Chapter 28 - Why did it feel like a goodbye? (J)
“Are you ready Jason?” I heard Elle shout from downstairs. This is probably 4th or 5th time she is calling me; I don’t know why she is so excited about my graduation day. After checking myself in the mirror one last time, I waltzed out of the room towards my annoying sister.
“You took so lo long” she chided impatiently when I walked into the living room.
“Shut up. What’s it to you?”
“Kyle is already on his way and you still haven’t got ready. Your girlfriend might be waiting for you, remember?”
“I AM ready now. By the way, did mom say anything about coming to school today?”
Her face instantly turned sad “She said she is busy today”
“Oh. Fine then, see you at school” I mumbled slowly and was about to walk away when I heard her say “I will be there for you brother”
Seeing her eyes glisten with tears, I took her into my arms and said slowly “I know you will be”
She pulled out of my arms after a while “Now go. I don’t want Anna waiting for you because of me”
“See you then” I replied and walked to my car making my way to Anna’s house.
I still can’t believe time flew so fast and we are already graduating. Anna and I haven’t talked about our future yet but I am planning to ask her since I already got a couple of acceptance letters from different universities. However, I know today is not the right time to discuss serious stuff.
“You look good” Lily commented when she saw me in her living room.
“And you are beautiful, as always” I said placing a small kiss on the back of her palm.
She smiled and called Anna and Emily to come downstairs who ran like five year old kids racing on who comes first.
“That’s cheating, you have long legs” Emily pouted looking at Anna who reached me first.
I chuckled “You forgot to add sexy” Anna blushed while Emily glared at me for not supporting her.
“You look great baby” I said seeing Anna in dark blue jeans and red top. “You too Em”
Anna smiled “Thanks Jace. Y-You look----”
“Hot? Sexy? Captivating? Gorgeous? Completely kissable?” I asked with a smirk.
“All of the above?” she said with a small smile, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink.
Emily cleared her throat reminding us of her presence while Lily looked at both of us with a big grin on her face.
“You don’t tell the truth to guys like that dear. It makes them bigheaded and arrogant” Lily advised Anna while Emily rolled her eyes adding “As if he is not already”
“Shut up Em” I turned to Lily and said “That’s what I like about her Lily; she can’t lie to save her life, not to me at least”
Anna’s face suddenly turned sad but seeing me look at her in doubt, she changed her expression to that of happiness but I know it’s fake.
Before I could ask her Lily interrupted saying she’ll get camera to take pics of the three of us.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered slowly in her ear while Em sat on the couch uninterested.
“Don’t say it’s nothing” I said when she tried to open her mouth.
“I am just worried that my dad may not come” she mumbled slowly with a smile. Why did it look like a forced one to me?
“He said he will try to” I answered. I know he will come definitely if he can but why do I feel that Anna is not sad about that.
“Are you OK?” I said looking at her concernedly.
“I am fine now” she said and kissed my lips when a flash shot through the room and Lily stood in front of us with a camera. Did she take a picture of us kissing?
“That’s perfect. Now three of you get together” she yelled and took pics of us in numerous poses before we decided we are getting late to school.
“So where’s Alex?” I asked Emily who sat in the backseat of my car along with her mom.
“He is with Drake and Gabe; he will meet us there” she replied coolly.
I looked at Anna who seemed to be lost in thoughts and not like her usual self. What’s wrong with her?
We reached the school in no time and I was stunned seeing my dad standing near the entrance of the school building.
“You came?” I exclaimed hugging him.
“You only graduate once. How can I miss my only son’s graduation ceremony?” he said pulling out of my arms.
“Thanks dad” I said just as Anna hugged him “I am happy to see you here Mark”
“Can’t miss it for the world” he said looking at us and his smile widened seeing Lily.
“Hi Mark, how are you doing?” she said, her eyes glowing with excitement and happiness.
“I am good, thank you. You look great” he said with a flirty smile while she blushed not replying anything.
