Always Been You by Tracy Luu Page B

stairs with a huge smile on his face.
    “Hide me,” I hissed, grabbing onto Jacob’s arm.
    “Why?” he asked, watching me cowering lower behind him.
    “Because Daniel’s driving me nuts,” I said. “I think he’s infatuated with me since he just asked me a moment ago if I got hurt falling from heaven.”
    “So you ended up attracting another cheesy guy, huh?”
    “Shut it, Bennett! Oh, crap, I think he saw me.”
    “Of course he saw you. It’s not hard to miss you when you’re acting weird.”
    “Not funny.”
    “So what does a guy like me have to do to get to the front of the queue?” he laughed.
    “Stall him so I can get away,” I pleaded.
    “Don’t you want to find out what other lame lines he has for you?”
    “You do that and I’m never helping you out if girls feel like hounding you again.”
    “Blackmailer,” he glowered. “Fine, I’ll see what I can do.”
    “Thanks.”
    While Jacob distracted Daniel by standing in his path, I quickly cut through the kitchen, intending to head upstairs, and ended up running into Katie in the hall.
    “Where are you going?” she asked me.
    “I’m trying to seek refuge from a pigheaded ass named Daniel Summer,” I said.
    “Oh, no, you don’t,” she said, grabbing onto my arm. “It’s one minute to midnight and you’re not going to miss it!”
    “You just want to see if Jacob kisses me.”
    “Yes, I do. Now let’s go.”
    “Will you sto—oh, alright then. But you better make sure Daniel doesn’t see me.”
    Pandemonium was the only word to describe what we had walked into. Horns were blowing, people were yelling, and tassels and streamers were being tossed in the air. I was happy to be amidst the hugs and cheers from friends coming up to greet us, but then became dismayed to see Daniel still craning his neck around in search for me. Since I didn’t want to be seen, I gave Matt a quick hug as he kissed me on the cheek, twisted underneath his arm, and dashed towards the door. I only took one step when I was intercepted by another set of arms.
    Inwardly, I cringed at the thought that Daniel had finally gotten to me. But when I spun around to tell him off, a pair of lips engulfed my mouth. I was so shocked at who was kissing me, I literally forgot to breathe.
    “Happy New Year, Jenna,” whispered Jacob.
    Before I could even blink, Jacob then gave me an impish grin, suddenly stepped back, and left me with my mouth gaping open.
    To say I was stunned was an understatement as I watched him disappear into the crowd and collapsed against the wall. When it hit me a second later that there was also a deathly silence accompanying me throughout the room, I then roamed my eyes and wasn’t sure if Jacob kissing me was a good thing or not. At least it did stop Daniel. He was looking at me like his heart had shattered into a million pieces. But when I glanced around to everyone else, I began to feel nervous under their multitude of expressions etched onto their faces.
    Whereas most people looked stunned and surprised, Amy, Matt, Nikki, Devon, and Alex looked extremely happy, Katie had a tiny smile on her face as if saying “Ha! I told you so!”, and Jacob? I was too scared to look in his direction. So rather than staying in a room that made me feel uncomfortable, I decided to get some air.
    When I started up the stairs, I was then faced with my mom, who had also witnessed Jacob giving me a kiss. Her eyes were so wide, and she was standing so still, she looked like she was mixed up at being shocked and wanting to burst into tears. But before she could get a chance to question me, I brushed passed her, continued up the stairs, and headed out the front door.
    It was freezing outside and I was shivering, but I wasn’t ready to go back in and face everyone. I was just too confused. Since I wasn’t sure which way I should go as I looked up and down the block, I then sank down to the cold steps and let the coldness of the snowflakes sparkling against the