Sweetest Sin
Chapter Two –- Exceptions
Author's Note – I had a hard time finding the time to write this, but I finally did it! It's short, but the next one will be longer.
Thanks to my reviewers –
Wild-lotus – Hm, Damian getting a love interest… Never thought of it! I'll see if I can work that in somehow ;).
Arcadie – ITA about Gretchen in the movie – she's not really mean, just caught on Regina's leash. Ms. Norbury might become the mentor again further down the road. And Cady will play a part in helping Gretchen get her man.
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Gretchen sat on the bottom row of the stands with a grand view of the band gathering into their ranks on the football field facing her. She felt awkward being there by herself, growing almost paranoid that Regina would catch her there.
The drum majors both took either half of the field, making sure everything was set up properly for them to begin. After checking the columns to make sure everyone was lined up, they ran off to the end zones, only to run back on, jumping into a split on the fifty yard line. At the sound of a whistle, the band marched onto the field, the tune of "Bring Me To Life" drifting down to Gretchen's seat on the stands.
Gretchen sat quietly, watching intently as Jake moved efficiently through his maneuvers. Her eyes locked on him at all times, the time flew by and before she realized it they were marching off the field. The drummers played through the cadence at a lively pace, Gretchen watching Jake on his quads as her heartbeat matched the beat of his rhythm. His sticks flew with ease over the four drums as he finished the cadence and added the tag.
Gretchen jumped up from her seat, straightening out her skirt.
"I just need to drop these off in the band room and I'll be back," Jake said, walking past Gretchen.
She started walking with him, avoiding the gazes of the other curious band members. She followed him up to the school and waited at the door for him to reemerge. She was fiddling with the jewel on her silver necklace when he finally appeared back in the doorway next to her.
"Ready?"
Gretchen let a small smile slip, "You bet."
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After driving only a short while, they pulled into the driveway leading up to Jake's garage and came to a halt. Gretchen still couldn't believe she was actually sitting in the passenger seat of Jake Zimmerman's car.
"Home, sweet, home," he said, crawling out of the driver's seat and into the fresh air.
Gretchen sucked in one last breath, gathering every sense of what it was like to be sitting in that same spot before she too climbed out of the car to join him. Looking up at the house she spent so much time in when the two of them were younger, she regretted ever ditching him in the first place just to hang out with Regina, the ultimate queen of mean.
She followed Jake into the house, more childhood memories flooding back to the surface with every familiar object. Jake led her into the living room where he proceeded to toss his coat and books onto the couch.
"Do you want a soda?"
"Diet Coke?" she requested, sitting herself down next to his coat strewn across the white couch cushion.
"You got it," he answered with a grin, and the kitchen door swung shut behind him.
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Regina was lying back in bed, Kaltein bar in hand, staring at the ceiling tiles above her.
"Who does she think she is? How could she just ditch us like that?" The words rolled off her tongue, a fire of contempt crackling through every syllable. "Where could she have gone anyway?"
The question was directed toward Cady, who immediately flashed back to the conversation she shared with Gretchen at lunch earlier that previous day. "Come to think of it, I do remember her mentioning…"
'Promise this won't leave the two of us?'
"Mentioning what?" Regina sat up, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"She had to… baby-sit for her neighbor." Cady flinched at her horrible cover story, but judging by the look on Regina's face it was good enough for now.
She didn't know this Jake guy personally, but she hoped for Gretchen's sake that he was worth running the chance of feeling Regina's terror.
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"So…" Jake exhaled, "what does Regina think about you being here?"
Gretchen cringed. She feared the moment he would bring up the issue of her queen bee. "She doesn't exactly know I'm here. Which I'm sure I'll pay for later if she finds out," she breathed, reaching for her glass of soda.
"That's what I thought. I guess that makes me off limits."
"We can still hang out like this. As long as Regina doesn't find out," she added, looking Jake in the eyes. She subconsciously drifted off, admiring his best features as every word he said floated through one ear and out the other.
Those beautiful hazel eyes. Those muscles slightly visible through his tight fitting white Nike shirt. That disheveled looking hair that would most definitely feel like heaven as it runs between her fingers. And, God, those luscious lips; what she wouldn't do just to get a taste of them… All of which being the sugar coating on a very delicious piece of forbidden fruit.
"Yoo-hoo!" Jake leaned closer, having noticed that she had not blinked in three minutes.
"What…" she managed, returning from fantasy world.
"Maybe we should get back to the homework," Jake suggested.
Gretchen simply nodded, toying with her pencil as she forced herself to tear her eyes from him and return to chapter three in her algebra book.
'What am I doing?! I have a boyfriend, I shouldn't be daydreaming about some other guy. Granted he is better daydream material than Jason could ever hope to be… NO! Jake is off limits, and that's that.'
isJason may be a jerk at times, but she was better than that. She would never even think of cheating on her boyfriend.
But this time there may be an exception...
