Always Been You Read online

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to her confession, even when she began to cry. However, just as I was about to console her, Jacob walked in.

  All throughout dinner, Jacob kept shooting the both of us questionable looks. I knew he was itching to ask why his mom was sobbing in my arms. I couldn’t tell him, not when it could embarrass his mom. Unfortunately, he was too intrigued. And since Ashley had left to hang out with some of her old high school friends, I was the only one he could bug. He even refused to let me go home, unless I told him what his mom had said. I was only allowed to leave when his mom appeared in the living room and began yelling at him for keeping me out so late.

  Dawn broke early and bright the next morning, and I literally had to drag myself out of bed just to be on time for school. I was so tired, even if I had a pack of wild dogs chasing me down the street it still wouldn’t make me move any faster.

  When I eventually made it to West Vancouver Secondary, I then bumped into my bubbly, sandy-blonde, brown-eyed friend, Nikki Evans, who couldn’t understand why I looked so groggy, crossing the main field near the track. According to her, I should be feeling more excited about our first day of senior year than wanting to crawl back into bed. But instead of letting her know that half of the reason I was sleepy had to do with leaving Jacob’s house around midnight, and the other half was laying in bed thinking about what Jacob’s mom had said to me, I decided to keep my mouth shut and just continue walking. I still couldn’t believe that both his parents approve of me, just as much as my parents love Jacob.

  My dad, a short plastic surgeon with a decreasing amount of hair on the top of his head, never really minded who I dated as long as I liked him. But the guy he really favoured and trusted the most to take care of his only child was Jacob. Even after a hectic day at work, my dad always found time to spend it with Jacob whenever Jacob came over to our house.

  My mom was completely opposite from my dad. She’s also kind and considerate, but even though she’s very petite, she isn’t someone you would want to cross. Sometimes when she questions me, I feel like I’m one of those guilty convicts on the stand.

  Since she was there when I had cried my eyes out over Jacob in the tenth grade, she always became wary, whenever I was interested in a guy. When Jacob came over the first time to my house, only because he was my Chemistry partner, she became hesitant and had been afraid that I would get hurt again. He was only allowed into the house when I had pulled her into the kitchen to reassure her that I was over my crush on him, and that we were just friends. Once she got to know the real Jacob, she actually liked him so much that she even told me if she had to choose the lucky man in my life, only a certain guy with the last name of Bennett would do. Come to think of it, she always found some subtle imperfection in each of the very few guys I had gone out with. If I brought over someone who wasn’t Jacob, she would accept my choice, but then patiently wait until something goes wrong before pointing out how wonderful Jacob would have been.

  “Earth to Jenna?”

  I let out a huge sigh, broke away from my trance, and was surprised to see Jacob seated beside me on the bleachers. As he stared questioningly at my face, I then took in my surroundings and became aware that I wasn’t standing with Nikki on the field. I guess I was too caught up with my thoughts, I didn’t realise I had aimlessly wandered into the North Campus’ gym.

  “Oh, sorry, Jacob,” I sighed. “I wandered off again, didn’t I?”

  “It was the same look you had at the airport,” he said. “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”

  “I’m sure,” I reassured him. “Hey, have any of the girls seen you yet?”

  “I got here early and came straight to the gym. Why?”

  “Then you better remember to cover up those huge bumps on your arms if you don’t want any of them to jump you.”

  “You mean this arm?” He lifted his left arm and flexed it in front of my face.

  “I guess I was wrong about you being buff,” I said, rolling my eyes as I pushed his arm away. “You’re still a bit flabby.”

  “Funny,” he said wryly.

  “So why isn’t Amber here protecting her property?”

  “I am not someone’s property,” he huffed at me.

  “Okay, then how come Amber’s not here protecting her boyfriend?” I laughed.

  “Amber and I broke up.”

  I thought he was joking, but once I saw his expression, I quickly clamped my mouth shut. “Sorry. When did this happen?”

