The Perfect Girl

“Tell me everything!”

I rolled my eyes as I pushed through the crowd in the hallway. Jase was grabbing onto my arm, demanding gossip about the scene in calculus. All I did was ignore him and continue my scavenger hunt for either Duke or Jake.

I’d been a wreck ever since the two were hauled from class and never returned. As soon as the bell rang, I’d been out of my seat and half way down the hall. Determination dwelled over my head as I looked for the two idiots.

“Kylie! Woman!” Jase screeched, grabbing onto my arm, pulling me back and shaking me. I looked at him exasperated.

“What, Jase?” I grumbled.

“What the hell happened?” Jase questioned, emphasizing each and every word.

I groaned as I pulled away from and continuing my way down the hall. I pushed past a mob before my eyes settled on a crowd of girls. A certain boy towered over them with a smug grin taking over his features.

“Of course,” I chuckled as I looked at Jake smirking as girls fawned over his minimal injury.

I hurried over and as I arrived, Jake’s eye caught mine with a wink. I swear I almost choked when he winked at me and smiled his infamous grin. Did he know? Did he know I had feelings for him? Did he believe Will? I froze a meter away from the crowd unsure of whether to approach him or to run the other direction. If I approached him, there was a huge possibility he’d tease me and then rudely reject me. If I ran, I wouldn’t have to deal with him. Considering the options wasn’t difficult. My best choice was to book it. I mean, who would ever stay and face that kind of rejection?

I nervously smiled back. His attention averted from me for a split second before his eyes returned to me. He began to take a step towards me when a heavy arm wrapped around my neck, pulling me down as a hard fist gave me a noogie. I squealed and shoved the hand away as I looked up at Duke with a playful glare. He grinned at me before patting my head.

“Hey, shorty,” Duke laughed and I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. So what happened with Shep?” I asked, urgency obvious in my tone. Jase stumbled to my side, a pout on his face. I chose to ignore him, waiting for Duke’s reply.

“Nothing really. Shep just extended Jake’s detention and gave me detention all week.”

I gaped at him, “That’s it? I thought Jake would get expelled or something. What a bummer!”

Duke laughed, ruffling my hair. I shoved him off before Duke stopped and looked at me, his laughter cutting short. He looked down at me curiously before sighing.

“About what Will said,” Duke began and I held my breath, “is it true?”

I faked innocence,”Is what true?”

Duke raised his eyebrows as if hinting something. I looked away as he gave Jase a look as if asking Jase to help him out. Jase quickly complied, “Babe, do you like Jake?”

I faked a grin and lied, “Yeah, sure. I don’t necessarily hate the guy. Never have, he just sort of pisses me off...all the time.”

Duke chuckled and Jase rolled his eyes. “Cute, Kylie. You know what I meant. Do you, or do you not, have romantic feelings for Jake?”

I froze. Looking up at Jase, my eyes went to Duke before looking towards the floor. Should I tell them? What if they judged me? Or laughed at me? Or told others? But then again, they were my best friends. They’d never do that. We were loyal to each other. And besides, they were all I had. They could never betray me like that. But who knew, Jase babbled all the time and Duke might let it slip. Best friends or not, people make mistakes. But when it came down to it, they deserved the honest truth and I knew it. I gulped as my shoulders fell. They deserved the truth and that was exactly what they were going to get.

I stared back up at Jase before sighing, “I…I…Yeah…I do.”

Jase’s eyes widened into big saucers while Duke just looked at me without expression. I bit onto my lip, fidgeting as I watched their reactions. Jase just seemed to be in complete shock, his face changing every second from shocked to confused to angry to nothing to happy and back to shocked. It was just a complete mess of emotions. Duke was different. He was hard to read and every facial expression was gone. He was just blank. While Jase was bursting with emotions, Duke had none. The pair was clearly imbalanced. I grew nervous as I watched them, urging for Duke to say something. Anything. He could even laugh. I just needed a reaction.

“Kylie…I cannot believe you like him!” Jase screeched and I blushed, looking away.

He launched himself at me, engulfing me into a tight hold as I squirmed, trying to get out of his hold. When I couldn’t get his arms off, I hit his crotch and he immediately backed away, looking at me as if I were a criminal.

Just then, Jake shot up, resting his arm on my shoulder, “You like someone? Who?”

