Chapter 5: Seeing a new side of Jake

Oct. 13th (Friday)

Jake's POV

"I don't get why you didn't just ask Abby to the Homecoming dance tomorrow." Keith said as we sat down in the stands to watch the football game.

"You know why." I said before drinking some of my coke.

"Dude, this needs to end. If this goes on any longer, we will be forced to take sides and you know it." Harrison said giving me a look.

"You act like this is my fault. I asked her out and she turned me down and asked if we could forget the kiss ever happened." I said in a really mad voice and looking at him.

My cell phone made the noise it makes for a text message. I looked at it to see it was from Abby, the first time she has texted me in a while. I debated on whether I should open the message or not then I decided to open it.

Are you at the football game? – Abby

Where else would I be? It's Friday night. – Me

Can you come over afterwards so we can talk? – Abby

At 11:00; I don't have a death wish. Your dad will get his shotgun out on me. – Me

That's an exaggeration and you know it. I can tell him you are coming. – Abby

Why can't you come to the football game and we can talk here? – Me

I shook my head when she didn't text back and I put my phone in my pocket.

"Who were you texting?" Lewis asked.

"No one." I said.

"Funny I thought her name was Abby." Keith said since he is sitting on my right side and could see who I was texting.

Abby's POV

It felt weird being at the football game especially without Lena and Courtney. I had changed into a dark pair of blue jeans and a dark red school spirit shirt and I had my black jacket just in case I got cold. It wasn't hard to find Jake and them at the top of the first row of stands. The game was already in the 1st quarter of the game. I walked towards them and I saw Jake was wearing a dark blue school spirit shirt and a pair of khaki pants. He had his leather jacket on along with his hat which was a baseball team hat. They all had food and was so concentrated on the game they didn't see me. I had to pass a lot of people on the top of the row to get to them since they were sitting at the end of the row on the left side (with Jake right next to the railing).

"Hey Abby." Harrison said in a shocked voice as I reached him.

The others looked to see me as I walked past Harrison. Keith moved closer to Lewis so I could sit down on Jake's right side and between Keith and him. I sat down and Jake held out his popcorn towards me without saying anything as he looked back at the football field. I pushed it away and he shook his head before taking the popcorn out of my reach then eating some more of it.

When half-time came, Keith and them got up to go get more food and drinks.

"Do you want anything?" Keith asked smiling at me.

"Nachos and a coke." I said holding out some money towards him.

"I got it girl." He said then he looked between Jake and me before walking away.

I put the money back up.

"You should have known he wouldn't take your money." Jake said shaking his head without looking at me.

"I haven't forgotten it." I said.

He turned to look at me.

"The kiss; you can say it." He said.

"Yes, the kiss; I haven't forgotten it not that I haven't tried. I still don't know where we go from here Jake." I said.

"We take it one day at a time but you need to figure out if you want to explore these new feelings, we have for each other." He said.

"Don't give me that look Abby. You kissed me back. I might have started the kiss but you didn't have to kiss me back. You could have pushed me away or slapped me but you didn't. You kissed me back." He said when he saw the look on my face.

"One date then we'll take it from there." I said and he nodded his head.

"How's tomorrow night? The homecoming dance?" He asked.

"You expect me to find a dress on short notice?" I asked.

"Your mom's friend owns a boutique. I'm sure you can find a dress and I don't care if it's an old dress I've seen you in before. As long as you are there tomorrow night beside me, that's all I want." He said.

"And if this really screws up our friendship?" I asked.

"Like it already hasn't? We haven't talked or hung out in weeks and I don't know about you but it hasn't been a great couple of weeks for me." He said.

"My dad will want to talk to you." I said.

"I know; so that's a yes for tomorrow night and the dance?" He asked.

I nodded my head and he smiled.

"Text me when you know the color of your dress tomorrow and I'll let you know what time I'll be over to pick you up." He said and I nodded my head.

"Abby, I honestly believe this is the right thing to do. We can't just ignore these new feelings and just hope they go away. I don't like the distance between us but first and foremost you will always be my friend." He said covering my left hand with his right hand.

"Food!" Keith yelled then we both looked to see him.

"So I take it everything is good?" Keith asked as he sat down beside me and saw Jake's hand on top of my left hand.

"Just give Abby her food." Jake said and Keith laughed before holding the nachos and coke out towards me.

I took my left hand out from under Jake's hand so I could grab both of them. No one really talked after that and when the game was over, Jake walked me to the car.

