The Life of Jezebel Firetongue

18

Jake stood in a great green field, soft grass bowed beneath his feet. He walked slowly, looking amid the darkness for something familiar. Suddenly, he caught sight of a large bench, where Jez was waiting. He grinned. She was okay; they were okay. They had survived the accident.

Jez saw him walking towards her, and smiled, holding her hand out to him. "Hey Jake, how are you feeling?"

He shrugged, taking her hand and sitting beside her. "I feel fine. Great, actually." She curled up to him, tucking her feet beside her and resting her head on his shoulder. He grinned again at this sudden contact. "And how are you feeling?"

"Wonderful," she murmured. Jake looked in her eyes and followed her gaze up to the stars that he'd missed before. He looked up at them, trying to find a constellation, but he couldn't find any.

He looked back down at Jez and felt that pain in his chest he had felt before the crash. The ache he felt every time he looked at Jez, or even thought about her. She was beautiful. Every time he could unveil her personality, it was like the clouds parting to show the sun, with Jez's inner beauty bounding out like a perfect rainbow.

Jake suddenly thought of her pointing out the rainbow in the car, how she reacted to that sappy love song. She was just as antsy about it as he was. Could she...? He rejected the thought the moment it crossed his mind. Jez didn't like him. She just liked to punch him. Jake meant nothing to her. But...

Jez caught him staring and smiled. "What are you thinking?"

Jake gulped. "Nothing...just...just that..."

She watched him patiently, and it was the look on her face that broke him.

"Jez..." Her name came out as a moan. He couldn't fight this anymore. Jake knew he couldn't deny he had feelings for her. From the moment they'd met...something had sparked in him. And this little spark, it had grown into a flame, bigger and bigger as the days passed. Now, he could feel the flames of this emotion just pouring out of his mouth. "Look, I like you a lot." Jake pushed on quickly, not wanting to see her reaction, not yet. "I think you're cute, sweet, funny, and that you're a really great girl. You act like you hate me, like you don't trust anyone, and you always hide how you really feel, when you really shouldn't, because Jez..." his breath hitched and he looked deep into her shocked eyes, "you're an incredible girl, and you shouldn't hide that." He took another breath, rambling on before she could interrupt. "Some days I'm scared to be around you, in case I blurt it out. I wish we hadn't met the way we did, because everything is awkward with us now. You hate me because I intruded and I've been intruding on some type of mission that is special to you." Jake closed his eyes, trying to compose the last few words so that they'd make sense. "And maybe you don't like me the way I like you, but that doesn't even matter anymore. What matters is that I want to be able to talk to you, without feeling scared of rejection or wondering if there's even a chance you'll ever like me the way I like you."

He waited apprehensively, looking away from her eyes. Jake didn't even want to think about her reaction, didn't want to know what she thought. He'd said his two cents and gotten it off his chest. And you know what? Just admitting what he'd been hiding for so long made him feel better. Now he just needed to know whether Jez felt the same or not so they could move on with their lives.

She tightened her grip on his hand and he looked up at her, to be shocked with the sight of her bright, joyful eyes. "Of course I feel the same way about you, Jake. How could I not?

Jake's eyes shot wide open in shock. "I-I thought you hated me."

She smiled sweetly and shook her head. "You're not easy to hate." Jez shrugged, looking up into his eyes with her startling yellow ones. "Maybe I was mad that I had to make room for someone else in my life, but you know what?" She put her feet on the ground and they were now completely turned towards each other, a wicked grin filling her face and a cautious smile covering Jake's. "I'm glad you came along."