Enjoy (I know you will!)?


"Hey, Mara…" Eddie sang quietly, poking his head into the library.

"Yes, Eddie, what is it?" Mara asked without looking up from the book she had in her hands, while thirty more were stacked around her on the table.

"You know," he started as he stepped into the room. "Some people drown their sorrows in alcohol and drugs and…other things, but you, you bury yourself in homework. Drowning out your sorrows with homework is new. Very original,"

"What do you want, Eddie?" she asked with a roll of her brown eyes.

"I want you to go to the dance tomorrow."

"Aren't you taking Patricia…?" she asked after a second, a blush pooling on her tan cheeks.

"No, I don't mean with me, I just mean, you need to go."

"…I don't want to, Eddie. Jerome will be there with Willow, and I can't deal with that." she sighed, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Don't let him get in the way of living your life, M. Come on, go to the dance tomorrow and have some fun. Maybe you'll meet someone. I don't know. All I do know is that you will not regret it."

"I'm not; I just don't want to go."

"Please, Mara?"

"No—"

"Pretty please,"

"No, Eddie—"

"Pretty please with a cherry on top,"

"Eddie, I said no—"

"Please please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please—"

"Fine, now stop talking!" she shrieked.

"Awesomesauce! Don't worry, you'll have tons and bunches and tons and bunches of fun!" he grinned, hugging her.

Mara didn't bother to point out that he was acting like a child. He seemed so happy, and it made her smile, but only a little. The thought of going to that dance still upset her and made her stomach twist painfully.


Mara couldn't believe she was doing this. She was going to go to a dance, and Jerome was going to be there for sure, and most likely, Willow will be clinging to his arm. She'll look incredible, he'll compliment her, and she'd giggle. Mara had seen it happen before.

She didn't want to go to this dance. She wouldn't be able to handle seeing Jerome with someone else, she dealt with that enough at school and in the house. But Eddie had begged her to go. He said that she wouldn't regret it, but she already did.

"See, look at that, you look amazing!" the American grinned, applauding her.

Mara looked down at the dress. It was strapless and the pink skirt was cut off right above her knees, a sparkly belt was tied around her waist. Her black hair was curled and pushed to the side, hanging over her right shoulder. She felt pretty, but she still didn't want to go to the dance.

"Come on, you said you weren't going to let this whole break up bother you; this'll be good for you." he promised, squeezing her shoulder in reassurance.

"Maybe you're right." she sighed.

"Of course I'm right." he shrugged. "Now, come on."


Mara looked at all the couples dancing. She couldn't handle this. She needed to get out of there. As she stood someone stepped in front of her, blocking the flashing lights. It was a man; he was tall, he was handsome and he was—

"Jerome."

"You look absolutely stunning." He complimented.

"Thank you…" she said softly, looking at the floor.

"Would you like to dance, Mara?" he asked lowly, but just loud enough so she could hear him over the music.

Mara looked around. She wanted so badly to take his hand and let him guide her across the dance floor to the slow song that had begun to play. But then she spotted Willow. She was on the other side of the room, smiling and laughing, just as she always did. Mara shook her head. "I don't think Willow would like that."

"I'm sure she won't mind." Jerome replied, taking her hand in his and leading her to the crowded floor of swaying couples.

Mara sighed as she rested her head on his chest. She had missed this. But he was with Willow now, and she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that, especially after she had let him go for her. Though it caused her heart to soar and butterflies to erupt in her stomach, she knew that his attraction to her was just a small one compared to the one he had for Willow.

"Jerome, I don't think Willow would like this." she said as she pulled away from him.

"I told you, she won't mind." Jerome protested with a shake of his head, tugging her back into his chest.

"Jerome, I don't want to cause any trouble." She whispered. She wasn't heard over the music and Jerome grabbed for her. She was suddenly pushing past the other couples and running out of the room into the hallways.

"Mara," he called, looking up and down the hallway before racing after her. He reached out and grabbed her hand, spinning her around to look at him.

"Jerome, stop," she sobbed, holding the heels of her hands on her eyes, trying to stop the tears.

"I swear it; she won't mind us dancing together."

"But I mind."

"Why?"

"Because we broke up, and exes aren't supposed to dance together, especially when one of them has a new girlfriend."

"But, Mara, you don't understand—"

"What don't I understand?" she cried, looking up at him. She was glad that no one was in the hall at the moment; she wouldn't be able to do this if someone else was here. "I broke up with you so you can be with Willow, and then you come along and ask me to dance?"

"Mara, listen for a—"

"Are you trying to hurt me? Do you want to make her jealous?"

"Mara, I—"

"Do you want to make me jealous? Do you want me to be jealous of the oh-so-special-bond you two have? Do you want me to be jealous of your love? Do you want me to be in pain—?"

She gasped when her face was caught in his hands and he pressed his lips onto hers. She wanted to pull back, her mind told her to, and she knew she had to, but his lips kept her from going anywhere. He was intoxicating. She couldn't breathe around him. He made her heart beat a mile a minute with just one touch. She ran her fingers through his hair as his hands held her face firmly. She was pushed against a wall, and then he pulled away, forehead resting on hers as they caught their breath. He was the only thing keeping her from crumbling to the floor.