"Hey Abby." He said touching my left hand after I opened the door to the car.

I looked at him.

"Thanks for coming tonight and for agreeing to give this a chance." He said smiling at me.

I nodded my head.

"I'll see you tomorrow." I said.

"Yeah tomorrow." He said nodding his head.

I saw him look at my lips then he leaned forward and kissed my left cheek.

"Goodnight Abby. Be careful going home." He said before squeezing my left hand.

"Goodnight and I will." I said then I got in my car.

"Hey, text me when you get home please." He said.

I gave him a look before nodding my head then he smiled at me.

He closed the door for me after that before backing a little bit away from the car. He stayed in that spot and watched me drive away. I kept my promise and texted him after I changed clothes and was getting ready to go to bed. He quickly texted back thank you for letting me know.

Saturday (Oct. 14th)

My mom was surprised when I told her I needed to find a dress for the homecoming dance. I was surprised she didn't ask me who my date was. I tried on 10 dresses before finally deciding on a dark purple and black dress that was full length. It showed just a little bit of cleavage but my mom didn't have a problem with it and loved the way it looked on me. While my mom was at the counter ordering our food for lunch, I texted Jake that my dress was dark purple and black. He sent me back a puzzled emoji before replying I'll just get you a purple corsage. I texted him what time was he coming over to talk to my dad then pick me up. He quickly texted back 6:30 and he was considering a bullet proof tuxedo vest. I sent him back a rolling eye emoji to which he sent a laughing emoji to.

On the way home, I finally told my mom that my date was Jake. She didn't seem shocked. She just nodded her head before asking if he was coming over early to talk to my dad. I told her he was then she nodded her head. We were halfway home when I finally asked her why she wasn't shocked. She said she had a feeling something happened between Jake and me since he hadn't been coming around lately and I haven't been talking about him that much. She also added she was once a teenager so she knew it was not a stretch to think that it was possible that one of us had developed feelings for the other one that was more than a friend feeling. After she said that, I told her that we had kissed and Jake was the one who started the kiss. She just nodded her head. When we got home and before we got out of the car, she turned to me and said that she liked Jake and she hoped that if things didn't work out in this new direction that we could still find a way to be friends plus that she was happy that Jake might possibly be my first boyfriend because she trusted him and knew him very well.

My mom had another one of her friends come over to do my hair and make-up. My hair was done in loose curls and the make-up was done where it wasn't too over the top plus it didn't look too different then when I do my make-up (when I do wear make-up which isn't too often). I was sitting in my chair at my desk staring at myself in the mirror when the doorbell rung and I looked to see it was 6:30. I decided to stay upstairs but that didn't last long because I heard shouting. I grabbed my phone and purse then headed downstairs.

"How can you be so calm about this? He just walks up in here and expects me to let him date my daughter after years of saying they are just friends!" My dad yelled when I was halfway down the stands.

"Honey, you are making a big deal out of nothing. We know Jake and remember we like him." My mom said.

"Yeah as her friend! No one said anything about them dating!" My dad yelled as I heard him open and close where he keeps his guns.

"It's a new thing honey and they are trying to figure everything out so I say we let them. So put the gun down." My mom said trying to keep her voice calm.

I made it to where I could see my dad loading one of his shotguns as Jake was standing with his back towards the staircase in the entrance to the living room. I could tell by his stance that he was thinking about making a run for the door and he kept looking at the shotgun my dad had. I saw the corsage box in his left hand and he was squeezing it so hard that it was pressing in the box on itself.

"Mr. Williams, I would never hurt your daughter." Jake said and I could tell he was nervous.

My dad gave him a murderous look and my mom groaned before getting between my dad and Jake.

"Dad, his dad is a lawyer. Do you really want to get sued or arrested for shooting his son?" I asked as I made it all the way downstairs then everyone looked to see me.

Jake looked me up and down a couple of times.

"Eyes to yourself if you know what is good for you Mr. Dawson." My dad said calling Jake by his last name then Jake quickly looked away from me.

"You two go to the dance; have fun and I'll handle this situation." My mom said looking at me then at Jake.

I nodded my head as I walked towards where I kept my black jacket. I grabbed it and when I got to the front door, Jake opened it for me. I walked outside then Jake quickly followed me and shut the door behind him.

"Should have gone with the bullet proof vest." Jake said as we walked towards his Chevy Silverado.

"Wouldn't have helped; he would have gone for the knees." I said then he stopped and looked at me.

"Not funny Abby." He said giving me a look.

