ALISHA'S P.O.V.

Jayden was coming over for a tutoring session at seven.
It was five now, an hour since he gave us a lift from school and two hours till he was coming over.

I needed help in physics and he was kind enough to tutor me.

Not like I was surprised that he was smart, well smart in every subject except biology. Which kind of makes me wonder, did he really stink at biology or was it something else.

It's not like he was failing said subject, it just wasn't his strongest point.

Alessia, mom and I were in my room, and like every mother and sister behave when a boy is coming over for a study date, they were harassing the crap out of me.

Alessia told mom everything that went down today,well most of it at least. The parts she was present.

I had to chip in on few occasions to defend my dignity. She told mom about her stand off with Zarha on her first day.

Unlike all the other mothers that would give you the 'be careful, I don't want you getting into trouble in school' shitty speech, my mom said and I quote,"The next time she tries that kind of shit with you, show her what we Browns are made of."

When she said that, we burst into laughter and my room was full of it.

When my mom asked how I knew about the incident since I wasn't there, I had to tell her the truth that Jayden told me what happened.

Thus my dear sister spilled the beans about Jayden to my mother. My ears were practically begging for mercy when they squealed at the mention of his name.

"You should have seen them in the parking lot, mom. They were all up in each others arms. I just had to stop and stare. Mostly because they were so cute and partly because Alisha was my ride home." Alessia said, shamelessly narrating the story to my mom.

My mother was wiggling her eyebrows at me.

Oh my God... What have I gotten myself into....

"You should have seen him, mom. He totally has it for Alisha. I mean he's got it bad. mm-hm...bad." she said again in a black girl accent totally not minding the fact that I was silently begging her to stop.

My mom saw my pleading eyes and decided to help her sixteen year old daughter, at least that's what I thought she was going to do.

Then she spoke and made it ten times worse.

"That's all fine and good, Alessia, but now I wanna hear it from the horse's mouth." She said, referring to me.

I'm the unlucky horse...

At this point, my face was starting to hurt because I was smiling a whole lot.

I knew there was no way I was getting out of this, and I actually liked talking about Jayden. His name always brought smiles to my face.

My face was probably red from all the laughing so it wouldn't matter if I was blushing or not.

So I took a deep breath and started with the story of how I had been fortunate enough to meet Jayden in my life.

"Okay so it started when I accidentally ran into the boys bathroom after my encounter with Zarha....."

I told the rest of the story and they watched and listened quietly.

Except for the part where I told them about the kiss that Jayden and I shared in his house the first time we worked on the biology project together.

That part of the story earned a lot of squeals that once again had my eardrums begging for mercy.

"Do you love him?" My mom asked, a huge smile plastered on her face as she looked at me with so much happiness and expectation in her eyes.

That question hit me hard.

"Do I like him? Yes." I said to her with a goofy grin on my face as I did.

How was it my fault that talking about him made me this way?

"Do I love him? I really don't know and I really don't think I can, not that I don't want to, but I just cant. Even if I did it would be one-sided .I mean, have you seen that boy, he should have the likes of Zarha and all the other skinny girls after him."

I said this to her, really happy that I could open up what I bottled inside since the day I met him.

My mom looked at me with so much disapproval stamped on her face and I know why.

"I thought I always told you, you're thick, you're beautiful. Your imperfections only make you who you are. We can only have peace with yourself when you accept that nobody is perfect, neither is Zarha. If Jayden cant see how beautiful on the inside and out, then maybe he just not the one."She said it with so much conviction as she looked at me.

"Another thing, if he is or isn't the one for you I will be the judge of that young lady." The playfulness returned as sparkles in her eyes as she said those word s to me.

I couldn't help it, tears of Joy rolled down my eyes.

"And trust me when I say that he has a thing for you. A persons eyes are a way to their soul and what I saw in his eyes today was nothing but love and admiration for you, Alisha." Alessia put a comforting hand on my shoulder as finally said after my mom had finished.

I looked at her through my blurred vision and she wasn't kidding when she said it.