What the hell was that? Was there something between them that I didn’t know? I remember my conversation with Lily when she said they were friends since a long time but they definitely don’t seem like ‘just friends’ to me.
Anna and Emily looked at me with the same doubt plastered on their faces while I gestured them to keep quiet.
“Oh here you are” Anna’s father came from behind us, all of a sudden interrupting Lily and my dad’s moment.
“Daddy!!!” Anna squealed in excitement hugging her dad.
“You are here!! You are here!!” she exclaimed jumping up and down.
He chuckled “Of course. Can’t miss it for the world”
“That’s my line boss” my dad smiled looking at the father-daughter duo.
George smiled “And you are?”
“He is my father, Mark Samuels” I replied before my dad can answer.
“Oh. I am George Phillips, Anna’s father” he said giving his hand to my dad.
“It’s nice seeing you George; you look hot as always” Emily chirped excitedly interfering them.
“If I didn’t know who he was, I would’ve thought you were hitting on him babe” Alex said walking along with his brother and Gabe in tow.
She squealed jumping into his arms and left the rest of us walking towards the auditorium.
“Let’s go too” Anna announced making all of us follow Emily and Alex.
The ceremony started shortly after that and we yelled excitedly every time someone from our group was called to the podium. However Anna surprised me shouting at the top of her voice standing on her seat when it was my turn. That minute when I looked down at my friends I didn’t feel sad anymore for not having my mom there; nor did I feel the hole in my heart that I always felt thinking of my incomplete family because that minute I realized it’s not incomplete anymore.
In addition to my only living relation Elle, I have Mark who treats me like his own son, Anna who loves me selfless like I am the most important person of her life. And of course Gabe who would put my happiness before his and Emily who’s been a great support to me ever since I joined here.
The fifteen seconds I stood there reminded me of all the fun I had in these premises; playing Soccer with Gabe, teasing Emily and Elle, kissing Anna, laughing and strolling around with Kyle, Blaise and Hunter. Everything seemed to end so fast that I wish I got to spend a bit more time here instead of going after chasing life.
Once the ceremony ended Lily was back to torturing us for more photos which the girls complied with their usual squeals and squeaks of laughter dragging me with them much to my annoyance. After everything was done, I finally breathed a sigh of relief and planned to take Anna away from them when Gabe pulled me along with him saying goodbye to all of them.
“What’s up with you Gabe? Why are you behaving like a girl on her period?” I said annoyed that he spoiled my moment with Anna.
“I want to stroll around the campus one last time” he said sadly; but knowing him since a long time made me doubt if he was actually telling the truth.
Swiping my doubts away I walked along with him around the campus occasionally stopping by; reliving the funny moments spent there.
After what felt like an eternity I finally dragged him to the parking lot pleading him that I want to see my girlfriend.
“Where will you go now?” he asked once I got behind the wheel.
“Anna’s house of course”
“First cleanup yourself, you stink” he said chuckling.
“Shut up idiot” I grumbled annoyed though it was true and started driving to my home.
As much as I love the place and people in our town, there is one thing that I don’t like being here; going to an empty house. Though I am used to it I never wanted to go back to my home ever since I remember and doing it now is no different except that it’s not empty today.
Hearing noise from kitchen may not make me feel suspicious if I haven’t told May to take a day off today and there’s not a single person in our home who knows how to cook; not even my mum or Elle.
“Who’s in there?” I shouted from the living room pulling off my shoes.
The noise stopped but there was no answer from the other end. I walked towards the kitchen remembering a similar scene from some horror film but it didn’t bother me since I know those f**king things are fictional and don’t happen in real life.
“You?” I yelled in confusion seeing the last person I expected there – Anna.
She smiled sheepishly while I questioned “What are you doing here?”
“I planned dinner, just the two of us. I know you find it sappy but please--- will you have a quiet romantic dinner with me?” she said slowly, her lips forming a frown.
I gestured with my finger to come near to me which she obliged making me take her into my arms and reply softly “You need not ask”
“You are early. I thought you wouldn’t be here until another 30 minutes”
“Tell me one thing first. Did you ask Gabe to help you?” I asked with a smirk when she pulled away from me.
