The Bad Boy Who Isn't Bad

Fourteen

After we finished our food, Jake's phone rang. He promptly took it out from his pocket and when he saw who was calling him, his eyes widened with disbelief and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Sorry, I gotta take this." he said, the stunned expression still present as his voice trembled with excitement. Before I could react, he scrambled to the farthest corner and pressed his phone to his ear. Mere seconds later, he was babbling animatedly into his phone with a huge smile. I wonder who was he talking to, I had never seen him this enthusiastic before.

Before I could dwell on this any longer, Victoria exited from the kitchen again and took his seat next to me.

"How did you like the spaghetti?" she asked with a hopeful grin.

"It was really yum, I really enjoyed it. Thank you for the delicious food." I answered truthfully, directing her a sincere smile.

"I'm glad you did. I'm really happy that Jake made a friend like you, I was afraid that he would stop trying. He used to be really outgoing and had loads of friends, but after that happened, he became very distant and didn't trust anyone." she said with a sorrowful sigh.

"After what happened?" I asked curiously.

"He didn't tell you?" she gasped with eyes enlarging in shock, a hand flying to her mouth as if she just spilled something that she shouldn't.

"No, can you please tell me?" I asked pleadingly.

"I'm very sorry, but I'm not in the place to tell you this. I'm sure he will reveal it to you eventually." she said apologetically, a small frown finding its way to her lips.

"Oh...it's okay I understand." I said as a pang of disappointment hit me. "Can you tell me more about how he was like when he was in middle school then?" I asked.

"That I can help. As I said, he used to have a lot of friends. Many girls had a thing for him and always followed him everywhere, one even followed him into the boy's toilet! He never battered an eyelid at them though." she recalled with a chuckle, a distant look in her eyes as she searched her memory. "Ah! He also used to join many school teams. He was especially talented at basketball. Just look at that picture in the middle." she rambled on fervently, pointing towards a picture hanging on the wall.

I stood up and walked towards the wall where clusters of pictures hung haphazardly. Standing right in front of it, I squinted at the picture that she just pointed out which showed a boy doing a jump-shot. I immediately recognized from the messy brown hair and clear grey eyes that the boy was Jake. He was wearing a blue jersey and hovered in the air as if he had the ability to levitate. His body was taut and his arms extended, a basketball soaring in a high arc above his hands. Taking a closer look, I could see that his brows were drawn together in determination and his eyes focused, as if a fire was blazing inside them. Even though his features were softer and he still had some baby fat, it was no denying that he was handsome. Although I knew nothing about basketball, he gave me the impression that he was quite good at it. No wonder he caught the helmet just now with such ease.

Moving on to the next picture, it showed Jake and Victoria standing next to each other grinning ear-to-ear outside a school. This picture was taken on Jake's middle school graduation ceremony. Jake was wearing an oversized graduation robe which was so long that it nearly touched the floor. Victoria, on the other hand, had her blonde hair cascading down in loose curls while wearing a formal black dress. At that time, he was just slightly taller than her. She had her arm wrapped around his waist and both of them wore bright and happy smiles. In this picture, his facial features were more prominent. His chubby cheeks disappeared into high cheekbones and a defined jaw. However, his hair still flopped down his forehead untidily and his eyes still burned with the same fire. His rugged handsomeness was beginning to show. Seeing the joy evident on their faces, I guessed the event that changed this outgoing boy into an aloof and reserved teen hadn't yet occurred.