Always Been You

by Tracy Luu

  “At least you now know how much we go through,” I grinned. “Now sit on the bed so I can put these on.”

  Once I slipped both nylons onto his feet, I then told him to pull the rest of it carefully up to his thighs, so they would be hidden under the dress, before leaving to the washroom to change.

  As I buttoned up my frilly shirt, I couldn’t help but feel envious with how pretty Jacob looked. The brown mascara and eye shadow made his hazel eyes more striking than ever. His lips looked even fuller with the mulberry-coloured lipstick I chose. He was so gorgeous I swore he could easily pass for a beauty queen, if not for his lack of curves and the muscles on his arms.

  Readjusting the orange tie Amy thought would be perfect for Halloween; I then slipped on the jacket and came back into the room to find Jacob still admiring himself in the mirror.

  “You really like this, don’t you?” I said.

  “Not funny, Je—” His sentence was derailed, and his eyes popped out of their sockets, once he saw the black stilettos with rhinestones straps dangling from my fingers. He fell on to the bed. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”

  “Hey, we gotta keep the look consistent,” I said, as I helped him slip them on. “But don’t worry. I’ll make sure I’m standing near you in case you fall.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  Placing my arm securely around his waist to keep him steady, we slowly headed out of the room and descended the stairs when a pair of voices came drifting from the foyer.

  “Nikki, what are you doing now?” asked Devon.

  “Your hair is falling out and your dress is crumpled,” she said, adjusting Devon’s pigtails and smoothing down the front of the dress. “There, isn’t that better?”

  “It’s much better,” I said, causing them both to turn their heads.

  “Oh, hey, Jenna,” said Nikki. “Where’s Jacob?”

  “Jacob’s gone, but Jacqueline’s right here.”

  Giving me a steely look for calling him Jacqueline, Jacob came striding into view. With his shoulders thrown back and one hand gracefully on top of the other, Jacob then surprised us by tossing his head to flip the wig over his left shoulder.

  “Hey gals,” he said in a girly voice, making me snort out loud.

  “How…did…you…?” stuttered Nikki.

  “It comes out naturally,” he said. “Looking good, Johnson.”

  “Bennett, you’re taking this cross-dressing way too seriously,” muttered Devon.

  “I see we’re all ready.”

  We all turned, and Nikki and I started to laugh. With the leopard-print jumpsuit looking a bit snug in a few areas, Matt was also sporting a huge brown wig that was sticking straight up and wearing a pair of chunky, four-inch black platform boots on his feet. Wearing a bright, red wig highlighted with gold, Alex’s blue dress, which almost resembled the original outfit with a huge British flag in the front, showed off a pair of pale, and very hairy, limbs. Against the contrast from the flashy, red platform boots on his feet, Nikki and I were almost tempted to put on a pair of sunglasses from the glare of Alex’s legs.

  “How in the world did you get these?” Matt asked Jacob, as he wobbled over to prod one of Jacob’s boobs.

  “Water balloons,” grinned Nikki. “I should’ve thought of that instead of using cotton balls.”

  “I’m sure Matt likes those better than balled up tissues,” said Katie.

  “Actually it’s better than that,” I smirked.

  “You’re kidding?” gasped Amy.

  “You mean these aren’t water balloons?” asked Matt, who was still prodding Jacob’s left side. “Then what are they?”

  “Silicone implants,” said Amy.

  “Where’d you get those?” asked Alex.

  “Borrowed the sample ones from my dad,” I said.

  “Well, real ones or not, he’s still looking sexy,” Matt teased. “Wait till the girls see his shoulders.”

  “Never mind the girls,” grinned Alex. “I’m thinking of jumping Jacob myself.”

  “I really didn’t need to hear that,” muttered Katie, as we finally headed out the door.

  Chapter 5

  Beautiful

  I was never the type to take the time to try and improve my appearance. I preferred the natural look and always prided that I could make myself presentable at a moment’s notice. However, as a favour to my mom, I was currently sitting in front of her vanity, staring up at Amy’s scrutinizing face, with my head feeling itchy from the rollers in my hair.