She nodded “I am sorry, I wanted it to be a surprise. He told he won’t let you come for ano--”
“Yeah, he tried to but I insisted on seeing you”
“What did you cook by the way?” I said taking her face into my hands.
“Just the usual. Do you like pasta?” she said while I pressed my lips to hers instead of answering, inhaling her familiar feminine scent. She smelt of chocolate, cream, vanilla, tomato sauce, cinnamon and a lot of other things but I can still distinguish her usual chocolate aroma from the others. Her lips were soft and inviting like always but the passion ignited between us was different; it somehow felt so familiar yet different in a way.
I didn’t know what I was doing or where my hands are travelling on her body; all I knew is that I loved doing it. I loved the feel of her hand on my chest, the feel of her fingers curled up in my hair, the hotness of my skin against her neck and the smoothness of her stomach over my palm. Everything about her makes her desirable to me and made me pull her closer not breaking the kiss though my lungs are burning and complaining for oxygen.
She pulled out suddenly panting hard “C-Can’t --- Breathe”
I continued kissing her shoulder sucking the spot that connected her neck and shoulder making her moan softly.
“S-stop it Jace” she mumbled between breaths.
“Why? I don’t want to” I whined not wanting to stop.
“I-I was sweating from all the cooking” she blushed avoiding looking me in the eye “I think I stink”
I chuckled “Is that what you were worried about?”
She nodded still blushing while I said between kisses “Doesn’t – matter – I – think – I – stink – too”
However our make out session was interrupted by the ding of oven which made Anna pull out of my arms and walk towards it.
“The turkey is ready. Go and freshen up, we will have dinner” she said smiling, her face looking all flustered.
I definitely need a cold shower now.
“I will be back in ten minutes” I said kissing her forehead and left the room before I couldn’t resist the urge to grab her and continue what I was doing before.
Stepping under the shower I thought about everything happened today. Though I was not happy leaving high school I loved coming back home with Anna waiting for me; for the first time ever it truly felt home.
She felt home; like she belonged here or maybe she will, one day when she becomes my wife.
Seeing her set the table I offered help making her leave to take a shower of her own while I continued working and waited for her.
“Thank you” she said pecking my lips.
“Anything for my sweetheart” I replied with a flirty smile.
“When did you become sappy?” she asked with an amused smile.
I scowled “There’s difference between being romantic and being sappy and I am trying to be romantic for you, for once. Don’t expect me to be like this every time”
“Thank you so much baby” she said pinching my cheeks.
“Baby?” I smiled forgetting her torture to my cheeks.
“Only sometimes” she blushed.
I grinned “That’s completely fine to me”
“How did you get into the house by the way” I asked stabbing a piece of turkey putting it in my mouth.
“This is delicious” I said before she could answer my question.
“Thank you. And about the keys I got it from Mark in the morning”
She planned a date with me in the morning? Wow.
“Oh. What about your dad? Did he leave?” I asked remembering George.
“Yes, he left after the ceremony. Said he had important meetings to attend”
I nodded and continued munching food in silence while she did the same.
“What do you want to do now?” I said walking towards the living room couch after dinner.
“Anything you want to” she said with a sad smile.
What’s with her today? One minute she is all happy and the next minute she becomes sad for no reason. Something is going on.
“Will you tell me what’s bothering you?” I asked looking serious.
She looked taken back but thoughtfully replied “The best part of our life is over. I am just worried about the future”
“Don’t worry, everything is going to be alright” I replied slowly. I still haven’t told my plans of going after her to her Uni, I know she won’t agree but I have taken the decision already for worst case scenario.
“Shall we watch some nice movie then” she said trying to sound cheerful.
“No Chick Flicks, no Romantic Comedies and no Sappy love stories” I declared daring her to oppose me.
“And no Horror films” she added making me smile.
“Then we are left with Sci-fi, Adventure, Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery and Action films” I said.
