Pieces of Love

Chapter 32

"Oh my gosh! Did he really?" Sophie squealed, her cup of hot chocolate nearly spilling all over the table. The other customers at the small diner turned around to stare at her, resulting in Lily face-palming herself and for me to flush red. We were currently discussing about my new breakthrough with Jacob, much to Sophie's constant nagging and to my embarrassment. Lily was dragged along too, but there was no denying the curiosity and excitement in her features as Sophie interrogated me. Our school bags were dumped in a rush beside us, considering that Sophie herded us here right after school on a Thursday, three days after Jacob asked me on a date.

I gripped my cup of latte tightly, staring into the brown liquid within. Brown... brown, just like Jacob's eyes and hair. Oh, how I would like to run my hands through his tousled hair again, I thought, now staring off into the bustling street on my left. I barely paid attention to the conversation between Lily and Sophie. Lately, Jacob had been dominating my thoughts. As cheesy as it sounds, he was the first thing I thought of as I woke up and the last thing I thought of as I went to sleep. I couldn't help myself; he was like a drug, a drug that was slowly consuming my every fibre.

"Emma? Emma!" Lily exclaimed, snapping her fingers in front of my face to jolt me awake from my admittedly borderline creepy thoughts. "I was asking if both your parents knew about this yet."

I froze. Amidst all the events that happened so far this week, I totally forgot this very important detail. And by the fact that neither of us brought this up, I was assuming that Jacob had forgotten about this too. I wasn't sure how my parents would react to this. They both had taken a liking to him, but that was when he was my friend. Now that he was my boyfriend, I was tentative on whether they would still like him or not. I started fiddling with the charm bracelet Jacob had given me just a month ago on my birthday, but it felt like centuries had passed. It was a newly acquired habit of mine, just like the habit of not taking it off unless I had to take a shower.

"Neither of our parents knows about us yet," I said slowly, my mind going through their possible reactions once we tell them.

"But why? They'll take to you two like duck to water!"

"Honestly, I'm nervous. I mean, some people disapprove of being a couple at the age of fourteen when we are still in school."

"Oh come on, you guys are so cute together; nobody would be able to resist it!" This came from Sophie, who had joined in on the conversation.

"I still don't know about this..."

"You'll never know unless you try right? For all you know, you might regret this in the future. I'm sure your parents would want to hear about your first boyfriend from you instead from some lady who likes to gossip at the grocery store."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why the grocery store? You make it sound like we're living in a small town instead of freaking Sans Francisco."

"Hey, I'm just giving you a possible scenario here!" Lily defended herself, raising her hands in surrender.

I stared at her incredulously, before bursting into laughter. But deep inside, my laughter was covering my nervousness, for I have decided that I would come clean with my parents soon.

***

"Hey Jake!" I exclaimed as Jacob opened the front door. It was a Saturday, and I was once again here for our study session. Over the course of the few months that I started teaching him, he has greatly improved till the point in which I started getting worried that he would beat me in academics.

All of my study materials were in my favourite go-to bag: a canvas tote bag with the quote 'but first, coffee' sewed on it in big swirly letters. Now, the bag slid from my shoulder to my forearm, banging uncomfortably against Jacob's leg as I wrapped my arms around his torso, hugging him as a greeting. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, crushing me even further into his chest.

We were lost in our own personal bubble, a bubble that effectively cut off everything outside of it, when a stern voice broke the peace. "What do you guys think you are doing?" Jacob and I scrambled apart as if we had just been electrocuted. Heart pounding, I raised my head to face a sceptical Fred. Eyebrows raised, he turned his stern gaze to a stuttering Jacob, before saying, "You two have a lot of explaining to do."

Jacob trudged reluctantly into the living room where a confused Alice sat, and plonked himself onto the two-seater sofa. I sat beside him, making sure to leave more than ample space between us by attempting to melt myself into the armrest. Fred followed soon after.

Alice was the first one to speak up. 'What happened honey?" She directed this at Jacob, but it was Fred who answered. "I caught them hugging in the hallway. And it wasn't a particularly friendly hug."

Alice's eyes widened. Choosing her words carefully, she asked the both of us, "Will you care to update us on your recent, err, status?" No. There's no way in hell that Jacob and I are going through this right now. Seeing that Jacob had chosen to become temporarily mute, I decided to answer for the both of us. Sweat began to form on my forehead.

"We just recently became a... couple."

Beside me, Jacob snapped from his eye-raping of the carpet to stare at me, while Fred's jaw dropped. Alice pursed her lips, but at least she didn't seem objected to the idea. Tension filled the atmosphere and I began fiddling with my charm bracelet.

"Well..." Alice began, "I don't see any reason why not. I trust the two of you perfectly, and it's not as if you guys had just met."

Fred protested, "They are only fourteen! With all due respect Emma, I trust you too, but Jacob still has school to worry about, not to forget his sports!"

Jacob glared at Fred. "Dad, I can perfectly well make my own decisions that make me happy."

I suddenly felt awkward. I didn't belong here while Jacob began to argue it out with his dad while Alice tried to calm down the high level of testosterone in the place. And a part of me felt guilty for being part of the reason for the dispute.

"I'll...just wait outside in the hallway..." I said meekly, but nobody seemed to pay attention as I sneaked out of the living room.

The level of volume coming from the room I just exited from slowly increased and I could clearly make out Jacob's strained voice, frustration just oozing out of it. Biting my lip, I only had to wait for fifteen more agonizing minutes before Alice came out, laying a comforting hand on my shoulder as she led me wordlessly back into the living room.

Jacob was breathing heavily but there was a triumphant smile on his face. Fred simply looked disgruntled, and refused to meet my eye. I sat back down beside Jacob, and he gave me a small wink that made my heart palpitate.

Fred spoke up, "After much consideration, I've decided to let you two continue with...whatever is going on between you two. However, Emma, your parents will be hearing about this and if any of your grades drop, you will have all four of us to answer to."

I gulped at the mention of my parents, but I had the feeling that if I tried to oppose Fred, things might not go well taking into consideration his less-than-happy mood. I glanced at Jacob and he shrugged, trying to fight the smile that was threatening to break out on his face.

After Jacob and I were dismissed from the awkward conversation with his parents, we then made our way to his room for our study session, the reason that I was at his house in the first place. "No funny business up there!" Fred bellowed and I flushed pink.

"So ..." Jacob began once he had closed the door to his room.

I flicked a stray strand of hair out of my face and blew out a breath. "That went well," I commented sarcastically.

Jacob simply chuckled. "Can't deny with you about that," he agreed.