Pleasure

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning, I wake up to birds chirping and the smell of pancakes. My mom must be up early, feeling good. I stretch my arm out and feel the empty space beside me. Jacob must have gotten up while I was sleeping and left out. I think about what happened last night and smile.

I get up, slip on my robe, and walk to the kitchen. I see my mom standing over the stove, dancing to Maroon 5 like she's a teenage fan. I laugh and grab a water from the fridge.

"Well good morning, sunshine." I mock, after taking a sip.

"Good morning sweetheart. How are you?"

"Uhm I'm okay. You're awfully cheery this morning." I note, watching her as she contently skips around the kitchen.

"I talked to your dad, that's all." She giggles, embarrassed by her childish behavior. "Who did you sneak into the house last night?"

My heart immediately leaps as I listen to her words. "What do you mean?"

"You can't lie to me, Aria. I was just like you when I was your age." She turns around and looks at me, leaning against the counter. "Who is he?"

I try to bite my lip to stop from smiling so hard, but it doesn't help much. I clear my throat and pronounce, "His name is Jacob."

"Jacob, wow. I dated a Jacob once-"

"Okay mom, please stop. It's not a big deal," I start. "And I didn't sneak him in, okay? He just stopped by."

"He knows we have a front door right?" She stares down at me through her glasses. I roll my eyes and get up to grab some pancakes. "Okay, okay. Well I would like to meet him soon. And stop sneaking him in late on school nights, Aria." She points and scowls at me before smiling and walking into the living room.

After breakfast, I do my hair and makeup, then get dressed. I'm about to grab my bag and car keys, when my phone vibrates. I read the screen,

I'm coming to pick you up, be there in 10

I smile at Jacob's text and reply,

Sounds good, I'll wait for you.

Ten minutes later, I hear a knock on my front door. I run giddily to the door before my mom has time to question who it is. I yell to her I love her and rush out of the door. I'm so excited, I run right into Jacob's chest.

"Whoa," he laughs and grips my shoulders. I smile, embarrassed. He removes hair from my face and looks down at me with his lips compressed upwards. "Who are you running from?" He questions, laughing.

"Oh, no one. I was just .. excited to see you that's all." I lie and smile up at him. I'm about to walk off but he stops me in my tracks. He takes my face in his hands and softly pecks my lips.

"I want you to be my girlfriend, Aria." I look at him, astounded by his statement. He smiles, confused by my reaction. "Is that okay?"

I laugh, realizing how dumb I look in the moment. "Yeah, that's great. I .. I would love to be your girlfriend Jacob." I kiss him and feel euphoria travel throughout my body.

We arrive at school shortly after. Jacob turns the car off and looks over at me with a strange look on his face.

"You okay?" I inquire. He nods his head and bites his lip, seeming distant. His eyes seemed to be focused on something else. Something more.

"Let's go." He mumbles. He gets out of the car and opens my door for me. I thank him and get out. He throws his arm over my shoulder and we start walking into school.

A lot of eyes are immediately drawn to us as some mutter words of surprise. I chew the inside of my cheek, nervously. He pulls me in tighter and I get a whiff of his strong cologne. I smile and slip my arm around his waist.

We walk to my locker and I put in my combination. He stuffs his hands in his pocket, watching me intensely.

"What's up with everyone?" I ask, slightly annoyed.

He smirks, leaning against the locker next to mine. "They probably think you're crazy. But that's okay, they think I'm crazy too so we can be crazy together."

I smile at his sarcasm and shut my locker. I expect to walk away but he doesn't budge. He stays looking down at me with his hands in his pockets and his eyebrows raised.

"Don't let it get to you, Aria. None of these people matter." He comforts, sliding a little closer to me. I smile and take a fistful of his shirt into my hand.

"Aria?" A familiar voice chimes from behind me. I turn around and see Natalie and Lucas looking at me, then at Jacob, and back at me.

"Oh, hey guys." I greet. I realize they're looking at me as if I came to school with no clothes on, or maybe a sign that reads: I'm stupid.

"Hi Jacob," Natalie voices, speaking out instead of speaking like a mouse.

"Natalie," Jacob replies, looking at her blandly. I didn't know they knew each other?

"You guys maybe wanna get lunch with us? We were going to leave today since lunch is a bit longer because of the pep rally." Lucas offers, not looking as scared as he was before. Maybe that's because Natalie nudged him in the arm.

"I totally forgot about that," I look up at Jacob. "Do you want to?"

He smiles down at me contently. "Anything you want,"

"Awe," Natalie murmurs before giggling into her hand. We both look at her with strange expressions. "Sorry, that was really cute. But anyway, we'll meet you in front of the school before lunch."

Lucas shoots a strange look at Jacob and I. He scrunched his eyebrows, showing a sign of hurt in his eyes. Jacob throws his arm around my shoulder and pokes his chest out, clenching his jaw tightly. Natalie pulls at his arm whispering something, then walks away. I pull my face together and clench Jacob's wrist.

"What was that all about?" I question, looking up at him. He keeps his face tight, but shrugs.

"Let me walk you to class," Jacob mumbles, biting his lip. He has that same concentrated look on his face. He nudges me along and we walk to my first hour class. He pecks me on my lips and sends me off, leaving me to the beginning of my boring school day.

I trudge through my day before meeting up with Jacob for lunch. He smiles down at me as I walk up to him after gym.

"Ready to go?" He asks, looking particularly happy. I smile and take his hand in mine, nodding.

We start heading towards the front of the school. A few eyes watch us, but Jacob tells me not to pay attention to it. We're about to reach the door when a girl steps directly in front of us, carrying a red lollipop in her mouth.

Courtney.

She looks at Jacob, angrily. "What is this?" She growls, looking down at our hands that are still intertwined. Jacob inhales calmly with a hard look on his face.

"Get out of the way, Courtney." He utters lowly, giving my hand an unnoticeable squeeze. She scowls at me and smirks.

"She'll find out the truth eventually you know. You can't hide it from her forever." She pauses and softens her face, smiling devilishly at me. "That doesn't work remember?" And with that, she walks away. I watch her for a moment before looking up at Jacob. He doesn't say anything to defend himself, neither does his hard facial expression change.

"Hey, you guys ready?" Natalie's voice rings in front of us. Jacob slips his hand out of mine and nods, grabbing his lips and thinking to himself.

"Let's go," I mumble, walking away with my heart in my stomach and a million questions.