Author's Note: Woah, three days?
Disclaimer: Officially hating the fact that I did not think of this beautiful song before Tamia did.
Chapter 11
"So…" I said, biting my lip.
"Yup," he replied.
"You're here."
"That would be obvious."
I tried my hardest not to roll my eyes.
We were getting nowhere.
"Do you want anything to drink?" I offered.
"Water is fine with me," he yawned. I nodded, walked to the kitchen and grabbed two glasses. I filled them both with water and slowly placed two ice cubes in each one. I took my sweet time making sure that everything was perfect so that I could think about what we were going to talk about. I honestly have no idea what came over me when I asked him to come inside. Now, I am starting to regret it because he's making me tongue-tied…and I'm not even talking!
I walked back to the living room to see Jake sitting on the chair peering at my computer.
"What did your mother teach you about asking permission?" I asked playfully. He laughed a little and muttered an apology. I walked over to where he sat and placed the water in front of him. I crossed my arms, placed them on his head, and looked at the computer.
"I remember when you kept on asking your dad if you can have one of these," Jake said, pointing to the picture of the Black Labrador that I wanted.
"I know. Now that I don't live under the same roof as him, I can finally get one. The only problem is that I never have the time to go down to the shelter to actually adopt him," I sighed sadly. Jake was silent and I just played with the hair underneath my fingers, noticing how soft and good and it smelled. After a couple of minutes, Jake moved to get up. I took my arms off of his head and walked towards the couch. I turned on the TV and flipped to MTV. They were playing music videos, which I personally preferred rather than the reality TV shows.
Mikayla's music video for "Glass Slipper" was on. I glared at her face and made fun of the lyrics instead of changing the channel because the song was going to be over in a couple of seconds. I heard an unfamiliar acoustic sound and I peered at the video; I only saw Mikayla and a group of guys dancing around her. I turned my head to see Jake sitting on the computer chair with my guitar in his hands. I closed the TV and listened to its soft strumming, completely entranced.
I closed my eyes and slightly swayed my body to the music and got lost in its sweet melody. Jake's fingers swiftly moved up and down the arm while his fingers strummed and plucked the chords. The tune of the song was very familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on what song it was. Nevertheless, it was very beautiful and it moved me.
That's what I loved about music: there's always something beneath the black and white text. Whether it's a bad or good song, there's always some sort of hidden message beneath it. People usually show it through lyrics, but after going through music classes, I believe that everything being played in a song illustrates itself. The collaboration of the guitars, basses, drums, trumpets, saxophones, pianos, and all of the other instruments…it's simply amazing to know that every single of them is unique, but they all share one common thing: they make something beautiful called music.
I opened my eyes when Jake stopped playing. He looked at me with a curious expression on his face and I just smiled warmly at him.
"Jake, that was beautiful," I breathed out. He nodded his head and brought the guitar with him to the couch. He sat down to my right and faced towards me, which made me a little uncomfortable because the only thing that separated the both of us was my guitar.
"Thanks, I guess," he shrugged. "I don't know why I played that song, but when I picked up your guitar, that was the first thing that popped into my head."
"What's it called? It sounds so familiar…" I trailed off.
"It's an old song and I don't quite remember what it's called," he said and scratched his head. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at the guitar, as if asking what it just played.
"Why don't you try playing it? I remember you playing it a long time ago. Maybe it'll just come to you like that," Jake said and snapped his fingers.
"Okay," I said and took the guitar from his hands. Our hands touched and we both looked at each other. His green eyes were peering into my own with the same look of confusion and curiosity he always gives me. I gulped and looked down, turning the guitar around. Jake took a sip of his water and I positioned myself more comfortably to play. I played the first couple of notes, but I kept on messing up so I tried again. When they finally sounded right, I played it a couple of times and I finally realized what the song was. Not realizing what I was doing, I closed my eyes and started singing.
"All I hear is
raindrops
Falling on the rooftop
Oh baby, tell why'd
you have to go?
