Walk Through Hell

Riiiing. Riiiiing. Riiiing.

Jake slammed his hand down on the alarm clock.

He groaned really loud, then removed his right hand from my lower back to brush it through his hair.

I was pretending to be asleep on his chest.

"Fuuuck!" He yelled, then winced. I looked up at him.

"Go take a shower." I demanded.

"No!" He whispered loudly.

"I'll be back up in ten minutes. You better be out of the shower by then."

I got up, stretched, then went down stairs to make myself some breakfast. After eating my pop tarts, I grabbed a banana, some toast, and a glass of water for Jake.

I walked up stairs to find his room empty.

I waited on the bed, and he came in, wearing nothing but a towel.

Damn!

Focus.

He sat down next to me and glared at me through red eyes.

He laid down on the bed.

I broke off a tiny banana piece, knelt by the bed, and put it in his mouth. He ate it, bit by bit.

After the banana, I gave him some toast, then let him slowly drink water.

I left the room to take a shower and let him get dressed. It took me like, 15 minutes, then another 15 minutes to blow dry my hair and brush my teeth.

I ran into the room to get dressed.

Jake was laying on the bed, pillow over his eyes, so I didn't bother kicking him out.

I got dressed, then went over to the bed.

"Jaaaake."

"I'm not asleep. Just enjoying the dark."

"Alright, time to go."

He drove like a tortoise.

"Jake, how about going the speed limit?" I was used to him driving fast.

He sped up a little. "Nice show you put on this morning."

I blushed a deep red. "I thought you were asleep."

He laughed as we pulled up to school. "Oh, shit, did you grab the English project?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks. You're a life saver. I totally forgot."

He put the car in park in his normal spot, which is pretty close to the school.

I got out and sort of ran ahead of him so it didn't look like we were together.

He ran to catch up with me.

I looked around, then whispered, "Jake, what are you doing?"

"Walking with a friend." He flashed a million dollar smile.

"Jake, we're not friends here." I didn't want to say not friends. It would be a lie.

"That's stupid."

"Come on, Jake, you know how it works."

"And I think the way it works is stupid. I'm fixing the way it works to make sense."

"How very noble of you."

As we got closer to the school, people stared at us.

Jake Winters? Lexie Wilde?

Not possible.

My claws aren't out!

And his fangs are retracted!

How could this be happening?

I walked towards my group, passing his.

"Uh, what's she doing here?" Some preppy bitch asked.

"She is my friend. Deal or leave."

"No, it's cool, Jake. I gotta go see my friends anyways. See you later."

I waved bye to him. Ricky and Ray ran up and tackle-hugged me.

"Hey!! Whatsup?"

"Nothing." They both told me simultaneously.

"Cool."

"How's Jake?" Ricky asked me.

I motioned over to him, glaring at everyone around him.

"Hang over?" Ray asked.

Me and Ricky nodded.

"Well, I'm gonna get going. My friends are expecting me. See you two later!"

"BYE!" Ricky screamed.

"And there goes the bride!" Ray called after me. I laughed and walked away.

That must be my new nickname.

"Hey, playas, what's crackin?"

"What the fuck were you doing with Jake?" Eric asked me.

"Dude, chill out, she can talk to whoever she wants to." Austin told him.

"Whatever."

"What is he so pissed about?" I commented.

"So, babe, we haven't heard from you all weekend!" Christian said.

"I had an English project, and then I went and saw Cloverfield."

"Oh! How was it?" Alex asked

This is what our group has deteriorated to. Me, Austin, Alex, and Christian.

"It was good. Not a fan of the ending."

We kept talking.

I got introduced to Alex's girlfriend. She's cute. Her name is Sarah.

~*~

English class. Moment of truth.

We watched all of the lame-ass videos people did.

Ours was the best.

We went to the front to set it up.

"Alright, we did a scene from Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew.'" I started.

"We played both the main characters. Here it goes."

He put the DVD in and pressed play.

The class watched it. Everyone laughed at the end, clapped.

The usual class reaction to the project the most popular boy in school made.

And me, I guess.

"Lexie, Jake, that was very impressive." The teacher told us.

"Thanks!" We both said at the same time.

We sat down next to each other, and people around us started asking questions.