  “Can you please stop fidgeting?” she sighed. “I’m almost done getting these rollers out of your hair.”

  “It’s just our graduation pictures,” I complained. “I don’t know why we’re going through all this trouble.”

  “We still need to look at least presentable,” she said.

  “Easy for you to say. You always look great.”

  “As long as I have makeup on. Without it, I’d probably end up scaring someone shitless.”

  “Yes you would.”

  “Hilarious, Jen.”

  “So explain to me again why we’re doing this?” I laughed.

  “Like I said, we need to look decent. Besides, your mom really wants this too.”

  “I know she does, but I was just going to slather on some lip gloss, not redo my whole face, or even my hair. I even agreed to wear this black Chinese dress my grandma got for me, and you know how much I hate fitted stuff. I can barely sit properly because it’s so short.”

  “That’s so typical of you,” she sighed. “Knee-length is not short. And stop squirming.”

  I ignored Amy and continued to squirm in the seat, murmuring under my breath. Usually girls would go through three hours of torture in getting themselves ready if it was the prom. Since it was the end of November, and we were only taking our composite pictures in our cap and gown, I couldn’t understand why we were going through all this trouble. But no matter what I thought, even though I was dolled up to look like a short runway model, I still looked average in comparison to Amy.

  As always, she looked beautiful. Her dress was a flirty, pink, mid-thigh halter dress with a rhinestone band around the waist that emphasised her curvy figure and slender legs. Her eyes were smoky, looking sexy and sultry but not overdone, with a tinge of shimmery lilac on the lids. Her lips were painted a peachy pink, and the left side of her hair was held back with a single diamond clip.

  “There, now you look perfect,” she announced.

  I turned to look in my mirror, and I had to admit Amy did a great job. My hair was parted to the right and the ends were slightly curled. My eyelids were lined with a touch of green shadow that emphasised the darkness of my eyes, making them brighter and larger than normal. My lips had the faintest hint of colour which matched the pink from the cherry blossom pattern on my dress.

  “Ooh, wait till he sees you like this,” grinned Amy. “He’s going to flip!”

  “Wait till who sees me?” I asked.

  “Jacob of course!”

  “Amy, I’m not doing this because of Jacob.”

  “I know you’re not, but trust me when I tell you he’s going to enjoy what he sees.”

  “And what about Aaron?”

  “Just because you’ve gone out with him twice doesn’t automatically make it serious. So technically it should be no problem if Jacob decides to show some interest in you.”

  “Jenna! Amy!” my mom called. “Jacob and Matt are here!”

  Amy pushed me out the door. “Now go see if you can woo him,” she grinned. “I’ll be down in a bit. I still need to readjust my hair.”

  In my opinion, I didn’t think her hair needed to be fixed. Every brown curl was perfectly just so and not a hair was out of line. But knowing better than to comment as we headed into my room, I then quickly grabbed my sweater, let Amy do what she needed to do, and headed toward the stairs.

  My heart suddenly lurched into my throat. Jacob was standing at the bottom of the stairs by the foyer mirror, and he
looked incredible. His wavy hair was swept back, making it sexier than usual, his collar was flipped up, and the black suit he wore was tailored perfectly across his chest.

  Although my eyes were wide with admiration, my expression was nothing compared to Jacob’s as he swept his eyes over me from head-to-toe. I had to remind myself to breathe as I drew nearer, and hoped I wasn’t imagining the emotion I saw burning in his eyes.

  “I think my cousin likes what he sees,” whispered Matt. “You look really good, Jen.”

  “And you look very handsome yourself,” I grinned.

  “I’m always this handsome,” he said staunchly. “So, where did Amy disappear to?”

  “Oh, she ah…she’ll be down in a minute,” I stuttered, feeling nervous under Jacob’s lingering gaze. “She’s in my room fixing her hair.”

  “Right, like I can believe that,” he grumbled.

