The walking cliche

Singing Bryan Adams at the top of his lungs

Tessa

"Oh my gosh I love horses!" Grace gushed.

We were talking by my locker right before the first class. I was filling her in on last weekend and the horse ride carriage. It was so amazing!

The carriage was beautiful off white with some elegant wooden swirls around the edges and the seats were a red fake leather. It seemed straight out of a fairytale. The horses were so cute and well trained. Seriously, it had been such a magical weekend.

Even Jake had been a complete gentleman. It was pretty obvious the carriage ride wasn't exactly his thing but he didn't complain at all. He had brought a blanket so we could sit cozy and warm. He even helped me out of the carriage by holding me in his arms.

The way he kept looking at me felt so intimate and it was a perfect way to end our date. He didn't even go for a kiss on the lips, instead he kissed my cheek. It probably made me look like an idiot but the moment I had closed the door I had leaned against the door with a huge grin on my face and a hand covering the place he'd kissed.

"It was so romantic!" I told Grace. I'd been thinking about that date nonstop.

"I'm still confused though. You both are acting like you're dating, but you're not." Grace pondered.

"Of course not, we're not in love."  I stated. I'd be lying if I hadn't thought about Jake as my boyfriend and sometimes I even got nice and fuzzy feelings when he'd touch me but I wasn't in love with him and I knew he wasn't in love with me.

This was just a challenge and I intended to enjoy it until he gave up. Because that was what would happen eventually. He'd run out of ideas.

"But it could happen right?" Grace asked.

I shrugged. "It could but I'll think about it when we get there."

"Be careful though, you know Jake sees you as a challenge, he doesn't do relationships." Grace had a concerned look in her eyes.

I sighed. People had been telling me this since my first day of school.

"I'm just looking out for you, okay?" Grace added when she noticed the annoyed look on my face.

"I know you are." I smiled.

"So since he's celibate... Are you giving him what he wants?" Grace raised her eyebrow. I gasped and slapped her upper arm.

"Grace! No!" I exclaimed. I'm not sure she heard because she was laughing too hard.

"Don't tell me you're not curious about his skills." A familiar voice said behind me. I turned around to see Kate with a sly smile on her face.

"You guys are evil." I pouted.

"Kate was just saying what we were all thinking." Grace shrugged.

"Hello ladies." Jake greeted the three of us. I really hoped he hadn't heard our conversation.

"Jake, we were just talking about you." Kate said bluntly. I felt like digging a hole and bury myself in it until the embarrassment was over.

"Only good things I hope." Jake shot back. He wasn't embarrassed at all. No, he was just as smooth as always.

"Obviously." Kate winked. "Oh hey tell Jill she needs to come over." I didn't know exactly what the situation was between Kate and one of Jake's friends, Jill. I believe Kate's mom was dating Jill's dad but I wasn't sure.

"Sure. We went to a party this weekend so she stayed over at Code's." Jake explained. I'd never seen him speak to my friends before and for some reason it was interesting. It was like watching a documentary.