In fact, I don't think I had ever seen Alessia this serious before. She was in tears, like I was so was my mom.

My mom brought both of us into a big hug.

"We are some very emotional people." Alessia said, half laughing.
We broke the hug as we looked at each other and laughed.

"Yes we are." I said, my heart a lot lighter than it was before.

I was seriously thanking God for giving me such a wonderful family.

"Okay girls, lets go make dinner. He'll get here soon." My mom said as we got up from my bed, making our way downstairs to the kitchen.

We got to the kitchen and decided that we would make Tacos because Jayden was coming over.

Like thirty minutes later, the Tacos were ready.

It was already six thirty when we set the table and I decided a much needed shower was in order.

I left my mom and Alessia downstairs and ran upstairs to take said shower.
I peeled out of my leggings and top and made for the shower.

I always enjoyed cold showers. The way they calmed me down, the feel of the cold water on my skin, always calmed me.

After my shower, I put some toothpaste in my mouth added a little water to it and gargled before spitting it out into the sink.

I really didn't feel like wearing clothes after that relaxing shower, so I settled for some blue and black checkered boxers and a matching blue tank top.

You really can never go wrong with a lot of blue...

I stood in front of my full length mirror and assessed my appearance.

I didn't know what to do with my hair so I tied it up in a big lazy bun with some strands falling out. With one last look in the mirror, I went downstairs.

Mom and Alessia were sitting on the couch in the living room watching Punaar Vivah (married again).

We were all gushing over the love between Yash and Aarti and how cute they were together, then the gate bell rang.

Mom and Alessia shared a knowing look and started wiggling their eyebrows at me.

I shook my head at them, rolling my eyes at the same time.
I rushed to the gate as fast as I could and opened it.

He was standing there running his hands though his hair,God, he looked good enough to eat.

He was in a white baggy T- shirt and some grey sweat pants along with those one strap slippers he's always in when were not in school.

His hair was scattered in different directions bur he still pulled it off effortlessly.

It was so not fair, if I was the one who didn't comb my hair, and wore big clothes, people would think that I didn't wash all my clothes and then piled them in the washer but when he does it, it's hot.

The World is a cruel place....

"Hi," He said, with a smirk in his voice.
He obviously just caught me ogling him.

"Like what you see?" he said gesturing to himself from up to down.

I rolled my eyes at him and gestured for him to step in.

"Thanks." He said as he stepped in.

As soon as we got into the house, my mom's eyes went wide when she set eyes on him.

She mouthed the words 'He is hot' to me.

We sat down on the couch on the opposite side of them.

It was kind of weird for my mom to eyeing my crush and friend but she was right, he was hot so I didn't blame her.

He looked at my mom and this time, his eyes went wide.

"Jayden, this is my mom, Mrs Kaitlyn Brown. Mom, this is Jayden, Jayden West." I said, introducing them.

"Good evening ma'am," He said to my mum, bowing his head a bit.

I wanted to laugh at his sudden change of attitude on seeing my mom but I would save that for later, when we were alone.

My mom wasn't a firm believer in handshakes except when necessary so she stood up and gave Jayden a big hug.

Jayden hugged her back, though I had to admit, I was a bit jealous.

They broke the hug and she looked at me wiggling her eyebrows.

He then went to Alessia and gave her a big hug as well. She welcomed his hug with open arms of her own.

"After dinner, you guys can study. Jayden, will you have dinner with us, were having Tacos." she said.

"Sure, ma'am." he said with a polite smile on his face.

I had never seen him like this before, it really was amusing to watch.

We sat down at the dinner table and ate, throughout my mom and Alessia waggling their eyebrows at me.

We had to get out of there.

After dinner, mom and Alessia said that they wanted to continue watching TV and didn't want to be disturbed by us so we went to my room.

"Thanks for the dinner ma'am." Jayden said as Alessia and I cleared the table and went to the kitchen to wash the plates.

Eventually, we went upstairs to study.

JAYDEN'S P.O.V.

