lights out, jake sim.

12.

The news broke out and spread like wildfire on the campus. Soon, the new couple was the subject of interest among the students. It piqued their curiosity about how the two ended up together. The news elicited a range of emotions. Some suggested that they were friends with benefits, while others claimed to have seen the two utterly in 'love'. Of course, the seething covetousness and blatant abomination of Jake's fan girls was no secret.

She was aware of the curious glances and hushed whispers but she refused to let them faze her. The boys greeted her with playful grins and nudges, clearly enjoying the commotion their relationship had caused. Lily couldn't help but smile, grateful for their lightheartedness amidst the buzzing rumours. 

She wasn't a shrinking violet who would curl up at the mere mention of trivial things like 'love' or that she was intimidated by the opposite sex. Despite the new label they had acquired; the dynamic hadn't drastically changed. The banters, the camaraderie and the inside jokes were still intact. It was as if they had seamlessly transitioned into a new phase without losing sight of what had brought them together in the first place. Even though they were dating, they all agreed to stick with their old ways; no gauche.

The other students watched their interactions with a mix of curiosity and envy. Some of them couldn't understand how Lily, an ordinary girl, managed to capture the attention of Jake, a  popular and prominent figure on the campus, speculations and assumptions ran rampant, fueling the rumour-mil even further. But Lily couldn't care any less about it as she knew her relationship with Jake was more than what it was perceived to be.

 ...

She heard him sigh for the umpteenth time as he played with her hand, caressing her fingers beside her.

Lily had to stop by the library after class to read some books for her thesis but she couldn't focus, not when Jake was sitting beside her, closely observing her. She had already told him that she would be staying at the library for quite some while but he was adamant about not leaving her side. 

It had been an hour and she couldn't even recall how many times Jake had attempted to persuade her to leave with him but she remained persistent. What she didn't know was that he was equally tenacious as she was.

"You have a pretty neck," Jake remarked as he rested his face on his palm.

"It won't work, Jake," she removed his hand from her neck which was subtly stroking it, and she knew exactly what he wanted from her━ a recoil as he continued to fluster her with his provocations, "Sometimes, I wonder if you have a fetish for my neck."

"What if I do?" she snapped her head in his direction, not missing the twitch of a smirk on his face as she turned back to her book. Stupid handsome.

"Too bad, if you keep your nose in that book like that, you'll never know what wonders I can do t━"

Lily slapped her hand over Jake's mouth, stopping him from continuing any further, "For the love of good, we're in the library, Jake."

"Are you flustered, baby?" Jake grazed his teeth with the tip of his tongue, as she failed to soothe her feverish heart.

"No, I'm just trying to save us from being kicked out," Lily refused to give him a chance to fluster with his banters before she caught a glimpse of the librarian who was dozing off in her chair, much to her relief. 

"What are you even reading?" Jake snatched the book from her hands before she could even retort.

"They're terrible bores. Why do you even need to read them in order to write about romance when I can demonstrate it better," Jake leaned closer, his gaze fixed on her lips, as he brushed his tongue over his bottom lip, "All you gotta do is ask."

She subtly smiled, her gaze lingering on his as she leaned in to close the gap between them, almost teasingly.

"Oh really? Show me then." 

His lips were a millimetre apart from touching hers when she abruptly backed away, snatching her book back from his grasp, catching him off guard.

"You are going to regret this," he said, his voice faintly wavering between exasperation and disappointment as he pressed his tongue across his inner cheek.