  Once Matt disappeared up the stairs, I then slowly turned to face Jacob and found his face full of emotion with his lips curved into a warm smile.

  “You look amazing, Jenna,” he said.

  “So do you,” I smiled back.

  “Hey, do you know how to work this thing?” he asked, holding up a burgundy tie.

  “Are you trying to tell me someone as suave as you don’t know how to tie a tie?”

  “Not when there’s no need to wear them in school,” he said, his cheeks going red.

  “You’re cute when you blush, you know,” I grinned.

  “I’m cute all the time,” he grinned back. “Devastatingly handsome too.”

  “Oh, give me that thing before your big head explodes,” I scoffed.

  “So how do I tie this thing properly?” he laughed.

  “If you want me to show you then I need to grab a stool.”

  “What do you need a stool for?”

  “Cause it’s easier to show you how through the mirror.” I placed the stool behind him and climbed up. “Now face your reflection so I can position myself behind you.”

  “And then what?”

  “Now watch.”

  Jacob’s eyes were locked with mine in the mirror, yet I couldn’t understand why he was holding in his breath. There was something strange in the way he was looking at me. It was so intense, I was positively sure my pulsating heart was going to burst right out of my clothes and thrash on the floor for all to see. But then just as I was about to pass the wide end through the loop, Jacob suddenly turned around and the tie slid to the ground.

  My stomach automatically clenched, and the tightness in my throat intensified, threatening to steal my voice. The walls felt like they were compressing around us, squishing the air out of my lungs. We were so close I could even feel the warmth of Jacob’s breath against my lips. When his hand came up and gently brushed my cheek before tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, it was a move that was so uncharacteristically Jacob, it actually scared me. Regrettably, I didn’t have time to fully comprehend what had just happened. A sudden yell from the top of the stairs startled us apart.

  I was so wrapped up with Jacob’s strange behaviour, I completely forgot I was standing on the stool. But instead of crashing to the floor, my startled gasp was cut off by Jacob catching me in his arms.

  “You okay?” he asked me.

  “I…I’m fine,” I said. “Um, thanks for saving me.”

  “No problem,” he whispered and he quickly released his hold.

  My voice instantly deserted me as a silence hung heavily in the air. I knew this would be the best time to exit gracefully, like maybe finding out what could be taking Matt and Amy so long, but I simply just stood there, staring at Jacob, still as stone.

  “Don’t you kids look wonderful?”

  Both jumping at the sound of the voice, we quickly redirected our gaze from each other and aimed them towards my mom standing in the hall.

  “My goodness, Jacob, don’t you look handsome,” she sighed, walking up to him and patting him softly on the cheek. “And you, Jenna. You really should take the time to dress up like this.”

  “And what’s wrong with the way I normally dress?” I asked her.

  “You just look so much nicer and prettier this way,” she said.

  “I think Jenna looks great all the time,” said Jacob, picking up the tie from the floor.

  “Always the gentleman,” she smiled at him. “Oh, we must get a picture.”

  “Mom, it’s really not necessary,” I said.

  “Nonsense dear,” she said. “Harold!”

  “What?!” my dad hollered back.

  “Grab your camera and get over here!”

  “Why?”

  “Just do it! That father of yours sometimes. Oh, where is he? Harold!”

  “Don’t get all testy. I’m h—”

  Freezing in mid-sentence, my dad had this awed look on his face as he stared at me, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

  “Oh, my baby girl,” he sniffed, wrapping me in a tight hug. “Come. We must take a picture to capture this moment.”

  “Jenna, help Jacob with his tie,” chastised my mom. “And make sure its straight.”

  I refrained from rolling my eyes dramatically in case my mom saw and grabbed the tie back from Jacob.

  “Yeah, Jenna,” smirked Jacob, smothering his laugh with his fist, as I wove it around his neck. “Better make sure its straight.”

  This time it was my turn to be smug as I purposely pulled the knot a bit tighter than I should. Jacob’s muffled chuckle quickly turned into a strangled cough.

