Sparks Fly

Chapter 8

"Jace followed you on Instagram!" Yvette squealed.

I nodded. "Indeed," I replied with a smile. "I can't believe it. My crush likes me back, is now my boyfriend and followed me back on Instagram! Somebody, pinch me. Please tell me this is not a dream! Oh, it feels like one..."

"It's not a dream," she said.

I squealed in delight and bounced on my couch. Jace Leighton likes me. Jace Leighton is my boyfriend. Jace Leighton followed me back on Instagram, I thought in excitement. This is every girl in Empire High's dream come true.

"Calm your hormones, Bella," she remarked.

"Shut up!" I giggled. "I can't help it! You'll understand when you have a crush who turned into your boyfriend and followed you back on Instagram whose name is Jace Leighton."

Yvette rolled her eyes. "Oh, I understand all right. I read a lot of romance novels and watch a lot of romance movies. They aren't exactly accurate but I'm sure they are to an extent. You are so in love. You and Jace are like a fairy tale."

I took one last bounce on my couch and stood up. I bent down to grab my phone from the coffee table and checked my Instagram account. I looked at my list of followers. Standing at the top is Jace Leighton. I squealed once again and let myself fall back onto the couch.

"You need to calm down," Yvette commented.

"I can't!" I replied. "I can't believe this is real. I can't believe Jace Leighton noticed me in the first place. Oh Gosh, what if things aren't as simple as it seems? Maybe it's all part of his plan? Oh, why am I thinking so much? I should trust him, right?"

Yvette frowned and said, "I don't know, Bella. He seems like a nice person but that could also be a facade. Okay, I'm not helping. I'm honestly not so sure about this but, if you want to go ahead with this, you should give it a go. Just don't take things too far."

I gulped. I only have my instincts to count on. I need to set some ground rules with Jace. That ought to set a boundary and draw a line between us. That way, he won't be able to hurt me in ways I can't imagine.

Is Jace Leighton that kind of guy, though?

Images of him surfaced in my mind. He's smiling at me. He's waving at me. He's greeting me in the hallways. He's talking to me. He's kissing me. He's holding my hand. I can't be so sure about his sincerity but he seems to be genuine.

Love is confusing. I can't trust my judgement because, after all, love is blind. My judgement is clouded. It will be no matter how much I try to be logical about it.

"Tell him that, even though you two are in a relationship, there will be no intimacy. That ought to keep him from taking advantage of you," she suggested. "Well, that's if he has any intention to do so. It's normal to have rules anyway. You shouldn't do things that you don't feel comfortable doing and he should respect that."

"We kissed, though. And we weren't even dating then," I replied.

"Okay, then there will be no touching and no sex. Kissing is fine. You can decide on your own whether you think hugging is fine as it constitutes touching but a normal hug is not sexual," she corrected. "How does that sound?"

I nodded in agreement. That should do the trick. Besides, that's exactly what I thought.

"Do you regret it?" she suddenly asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you referring to? Do I regret getting together with Jace? No, I don't. He's wonderful. He's nice to me and he treats me well. Okay, that's literally the same thing. Anyway, it's too soon for regrets. We just got together two days ago."