PART FOUR | CHERRY AND VANILLA TOBACCO

The first thing I bought from my savings is my baby blue bicycle. The tragic news is a burglar takes it away from me. That's why I am against burglary, it is cruel and unforgiven.

It is around 09.00 p.m. when I enter my bedroom. Feeling exhausted after a long tiring day at school and practice. Mom made us a special roasted chicken, it is Dad's favorite dish. I check my phone to see a message from Julia. She sends me a video of Candice at the party. She seems drunk by the looks in her face. And she is dancing like a lunatic. I giggle and reply to her text.

Silly Candice. Have fun you party animals.

Sent.

She replies right after.

We miss you, T! Wish you were here. Say happy birthday to your dad from us!

We ended up texting for 5 minutes. She sends me a picture of her crush from the football team and starts babbling about him.

I change into my baby blue nightgown. Washing my face and brushing my teeth. Then I grab my unread Sally Rooney's novel and start digging sentence by sentence. I am lost in the words until I hear a rustling sound coming from my window. But decide to ignore it, maybe it's just the wind. It has been a chilly night lately. All of sudden there is a knock on my window. The sound is startling me, the book on my hand is falling to my lap. I get up from the bed and run toward the window to find Jeremy outside my window. He is hanging in the tree near my window.

"Jeremy!"

He draws closer. Gripping the windowpane, "Hi, can I come in?"

I couldn't mutter a response. Instead, I open my window wide and helping him to go inside. He manages to enter my bedroom with a loud thud. He groans.

"What are you doing, Jer?" Still in shock, I don't have any ideas what is going on. He stands up and offers me his ear to ear grin. He pats his pants, swept the dirt away.

"Hey, what do you think? I can climb into your room. Cool, isn't it?"

"That is scary. What if you fall from the tree?" He responds to me with a chuckle. He takes a step closer. Without any warnings, he leans in and whispers to my ear, "Wanna go out with me?"

His sweet breath touches my neck gives me goosebumps.

"Now?"

"Yes, Tara-Jane," he says softly. "I was at the party. I saw your friends but couldn't spot you anywhere. So, I borrowed a bike from a stranger at the party and cycling here."

I am utterly shocked by his explanation. He might be stealing someone's bike. Not even bother to borrow it.

"It'd be fun. I promise. But, wear somethin' to cover your sexy nighty."

I feel my face burning from his comment. I shove his shoulder lightly but he catches my hand in the process and intertwines our fingers, "C'mon. I'll buy you ice creams, waffles, everything you want."

"It passed my curfew, Jer." I sigh. Feeling so nervous I bite my lower lip. The idea of cycling around with him in this chilly night must be fun. As he promised me. Yet, the idea of Dad would be so furious about it also unbearable.

"There is this place I wanna show you. The view is amazing at night."

I tilt my head to have a better view of his face. His eyes resemble puppy eyes, begging me.

"Okay," I finally state. His face brightens at my response. He lifts his left hand checking his watch.

"You'll be home before midnight. Let's go."

I grab my black cardigan to cover my nightgown before we sneak out to the front door of my house. Fortunately, Oscar and Emily are locked in their rooms. Mom and Dad are already asleep after dinner. Jeremy leads me to the bike he stole at the party. He rides it first and taps the crossbar ordering me to sit there. I hesitate for a moment but then manage to sit on the crossbar. Trapping between Jeremy's muscular arms.

The wind blows my hair as he starts to paddle. It is indeed a chilly night. I feel his chest vibrates as he speaks, "Want a waffle? We can stop by."

"You're the one who cravings for waffles. I'm in." He lets out a chuckle. It makes his chest vibrates once again. We stop at the waffle shops ordering two waffles and vanilla milkshakes to go. Then rushing to our bike again. He hums some tunes while paddling the bike.

We pass the houses, the bridge, the park.

"Where do we go?" I ask, curious about our destination. He looks down at me, smirking.

"I ain't gonna tell you. But this is dope."

I roll my eyes.

"Are you rollin' your eyes at me? Try again."

I roll my eyes again, to make him annoyed. Then he removes both of his hands from the handlebars. A squeal leaving my lips. This is way too scary.

"Jeremy!"

He chuckles at my expression. Finally, he puts his hands on the handlebars again. Steadying the bike.

"Don't do that," I say, still trembling. He ruffles my hair with his left hand then sniffing.