  “Right before I left for Australia,” he explained. “I was thinking of telling you yesterday, but we were having too much fun, I completely forgot about it.”

  “You keeping me hostage last night was not fun,” I grumbled. “I’m still feeling the side effects from sleep deprivation because of you.”

  “Hey, I should be the one lacking the sleep. I did just come back from the other side of the world.”

  “It shouldn’t make a difference. You’re such a night owl.”

  “And yet you still won’t tell me what my mom said to you, will you?”

  “Like your sister said, if you want to find out, you’re going to have to ask your mom yourself,” I grinned. “Now, what were you saying before I interrupted?”

  “As I was saying,” he said, giving me a pointed look. “I’m telling you now because you’ve helped me a lot in dealing with her. I figured you might want to be the first to know before it ends up all over the school. Speaking of relationships, I just realised that I kept you from seeing Ethan last night. He’s probably disappointed he didn’t get to see you before school started.”

  “You don’t have to worry about what Ethan thinks anymore,” I said disgustedly. “We broke up about a week ago too.”

  “Judging by your tone, I take it didn’t end well, did it?”

  “No, it didn’t,” I muttered, turning my gaze towards the guys playing basketball on the gym floor.

  “What happened?”

  Before I could answer him, we were suddenly interrupted by the sounds of both of our names being called. Amy, who had appeared in the gym, was making her way towards me, while one of Jacob’s annoying friends hollered at Jacob to get back and finish with their pick-up basketball game.

  “I guess we’ll just have to talk later,” sighed Jacob.

  “I guess so.” I got up to leave, but Jacob quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me back down on to the bleachers.

  “Hey, don’t say anything about what I told you to Amy or anyone else,” he said. “I know she’s going to ask you, but I really don’t want anyone to know right now. If she does get on your nerves, then just tell her to ask me about it.”

  “Are you sure you really want Amy bugging you?”

  “Not really, but then you probably don’t want her bugging you either.”

  “No, but she also let’s things go after a couple of hours, unlike someone I know,” I smirked. “At least I got to see you cowering behind me while your mom lectured you last night for keeping me out so late.”

  Jacob just smiled and prodded my stomach.

  “Jacob, are you coming or not?” yelled his friend.

  “Coming!” he yelled back. “I’ll talk to you later, Jenna.”

  “Later.”

  As I watched Jacob walk away, I then turned my head in the direction of my other friend and smiled.

  People always joked around, telling me that Amy could pass as my twin by the similar ways we act. The only thing which makes their reasoning unbelievable is the fact that we are not even the same ethnicity. While I am Chinese, Amy, who is taller than me by two inches, is a British beauty. The hairs on both of our heads grew past our shoulders, but while hers is naturally curly and brown, mine is straight and raven-coloured. We both have brown eyes; except mine are so dark people think they are actually black. We both have natural, full pink lips, but Amy has a curvy hourglass figure that makes every guy go weak in the knees, whenever she walks into a room. Even though Amy thinks my boobs are perky, I think I am
somewhat built like a boy. I have straight legs and a waist that almost blends both halves of my body together.

  Both of us are stubborn, kind-hearted and strong-willed, except I am a bit insecure about myself—but which teenage girl isn’t—have a sarcastic wit when someone challenges me, and I always tend to overanalyse situations. Amy, whom I’ve known since private school, is defiant, persistent, inquisitive, and very level-headed about many things.

  “And what were you two talking about?” she prompted, her brown eyes flickering between me and Jacob.

  “Nothing important,” I said.

  “Oh, come on, Jen,” she pleaded, grabbing her curly brown tresses in a bun.

  “Not a chance, Ames. Now let’s get going before we’re late for homeroom.”

  People we passed along the hallway and up the stairs kept staring at us. I swore some were following close enough to eavesdrop since Amy’s constant string of questions was only about Jacob. They appeared to look eager and couldn’t resist trying to listen in to our conversation. They only backed off once we entered into the chemistry lab that was our homeroom.