"Wasn't joking." I said and he groaned then he walked towards his truck again.

He surprised me by opening the passenger door for me and he was about to close the door when he remembered the corsage.

"Right or left?" He asked taking the corsage out of the box then throwing the empty box in the back of the truck.

I held my right arm out towards him. He slowly slipped the corsage on my hand after that and when he was done, he closed the door then walked around to his side.

"Um, I don't think I told you but I like the dress." He said as we got to the last red light before school and giving me a look before looking back forward.

"Thanks." I said running my hands over the bottom of the dress.

"You think your dad will come around or will I have to always watch my back and front around him?" He asked as he pulled into a parking spot in the school's parking lot.

I shrugged my shoulders when he looked at me then he nodded his head.

"I'm sure my mom will try to make him understand and keep him calm." I said as he turned off the truck.

"Let me please." He said when I reached for the door handle to open my door.

I looked at him then nodded my head. He smiled before getting out and walking around to my side of the truck. When I got out of the truck, I reached back in for my jacket when he stopped me by putting his hand on top of my right hand then I looked at him.

"Leave it; if you get cold, I'll let you have my tux jacket." He said.

"This is going to take some getting use to isn't it?" I asked after I nodded my head and he closed the door.

"Yeah but I don't see it as a bad thing." He said as we walked towards the gym where the homecoming dance was being held.

"Are you going to want to dance tonight?" I asked before biting my bottom lip and looking down at my hands.

"I'll leave that up to you. We don't have to do anything you aren't comfortable with Abby. I am not trying to scare you just try to remember this is uncharted territory for both of us so even if I don't show it I'm scared too and trying not to mess up." He said before opening the door to the gym for me.

I nodded my head. We were immediately greeted by two teachers that was handling where we had to turn in our tickets. Jake quickly got out the two tickets he brought and handed it to them. The two teachers, who we both had in 9th grade, gave us both a strange look before saying we could go into the gym.

"If I had said no, who were you going to take to the dance?" I asked after we walked into the main part of the gym that had been transformed into a dance floor with chairs, tables, etc. set up around it.

"No one; I probably would have stayed at home and wasted 100 bucks on tickets." He said before heading towards the table where Harrison, Lewis, Keith, Courtney, Lena, Hank, and Chance.

When we got to the table, Jake pulled out a chair for me and everyone just looked at us. I sat down then Jake sat down on my left side.

"What?" Jake asked when everyone continued to look at us.

"Nothing." They all said together as they shook their heads before drinking some of their punch.

I gave Courtney a look that said Hank is your date. She gave me a look back that said she'll explain later then I nodded my head.

"You want some punch?" Jake asked.

"Sure." I said nodding my head.

He got up and walked away after that.

"So how is that going so far?" Lena asked as soon as Jake was out of ear shot which made Harrison, Lewis, and Keith laugh.

"I'll let you know later but let's just say we almost didn't make it if my mom hadn't gotten between my dad and Jake because my dad was loading one of his shotguns." I said and Lewis spit out the punch he had drunk.

"I'm sorry what?" Lewis asked.

"How did you think her dad would react to her best friend showing up to take her to the dance not as a friend and as this being a date?" Courtney asked giving him a stupid look and Lena laughed.

"How many guns does your dad have?" Hank asked.

"A lot." Jake said as he sat back down beside me then holding a cup of punch out towards me.

I took it then drunk some of it.

"Next time I'm having bullet proof clothing made." He said and I shook my head.

"I'm not going to take any chances. I like my body thank you and want to live." He said looking me straight in the eyes and Lena smiled.

I just looked away and Lena smiled really big at me. The conversation after that moved to other subjects. Halfway through Courtney explaining how her parents reacted to Hank showing up to pick her up to the dance, Jake moved his chair a little closer to mine before putting his right arm behind me with it resting on the chair. Lena noticed and quietly clapped. I gave her a look and shook my head.

"Well, I guess the rumors are true. You two are dating." Brooke said showing up a little bit after that.

We all looked to see Brooke and her friends stop at our table. Brooke was looking directly at Jake and me plus at where Jake's right arm was at.

"Get over yourself Brooke; he was never going to date you." Lewis said.

"Yeah he lowered his standards and went for his best friend who is barely an average softball player and a nerd." Brooke said giving me an evil look.

"I mean come on falling for your best friend; you played it safe Dawson." Jen said giving Jake a look then looking me up and down before shaking her head.

