Street Lights || Sim Jake

14 ¦ Butterfly

So he couldn't think of a better place...

"Seriously? The race track?" Jake merely shrugged his shoulders and walked over to his bike, which bore the number 81. "We're not staying here."

I watched him yank something on his bike and crossed my arms in front of my chest. Jake noticed my look and lifted a finger. "Just for a minute."

Since I really had no reason to be impatient, I pulled myself together and waited for my new friend. It was the least I could do, since he wasn't actually forced to spend his time with me.

"So..." He clapped his hands together as he pushed himself up by the bike and shoved it into the garage. Only now had I noticed that his was the only one that had been out in the open.

"Why was yours outside?" "Forgot to put it away," he shrugged at me, pulling the gate shut behind him. "But come on now." He grabbed my wrist and gently pulled me behind him.

We left the area and headed toward a path. "Where are we going?" "I don't know. I've never gone that way before, but now we can find out." Great...

"And if we get killed there, I'll just blame it on you," he added as he let go of me, since I was now walking beside him. "Good to know that even if you're dead, you'll blame me." He looked down at me with a grin and then kicked a rock off the forest path.

More and more trees gathered around us, which meant we were walking deeper and deeper into the forest. And I wasn't really sure if that was good or bad. You could only half see the sun on the horizon and everything seemed rather orange and reddish.

"Wish you'd gone to the party, huh?" My shoulder accidentally touched his as I swayed a bit, having stepped on a root.

"It's not really that much of a difference." I raised my eyebrows and bit my lower lip as I waited for his comparison, since I could already read him slowly and knew he was about to bring one.

"This party is probably swarming with bugs anyway, and it's not a bit different here." As he let that out, he slapped his upper left arm as he targeted a mosquito. "Makes sense."

"Well. At least there are butterflies here..." he muttered and I looked for one but found none. Not wanting to inquire because he had said that more to himself, I remained silent and played with my fingers. A/N: Where do you think Jake saw a butterfly?

As time went on, it got darker and darker, but a little further ahead it looked like we were leaving the forest again. Except for the crunching of our soles, not much could be heard here. Now and then the call of an owl or other birds. The chirping had a very calming effect on me and I forgot for a short time that Jake was next to me.

"Why don't you get along well with Heeseung?" My neighbor sighed out a little disappointed and eyed his shoes. "There I am walking a forest with you to make you forget about that wooden stake, and you're still talking about him. Do I have to throw you off a cliff somehow to get you to think about something else?"

Even though he made this statement rather humorously, I noticed the annoyed undertone.

"Who said I wanted to know because it's about Heeseung? Maybe I want to know because of you." The Spaniard lifted his gaze and looked at me. He seemed to be thinking...

"Competition," he then merely said. He stood extra on a branch so it would break under his sole and his jaw tightened for a minimal moment. "We're the top of our team, and Heeseung doesn't think it's enough for both of us to be at the top."

Jake was apparently quite annoyed by this, as his facial expression showed no cheerfulness or looseness. "On top of that, Aleyshia told him that I wanted to touch her, but that doesn't bother me. As long as I know the truth, I can care less what others think."

So Aleyshia was really anything but innocent and pure. That really surprised me, because I was actually firmly convinced that she was the quintessential wallflower. But no, she had a boyfriend and an open relationship to boot.

She made an unsuspecting grayhead think that she was serious about him and on top of that she played with my feelings because I had to watch for several days how another girl touched my crush.

"Somehow I feel sorry for Heeseung...", it then came from me and we just left the forest. An asphalt path widened out in front of our little selves and there seemed to be a small bistro up ahead.

"Why? He got himself into this situation." Jake continued to look straight ahead, the last few rays of sunlight shining on his freckles and moles.

One in particular caught my eye. It was hidden on his upper lip. I didn't get to look at it for long, though, as Jake turned to me and waited for me to explain.

"He loves her. He thinks this relationship is serious." I, being his best friend, of course wanted to tell him straight up what was going on. "I'd be a bad bestfriend if I kept all this from him."

My neighbor nodded and moistened his lips. "True, but don't you think he doesn't treat you like a best friend. I mean..." My gaze had darkened, and Jake seemed to realize he was on thin ice. If he said something wrong, I didn't know how I would react.

"He knows about your grandma but has shown little interest. He knows you like him as more than just a friend, but still he keeps saying things that hurt you."

I had been thinking about that too and my shoulders slumped as I exhaled loudly. "You're right. I should forget about all of this for a moment." Having no idea where this discussion was going to take us, I tried to draw a line and luckily for me, the Spaniard jumped at it.

"I think that's good. Are you hungry?" As if he was just waiting for it, my stomach growled and he couldn't suppress his laughter as my unintentional answer was really perfectly timed.

We had arrived outside the bistro and Nr. 81 put a hand on my lower back, pushing me in front of him as we walked the thin path to the entrance. I pushed the door open carefully, not wanting to disturb the people eating their dinner, and the little bell sounded as the glass door opened and closed again.

With somewhat tired eyes I looked for a free seat and found one in the corner at the back. Jake had noticed it too and together we walked there.

As I walked, I eyed the menu and remembered that I didn't have any money with me. Congrats, Estela. Very smart you are...

I rummaged around in the fanny pack of my sweater. I know. Playing sports with a hoodie on wasn't an everyday occurrence, but sometimes I just had phases where, instead of performing, I preferred to lie on the floor and only moved when Coach yelled at me.

If I wore my normal clothes now, I could afford something, because I always had leftover money in my pocket. But it didn't matter. Maybe I could steal some of Jake's food.

We settled down and by Jake his look I could tell he already knew I had no money with me. "Have some, too. That's on me." "Nah it's okay. I can eat at my place too."

A playful smile graced his mouth as he realized this would form the next discussion. "Look. That one fish that can't be bought because of your menu won't be mad at you either."

I shook my head, not expecting Jake to come up with such an argument. "You're paying for the fish in your aquarium?" "No, but I can pretend for a minute."

A/N: I love Jake. End of discussion.