

I whirled around. Jake stood there. I walked up to him and slapped him. “I don’t ever want to hear my name on your lips again.”

He looked bewildered. “What the hell, Nat? What did I do?”

I barked out laughter. “Like you don’t know. You kiss me, and then act like nothing happened, and then your little dog comes after me! Yes, Stacey, I’m talking about you!” I told her, seeing the look on her face. I took a deep breath. “Look. I know we’ve got nothing to say. Alright? Back. Off.” I turned around and walked away.

I met up with Beth at lunch, not having been able to talk to her over the weekend. We sat at an outside table in the sun and ate while I told her everything that happened.

She stared at me. “Dang. That’s harsh. I am so, so, so sorry!”

I smiled a little. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay.”

Suddenly, the buzz of the students disappeared. I looked around to see what was going on, and I saw Jake holding an acoustic guitar.

“Oh, Lord,” I told Beth. “He’s going to go serenade Stacey.” I glumly picked at my sandwich.

“Sorry, hun,” she said, and then looked up. “I’ll… be right back. Gotta use the bathroom.” She got off the bench and walked towards the door.

I looked back down at my sandwich. Suddenly, I heard playing, very, very close by. I looked up. Jake was striding towards me, plucking at the strings. He got to my table, and I got up. He sat down on the bench, staring up at me, and began to sing. “You’re just too good to be true. Can’t take my eyes off you. You’d be like Heaven to touch. I wanna hold you so much. At long last love has arrived, and I thank God I’m alive.”

I didn’t know what to think, what to do. I started backing up, slightly bewildered at the scene before me. “I love you baby, and if it’s quite alright, I need you baby, to warm a lonely night,” he crooned.

I just stared at him.

“I love you baby,” Jake continued. “Trust in me when I say: oh pretty baby, don’t bring me down, I pray. Oh pretty baby, now that I found you, stay.” He set the guitar down. “Natalie, I love you. I well and truly do. I was just…”

“Being a jackass?” I supplied.

He ducked his head, hiding a smile. “I suppose. Yes.”

I hid a small smile.

“Look, I just got scared of my feelings. I’ve loved you for ages, but when we kissed that night… it just hit me, how much I cared for you. It’s not something I do often, you know. I sleep around, and it’s all lust. And then I kissed you, and all I could think about was holding you, and kissing you, and trying not to scare you off or break you in half or something.”

I smiled wryly. “I’m not exactly dainty.”

“I know.” He chuckled. “But then, I messed up. I kissed Stacey, but all I could think about was you, and what I was doing to myself. I was ruining myself. And then when I talked to you in the hallway, I couldn’t help but notice that you still looked gorgeous and sweet, even with that ‘Get back’ stare of yours that made me want to pee my pants, it scared me so much.”

I laughed. “That was the point.” I turned serious. “But you know, I’m not going to make this easy. You’ll have to work. You hurt me.”

He seized my hands and pulled me forward. “I know, love. I don’t care how long it takes, because you are my everything.” And with that, Jake closed the distance between us and kissed me, and it was even better than before, now that I knew he was mine.