Air got stuck in my throat as I nearly choked. What was I supposed to say? Just as I turned to look at him, Jase opened his big mouth, “Y-“

I coughed quickly, cutting him off before shrugging Jake’s arm off and wrapping my arms around Duke’s waist quickly, “Duke. Yeah…I uh, I just told Duke how I like him…”

Duke stared down at me with wide eyes and squirmed under my hold. I winced as I held on, forcing a smile onto my face. I studied Jake, watching his reaction. His eyes only widened but nothing drastic showed. The most distaste that showed on his face was a soft wrinkle between his brows, the widening of his eyes and the softest frown that had placed itself on his lips. But the evidence of his dislike disappeared as quickly as it had come. In fact he seemed rather content with it.

His approval bothered me, just as it would bother any other girl who liked him. And giving the fact he’d been the main character of all my fantasies since middle school, this bothered me much more than it should’ve.

“Great. Congratulations, cousin,” Jake winked and I blushed a deep shade of crimson.

“Yeah, just great,” Duke grumbled, shoving me away subtly. I stubbornly held on, as Jase stared at me in disbelief.

I avoided the stares Jase and Duke were shooting at me, focusing on Jake. At this point, I’d rather be stuck in a room with Natalie than face my two closest friends. But I surely couldn’t let Jake find out about my little crush. Not when he liked Natalie. If he didn’t like me, there was no reason for me to throw myself into heartbreak. I’d just lie my way out of it. Pathetic? Definitely. Stupid? Completely. Worth it? Hell yes.

Duke finally managed to wiggle his way out of my grasp. I sighed. Duke definitely wasn’t going for it. He could never lie to Jake. And Jake would never buy it. Me with Duke? Unrealistic. I began to cross my arms as an embarrassed blush made its way onto my cheeks. I probably looked pathetic and if it weren’t for the fact my hair covered my humiliation, I probably would’ve booked it out of there. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked towards the floor just as an arm engulfed my shoulders.

“Yeah. In fact, Kylie and I will be going to the movies this weekendl. You know, get to know each other even better before any serious commitment comes into play,” Duke bluffed and I stared up at him, flustered. He pulled me in closer, and I squirmed but kept my position in his arms.

I stared at Duke; his attention was solely on Jake. He wore a smug expression on his handsome features, almost as if he were challenging Jake to something. I didn’t bother looking at Jake, knowing he probably was indifferent. My eyes moved to Jase who stood on the sidelines with an angry look etched over his cute features. He wouldn’t meet my gaze, or anyone else, simply staring at the floor in fury. For some reason, guilt washed over me and I felt myself become uncomfortable with the lie.

“Good for you, Adams. You too, Duke,” Jake smiled and I rolled my eyes from behind my curtain of hair. “Anyway, Kylie are you coming over to my place after school?”

Acknowledging his question, I tucked my bangs behind my ear as I looked up at Jake confused, “Go to your house? For what?”

Duke chuckled, snuggling me into him, “You’re so cute, Kylie.”

Jake’s face lost its content cool for a split second before a smooth grin took over, “Isn’t she? She’s a keeper alright.”

Duke nodded in a strange agreement and I flushed a soft shade of pink before my hair fell over my face again, “Shut up, Rivers. You too, Duke.”

Jake grinned at me before answering my questions, “To plan or whatever. We can do it today, but not tomorrow.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Why not tomorrow?”

Jake grinned at me, smug, “We’re becoming housemates tomorrow, Kylie.”

----

“Shit!”

I flew backwards as a row of books toppled over, landing on my poor body. I flinched as the last book slammed against my head and landed onto the carpeted library floor. I groaned as I pulled myself up into a squatting position and began collecting the dozen of books that had only abused me a moment ago. I stacked them onto each other as a soft chuckle erupted to my right. I glanced up to see Jake leaning against the bookshelves.

“Having fun, midget?”

I rolled my eyes and lugged the books up onto the cart before placing each of them back on the shelf. Jake sauntered towards me as I stood on my tip toes and positioned himself directly behind me. I stiffened, but tried my best to ignore how close he was. His arm reached from behind me as he took the book from my grasp and slid it into the shelf with ease. I stared down at the carpeted floor before maneuvering myself away from him.

“Personal space, Rivers,” I murmured as I grabbed another book only to have him take it away and place it on the shelf.

I rolled my eyes and slid the stack towards him as he continued to stack the novels. Every now and then he’d glance at me, amused, before his attention would return to the shelf. We didn’t say a word, not until he finished putting the books away. No, we kept a playful conversation with our eyes. It was a conversation that didn’t need words or voice or meaning.

“So…”Jake began, “Duke, huh?”

I wet my bottom lip before I turned my back to him, pushing the cart out of the aisle. Jake followed behind me, waiting for a reply.

Reluctantly, I spoke, “I guess so.”

I parked the cart behind the library desk and turned to get the books out of the drop off cart. I placed the books on the counter and typed in the library login before checking the books back into the library’s archives. Jake stood beside me, handing me a new book from the cart or taking the book away and putting it on the other cart to return to the shelves.