'Cause this pain I
feel
It won't go away
And today
I'm officially
missing you
I thought that from
this heartache
I could escape
But I fronted long
enough to know
There ain't no way
And today
I'm officially
missing you…"
I opened my eyes to see Jake looking at me, looking a little bewildered.
"What?" I asked, laughing slightly. I played with the strings nervously as I looked at Jake, who was looking at me as if he's in a trance.
"You're beautiful," he said breathlessly. I blushed and turned away shyly.
"I mean, the way you played…and your voice…it's just mesmerizing," he said quickly. I looked at him self-consciously and bit my lip.
"Thanks," I said in a small voice, and then I put the guitar on the floor and leaned it against the couch.
"I haven't seen you play like that in years," Jake said randomly and I shrugged.
"I barely have any time to do anything. If I'm not working or being Hannah Montana, I'm with my Dad, Lilly, Oliver, or catching up on sleep," I laughed softly.
"But when I'm finished with…your wedding," I cleared my throat because my voice cracked when I said those last two words. I played with the hem of my dress, feeling sick all of a sudden. I didn't know why exactly I felt sick though. Jake's my friend and we went to dinner as friends and I invited him inside my apartment because we arefriends.
"I'm going to take some time off from work to do whatever I want and basically just relax. There's going to be a lot of Miley-time, finally!" I raised my hands and smiled in an attempt to be humorous. When I glanced at Jake, he was looking at me indifferently, as if he wasn't listening to a word I was saying. I bit my lip and shifted in my seat. The uncomfortable feeling I had when he was looking at me earlier was slowly returning due to Jake's intense gaze on me.
"I'm sorry, what?" Jake said and shook his head. My mouth dropped open slightly.
"Nothing. Doesn't matter," I said quietly. He just nodded and drummed his fingers on his knee. Once again, an awkward silence hung in the air.
"Remember when you and Mikayla were fighting over me?" Jake asked and I was taken-aback by his question.
"We weren't fighting over you," I said and he smiled smugly at me.
"Where are you going with this anyways?" I asked.
"Ah, nothing."
"Tell me!" I whined, pulling on his jacket. I knew that he wouldn't have brought that up if he didn't mean anything by it.
"It's just the look on your face when you found out I was going to be kissing her," he laughed and slapped his knee.
"I didn't…and Idon't find it very comical," I said seriously, crossing my arms.
"What's so wrong about her anyways? I never fully understood that." I looked at him as if he just sprouted another head.
How could he not see what's wrong with her?
"Well, Jake, let's just say that she has issues," I said and gave him a look meaning that this conversation was over.
But Jake being Jake, he's not very good at getting hints.
"Why, though? I still don't get it."
"Well, it's because she just hates me. That's it! I didn't do anything to her and she just started saying---"
"Or maybe it's because you were jealous because I was kissing her," Jake cut me and I looked at him as if I was just slapped in the face.
"Yes, I already admitted that a long time ago, but that's not why I hate her. And I wasn't jealous that you two were going to be making out…I was jealous because she just got to hang out with you everyday, that's all," I fired hotly at him.
"Uh huh. You were jealous. You want me to go Fergie on you? J-E-A-L---"
"I was not jealous!" I yelled and glared at him.
"---O-U-S!"
"Ugh! You're so childish," I huffed. I crossed my arms and turned the other way, fuming. What was he deal anyways, bringing up Mikayla? Is his purpose in life is to tell me about all the women he's been with? I rolled my eyes.
Men.
"I'm sorry," Jake said after his laughter subsided. He tentatively touched my arm and a shiver of pleasure crept down my spine. I turned around and glared at him, trying my best not to smile.
"You're weird, you know that?" I laughed and lightly punched him in the shoulder.
"I wouldn't want to be anything else," he replied with a toothy smile.
"Like the red sucker in a sea of blue lickers?" I said and another smile was slowly creeping onto my face. Jake blinked his eyes and realization eventually dawned on his face.
