Chapter 8

Missing Feelings

The next morning as I woke up, I felt oddly refreshed. I probably had the best sleep I've ever had since, well, ever. It could be because Jackson didn't come in my room shouting; "Wake up!" or it could be because…

I am dating Jake Ryan!

Ahh!

I jumped off my bed and smiled as I walked into my closet to get ready. I am going to school today as Jake Ryan's girlfriend. I wonder how it will be like. I never been a girlfriend before, ooh this is exciting!

I walked out of my closet wearing pants and a light blue top. I looked at myself through my mirror and smiled. Seriously, who would've thought I would be dating Jake after one date and one kiss. It sounds pretty stupid if you think of it like that, but whatever, I don't care anymore.

Once I got downstairs, I saw my dad laying out some pancakes and toast on the counter.

"Good morning bud, you hungry?" He asked and I smiled

"Sure." I sat down at one of the counter chairs. I took a piece of toast and started to nibble on it as I thought about what was going to happen today.

"You seem pretty happy this morning." Dad said and I smiled.

"Yup." I said and he passed me a plate with some pancakes on it.

"Did it have to do with your zombie slaying friend visiting last night?" He asked and I nearly chocked on my piece of toast I was eating.

"What?" I set the bread down and started to cough.

"I saw you last night bud, and if you do decide to make out with a guy on the steps, be sure to close the door before you do it okay?"

I could feel my cheeks burning and I looked at my plate. "Yeah, sorry." I bit my lip and picked my fork up, stabbing my pancake with it.

'Oh wow, how embarrassing.' I shook my head and started to eat my food.

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At school it felt a little different. I walked into school a few minutes after Jackson went inside and I spotted Lilly talking with Oliver.

'I forgot to tell Lilly about last night.' I thought to myself as I walked up to my friends.

"Hey Miley, what's up?" Lilly asked and I smiled.

"Well, I can tell you th-" I started, but she looked straight behind me and started to grinning widely.

"Sup Jakey, sup!" She started to giggle and instantly felt my face turn hot.

I felt two big arms pull me into a hug from behind and a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Miley."

He let go of me and I kept my gaze down.

"Hello Jake."

"So…" He started.

I felt him wrap his arm around my waist and I blushed. I felt a little bad that Lilly and Oliver had no clue on what was going on.

"Yeah?" I looked up at him and softly smiled.

"You want to hang out during lunch?" He asked and I nodded.

"Sure, if that's what you want."

His eyes lit up and he grinned. "Okay, I'll see you then. Bye." He gave me one last kiss on the cheek left to go to his locker.

I smiled as I watched him walk off, forgetting that Oliver and Lilly were there. I sighed thinking that I was the luckiest girl actually dating Jake, but I wonder, how many other girls has he gave the whole "change me" speech to.

"Uh, Miley?" I hear Lilly say and I snapped back into reality to look at her. She smiled widely as she raised her eyebrows.

"Yes Lilly?" I said as I turned to my locker and started to twist the knob of my lock on my locker.

"What was that?"

The sound of her voice made me less excited to tell her about Jake and me. I shyly looked at her and then back at my locker as I got it opened.

"What do you mean?" I asked with my voice sounding as innocent as can be.

"Are you… oh my gosh Miley you aren't, are you?" She asked as if she knew why Jake did that just a few minutes ago.

"What?" Oliver asked, sounding a little confused.

"Yes." I whispered and put my head into my locker, pretending to look for something in it.

"Ahh!" She screamed, pulled my out of my locker, and started to jump. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

I blushed and put my hands on her shoulders, trying to calm him down.

"It was late last night when he asked me, gosh calm the heck down Lilly!" I said and watched as a few people that passed by us stare at the overly excited girl.

"I still don't get it." Oliver said in a very annoyed voice and I laughed.

"Shut up Oliver!" Lilly snapped and looked at me. "I need details!" She piped up showing a big smile and big eyes.

"Later Lilly, I'm still trying to take it in." I grinned and we started to walk with Oliver trailing behind us.

"Will someone just tell me what's going on?" Oliver asked and Lilly stopped, looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Just wait Oliver! I don't even know. Why don't you ask Jake about it?"

"Whatever." Oliver said and walked off in a different direction as Lilly hooked her arm with mine.

"So now, when will you tell me what happened?" She said and I laughed.

"Gosh Lilly, just wait. I'll tell you when I'm done freaking out about this okay?"

She sighed deeply, unsatisfied, and as we entered our first period class, it reminded me that Jake had this class too.

