So, um, this is my attempt at Jara... It probably failed, but I thought I should right something other than Fabina in this story which will probably be a lot of Fabina fluff (because that seems to be the only thing I am somewhat decent at writing...) Anyway. This is the continuation of what happened last chapter, where Nina was weird and hugged Fabian, the holder of the pear tree, for no apparent reason. This is in Mara's POV, the day after my failed attempt at foreshadowing Fabina.
". . . on the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me: two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree . . ."
I turned down the radio when my phone rang, a picture of my friend Nina flashing across the screen.
"Hey, Nina."
"Mara, I, um, I . . ." She explained to me what had happened the day before, and my jaw dropped in shock.
"You did what?" I exclaimed.
I wondered if she rolled her eyes at the amusement in my voice; I would not be surprised if she had, though it is usually Patricia who acts like that rather than Nina. I laid down on my bed, put my sock-clad feet on the amethyst purple duvet and stared up at my starkly white ceiling. I never noticed that there was the outline of a misshapen heart in the corner of the room.
"I don't know why!" she cried, exasperated. "I don't even know why I did it! It just happened!"
I sighed. It was usually Amber with these sort of boy problems; it was a bit strange that Nina, of all people, was dealing with these annoying problems. I said, "Nina, the sunrise 'just happens' every day. This was all on you."
"Thanks for the support, Mars," she replies blankly.
"Well, what do you want me to say? He should just break up with Joy to be with you because you found him with a pear tree? What logic is that?"
Nina groaned. "I feel so stupid for doing that. I mean, what if I ruined our friendship?"
I laughed out loud. "Nins, you're not going to ruin your friendship. It was just a hug, for goodness sake. Friends can hug friends. Don't overreact."
"Yeah, I know, but . . . What if Joy finds out?"
"Nina," I say.
"Yeah. I know I'm stretching it." Another sigh from her. "Thanks, Mara."
"You're welcome." Two beeps sounded in my ear, and I pulled the phone from my ear to see another call waiting, a picture of my boyfriend, Jerome Clarke, smiling up at me as he awaited my answer. "Um, Nina? I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay, bye, Mara. Thanks again."
"Bye."
I switched calls, and my boyfriend began with a cheery, "Hello there."
Just his voice made me smile. Without even knowing what he was talking about, I just had to grin because he always seemed to talk to me with an air of lightness and joy, which then transferred to me whenever we talked, making even the worst of days became the best.
"Hey," I said.
"Can I come over? I have an early Christmas gift for you."
I shook my head at him wanting to give me an early gift, even though I knew he could not see it. "Sure. I may not look the best on such short notice, so I hope you don't mind."
I heard him laugh, the phone's crappy reception not distorting his beautiful, melodious laugh like it did to everyone else's. Just hearing his laugh put a spring in my step, a lightness to my heart. I wanted to hear his laugh over and over again; it was that great.
"Mara, you always look beautiful, no matter what you wear."
I blushed. "Be quiet."
"Never."
"Jerome!"
"Mara."
I rolled my eyes because I knew I would not win this argument, no matter how hard I fought back. "I'm not going to win this argument, am I?"
"Nope."
"Fine."
"I'll see you in ten minutes."
"Okay." I hesitated for a moment before hanging up. The words were on the tip of my tongue; I only needed to move my lips and activate my vocal chords to hear those momentous words spoken. I mouthed them, but no sound came out.
"Bye, Mara."
I flushed with embarrassment at my inability to say it. "Bye," I managed to get out before I heard the dial tone in my ear.
I ended the call. Dropping the phone to my side, I ran my hands through my hair as I closed my eyes, shaking my head at myself. Why could I not just say it? Every couple goes through this phase at one point or another . . .
If they last that long, a part of my mind whispered, souring my cheerful mood. Maybe it was a sign that Jerome and I were not going to last if I could not even say those ground-breaking words . . .?
Stop it, I told myself. Don't turn into Nina and Amber and begin freaking out about boys and relationships.
I tried to push my thoughts away as I sat up on my bed, but there was still a tiny gnawing at the back of my mind, the constant doubt and fear that always seemed to harbor somewhere inside of me. I hated it; I hated that I had those stupid emotions. I wished I could just be carefree, especially in relationships.
"Just calm down, Mara," I said to myself.
I moved into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water onto my face. My mind cleared, and I stared at myself in the mirror. A dark-skinned girl, with curly brown hair now pulled into a ponytail, and deep brown eyes staring back at me.
Before I could comment on myself, a doorbell sounded from downstairs, jolting me from my thoughts. I turn towards the sound, once again hesitating before I moved.
I ran down the stairs, only increasing my speed when the bell rang again. I opened the door, which revealed my handsome boyfriend standing there with snow frosting his blonde hair.
"Jerome," I said. I mentally smacked myself for not even giving him a simple hello, to just say his name sounded like I was angry at him.
He smiled that lovely half-smile, telling me that he was amused with my greeting. "Mara," he said.
"Come in," I told him, feeling stupid for making him standing outside for more than a minute.
"I'd love to," he replied casually.
Once he was inside, within the warmth of the house, I closed the door behind him, blocking out the frigidity of the winter outside. He faced me, a grin on his face that confused me.
"So you know how Fabian is planning that huge project for Nina for Christmas?"
"Wait, what?"
"He didn't tell you." He chuckles to himself. "Of course not. You and Nina do talk quite a lot," he mused. "Anyway, look at this." He pulled out a crystal ornament: a pair of birds in frosted crystal, a red heart in the middle of them.
"What is- That's beautiful," I breathed.
"Merry Christmas," he whispered.
"Bu- Doesn't Fabian need this for Nina?" I wondered.
"I think he can do without it," Jerome said with a smirk. He pulled my face to his for a kiss, but I stopped him, wanting to get the words out of my mouth.
"Jerome-" I began.
"Are we really going to do this again?" he asked wryly.
I had to laugh but tried to be serious. "No, really! I-I wanted to tell you something."
His face became solemn as he stopped to listen to me. I paused before I did anything, and he said to me, softly, "Yes?"
"I love you," I blurted out. As soon as I said it, I wanted to smack myself in the face for being so unromantic about it.
Suddenly, his face brightening to a light resembling the sun. He circled his arms around my waist, pulling me towards him and bowed his head down to mine. Our foreheads touched, and I saw this his eyes were bright licks of blue flame that danced with mirth and jubilance.
Just before capturing my lips with his own, his voice barely a whisper, the words he spoke made my heart leap with complete and utter joy, "I love you, too."
Um, yeah. So that was bad... But I am determined to update every day (even if "every day" means at midnight), so I hope this isn't too awful for your eyes to read. ):
Okay, um, please review?
~Ary
PS: Thank you to Dante Alighieri1308, MiaAndOak, and Sibunaismylife for reviewing last chapter! It means a lot to me. :3