“Which all seem the same to me” she grumbled under her breath.
“How about Avengers?” I asked hopefully ignoring what she said.
“How about Thor? Or Captain America”
“Those two guys are present in Avengers too” I grumbled feeling impatient.
“But they won’t be there for long in those films; it also has Downey Jr and Mark Ruffalo. I am not saying they are not hot or they don’t--”
“Shut up. Is there a guy who you don’t think as hot? In Hollywood?” I asked irritated.
She tapped her chin with her forefinger and replied thoughtfully “Only Nicholas Cage”
“Argh!!! Here, I thought you are only obsessed with the name Chris - Chris Pine, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans”
“What can I do when they are all hot?”
“Ok, stop there; I don’t want to know anything more than that. I am playing Avengers” I stated.
“Fine” she said sulking a bit.
“We are alone” she said after watching the film for few minutes in silence.
“Ya, why? Don’t tell me you are scared”
“No, I thought Elle will be back by now. Do you always stay like this? Alone?”
“Yes, I am used to it – kind of” I said trying to smile.
“So you are always alone” she stated sadly.
“No, there’s Gabe. My very own God’s gift”
She chuckled “I love him. He is such a sweetheart”
How can she say something like that so easily? I know it’s just Gabe but still.
I nodded not replying anything when she continued “You still don’t forgive your mom, do you?”
I shook my head “I don’t think I can ever do that, she still hasn’t changed her ways”
“Did you see the chemistry between your dad and Lily?”
I raised an eyebrow and smirked “Since when did you become Gabe?”
She blushed not saying anything when I continued “Yes, I did. I think there might be something in the past”
“There was. Mark and Lily dated during high school but later broke up when he had to leave for further studies”
“Oh. I didn’t know that” I said feeling surprised.
“They tried to start their relationship again but Lily’s family got her married to Emily’s dad”
“Lily had an arranged marriage? I didn’t know that. How the hell did you know about all of this?”
“I asked her the day she came to my room to talk about my story. I felt bad that I never asked Emily about her dad”
“He left their family when Emily was eight years old” I said sadly.
She nodded “That day made me realize there’s a story behind every person. No one’s life is perfect”
“May be” I said shutting off the TV not feeling interested anymore.
“I like my life now. I want all my friends to be with me forever” she said sadly all of a sudden.
“That’s not possible baby. Everyone will move on with their lives”
“I wish everyone’s happy at least. Drake is good for Gabe, he seems happy just like Em and Elle”
“I have to agree with that; he never seemed happier than he is with Drake. But you have to stop worrying about everyone; they are alright”
She hugged me tighter “Let’s forget about everything else for a while then”
“What do you want to do now?” I asked slowly in almost a whisper.
“I want to stay like this” she said closing her eyes while I kissed her hair closing my own.
After few minutes of silence I heard a chuckle making me pull her chin up “Why are you smiling?”
She chuckled again “I just realized that you and Emily will become half siblings if Lily and Mark got married in the future”
I smiled “technically, maybe”
“Then your first kiss was with your future half-sister. No wonder she didn’t feel the sparks” she said and burst into laughter.
“Shut up” I grumbled feeling uneasy talking about that kiss. I don’t even remember why I kissed her all those years back; I didn’t even have feelings for her.
“My best friend was my boyfriend’s first kiss. How cheesy!!” she said chuckling.
I groaned “Will you ever stop teasing me for that?”
“Nope” she replied with a smile and added “And guess what; if Emily marries Alex then she will become sister to Gabe as well which means you and Gabe will be brothers”
“It doesn’t work like that baby, you are wrong about those related things”
“Yeah, whatever” she smiled.
We stared into each other’s eyes in silence for few minutes until she turned away blushing “Don’t look at me like that”
“Like what?”
“L-like y-you want to bite me or something”
“But I want to bite you” I smirked seeing her blush.
“Shut up” she looked away with a thoughtful smile on her face.
I pulled her onto my lap and played with her hair while she had that faraway look on her face.