“How long?” Jake asked and I froze for half a second before continuing.

“How long what?” I questioned and a small smile came to my lips as I imagined him rolling his eyes at me.

Jake took a book from my hand, his fingers brushing mine as he replied, “How long have you liked Duke?”

His voice. It was different and so was his attitude. Everything just sounded wrong. From the moment I lied about Duke, everything was just wrong. Something was off about Duke, Jake and Jase and I had no idea what. All I knew was, something was wrong and nobody bothered to tell me about it. I wanted to ask, but what good would that do me? If they didn’t want to tell me now, why would they tell me when I confronted them about it? I brushed aside my discomfort and continued working.

I shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Jake nodded silently and the awkward tension began to build itself. “He’s a good guy.”

I nodded in agreement, “I know. I’ve known him for as long as I’ve known you.”

Jake stiffened when I said this and a frown seemed to take over his features. There was a long silence before he spoke again, “Are you two going out?”

This time, I stiffened. “Uh…No.”

I glanced at Jake. His frown was gone and he seemed to have relaxed from his tense position from before. I followed his example and relaxed as we did our hours in the library. Something was definitely wrong, but I no longer wanted to know what. Hell, I was afraid to find out. I was afraid because I knew, whatever that was wrong, wasn’t something I wanted to know. It would change my life one way or another and I didn’t want that. Change was never good. You always lose something or someone when things change. Always.

“Is he going to ask you?” Jake asked, his voice quiet.

I shrugged, “I don’t know, Rivers.”

I finished the drop off cart and placed all the books onto the cart with Jake and we parked it next to the back counter just in time for our hours to end. Jake and I left the building together, silently. We walked closer than usual, our arms brushing each other’s and he held my bag for me. Every time our arms brushed, we’d glance at each other, but we wouldn’t do anything to get farther apart. And every time we didn’t make a move, I had hope that maybe he could’ve liked me back and that maybe that was why he was acting strange. But whenever those thoughts came to mind, I brushed them aside, because I didn’t need wishful thinking. That was never good either. Change came with wishful thinking and they both enjoyed ruining your life.

We weren’t tense anymore, but the awkward feelings still lingered in between us. Relationship talk just wasn’t a topic we could discuss. We could talk about each other, we could talk about his latest hook ups, we could talk and argue about nearly everything but when it came to relationships, that was another story. Relationships and commitment just didn’t mix. We could mess around with the perfect girl business, but we never talked about why he liked her or what he did with her when I wasn’t around.

Jake and I made our way to his car in silence. The only sound was of our feet slapping the pavement as we walked. No words, no voice, but this time, there wasn’t conversation. Not even with our eyes. Nope, it was just silence and awkward tension.

As we neared Jake’s car, my foot skid on a patch of unsteady rocks and I slipped backwards. My eyes clamped shut as I braced myself for the rough concrete, but instead a pair of arms, Jake’s arms, snaked around me. He pulled me towards him, but lost his footing and we both tumbled to the ground. He grunted as we slammed onto the ground and I squealed as I hit his chest. Once I’d calmed down, I looked at him. His hair was a mess and something was definitely wrong with him. No longer did he bear a smooth or blank face, he now wore an angry, upset expression that had me staring. I stared down at him and once he noticed, he stared back up at me. His façade never returned.

His strong, calloused hands brushed the back up my neck before they pulled me towards him. We were face to face again. Our noses were touching, but this time there wasn’t a fight ready to blow. Instead, he closed up the space between us and his lips were on mine.

I don’t know how long we kissed. Maybe it was for two seconds or maybe a minute. I don’t know. All I know is that Jake’s lips were on mine and we were kissing. It wasn’t just a simple lip touch, it was a kiss. Our lips moved in sync and my hands had traveled from his chest to his neck and all the way up until they were tangled in his brown locks. My heart throbbed inside my chest, threatening to break out as a swarm of butterflies engulfed my stomach. He had one hand on the back of my head and the other on my cheek, caressing me lightly with his thumb. I don’t know whether he liked it or whether I even did. What I did know was that I’d put everything I had into that kiss and I knew he’d felt it, because I could feel his heart racing underneath my palm and he could feel mine.

As we kissed in that parking lot, I swear the world stopped and time froze because I was kissing Jake Rivers and I loved him. I didn’t like him anymore and by then, I knew it wasn’t infatuation or some petty crush. I loved Jake. There was no saying otherwise and the beating of my heart was proof of that.

I was in love with Jake Rivers whether I liked it or not and nothing could ever change that.