"Jayden,is that you." My mom asked coming out from her room.

"Yes."I walked over to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Where are you going?" She asked, giving me her suspicious look.

I avoided her gaze.

"You're going to Alisha's, aren't you?" she said, desperately trying to hide the pleasure in her voice and failing terribly.

"Yes." This time she was full on smiling at me.

"You love her, don't you?" She asked me, face looking more serious now.

"Love is a strong word, mom. I cant say I love her yet, but I do feel something for her. Something special."

I said to her honestly.

"I can see it in your eyes, Jayden. You may not realize it now, but sooner or later and I'll be here waiting with a bog bowl of 'I told you so'." She said to me, her eyes were shining with happiness.

I wanted to say something but she cut me off before I could and said, "I know that you won't want to consider it right now. I know what you've gone through in the past because of this, but not every girl is the same. I've seen the love in her eyes for you too." She said it with so much conviction, like she was certain about it.

She didn't need to tell me twice that she wasn't like other girls, she was something real.

Most of the girls I had dated, I never really felt anything for. They were all shallow and pretencious so that they could get what they wanted from you then dump you on the sidewalk when they were done.

Some of them couldn't even have a decent conversation. They just think that a boy you date only wants to have sex.

Give him sex and he's yours. But that wasn't it, yeah, there were some boys that would actually want that kind of thing, plenty of them, in fact.

Just that I wasn't one of those boys.
Fine you could enjoy the sex but after that, there was nothing left,you'd be empty once again. If there was anyone that knew this, it was me.

"Not every girl is like Susan, She was just a phase you passed through, Jayden." My mom said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

She mentioned her name, I couldn't take it. Susan reminded me of so many things from my past.

I had to end this conversation now. "I need to go mom, its getting late." I said to her, hoping that she'd understand my plight.

Like she read my mind , she said, "Its okay if you don't want to have this conversation now, you've been avoiding it for a year now. We have to trash it out at some point."

I knew she was right, but I wasn't ready to have this conversation, I really didn't think I would ever be.

With that, I pecked her cheek one last time and left.

I had thirty minutes to get to Alisha's house, so I set off.

I actually made it in good time because I got to her house with like, three minutes to spare.

I rang the bell and like a second after, she was standing there in front of me, looking as beautiful as ever.

How was it possible for a girl in an ordinary blue tank top and some blue,black checkered boxers and no make up to look this good and turn me on? This was supposed to be illegal.

She stayed there for like thirty seconds, she was checking me out too.

Oh,joy....

I teased her a bit and she rolled her eyes at me.

We went inside her house and I, for one was shocked.

Her mom and sister were sitting on the couch,watching another one of those Indian soap operas.

Did it run in the family?

I greeted her mom and Alisha introduced us.

Her mom asked me if I would have dinner with them and I agreed.

After dinner, the two sisters cleared the table, like it was a rehearsed routine for years.

They left for the Kitchen and came back a few minutes later.

Kaitlyn and Alessia didn't want to leave the TV, so we were studying upstairs in Alisha's room.

We had been in her room for almost three hours and she had absorbed everything pretty well.The formulae and all.

We were both tired and mentally exhausted.

So we just lay on the floor beside each other and the questions I in my mind were swarming so I just had to ask.

"I thought you said your family was in Nigeria. How come your mom and sister are here?" I asked her, really curious.

"Its a long story." She said turning her head so she could look at me.

All of a sudden, she got up and went to the door. I thought she was about to ask me to leave for asking a very personal question.

She opened said door and the sight before me was so fucking funny.

Alessia and her mom just fell into the room because they were leaning against the door, eaves dropping on us.

"Seriously? Mom I can understand, but you,Alessia? Really? " She said, clearly feigning annoyance at her mom and little sister while she crossed her arms on her chest, taping her foot on the floor.

They got up and hurriedly left laughing as they did.

She closed the door and turned to face me."Sorry about that. I'll tell you everything." she said as she sat criss cross on her bed tapping the spot beside her gesturing for me to sit down beside her,so I did. We were sitting opposite each other.