  “At least it’s on straight,” I whispered back.

  Ignoring his glare as my face started to twitch, I then twisted back to face my parents with a pleased grin on my face just as the camera clicked.

  “That was perfect,” said my dad.

  “Harold, take some more of them,” said my mom.

  “Baba, we really need to get going, or we’ll be late,” I said, stopping my dad from bringing the camera back up to his face when I finally spotted two identical grins at the top of the stairs.

  Then before my parents could trap us in the hallway and take more pictures, I quickly grabbed Jacob by the elbow as he struggled to contain in his laughter again, and used my other hand to push both Amy and Matt out the door.

  Despite the greying clouds overhead, and the hint of rain in the air, the sky was still bright when we were finally done with our pictures. Since it was still early, we all decided to catch a movie and grab some dinner. But instead of looking like we came out of a photo shoot, we all went home to change into something more comfortable to wear.

  A half-hour later, I was in a pair of jeans and my favourite white hooded sweatshirt, standing alone in line and waiting to be let in to the movie we had chosen to see. While I was also waiting for the rest of my friends to arrive, and for Jacob to come back with the popcorn he had left to get, my head then suddenly began to spin, and the image of Jacob’s face while I was tying his tie appeared.

  I was positively sure my face was etched with confusion with the way how Jacob had looked at me. Why would Jacob make his move now after all these years? Is it because Aaron was in the picture? Before I could finish that thought, I then began thinking about Amy’s logic.

  Since Aaron and I had only gone out a couple of times after our first date, I doubt what we had could even consider us as being a “couple”. We’d never really had that particular conversation. If our dates were meant as more than casual outings, wouldn’t we have made time to see each other, despite our busy school schedules, just to see if that was true?

  Shaking my head at all the unanswered questions flitting around in my head, I decided to forget about Aaron and Jacob when someone blocked my view. Within five minutes, I felt like wanting to hurl.

  This guy was handing me cheesy lines, saying things like how my beauty had captivated his heart, or if I wanted another bone since the two hundred six in my body weren’t enough. If a guy was planning to try and pick up a girl, wouldn’t he find a better way th
an trying to repulse her?

  Finally having enough of his lame attempts when he brazenly tried asking me for my number, I opened my mouth to tell him off when Jacob, who appeared holding a huge bucket of buttered popcorn with a wide grin on his face, wrapped his free arm around my waist.

  “It figures the pretty ones are always taken,” the guy muttered.

  “That’s right!” Jacob hollered after the guy, who ran a hand through his blond head as he walked away.

  “Ahem.”

  Jacob and I both spun around. Matt was marching towards us with a huge grin on his face, followed by the rest of our friends.

  “This look like an interesting situation we seem to be witnessing, eh, Dev?” he said.

  “You know, Matt, I do believe you’re right,” smirked Devon from behind him. “I think these two have been hiding something from us this whole time. What do you think, Alex?”

  “I think you’re both right,” Alex said cheekily. “So what do you think it might be? That Jacob and Jenna are madly in love? We knew it all along of course.”

  “The signs are there,” added Devon. “It’s just a matter of time before it happened.”

  I was confused on what they were talking about when realisation hit me quick. Jacob must have noticed too. He hastily dropped the arm he still had around my waist.

  “There is nothing between us, you guys,” said Jacob.

  “Sure there isn’t,” sighed Matt. “You’ve probably been hiding this from us the whole time, and we just finally caught you. Being your cousin and all, I thought you’d at least have the decency to tell me about this. Finding out this way is a little disappointing, don’t you think?”

  “Now that we all know, when are you guys gonna tie the knot?” taunted Alex.

  “We just want to find out first before everyone else does,” said Devon. “You both owe it to us since you hid this little fact already.”

  “And you have to warn us beforehand,” said Matt, amused. “I need the time to buy a tux. Of course I will be the best man—”

  “Keep talking and you won’t even be at my wedding!” yelled Jacob.

  “So there is a wedding!” said Alex, clapping Jacob on the back.