Romance | Supernatural | Prompt

I’ll be Back

Love Pierces the Hearts of Judy & Musician Jacob

I’d been surreptitiously watching him across the room. He talked easily with his friends, nodding and smiling at people who passed by. One of the guys from his band brought over bottles of beer which got handed out, then they clinked cheerfully before chugging some down. He seemed comfortable in his own skin, yet part of the crowd. His crooked smile made my stomach swoop and the chestnut hair flopping in his eyes added some mystery.

I on the other hand felt awkward, like a rock in the river bed of this party, making the water part so it flows around me. I didn’t fit as he did, I couldn’t think what to say, was clueless about what to wear. My skin felt too tight, in fact, it felt hot and constricting when I looked at him — which I did, constantly.

It was creepy to stare, but I couldn’t help myself. He was everything I dreamed of in a boy, his height, his slender build (I hated jocks), and his talent. I’d just watched him perform songs earlier that evening. I’d been entranced, lifted, and energised by the music but drawn in by the questing lyrics. He’d looked so sincere, almost soulful when he sang, that I’d been transported for the duration of their set, only bumping down to earth when they took a break. Now the speakers were hooked up to someone’s iPod with a techno playlist.

“Judy, here — I got you a Coke,” my friend Ava nudged the cold green bottle into my hand, successfully snapping me out of my reverie.

“Who are you stalking?” She put her face close to mine, to look where I was looking. “Jacob? Yeah, he’s cute if you like them bookish … which I know you do.” She teased me.

Ava’s elbow found my ribs and made me wince. I lowered my head to hide my blush, but my bestie knew me well.

“Want me to introduce you?” she asked, then dragged me across the room to where the band stood.

“Hey guys, this is Judy,” she raised her voice and they turned their heads toward us with interest.

“Judy, meet Vincent, Rory, Hayden, and Jacob”

I probably looked like a deer in the headlights as the boys in the band took their cue to nod, smile or say hello. Ava had been in the orchestra at school, so she knew the talented musicians. She was also very easy on the eye, so the guys’ attention returned to her after greeting me. Except for Jacob, who was still looking my way.

“I saw you in the audience,” he told me. “I hope you enjoyed our songs?”

He’d made it a question, which meant I had to answer, so of course my mind went blank.

“Yes,” I blurted, after a toe-curling pause, “very much. Have you played together for long?”

I just wanted attention off me and to let him talk because now I was drowning in his gold-flecked eyes. Jacob’s stance was relaxed and his enthusiasm for making music shone through when he described how he met Rory when they were waiting to take their Grade 6 guitar exams, and later they met others who formed the band.

“We finally found our sound when Vincent joined; his keyboard playing, and his songwriting skills, were the missing pieces.”

“So you don’t write the songs?” I guess it’s misguided, but because he sang the words I’d assumed they came from his heart.

“We all write, but I mostly compose the lyrics, the tunes come from that guy.” Jacob jabbed his thumb in Vincent’s direction.

“Beer pong!” The one I remembered as Hayden suddenly whooped, flinging his arms over Ava’s shoulder and Rory’s. “Who’s in?”

Ava looked at me hopefully, even though she knew I’d be terrible at this game. Jacob’s encouraging smile almost made me want to participate.

“I really don’t drink,” I told him, looking worried.

“I’m the designated driver tonight, so I can’t play.” He aimed a shrug at his friends. “Judy and I are going to sit this one out,” he told them, before pulling me aside.

Ava allowed herself to be swept towards the table by the hooting boys, who soon roped in a couple more girls to swell the numbers. She cast me a look to check I was OK, but Jacob and I would cheer from the sidelines, so that was fine. We sat on hay bales covered with rugs and I gradually forgot to be shy. We talked about books and plays, films and places we’d like to visit. He had a big family, while I just had my dad, I loved dogs and riding — he’d never owned a pet.

“What was the first record you ever bought?” I asked him.

“Oh that’s embarrassing, the theme music from a TV show I think. But the first song I heard that made me think I want to make music was a track by Green Day my brother was playing. Lots of angry guitars and thumping drums, I started saving up for my own guitar then.”