"Darn. You smell so good."

"Are you always saying everything that pops up at your head?"

He lets out a deep chuckle. Presently, I know that he always speaks his mind up. He curses, he praises easily.

We are several blocks from my neighborhood. The place is unfamiliar for me, but Jeremy seems to know this neighborhood well. He turns his bike without hesitation. He halts the bike in the corner of the street. We are facing a breathtaking view of our cities. The lamps from the houses, cars, or maybe street lights create a beautiful scenery from here.

"This is dope," I mutter. He looks down at me, "told ya."

He continues to paddle, showing more open areas so I could gaze the beautiful scenery.

"Make yourself useful, Tara-Jane. Gimme the waffles."

I laugh at his remark. I open the waffles for him and bring it to his mouth. He takes a large bite.

"Mmh. The best in town. I don't realize cycling is makin' me hungry."

I offer my vanilla milkshake to him. "Yes, please," he says. He is a really hungry beast.

"Hug, please. A bit chilly in here." He grins.

"You ask so much." But I place my hands behind his back, hugging him while he is cycling around.

"Perfect."

We spot a park and decide to stop there to finish our meal. Jeremy parks the bike next to a bench. We sit side by side gazing the man-made stars below us. He is done with the waffles in only a few bites. He fishes his cigarette from his pocket and lits it. I stare at him, observing him smoking. He lets out a pink smoke. It smells like cherry and burned tobacco.

"How does it tastes?"

He glances at me and cocks his eyebrow.

"You mean my lips? I don't know, come taste it yourself."

I whack his head from behind, "the ciggies." I snort.

He lets out his typical deep chuckle.

"It's sweet. Taste like cherry. And vanilla."

I steal his cigarette from his lips. Bring it to my lips and take a drag. The last time I smoke was when I am with Oscar. That was terrible but Jeremy's is different. He is staring at me intensely while I smoke. I hand the cigarette back to him. He observes the cigarette on his hand. Fortunately, I don't wear lipstick so his cigarette is free from the stain.

"Don't tell coach." He brings up his lame jokes about coach once again. But we still laugh at it.

"Grab one, if you want." He hands his box of cigarettes to me. Hesitating for a while, but then I accept and pick one.

"C'mere. Butt fuckin' it."

"What do you say?"

He grabs my cigarettes and brings it closer to the butt of his cigarette. "Look at your face, girl. Dirty mind." He smirks at me and I snort. I don't even know that phrase even exists.

"Pretty Tara-Jane in her nighty is smokin' ciggies." I chuckle at his remark, blushing at the word pretty.

"Let's go on a proper date, Tara-Jane." His gaze bore into mine. He drags his cigarette and hisses as the pink smoke comes out slowly from his nostrils.

"I know a buncha guys are askin' you. And you've been rejecting them. But, please, gimme a chance," he continues.

I chuckle, "how do you know?"

"People's buzzin', like I said."

"I don't know, Jer. Ask me later." I puff a pink smoke. Feeling satisfied with the color.

"What is it? Who's this guy left you broken-hearted in the past." He smirks.

"It's not like that."

He puffs a pink smoke, "Spill me, please."

"I just... I am not interested." He seems amused by the answer. He is shaking his head and mutter, "I don't understand."

I shrug. I grab his hand and check the watch on his wrist.

"Let's go home."

The trip to my house felt shorter. We pass another park, the bridge, the houses. Once we arrive at my neighborhood, he slowdown. He halts in front of my gate. I hop from the crossbar to the pavement.

"Thank you for showing me a beautiful scenery. And the waffles. Also, ciggies."

"I'm glad you come."

"You ditched the party," I state.

"Yes, just to meet you," he responds. I snort at his answer.

"Please, give back the bike to his owner."

He chuckles and nods.

"Please, say thank you to him. Or her."

He chuckles again, "I don't know who owns this bike. But, yeah, I'll figure it out later."

The way he says it like he doesn't care about the world around him. The word impulsive comes to my mind, but I don't think that is something negative about him.

"Au revoir, Jer."

"Au revoir, Tara-Jane."

***

Hi, kind people!

This is the end of chapter four. Please, don't hesitate to comments and if you feel like you want to hit the votes button I'll be very happy. Don't forget to play the video, I was listening to Kodaline while I'm writing it. Kodaline is one of my favorite band, they are amazing!

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