"Who did most of the work?"

"Did you actually ruin that dress?"

"Who filmed that? Is it professional?"

"So did you just push her in the pool then use it as a part of your play?"

"Man, it must have sucked working together, huh?"

And finally...

"Hey Lexie, are you busy on Friday?"

Jake whipped around in his seat, turned to Ethan, the boy who asked me this question, and said, "Yes. She's very busy."

Everyone shut up.

I sighed.

The teacher looked over at us, and I think I caught her smirking.

"Lexie, Jake, stay after class please."

I turned around and glared at Jake, who grinned innocently.

The class was silent, pin-drop silent, until the bell rang.

Jake and I walked over to the teacher's desk.

"I knew you two would come up with the best project. I just knew."

"Excuse me?" I asked. I thought we were going to get a talking to, or something.

"I liked your video the best, so I looked over your full script. I love it. I'm submitting it to the drama department."

"Ok?" Jake answered warily.

She smiled at us, knowingly. What did she know that I didn't?

"Looks like a new dynamic duo in the school"

I looked at Jake. "No, we just both really wanted a good grade," I informed her.

She smiled at us again. Creepy woman.

"We'll see you later, Ms.... B." I couldn't remember her name, either. I don't blame him.

He pulled me out of the classroom. It was our last period today. We have a rotating schedule.

"That was weird." I said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah." He said. We were going to his car.

We were driving, listening to an old Green Day CD, when I realized we weren't going home.

"Uh, Jake? Wrong turn?"

He looked at me, just smiled, then faced forward.

"Jake." I started. "Jake, tell me where we're going this instant!" I used my strong voice.

He just kept facing forward.

"Pleaaase?" I tried being sweet.

Nothing!

"Hmph. Fine." I just crossed my arms and faced forward.

He pulled into the mall.

The mall? This is his big surprise?

He got out of the car, and rushed over to my side.

I saw what he was doing, so I opened my door. He grabbed my hand and helped me up.

"So what are we doing?"

"Surprise."

"Skeeball and a pretzel?" I mocked.

He grabbed my hand and started walking.

I pulled my hand away. He just grabbed it again.

I didn't try to pull away again.

Not because I like it.

No!

I just... don't feel like fighting.

We walked into Dave and Busters.

Wow.... it really is skeeball.

Haha.

Jake went and got a card.

Then we played games.

I've seriously never been on a funner date.

That's not even a word.

"Go! GOGOGO!" I yelled, as he shot ball after ball into the hoop.

"HIGHSCORE!" The machine yelled.

"Victory kiss!" He yelled, and leaned down and planted one on my lips.

I didn't even push him off.

"Jake." I tried to protest afterwards, but it only came out as a whisper.

"Come on," he said, grabbing my hand.

"Favorite flavor?"

"Today... Peanut Butter." I told him.

"Two peanut butters, please," he told the kid working behind the counter.

He went to our school.

Shouldn't I be trying to not make a spectacle of myself....

Naah.

He handed us our ice cream, and we started walking through the mall.

"Man, you get pretty hardcore when you're playing basketball."

"I do it for the ladies." I laughed.

"So, is this the famous Jake Winters date that drives all the girls crazy?"

He chuckled. "Nope. This one is just for you."

I looked over at him and smiled.

"Lexie?"

"Oh my god! Hey Mike! You remember Jake, right?" I asked him, remembering the time Jake came to band practice.

"Yeah, hey bro, what's up?"

"Hey, man, nothing."

"Finally get her to go out with you?" Mike asked him.

"Ha, we're not on a date." He told Mike.

We're not?

Why... I could have sworn...

"So, Mike, we have to head back home. To his house, I mean. I'll see you next week?"

"Yeah, hon, sure. See you then. Stop by again, sometime, man, it was fun. Nice seeing you two! Good luck!"

We walked back to the car in silence.

"So..." he started.

"So I guess this really isn't the Jake Winters infamous date," I said, like an ice queen.

"Well... unless you want it to be a... date."

"No. It's fine. Let's get home. We have to clean the place up. The rents get back tomorrow."

I softened up a little bit. It wasn't a date on my accord.

I have to stop this Jake thing now.

Nip it in the bud.