"You talk too much." He chuckled, pecking the base of her bare neck.

Mara's already flushed cheeks darkened a shade.

"Mara, I broke up with Willow." Jerome whispered, warm, minty breath caressing her tan, tear stained face. He wiped away the remaining tears with his thumbs and kissed her forehead gently.

"You did what?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"She and I weren't working out, and Alfie's more suited for her, and—"

"Why weren't you two working out? You make the perfect couple." Mara scoffed, pushing away from him.

"No, no, we don't, Mara." He shook his head, following her down the hall and into the chilly night air. He shrugged out of his black tux jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "You and I do though."

"Jerome…"

"I love you, my little Beansybop, although I probably lost the privilege of calling you that." he muttered, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Mara had been frozen for a moment. He'd never said that to her, and she had dreamed that he would, but she didn't want it to be like this. She handed his jacket back to him with a frown. "Jerome, I broke up with you so you could be with her, don't try to get me back."

"But, Mara, I don't want to be with her anymore. We're better off as friends. I love you, I always have, and I always will. Please, believe me, Mara—"

"Jerome, I think it's best if you got over Me." she said softly, tears forming in her eyes again. She forced them back and turned away from him, head held high.

"Mara, have I ever told you what I see in my future?"

Silence.

"Every future under the sun I could think of; has you in it. No matter what I think of, you're always there."

Mara, once again, didn't say anything, but she wanted to. She wanted to know what he saw in the future. She wanted to so much.

"You and I are married, living in a big house, here in Liverpool, just because you and I love it here. And the rest of the house would be here, too, because we can't separate ourselves from our family like that. You'd be a doctor and I'd be a photographer, so we make just enough money that we'll never get in fights because of the finances. We'd have four kids, a boy, twin girls, and then another boy. And we'd have a dog and a cat because every kid needs a dog to grow up with, and I'm more of a cat person."

"Oh my, gosh," she mumbled, covering her mouth with her hand as tears sprung to her dark eyes. She forced herself to keep her back to him, but it was getting harder with each passing second.

"Every Monday, you and I would run around the house, trying to get the kids ready for school, and it would be hard, but we'd have a great time doing it. Every Friday, the kids would stay with friends and you and I would have a date night, just so we could keep our relationship strong. Every Saturday, I'd wake up early and make everyone a big breakfast, because my pancakes are pure heaven. And on Sundays, you'd wake everyone up early and shove us into the car so you can drag us to church."

He stepped closer to her and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her small waist, pulling her into his chest. She didn't pull away and he buried his face in the warm crook of her neck. He could feel the quick breaths she sucked in. He knew she was crying. He didn't like to see her cry, and he needed to comfort her. The problem was that she had two different categories of cries. The first was happy and the second was sad. He could usually tell whether or not she wanted him to comfort her or kiss her. But he wasn't sure this time. So, he continued his speech, explaining everything he's ever thought of.

"And every day, I'll tell you I love you has many times as I can. And I'll kiss you every chance I get. And I'd give you the world. I'll give you anything you could ever want because I want you to be happy—"

"You want to make me happy?" she spoke up suddenly, pushing out of his arms, turning to him with tears flowing down her tan cheeks.

He swallowed and nodded nervously, arms falling to his sides awkwardly.

Mara stepped up to him and put both of her small hands on either side of his pale, anxious face. "Give me that life."

"After college, though, right?" he smirked at her knowingly, relief flooding over him.

"Oh, but, of course." And then she gasped, her mind sprinting back to what he had just planned out for them. "I want that life, Jerome; I want to be with you, forever."

"Dear God, I love you…" he murmured.

"I love you, too," she grinned. She brushed a tear away from his cheek that Jerome hadn't even noticed. She pulled his face down and pressed her lips to his.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a tight hug, unable to resist, spinning her around, just to show her how happy he was.

Looking out the window at the happy couple was Willow Jenks. Her green eyes sparkled with unshed tears. She was really and truly happy for them. She brushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes and turned to Alfie who grinned at her from across the hall. He held his arm out to her and she took it with a loving smile, allowing him to lead her to the dance.

Eddie's eyebrows furrowed as he watched the two strutting down the corridor. He shrugged it off and peered out the window Willow had been looking through. Realization dawned on him and he nodded in understanding before moving away from the scene outside and following the other couple's path to the drama room, a triumphant smile playing on his lips.


I love Jara...

Review? You know you can't resist! Eeep!

I'm so happy, I'm slowly finishing a bunch of stuff that I haven't finished yet! I need to! You guys get more stories when I finish things! And reviews modivate me to finish stuff. So since this is already finished, go to another one of my stories and review that, yeah!?

If you guys want to read a really good Jara story, go check out Dear Mara by Echo101. That story is so good, and I am totally obsessed with it! She's slowly updating, and I think she just needs some motivation! Go check it out, it's fantastical!

Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. -John 14:23

Love you guys!

-Rachel