"Just like the red sucker in a sea of blue lickers," he said softly and smiled slightly.
I held out my hand, and he hesitantly grasped it. Ignoring the buzz that I felt, I shook his hand and then grasped his thumb area. We let go and hit the front and back of our hands together, suddenly bringing back memories of our secret handshake. We clapped our hands once and then we stomped our foot on the floor and clapped our hands again.
If I could recall correctly, we had to do this three times because that was the number of times we caught Lilly and Oliver making out in the school hallway. I laughed at the once-repulsive memory and sped the handshake up. Jake and I were laughing by the time we were on our third and final round. Suddenly, my eyes widened and I turned my head sharply and Jake's lips kissed my cheek.
His lips quickly withdrew itself from my cheek and my face was burning and tingling at the same time. I completely forgot that after the third round, we always gave a quick kiss, symbolizing how the whole handshake was made up in the first place. Apparently, Jake forgot as well because he started clearing his throat and downed the rest of his water in one gulp.
Many thoughts raced through my head all at once and I was confused on what to do. I felt his eyes on the side of my head and turned towards him. He turned his head so fast; I was surprised that it didn't crack.
"I'm feeling a little tired, Jake. It's been a long day," I said, faking a yawn. I really was tired, but my body felt wide-awake.
"Same here," he said and his voice went unnaturally high.
"Same here," he repeated in a manlier tone. I tried not to laugh, so I accidentally snorted instead. Jake looked at me and the next thing we knew, we were both clutching our stomachs from laughter.
"Miley," he said, calming down slightly. "I'm sorry about a while ago."
My laughter lessened and my shoulders were still shaking, but I tried my best to listen to what Jake had to say. After a couple of seconds, I gave out a long sigh.
"I guess I was just used to doing…that every time we did the handshake. So I basically just did it without thinking and again, I'm sorry. I hope things aren't going to be awkward from now on because I really don't want to lose our friendship," he said semi-seriously and I just stared at him.
Oh, yeah.
Things are totally not going to be awkward between us from here on out.
I told him that, except without any deep sarcasm.
"Thanks for hanging out tonight. It really means a lot to me," I said, walking him to the door.
"Don't mention it. It means a lot to me too," he said with a small smile. We stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, not exactly knowing what to do.
"Now this is awkward," Jake said with a laugh. He held out his arms towards me and I hesitantly leaned in towards him. Despite the awkwardness, I can't deny that I felt safe and warm in his arms. His muscular arms embraced me tenderly and he leaned his head on my shoulder. I took a deep breath, getting intoxicated from his sweet smell. I slowly pulled away from him, but the warmth from his embrace still lingered. I wanted him to leave before I did something foolish and regrettable.
"Goodnight, Jake," I said with a smile.
"Goodnight, Miley. See you tomorrow," he said quietly. He walked out the door and I slowly closed it. Before closing it shut, I looked at Jake's retreating form, only to see him looking at the door wistfully. Shaking my head, I closed the door shut and plopped onto my bed with a loud sigh.
"Jake Ryan, what will I do with you?" I asked aloud and rubbed my eyes. I punched my pillow angrily and flipped over to my side.
Jake will be married in a couple of weeks to another woman. I shouldn't even care in the slightest, but I do. I don't understand why and it's pissing me off. Jake was my first love and my first boyfriend, but that was the past.
I really need a boyfriend, I thought sarcastically.
I closed my eyes and fell asleep, wondering why I picked Jake Ryan over Nick Jonas all those years ago.
Author's Note: I understand if you're a tad (or really) disappointed because some of you were expecting something big to happen. Hopefully, I satisfied some of you though : )
The little music paragraph is all me. Did you know that math, sign language, and music are the three universal languages?
Oh! If you are interested in the song, look it up on Youtube. Watching random people playing it on acoustic is just as bombtastic as Tamia singing it herself.
