Before I knew it it was night time and we were taking our seats for the sit down meal. If I was being honest with myself I was starting to get a little bit of a headache; so I couldn't wait to retire for an early night. Yes the silence was going to give me the opportunity to torture myself; but I wasn't really in the mood for staying up most of the night - like most of my class.
"It ok if I sit here?" I heard a voice say and when I looked up I watched as Jacob grinned at me as he nodded down to the chair on my right hand side.
"Sure; do what you want" I advised.
"You know how to hurt a guy's feelings" he teased as he pulled the chair out and dropped into it.
"How?" I questioned as I pulled a look of confusion at him.
"You could have sounded a lot better to have my majestic company" he joked with a large toothy grin.
"Sorry" I laughed. "Yes Jacob I would love to have your majestic company" I said mock seriously which made him laugh at me.
"Thank you" he said happily. "So how are you finding your trip?" he asked as he placed his drink down in front of him.
"Fine" I advised.
"Just fine?" he enquired.
"Well you know me Jacob-" I started. "I like to take the time to soak it all in; take in all the details" I added.
"Yes" he agreed. "You beat me last time" he reminded.
"Still bitter about that?" I teased with a sly grin. The last art competition that we both had competed in I had beat Jacob in it; however even I could tell that it was close in judging - so he just missed out by a small margin.
"Maybe" he stated. "But I'll get you next time Mal" he added as he playfully shoved me.
"We'll see" I winked.
"Oh!" he said in aghast. "That is fighting talk" he joked.
"Yes" I confirmed. "And we are both very competitive" I reminded him.
"Yes" he agreed. "And I will beat you next time" he warned again.
"Fine" I shrugged. "You can try" I teased as I playfully shoved him back.
"You are so feisty" he noted.
"You have told me that before" I stated. "And like I told you before Jacob-" I started. "That's how our King likes his women" I finished hoping that the reminder of Ben would keep Jacob at bay.
"Yes" he repeated. "Yes you did" he nodded meekly. "How about we sit together on our next painting or sketching circle?" he offered.
"Yeah of course" I replied; I saw no problem with this. As far as I was concerned it was only friendly rivalry between us - and this is how it was going to stay.
After our meal the teachers started taking group photos and I fell into shock as I felt Jacob wraps his arm around my waist. This didn't feel right; and it left me very unsettled. I could tell that there was nothing in it on both mine and Jacob's side. But this didn't mean that I had to like how it made me feel; it made me feel like I was being unfaithful to Ben having another man's arm around me - even for a second.
So with this thought in my mind I excused myself; as my friends tried to get me to stay up I advised them that I had a headache. They all nodded at this but Jacob tried to get me to stay one more time before I dismissed him and walked into my room - before he could say or do anything else to try and persuade me.