I nodded, I used to like Green Day too. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams?” I suggested.

A look of understanding flashed across Jacob’s face, making something fizz inside me. We felt the connection at the same time because he gazed at me as if we no longer needed words to communicate. At that moment I knew we would kiss, and although I hadn’t kissed many boys before, it felt natural to tip my head up and lower my eyelids as Jacob slanted his lips across mine.

His mouth was sweet, not sour from beer, and when his arm pulled me closer I became pliant and eager to melt into him. He smelt of fresh air and cinnamon underpinned with minty shower gel, but the pressure of his lips against mine was like nothing on earth. For that instant, the people at the party and the music disappeared on a wave of white noise and I lost myself in the warmth of Jacob’s arms and the slip of his tongue. It was a shock to feel the world rush into all the gaps as he drew back.

“I really like you, Jude. I hope I’m not rushing you but I’d like to go somewhere quieter,” he murmured. Looking a little hunted or uncertain Jacob twined his fingers with mine.

“You’re not rushing me. I’d like that too,” I smiled, even though my legs were trembling.

He stood up from the bail and pulled me back into his arms.

“Jacob, mate, we need more beers!”

We were being approached by a tall boy who I hadn’t seen before. He came up and slapped Jacob on the back. “We’ve done a whip round, can you get us more lager, IPA, and cider?”

Jacob sighed heavily as he let go of my hand, but he took the balled-up money the tall boy offered him.

“Crap timing,” he growled,” squeezing my fingers. “I hate to leave you like this,” he said, “but I won’t be long. Go back and wait with Ava and the lads.”

He walked me to where their game of beer pong had got rowdy and loud. “I hope we can pick up where we left off when I get back.”

Jacob’s sincerity shone, almost like an aura around him. I wanted more and so did he, but we’d have to wait. My heart sank that he had to go, while my head was still spinning from our kiss, which lent an unreality to the moment.

As I watched him walk to his car, I saw several people slap him on the back. There goes Jacob, on a mission to bring back more party fuel. He seemed like an all-around good guy, and he was interested in me. I could hardly contain my pleasure so I was in a bit of a daze when Ava slung an arm heavily over my shoulder.

“How did it go?”

My bestie was a little unsteady on her feet, a reminder of how lucky I was that Jacob had come to my rescue, helping me opt out of the game. And for much more than the simple reason, I get sick after drinking not very much.

“Great,” I grinned widely, “Jacob’s really nice.”

“He is, he is,” she nodded in the exaggerated way of a drunk person trying to act normally.

“Did you win?” I asked my friend, trying to hold her up because the simple act of walking was making her stumble.

“Yes, we did!” Ava said firmly, then hiccupped.

I panicked on her behalf because hiccups are not the best for keeping your drinks down.

“Peta,” she shouted to the girl with dark plaits. “We are the champions.”

“Yes,” Peta agreed, coming over. She ducks under Ava’s other arm, to help her walk. “There’s a dance-off starting, this way.”

Then she guided Ava and me towards the house and the crowd which had already gathered to spectate the event. The girls had great moves, and I remembered some of the participants from school dance productions. The boys were mostly showoffs — messing around aping boy band routines or attempting twerking to make everybody laugh. Some of their peers booed and threw plastic cups in disgust.

I was missing Jacob’s company. There was no point talking to Ava about it, she had taken the opportunity for a tactical vomit, and was now drinking again. Just when I began to wonder what could be keeping Jacob, I saw his face in the crowd. Immediately I detached myself from Peta and Ava and hurried to his side.

“I’m glad you’re back,” I told him.

His slow grin was like somebody flipping my power switch, its brightness jolted me and for once I felt truly seen.

“Shall we find somewhere more intimate?” Jacob bent down to say it very close to my ear, so his words and where they would lead caused a flurry of fluttering in my core.

“Let’s try,” I said, letting him lead the way.