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I finally told Lilly what happened last night with Jake during our class just before lunch and she freaked out. Our teacher almost sent her to the principal just because she kept on screaming when I was telling her the story. She seemed pretty happy for me and Jake it really shocked me since she had one of those crushes on Jake a while back.

After class, Lilly walked me to the cafeteria to meet up with Jake. It kind of felt like the last time she walked me to the cafeteria to meet with Jake.

I was walking with Lilly toward the cafeteria when we saw Jake leaning against the wall, with a girl near him talking. Unlike last week, he was completely ignoring the girl and was looking at his watch.

"He's so cute! You're so lucky to have him!" Lilly said dreamily as we stopped to stare at him.

"I know I can't believe I gave him a chance." I shook my head and started to walk toward him.

"Bye Miley!" Lilly nearly shouted and then Jake looked up from his watch to me, with a smile on his face.

"Bye Lilly." I said and continued on walking toward Jake.

It felt kind of weird, like, I can do anything with Jake at any time now and he can to me. I just hope I don't freak out about the whole "first boyfriend" thing. Here we go.

"Miley." Jake said as he left the girl who was trying to talk to him. He walked up to me and hugged me.

"Hey Jake." I smiled at him and he took my hand. "What are we going to do this lunch break?" I asked him and he shrugged.

"Well, maybe we could talk again? I have some sandwiches in my bag from home for lunch and we could eat in the classroom or something." He suggested and I nodded.

"Sounds pretty good to me." I said and we went to the same class room he asked me about my dream date.

We set our bags down and moved two desks together so that we sat at opposite ends of each other. We sat down and I put my bag on the desk as I looked at him.

I never really noticed it but he has really nice eyes and a cute smile. I always thought he was the one of the ugliest guys in the world, but he really is as cute as many people say he is. I started to chew on my lower lip, feeling a little nervous.

"What are you thinking about?" Jake asked me and I shook my head, trying to concentrate. He must have noticed me staring at him intently if he asked that. Gosh, now I feel embarrassed.

"Well…" I looked down at my table and put my hands together. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." His voice was soft and he sighed nervously.

"Were you being serious about the whole change me thing?" I asked him and lifted my gaze up from the table to his face. His eyes softened and he closed them.

"Actually, yes…" He sucked in air and put his head down on the table. "I really hate to admit this, but when I first started to date, I thought of it as a game. I never really cared about it, I just didn't like feeling lonely."

"What?" I said, feeling a little confused. Is he dating me because he thinks of this relationship as no further than just a game?

"I mean, the girl I liked didn't like me and so I dated random girls, led them on, got bored of them, and broke up with them. I really hated that and I know I might sound like a bigger jerk now, but it's the truth." He moved his head so that only his chin was resting on the table and looked at me.

"Then was category does our new relationship go into?" I asked and he chuckled.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm really excited to be in this relationship. I'm with a girl I really like and I'm hoping that maybe this would actually let me see or feel what love actually means."

"Love?" I questioned and he smiled.

"This is the closest I've ever felt to love. I've never crushed on a girl so hard that I had to beg her to be my girlfriend. I guess, what I'm saying is, I'm hoping that in this relationship, you'd teach me how to love someone." He laughed. "Sounds corny but-"

I was overwhelmed. He wants me to teach him how to love when I have never felt love itself. It's confusing, but then again, it could be interesting to be in a relationship like this.

"No, it doesn't sound corny at all. We're only 15 Jake, we have all the time to fall in love. Why pick now?"

"Well, after talking with a really close friend of mine, it made me realize that what she has never felt before was something I never felt before. I'm hoping I could feel what I've been missing and I was hoping it could be with you." He started to blush and so was I.

Was he talking about the talk he had with Hannah at the concert? When I sang Once Upon A Broken Heart? I felt a little shocked. There, I thought he already experienced those feelings because he seemed so shocked when he found out I didn't, when he didn't even experience it. Out of his all girlfriends he managed to have in just one year, he never felt that uplifting feeling that you get when you're with someone you want to be with. It just shocked me. And the fact that I'm dating him with the same reason, maybe it is worth it dating him.

"You're quiet. Maybe… it was wro-" There was a hint of worry in his voice and I shushed him by reaching over the table and putting my hand over his.

"No, it's okay Jake. Don't need to worry about it, I'm okay with it. Maybe we can teach each other how to feel what we both seem to be missing." I smiled at him and he nodded.

"Yeah, that would be really nice."

A/N Hope you like this chapter!

Wow, that took longer than expected. Sorry! I was caught up doing my back work from being away from school for one week and then two weeks for spring break. I have school now, darn, spring break is over. I might not get to update a lot since there's school and sophomore state tests are coming up.