She took a deep breath and told me everything that happened from how one day, she got home and her family was gone.

How she felt hurt to find out they had gone to Nigeria and left her behind. How she thought her dad was with Kaitlyn and Alessia and how Alessia thought their dad was with Alessia abut he wasn't.

How Kaitlyn caught him cheating on her with some home wrecker and how they ended up back together as a family.

"Your mom is really strong and now, I can see where you and Alessia got it from." I meant every word I said to her in that moment.

"Thanks, but I'm not as strong as they are. I mean I cant even stand up to Zarha." She said looking down, avoiding my gaze.

"You are strong and smart and beautiful, Alisha. You just need to look at yourself through my eyes." I said to her, now holding her face in my hands and looking her straight in her beautiful green eyes.

I took every fibre of my self control not to kiss her in that moment, we were so close.

As I looked in her eyes, I saw what my mom was talking about earlier. I saw love in her eyes, love for me, an innocent one, genuine love.

The heart leaps going on in my chest, they were too much for me to bear I couldn't, I just couldn't. I let go of her face and got up.

I hugged her a quick good night, said goodnight to her mom and sister and rushed home like life depended on it.

I had to speak to my mom.

"Mom, I just don't understand it. I mean I almost had a heart attack."

I said to her in a rather serious tone.
She looked at me smiling sheepishly at me like I just came up with the answer to a tough riddle.

"I have my big bowl of I told you so." She said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked her as she turned a straight face.

"See, I really don't like that girl. She's too big for age and the innocence facade, I really didn't buy one bit of it." She said and it made my blood begin to boil.

How could she say that about her?

"I mean she really hasn't had a boyfriend before. Now, that's a terrible lie." She said again and I was about to crack.

"Mom, you cant say those things about her." I said to her. I was angry, my hands were balled into fists at my sides.

This needed to stop before I did something I would regret.
She stood up and said, "Why? Has she fucked you so marvellously well that you cant even stand to hear the truth?" I had had it. I couldn't take it, not anymore.

"Mom, you cant say that about her, she's-" she cut me off, looking me straight in the eyes and asked me, "Why can't you stand to her me talk bad about her ? Why?"

I couldn't hold myself anymore, the words just slipped out of my mouth before I could even register.

I yelled my entire heart out in front of my mother tonight.

"Because I love her, mom. I'll admit it, mom, I'm in love with her. I have been since the first day I saw her. I don't know why. She's just different."

I felt like a heavy load had been lifted off me, one I had been carrying for a long time.

My mom's face broke into a smile in front of me and said," That's all I needed to hear, baby."

The realization hit me like I just got hit in the face with a bucket of ice water.

She just solved my problem for me...
I was in love with Alisha. I was in love with her and just didn't know it.

"I didn't mean all those things I said  Jayden. I just wanted you to realize what I had known since the first day you brought her here." she said rubbing her hands up and down my back in a soothing manner.

I let out a sigh and asked,"So what am I supposed to do now?"

Her eyes were laughing at me now.
"That's up to you now. I'm only supposed to show you the path. You take the journey on your own."

I guess that made sense.

She started going to her room, when she looked back at me once again and said,"Oh and Jayden?"

"Yes mom?" I replied.

"If you want to start your new life,  then you have to let go of the pains of the past... Good night, baby" she said before she entered her room.

I went upstairs to mine and lay on my bed.
I got up to take a cold shower to calm me down.

Went back to my bed again and lay down.

With 'I love you, Alisha's being my last thought before I went to sleep with smile plastered on my face.

A/N:
Well,  it's about damn time.
Jayden finally realized that he loves Alisha,  thanks to Jade.

Now we know that Jayden had some kind of past with someone named Susan...

Who is Susan anyway?
I guess we'll just have to wait to find out...

This is hands down the longest chapter I've ever written over
3,000 words....YAY ME!

*insert Victory dance here* 

As always, I love Alisha's family time...

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