"Hey Emma, wait up!" Jake called as he made his way towards Emma. Emma turned around, curious about what Jake wanted. "Do you know where Gia went?"
Emma groaned at his question. "Jake, she's went over this with you like a billion times. She's not ready for a boyfriend."
"I know, and I'm going to respect that," Jake assured her. "But that doesn't mean we can't be friends."
Emma stared him down, but all Jake did in return was smile. Emma knew that Jake was a decent guy, but she still didn't fully trust him yet. She knew a few things about him like his love for soccer or his crush on Gia, but she really didn't know anything else.
"Promise you won't take it too far?"
"Promise."
"I take my promises seriously Jake." Emma warned. She had nothing against Gia going out with someone, she just didn't want her best friend go through the same thing she did. Even now, Emma was still trying her best to get over Troy. She trusted that Gia could properly handle herself and make her own decisions, but she could never be too sure.
"And I'll take this seriously too, Emma. I just want to hang out and talk with her, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less."
"She's just left to go to Ernie's BrainFreeze." Emma said. "You should be able to catch up with her if you leave now."
"You're not going with her?" Jake asked. Usually those two were always together. It was a rare sight to see them separated.
"We're best friends, but we're still individuals." Emma chuckled. "We don't have to do everything together. I just wanted some alone time today."
"Are you okay?" Jake already knew about the conflict between Troy and Emma. It didn't take a genius to tell that there was still obvious tension between the two. He knew that they made up, but he also knew of the deal that they made. Things were getting better, but that kind of decision had hurt them both deeply. It would be awhile until they would fully move on.
"I'll be okay. Anyways, you better hurry up before Gia decides to leave." Emma genuinely smiled, a smile Jake hadn't seen from her in awhile. Satisfied with her answer, he nodded his head and gave a slight smile back before he left the school building.
-A Sweet Treat-
Jake entered Ernie's BrainFreeze and saw Gia working on some homework in the corner. Jake beamed with excitement at the chance to finally spend some quality time with Gia. When Emma and Troy's fight escalated, Emma tended to stick by Gia on the battlefield. Gia and Emma had no problem working with each other, but Jake was thrown off a bit. He sort of just stood there as he watched the girls take out the loogies. To be honest, he was a bit jealous that Emma temporary replaced him as Gia's fighting partner, especially since it was during the very few times he got to spend time with his crush. Their lives were in danger, but at least he got to spend time with her.
Now that things were getting back to normal, Jake was pleased to be working with Gia again. He wanted start it off by doing something nice for her. Jake knew that Gia wasn't looking for a boyfriend yet, but he still wanted to be a good friend to her. She deserved the best.
Gia's eyes were focused on the papers, so Jake subtly walked passed by her. He saw Ernie cleaning the counter and walked up to him.
"Why hello there!" Ernie grinned. "Jake right?"
"Right on the dot."
"What can I get for you today my friend?"
"Two mango peach smoothies please. One for me and.." Jake flicked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing to Gia. "One for that beautiful lady over there."
Ernie peaked over Jake's shoulder and saw a young blonde, around Jake's age, sitting by herself. "Ohh, I see." Ernie smirked. "Two mango peach beach smoothies coming right up."
A few minutes passed by and Ernie came back with the drinks along with an extra frozen treat. Jake furrowed his brow at the extra order. "Umm, Ernie, I didn't order a super deluxe sundae."
"No, it's on me." Ernie winked at the younger man. "Enjoy your 'sundae'."
Jake pulled out his wallet and opened it up. He handed Ernie a twenty dollar bill. "Keep the change."
"Come again." Ernie graciously grabbed the money and waved goodbye. He looked at the two kids and grined. He could sense that a unique bond would form between them. They were going to be special.
With a bright smile, Jake carried his order to Gia's table. He took the seat in front of her and set his things on the table. Gia looked up to see what had interrupted her and saw that it was Jake.
"What're you doing?" Gia asked. She was close enough to finishing her homework so she decided to put it away, curious to know why Jake had appeared.
"Just came by to see what you were up to." Jake replied as he grabbed a drink for Gia. "I bought us some smoothies."
"Umm, thanks." Gia grabbed the smoothie from Jake, momentarily touching his hand. They quickly pulled away, but not before Gia caught the blush on Jake's face.
"Jake…"
"And before you say anything, I'm just doing this as a friend." Jake assured her. "Friends can do nice things for each other time to time."
Gia rolled her eyes, knowing that it would be pointless to deny him. She took a sip out of the smoothie and looked at it right after. Worried that Gia didn't like it, Jake quickly apologized and offered to get her a new one.
"No, it's fine." Gia stopped him from taking away her smoothie. "I'm just surprised that you got me my favorite smoothie. Mango Peach Beach right?"
"Yeah, it's the same one I got for myself. It's my favorite thing to get from here too."
"Huh, what a coincidence." Gia said. Moments passed and the two rangers just sat there, occasionally sipping their smoothies from time to time. The awkward moment of silence continued, so Jake grabbed the free sundae Ernie gave him in an attempt to break it.
"Here," Jake pushed the sundae closer to Gia along with a plastic soon. "Ernie gave it to me for free. We can share it if you want. I don't think I can finish it on my own anyways." he laughed.
"He just gave it to you?"
"Yeah, I decided to not question. I mean, who would want to turn down free ice cream? Especially when it's the supreme deluxe sundae!"
Gia looked down at the sundae in awe. It had two scoops of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice-cream covered with hot fudge and caramel sauce. On the top of it was a variety of sweets such as cookie crumbs, chocolate chips, gummy bears, and rainbow sprinkles. All of it was then stacked on top of a thick waffle cone shaped bowl.
"Well, I can't say no to free ice-cream." Gia teased. Jake looked up at Gia and saw her smiling. He loved that smile. Every time she looked at him, his heart melted. All he wanted to do was keep that smile on her face for as long as he lived. He wanted to make her happy.
"No," Jake shook head. "Friends, just friends." he repeated to himself. He wanted to respect Gia's wishes and made sure he wasn't pushing it too much."
"If I seem like I'm pushing it too much, then just tell me. I don't want to make it seem like I'm ya know…"
"You're fine Jake." Gia smiled. "Thanks for the ice cream."
"I guess we should be thanking Ernie. He's the one that gave it to me for free."
"Huh, I wonder why." Gia pondered.
The conversation between the two teenagers continued for a few hours until Gia felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw that her mom had messaged her.
"Sorry Jake," Gia looked up from her phone. "My mom needs me to go home. She wants me to finish up the chores before dinner."
Jake nodded his head, surprised that they had been talking for that long. Time had passed by so fast. He was slightly disappointed that she had to go already, but understood her need to go home.
Gia gathered her things and stuffed it into her backpack. "Thanks Jake." She got up from the table and walked to Jake. Jake was expecting a friendly goodbye hug, but was quickly proven wrong when Gia planted a small kiss on his cheek. She pushed her chair in neatly and then left.
Behind the counter, Ernie saw Gia's nice gesture and gave a thumbs up to the now blushing teenager. Jake didn't even notice Ernie; he was too busy spacing out. His hand was covering the spot where Gia had kissed him. It had only been a quick peck on the cheek, but to Jake, it meant a lot.
"Hehe, Gia Moran kissed me." Jake said goofily, still not over what had happened. Ernie simply rolled his eyes and continued to clean up his store as he watched Jake overreact.
Once Gia was sure that she was out of Jake's sight, a small smile made its way onto her lips as she exited the mall.