  “Why are you being so stubborn?” whined Amy.

  “Why are you being so annoyingly persistent?” I grinned.

  “About what?” asked Matt, his blue eyes sparkling with curiosity, as we joined him at one of the black lab tables by the window.

  “I’m trying to find out what Jenna and Jacob were talking about,” said Amy, letting out a frustrated breath. “They were being secretive about something, but she won’t tell me why.”

  “Speaking of Jacob, have you seen what he’s wearing today?” said Katie Andrews. Her long, auburn hair that was normally straight and to her shoulders was now cut short, about chin length, and layered so it framed her face. “I just saw him coming out of the north gym, and I have to admit I was tempted to run a finger down the front of his shirt, just so I could feel how hard his chest is. It should even be considered illegal with the way he fills out his jeans.”

  “If you think what he’s wearing now is hot, you should’ve seen what he wore this morning before he changed,” said Amy.

  “Ooh, I would love to have seen that,” sighed Katie, her emerald eyes glistening in a dream-like state. “Jacob in a basketball jersey is definitely hot, especially with those new sexy muscles of his.”

  “Jenna saw Jacob’s new muscles up close,” Amy grinned.

  “Did you touch them?” Katie asked me.

  “Are you sure you’re dating Alex?” I said.

  “I’m starting to wonder about that too.”

  We all turned around. Alex Martinez, our resident class clown, had appeared in the room and was giving his girlfriend a baleful look.

  “Can we please stop talking about my cousin’s attributes?” grumbled Matt.

  “Why?” said Amy. “Jealous?”

  “More like getting disturbed about it,” said Matt.

  “Now, back to what we were talking about before we got distracted.” Amy, who was mimicking the same look Alex had, aimed it to her boyfriend. “Jen, what did Jacob tell you that you can’t say to anyone?”

  “All he said was if you want to know, you’re going to have to ask him,” I said.

  “He said that to you?”

  “He did.”

  Later when I met up with Jacob to go for lunch, it eerily felt like when he first had transferred in. Some of the girls looked like they were going to faint from the sight of his new physique as we walked out of one of our classes and headed down the hall. Jacob was so uncomfortable with their appreciative murmurs and gazes that he finally got fed up at being gawked at, went straight to his locker, grabbed his coat, and covered up his arms before heading down to the cafeteria with me.

  Chapter 2

  Bowling and a Bet!

  All week long, no one had any clue about Jacob’s recent breakup. I was surprised that even Matt didn’t suspect a thing either. Some did wonder why Jacob wasn’t with Amber and had assumed it was because most of her classes were in the South building. But then on Friday afternoon while I was discussing plans for later in the evening with Amy and Katie, our attention was caught by Nikki yelling our names, and I wasn’t prepared for what I heard from her. It even caused me to drop my lunch bag to the floor.

  Supposedly, Amber was telling everyone the reason she and Jacob broke up was because he cheats on his girlfriends, sucks at kissing, and was really bad in bed.

  “I also heard she was the one who dumped Jacob and that she has found a much hotter guy,” said Nikki.

  “I’m not sure about the new guy, but everything else she’s been saying has to be all lies,” I said.

  “That’s what you two were talking about yesterday, wasn’t it?” Amy said with accusation aimed at me.

  “Yes, and I’m sorry, but I promised I’d keep it a secret,” I said.

  “Did he tell you why he broke up with her?” Nikki asked me, tucking a long blonde strand behind her ear.

  “Just only that they were no longer going out,” I replied. “I guess he must’ve thought it wouldn’t be this quick for his breakup to get around school, and for people to start pestering him about it.”

  “Uh, Jen, this is Jacob we’re talking about,” said Katie. “There are no secrets about him.”

  “Actually there are,” I said. “People only know the things he doesn’t mind sharing.”

