Windows to the Soul

Chapter Four

"Kaci!" I squeaked, shooting her a questioning look.
"Hey," Jake said, sticking out his hand, "I'm Jake."

Kaci's eyes narrowed as she looked back and forth between Jake and I.

"I didn't know you guys had met yet," Kaci said slowly.
"Oh we—"
"Yeah, we just bumped into each other," Jake jumped in.
"I see," was all she said.

I could tell Kaci felt betrayed by me not telling her about Jake yet, but it has all happened so fast, I didn't have a chance.

"Kaci, would you like me to introduce you to this elaborate party's host?" Jake asked, smiling that perfect smile of his.
"That would be great, actually," Kaci said, smirking at me.

Jake started walking with Kaci before turning back and holding his hand out for me. I took it and he squeezed it, winking at me. We walked up the steps into one of the fanciest houses I have ever seen in my life. I looked around in pure awe.

"Jake, this house is insane. Your friend lives here?"
"Yep! Speaking of which, here he comes now."
"Jake, my man," Jake's friend greeted him, "and who are these beautiful ladies you've got on your arm this evening?"
"This is Shay," he gestured to me, "and this is her friend Kaci."
"Enchanté, ladies. I'm Zack, welcome to my house.
"Zack Irwin?" Kaci asked, her eyes glowing.
"That's my name! Would you like the grand tour?" he asked, extending his arm.
"Absolutely!" Kaci squealed, linking her arm around his.
"I'll show Shay around later," Jake said, "we're gonna get some drinks in first."
"Suit yourselves," Zack said, winking at us.

As soon as Zack and Kaci were out of earshot, I turned to Jake.
"Zack Irwin is your best friend?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"This is the party Kaci and I were going to come to before I messaged you about wanting to hang out this weekend. What are the odds?"
"That is weird. It's almost like fate would have caused us to meet tonight anyways," Jake smiled at me, "You thirsty?"
"I'll just have a water or something. I don't care for alcohol," I said, picking at my nails.
"Me neither."

Jake handed me a cup of water then clinked his to mine, "Cheers to your very first party, Shay Foster. Ready to get it started?"
"Absolutely!"

11:45 p.m.
"I don't want to be a party pooper, no pun intended, but would it be okay if we left soon? I'm getting kind of tired," I whispered to Jake while he was shooting pool.
"Of course, Shay, lets go," he said, putting down the pool stick.

He reached for my hand and I gladly took it. Jake led me through a maze of loud partygoers and out the front door. As we walked down the sidewalk and into the street, Jake intertwined his fingers with mine.

"Thanks for agreeing to finally meet. Besides the fake flat tire incident, I've been having a great time getting to know you better."
"No need to thank me, I say this was fate bringing us together. Even if you hadn't wanted to meet yet, we still would have at this party." He smiled, seeming so sure of himself.
"No way. Something would have happened and we wouldn't have met. You'd be here with someone else or Kaci and I would have done something else instead of this."

We got to his car and he opened the door for me.

"Shay, I never would have come with anyone else."

We shared a smile, and that was when I really noticed his eyes for the first time. They were the lightest green color with specks of brown.

Wow.
___________________________________

Sunday, March 10

Jake got in the car and buckled his seatbelt, but didn't start the car.

"What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry for lying to you to hang out with you yesterday. I didn't want our first real life meeting to go that way."
"It's okay.. I know your intentions were good. I've had a great time hanging out with you so far," I smiled reassuringly.

Jake smiled back and started the car. "Do you want to control the aux again?"
"Well duh!" I laughed, plugging in my phone. Midnight by Logic started playing.
"You like Logic?!" Jake exclaimed, "Wow, maybe I don't know you at all."

I just laughed as the song started, and together we shouted the intro to the song.

*Everybody know I be in the club VIP (sike not me)
Ol' girl wanna fuck me, yeah she fine
Ima give her that "D"
Out with the homies
I be sippin' on somethin'
Oh shit, I might need an IV
Permanently (permanently)
Goddamn these bitches is thirsty
They see a rapper but ignore the band
I ain't talkin' 'bout musicians, you stupid bitch
Talkin' about what's on my hand*

Jake turned the radio down as we drove past the "Now leaving Phoenix" sign.

"Shay Foster, a 16 year old who doesn't party, is a Logic fan?"
"In the wise words of Shrek, 'I'm like an onion: I have layers'. I might be great at math, but I'm not some nerdy bookworm who sits in her room writing fanfiction. I have actual hobbies."
"I'm intrigued. Enlighten me. What is your favorite activity that you could do everyday but don't?"
"Swimming or gymnastics. I used to do both when I was younger, when my mom was home more, but as Ethan and I got older, she had to get a better job so she isn't home much. That's why we live with our grandparents."
"What does your mom do?
"She's a flight attendant. I don't know anything about my dad, so it's always just been the three of us and my grandparents."
"I feel that. My mom's a nurse and usually pulls doubles, so she's hardly ever home, and my stepdad is some uppity-up business guy so he's always away on business trips. Like tonight, my mom's working and my stepdad's in New York City."
"You said you have siblings, what are their names and ages?"
"Let's see: Alex is fourteen, Taylor is ten, and Noah is five. Alex, Taylor, and I have the same dad, Noah is from my mom and stepdad's marriage."
"Awe, I just have Ethan, he's a year older than me. We have the same dad, but he doesn't remember him either."
"I'm sorry, Shay. I hope he has a good reason for leaving you guys behind."
"It's okay, I'm not upset anymore. I used to be, like when we would have father-daughter dances, and I was the only girl who didn't have a dad to come with me so I couldn't go. But as I've gotten older, I've just come to terms with it. No hard feelings." Liar.
"That's good. What are your grandparents like?"
"They are the kindest people I have ever met, but they come from such a different time in life, so they have different views than people nowadays do. My grandparents wake up at 5 a.m. and go out to their farm to check on their animals, they don't care for technology, and they make a home cooked meal every evening for dinner."
"Smart, athletic, outdoorsy, you can sing, and you're beautiful. Do you have any flaws?" Jake joked.
"Does having split ends count? Because I have tons of those."
"Funny, too. The complete package," he said, clutching his chest.

I light slapped his hand, prompting him to grab it. We drove the rest of the way home like that.

1 a.m.
We turned onto my street and Jake stopped in front of my house.

"Thanks for agreeing to come to the party tonight, even after I betrayed you. I had a great time with you and I hope we can do it again soon," he smiled at me.
"Honestly, I had a great time too. I'm not sure what all I've got going on in the next few weeks, but you have my number, so text or call me whenever," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.

Jake got out of the car and came around to open my door for me. I got out of the car and stepped onto my yard so he could shut the door. He turned to me to say goodbye and I couldn't help myself any longer, I leaned forward and kissed Jake Hamilton.

Talk about swoon.