Nephophile

NO ONE'S EVER NOTICED

Jane watched as Alexa waved at her before she climbed into the Uber. She was still mad at Alexa and gave a nod instead of waving back at her friend. Once the car had left her driveway, she sighed and ran a hand through her disheveled hair.

Jane found a nice spot on her lawn. She laid down sprawled like a starfish. The wind had brought a few clouds along before it had died down. Her eyes were trained on the passing white fluff in the sky. She lay with turmoil in her mind. Her eyes glazed over as her thoughts ran freely.

For a moment, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She held it in and let it go when her eyes opened. Jane's eyes stayed on the clouds. She would smile every now and then when she could make out a cloud that looked like an animal or some object.

A dark shadow fell over her. It took her eyes some time to adjust to the shift in light. She rolled her eyes as she stared into a familiar set of eyes. A ghost smile on her face. She'd never admit it to anyone, let alone herself, that she was happy to see this face. Jake laid opposite of her with his face mere centimeters of hers. He held himself up with his forearms. "Sup?"

"What's up is that you are invading my personal space. That's what's up." Jane said and turned her face away from his. He chuckled. "I don't see you doing anything about it. I guess you probably like me invading your "personal space."" He said with a smirk plastered on his chiseled face. Jane scoffed and turned to face him. "You want a punch?" She held up a closed fist. Jake laughed and reached out for her closed hand. "Let's put this away, shall we. Before you hurt yourself. " He laughed and pushed her hand down. Jane watched him intently as he laughed. An unknowing, full-grown smile grew on her face.  Jake rolled over to lay on his back. He turned his face towards Jane. "I've never really seen you smile up close." He said serious. His dark eyes stared back at her, studying her face. "When you smile, your dimples become visible." He took his finger and pointed on her cheek. "Right here." He pressed.

"No one's ever noticed." Jane said and gently pushed his colossal hand away. Her smile had now completely faded away.  "Nobody notices because you never really smile. " Jake said and pressed her cheek again where the dimple was once.

"So what brings you here?" She asked to quickly avert the conversation about her. Jake smiled. "Just wanted to know if you had any food allergies?" He shrugged.

"You came all the way here just to ask me that? Why were the phone invented in the first place if you're not going to use it?"

"I wouldn't be here if someone had just checked hers in the first place." He playfully glared at her. "Nuts." She said and turned her gaze to the sky.  "I take it you're cooking?" She asked with her eyes on the clouds above. Jake hummed in response. "Mhm-hhm." He stared at the side of her face, with a side lobbed smile. Admiration swam in his eyes.  "So I have to eat your food in order to prove that I'm not mad at you? That's weird." She said and turned her gaze to Jake.

"Call it what you want, princess. I have a guest arriving at noon, and there's a lot that needs to be done. Excuse me." He said and got up. He brushed the grass off of his clothes and left Jane, who was still cloud gazing.

30 min later, Jane got up and walked to her doorstep. She opened her door and trodded inside. She footslogged to her kitchen and grabbed her phone. At that moment, it vibrated in her hand. It was a call from Alexa. She answered and was bombarded with questions. "How did you do it? How did you convince my family? When did you talk with them? What did you say to them?" Jane rolled her eyes and smiled.

"I just did, and that's all that matters." She said and walked to her bedroom.

"Thank you so much ,Jane. I could never repay you. You're the best!" Alexa yelled. Jane pushed the phone away from her ear. "Careful now. I still need my hearing." Jane warned, to which Alexa laughed. "Sorry, but once again, Jane. Thank you. I will repay you somehow. I don't know how, but I will. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Get some food in your system. I know you don't like to eat when you're hungover. " She said and heard Alexa Humm in response. The call ended. Jane grabbed her bathrobe and went into the bathroom.

Cold water cascaded down her back. Her curls clung to her skin. A shiver ran down her spine. She took that as a sign to get out of the shower. With cold shivers, she ran into her room. Her eyes scanned her wardrobe. A short turtleneck black romper grabbed her attention. She paired it with her black thigh-high block heel boot and over sized black leather jacket.

"What are you doing, Jane?" She asked when she saw her reflection in the mirror. Jake's dark eyes popped into her head. His wavy hair and chiseled face taunted her logic. She was always one to use logic, but with Jake, some of her logic seemed to fly out the window, and it's just a matter of time before all her logic leaves her. A sigh left her.

Her hair rested in a messy bun on top of her head. A few loose curls hung in her face to give it more shape. Her phone rang on her bed.  She snapped out of her trance and picked it up. Slowly, she paced up and down her room as she talked on the phone. She sighed heavily and nodded with a bored expression.  She hung up and pocketed her phone. "The Great reveal of The Infamous PHOENIX." She mimicked her publishers with a scrunched face and a pitchy voice. With a roll of her eyes, she trolled out of her house, over to her neighbor's house. Anxiously, she stood outside his door, contemplating whether she should ring his bell or just leave.  "I'm too dressed up. Who the heck am I trying to impress? What am I even doing here? This is madness." She said to herself and turned on her heel.

The door flew open behind her. She spun around and was met with a half-naked Jake holding a dog at its neck. The Doberman wagged its tail happily. It ran out Jake's hold and jumped on Jane. It sniffed and slobbered on her. "Spike! Here boy! Spike!" Jake clapped his hands, and in seconds, his dog was at his side. It sat quietly and stared at his owner with its tongue out. Mischief sparkled in its eyes.

Jake bent down. He took Jane's hand and pulled her to her feet. She stumbled a bit and grabbed Jake's bare arms to steady herself. His arms engulfed her petite body. The action self was innocent, but when their gazes met, it was something more. Spike barked. The two broke out of their trance and broke free of each other. "Sorry about that. Spike gets a little excited when he sees people. You didn't seem startled. Why is that?" Jake asked.

Jane lowered herself to look at a wagging Spike. "He was just curious. His tail was wagging, and he didn't growl or bark at me. Just curiosity, right, Spike?" Spike barked. Jane straightened her spine and looked at Jake. "I take it you need a few more minutes to get ready?" She said and pointed towards his bare chest. He nodded and scratched the back of his neck. "This one over here..." He pointed at Spike. "Was up to a lot of mischief. That's why I'm not ready yet, but come inside. I just came to put him out because with him, I can't get anything done." He explained and stood aside for her to enter.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Jane Hawkins." He welcomed her with a tip of his imaginary hat and a courteous bow. She followed him to his living room. "Make yourself comfortable, and I'll be down in a sec. There's a few wipes on the coffee table. Spike drools on everything, so I keep them near. Or do you need a..." Jane cut him off.

No, the wipes are fine. He just drooled on my jacket." She assured him. He left, and she was alone.

The wipes lay on top of a book. She picked it up and saw her book underneath. METAMORPHOSIS. Her first book that she wrote. "My sister loves that book. The whole series, actually." Jake said as he leaned against his wall with arms folded. "I take it you do too?" He asked and pushed himself off the wall. "I do. It's a good book." She said and set it down on the table. Jake nodded. "A good book indeed." He agreed.

"Ready to go?" He asked and grabbed his jacket and keys. Jane watched him confused. "Go where?"

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Hey.🙃

Are we still together? I hope we haven't lost a few passengers on the way to chapter 9. Please vote and comment on what your thoughts are on this chapter. Let's head on over to the next chapter, shall we. Don't get lost now, let's go!🤸‍♀️