"She is a great softball player and all of you know that and she is so much more than a nerd or even a softball player. Those things don't define her and who I date is none of you girls business but I didn't lower my standards or whatever you girls think." Jake said in a mad voice and looking at them.

They all laughed before walking away. Everyone at the table besides Jake and me, got up to dance or go find someone to dance with after that.

"Don't let them get to you." Jake said.

"Do you want to dance?" He asked as a slow song came on.

"Can we just go?" I asked then he just looked at me.

He let out a big breath before nodding his head then he stood up. I stood up and grabbed my stuff. He went to tell Keith where we were going and I went ahead and walked towards the exit. When he joined me, I walked out ahead of him. When we made it to the truck, I opened the passenger door as soon as I heard him unlock the door. When he got inside on his side instead of buckling up or starting the truck, he turned to face me.

"How about we go see a movie? I'm sure there's something showing tonight we might want to see." He said looking me straight in the eyes then taking out his phone.

"No, I just want to go home." I said shaking my head then looking down at my hands in my lap.

"Please Abby. Don't do this. I wouldn't call this a date because we haven't been here long." He said.

When I didn't say anything, I saw him turn his legs away from me then he started the truck.

"I think the new Fast and Furious movie is out." I said still looking at my hands in my lap as we stopped at the first red light.

"It is; do you want to go see it?" He asked.

"Is there a showing tonight that we can make?" I asked.

"You tell me." He said.

I took out my phone then went to the movie showings.

"One starts in 45 minutes." I said.

"We can make that." He said.

"Ok." I said.

"Yes or no Abby; I need to hear you say it. Do you want to go to the movies and for this date to continue or do you want to go home?" He asked as he started going since the light turned green.

"Movies." I said finally looking over at him and he nodded his head.

"Ok." He said before turning down the road that leads to the movie theater.

We ended up with seats in the back and the movie showing wasn't that packed. The people that was in there was all upfront so we had the back to ourselves. He brought us some popcorn and two drinks. He got plenty of napkins so I could put it across my lap and not get my dress dirty. Halfway through the movie after we had gotten finished eating the popcorn, he let up the arm rest that divided our seats then moved closer to me before putting his left arm behind me. I looked at him and it didn't take long before he looked at me. I saw him look at my lips then back at my eyes. He slowly moved his head towards me then he slowly brushed his lips against mine. He pulled back a little bit and looked me in the eyes. I moved my face closer to his and I saw him smile a little bit before brushing his lips against mine before he kissed me. The kiss was slow and sweet. The kiss didn't last long and afterwards he smiled really big at me before looking back at the movie screen so I did the same thing.

"So I'll see you at school Monday." I said after he parked his truck in the driveway to my house.

"I can pick you up on Monday." He said then I looked at him.

"If you want that." He said.

"Ok." I said and he smiled.

"Did you enjoy tonight?" He asked.

I nodded my head.

"Me too." He said.

I saw him bend his head down a little bit before moving his face closer to mine. He was almost to my face when there was a loud tapping on his window. He jumped away from me then we both looked to see my dad and he had tapped on the window with a handgun.

"Mr. Williams." Jake said letting down his window.

"Time for you to go home Mr. Dawson." My dad said giving Jake a look as he motioned for me to get out of the truck.

"Yes sir." Jake said nodding his head as I unbuckled then opened the passenger door.

"I'll see you Monday." I said taking off Jake's jacket before closing the door and Jake nodded his head.

"I'm watching you Mr. Dawson and keep those hands and lips to yourself." My dad said in a warning/ threatening voice before holding up his handgun making sure Jake saw it as I walked around the front of the truck.

"Got it." Jake said before giving me a look.

"What was that look? Did you kiss my daughter again without my permission?" My dad asked in a mad voice then pointing the gun at Jake.

"Dad, please." I said.

"No, what was that look?" My dad asked almost yelling as Jake held up his hands.

"Yes we kissed okay." I said really quickly then my dad got a murderous look in his eyes.

"Not this again; let Jake go home. It is late and I'm sure his dad is expecting him at home soon. If you want to talk to Jake then I suggest you do it without a gun like a normal father would and on another date." My mom said from behind all of us.

My dad growled before lowering the gun. Jake quickly put the window back up before backing out of the driveway. I walked towards the house and my mom squeezed my right shoulder before I walked past her. I went straight upstairs to my room. I could hear my parents talking after I changed clothes and was sitting in my bed about to go to sleep.

The next day, we went to church and I could tell my dad was still mad.