  “Does he tell you any of the ones he doesn’t share?” said Nikki.

  “Some, but not everything since I don’t like to pry it out of him,” I said. Amy raised an eyebrow. “And I know what you’re thinking, Ames, so don’t you dare.”

  “And why not?” she complained. “Matt and I have always said you two would be perfect with each other. Look at the other guys you’ve dated and how wrong they turned out to be.”

  I thought back to Ethan and sighed. “I know, but it still doesn’t mean you guys can still try something. Like I told you both before, I’m very happy that Jacob and I are friends again.”

  Identical expressions of scepticism flitted across all their faces. But instead of continuing with their assault of questions at me, Nikki linked my arm with hers, and we headed down the hall.

  Once we entered into the cafeteria, what Katie had said to us was true. Anything that had to do with Jacob was always a part of everyone’s conversations. And since Jacob’s breakup was considered big news at the moment, it was all anyone was talking about.

  Everyone had different speculations on what they thought really happened between Jacob and Amber. They were arguing so loudly, I had a hard time trying to listen in to the babbling voices of my friends. Therefore, instead of tormenting myself any longer, I finally got fed up with the useless chatter, picked up my squashed ham and cheese sandwich, and threw it in the trash. I then went back upstairs to what I thought would be deserted to seek some peace and quiet, and I was startled to see Jacob sitting against my locker.

  “So I guess you’ve heard?” he sighed, as I plopped myself down next to him. “I should’ve figured this would happen. Look who I was going out with.”

  “Despite the fact that she shouldn’t be saying all these nasty things about you, I am amazed at how well you are taking everything,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Doesn’t any of her rumours bother you?”

  “Actually, I only care what you think.”

  “Why should it matter what I think, Jacob?”

  “Because I don’t want you to think less of me,” he said. “You don’t believe anything that’s going around about me, do you, Jenna?”

  “Of course not. You’re not that kind of guy. At least one good thing came out of all of this.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “You don’t have to put up with her anymore,” I grinned. “At least you aren’t sinking as low as Amber. From what I just heard in the lunchroom, some think she’s just in denial and is only trying to get back at you by already seeing someone new. I’m sure you’re much
hotter than her new college guy anyway, with those sexy mus—”

  I quickly slapped a hand across my mouth, hoping Jacob didn’t hear what had accidentally slipped out. But as I slowly peered to my left, my eyes widened with horror once I saw Jacob’s grin. His lips were so widely spread apart I swore his face was going to split in two.

  “I knew you didn’t think my muscles were flabby,” he grinned.

  I punched him in the shoulder and was about to retort when we were abruptly interrupted by a huge commotion. Hannah Miller, Joyce Vinders, Monique Frost, and Alicia Wu—the group of girls who had decided to dub themselves Jacob’s Groupies since they basically worshipped the ground Jacob walked on—were charging in our direction. They were wailing his name so loudly that when I turned back, Jacob was already halfway down the hall.

  “I’ll talk to you later, Jenna,” he called over his shoulder.

  I knew why he wanted to leave. Every time those girls saw Jacob, they never missed the opportunity to run their hands along his chest, use their fingers to move them seductively up his arms, or even wrap both arms around his waist. But instead of making Jacob like them, their forward manner had frightened him to the point where he avoided them, whenever he could.

  Hearing the final bell ringing through the halls two hours later, I then quickly packed up my things from my locker and went to meet the rest of the gang. When I got nearer to the school parking lot, I was surprised to see Devon Johnson, a black-haired, brown-eyed guy, standing beside Jacob, staring intently at Nikki.

  Out of everyone Jacob had befriended when he first had transferred in, Devon was the only one we liked. Besides being somewhat shy, he has never been rude or arrogant to any of my friends, and would always greet us whenever we saw him in the hall.

  “Since we are short a player for the guys’ team, I hope you guys don’t mind that I asked Devon to join us,” said Jacob.