I didn’t hold out much hope of finding an unoccupied bedroom, and maybe Jacob felt the same because he stood outside the door to an outhouse. I tried the handle and it clicked open so we stepped inside. I smelt a soapy, lavender fragrance that told me we were in the laundry room, even before I snapped on the dim light.

“Alone at last,” Jacob breathed, raising his hand to tuck some strands of hair behind my ear. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you while I was gone, and hoping with every bone in my body that you wouldn’t change your mind.”

“I thought about you too,” I answered, surprised at my own boldness, “and nothing has changed.”

Jacob sighed, a heavy sound, then he cupped my cheek in his hand, which was frigid. I wanted him to kiss me, but he seemed to be studying my face as if he was memorising every detail. It was a little uncomfortable how he stared at me, but I liked that he wasn’t rushing things, but rather letting me set the pace.

With trembling fingers I picked at the buttons on my sweater, three to undo and then I pulled it over my head. Jacob continued to watch, something wondering and burning in his gaze, which made me feel appreciated and admired. I reached behind my back and tussled with the hooks and eyes until my bra fell away and my breasts were naked. It was not the time to feel shy, so I tugged on the zip of my skirt and let it drop to the floor.

“You’re so beautiful Judy,” Jacob’s voice was raspy with emotion.

I wanted him to stop looking and start touching me now. I yearned to lose myself in his kiss, to feel the way I had done earlier that night. I took a tentative step forwards, to press myself against his body, my bare skin in contrast to his clothed form.

But Jacob felt cold to touch, which was odd, and his face seemed more shadowy than before. Not shadowy, I frowned, but smudgy. He looked like someone had drawn his portrait with charcoal and blurred the outline.

“Kiss me, Jacob,” I urged him because suddenly I felt afraid.

But he didn’t respond, why wasn’t he holding me the way he had earlier?

“I want to Judy,” he gasped, “but I can’t quite see you, it’s too dark. Where are you, Judy? Are you still there?”

“I’m here Jacob.”

My body tensed with alarm, because the harder I looked, the less sure I was that Jacob was still standing there. Then he was gone.

“Jacob, where are you? This isn’t funny.”

I spoke harshly, my panic rising because I didn’t understand what was happening. Was I the butt of some elaborate practical joke? I pulled my discarded clothes off the concrete floor and hastily dressed. I was alone in a small room with a washer and dryer and bottles of detergent. Jacob had not left through the door, and yet he wasn’t there.

I hurried out of the laundry room and back to the party, expecting at any moment Jacob would jump out or grab my hand and try to make me laugh at the trick he had pulled. I wove in between people, looking for familiar faces: Ava, Peta, Hayden, or Rory. The party had slowed, there was some sort of commotion and the constant flash of blue lights.

It’s never good, a party where the police or an ambulance turns up. I wondered with a sick feeling what had gone wrong, then I saw Ava, who looked distraught, running towards me.

“Judy, oh my God, I can’t believe it! Have you heard? What a tragedy.”

She shook her head and pulled me in for a clumsy hug. “He was only talking to you earlier. What a bloody shame.”

“Ava what? You’re scaring me! Tell me what has happened because I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

My fear was an icy fist in my stomach.

“It’s Jacob,” she exclaimed, on the crest of a sob. “He was in an accident. A drunk driver who didn’t brake in time. He was on his way to the off-licence to buy us more booze.”

The numbness enveloped me, the chill that I’d felt in that laundry room crept up my body, from extremities to my core, soaking into my bones until my teeth chattered. How could it be true, that the boy I had wanted to kiss, who I had tried to hold only moments ago, was dead? I had seen him, hadn’t I?

Jacob had come back for me. Or had he? There are more things in heaven and earth than can be explained. Perhaps it was Jacob’s departing soul that had come back and tried to join me for one last kiss.

“One way, or another I’m going to find you,” I vowed silently to Jacob’s spirit.

Read another of my Fiction Shorts here. To get my content direct to your inbox whenever I publish, subscribe to my e-mail. Sign up for Medium’s $5 membership using my referral link — this helps me and other Medium writers earn money. Submitted for Posy Churchgate - Writes & Edits Fiction’s quote prompt in Tantalizing Tales