“I think I should go” she said all of a sudden getting up with a sad expression on her face.
“Please stay, I don’t want you to go” I requested pulling her onto my lap again.
“I have to” she croaked as tears filled her eyes.
“Why?” I whined giving my best puppy dog look.
She smiled sadly “I-I c-can’t”. The first time ever she denied my request when I gave that look.
I don’t understand why she is insisting on going back to her house when she stayed here a few times; what’s with her behaving weirdly today?
“You have to” I ordered softly.
“Some other time” she said with the same sad look.
“Fine. But I need a good bye kiss before you leave” I said closing her lips with mine.
She hugged me tight when I pulled away from the kiss and placed a long kiss on my forehead.
What the hell is happening? Why do I have this weird feeling that something bad is gonna happen.
After pulling away reluctantly from me she walked away few steps before turning back and ran into my arms crying.
“What’s happening Anns? Why are you behaving strangely? If you don’t want to leave, then don’t. Stay here” I said softly wiping the tears off her face.
Why the hell is she crying? It’s been months since she last cried. Her behavior was different since morning, or may be since days since she seemed dull these last few days. I thought it might be because of our last days at school but now I have a feeling that it had nothing to do with school.
“N-Nothing” she replied the usual answer. I know she is lying; but what the hell is she hiding from me?
Before I could ask more she silenced me pressing her lips onto mine caressing my shoulder softly. Just when I think it can’t get better, she surprises me doing weird things to my heart and body.
“I love you Jace” she whispered softly shocking me.
This is the first time she confessed to me directly after the issue in Shealin not counting the time she said when she thought I was sleeping.
“I--I” I started slowly, no words coming out.
Instantly she smiled and closed my mouth with her hand “Don’t say anything, I know how you feel”
Placing small kisses on my fingers she said slowly “Just remember that I will always love you. I will do anything for you Jace, don’t forget that. And I’ll miss you”
“I will come in the morning tomorrow” I blurted out.
“I know” she smiled sadly and pulled away from me placing one last kiss on my forehead. Before going out of the door she looked at me with a sad smile and left the room not saying anything.
Argh!!! Why didn’t I say anything when she said I Love You.
And what the hell did she mean by ‘I know how you feel”. Did she know that I love her? Do I love her?
Of course you do, idiot; her voice said in my mind.
I don’t think there’s any use denying that I don’t love her. I think I have always loved her in my own way, I might have fallen in love with her the minute I saw her in the store. I was just stupid to ignore my feelings all these months. She’s become a part of me that I don’t want to lose her, EVER.
I love everything about her; the way she teases me, the way she blushes after kissing me, the way her eyes search for me when she enters a room, the way her face lights up with happiness when she finds me and the way she sheds tears when she’s scared of losing me.
I love every damn thing about her. I- I LOVE HER.
It feels good to finally admit to myself. I should tell her this; she will be very happy when I confess.
But why did she behave weirdly today? Why did everything feel different?
The way she looked at me like she wanted to memorize every inch of my face, the way she kissed me like it was our last and the way she cried seeing me like it’s the last time she will see me.
Why did it feel like a goodbye??
Uggh!!!Or maybe I am over-thinking stupid things. I hope I was wrong about my assumptions and all my fears are useless.
The first thing I’ll do tomorrow is confess to her that I love her as much as she loves me. And then we will figure out later what we’ll be doing about college; that’s the last thing on my mind now.
I slept happily that night with my new realization unaware of the agony and sorrow that I will have to face the next morning.
---
Thank you so much for reading. Please consider voting if you liked the chapter, it would mean a lot to me if you vote.
Please ignore the grammar mistakes if there are any; I will change them when I get time.
As promised I will complete the story by mid december; it's close to end and I'd like to thank every person who loved Jason and Anna and their story.
Special thanks to my dear friend Arnav_Khushi who supported this story like her own. Thank you so much dear.
Please Vote, Comment and Share
- Janaki
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: ZingTruyen.Store