So this is officially the fastest update ever xD yayz!! and personally I think it's a cute chapter. enjoy :D

Chapter 6: Getting to Know You

Jess's P.O.V.

"Children gather! Hurry, hurry, we don't have much time," Irene called out impatiently as Mackenzie, Emily, and I exited the dressing room. Marie and Sara were already out in the main room, as they had been the previous day, and we all moved toward Irene hurriedly as she paced at the front of the room, next to the mirrored wall.

I sighed softly as we stood in front of her, trying to relax myself. The morning had been a total disaster with Bruce getting outside and in the mud, yet again, Chris waking up with a fever, and since my mom had fired Dalia the night before, I had had to leave her to deal with everything by herself so that I could attend my dance class.

And I felt kind of guilty about it.

I lazily swished my red skirt that fell to my mid-calf as Irene waited for the boys to join us and fixed the strap of my plain white tank top before daring to look up at the guys and the one guy in particular that I was looking for. And there he was, standing casually off to the side in a pair of grey sweats and a black muscle tee that showed off his 6-pack quite nicely. Not that I was looking.

Okay maybe I was.

I looked away before he could catch me staring and tried to focus on Irene who now seemed to be saying something important.

"We'll warm up first with some simple stretches and then we will get with our partners and see what kind of magic we can come up with," Irene said excitedly, motioning for all of us to take a seat on the dark wooden floor.

"I hate stretching in skirts, it is the most awkward thing ever, even if we do have leggings," I could hear Mackenzie grumbling behind me and couldn't help but agree with her assessment as I tried to sit without flashing everyone in the process. Eventually I managed to get on the floor in a decent position between Jacob and Emily.

"Well that was an experience," I muttered, fixing my skirt.

Emily laughed quietly. "You're telling me; it's bad enough trying to sit on the floor in a skirt, but these mirrors make it virtually impossible to do so a lady-like fashion.

I grinned, about to reply, but Irene started talking again. "Okay, now sit next to your partner."

I glanced over at Jacob who was about three feet away. Close enough.

It seemed like all of the girls thought that within a five foot range was "close enough" because soon Irene was sighing again. "Right next to your partners, children, as in within hugging distance."

"Yeah Marie, you need to be close enough to hug me," Jason teased, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her right up next to him.

She rolled her eyes but smiled and soon everyone was closer to each other. Except me and Jacob.

He had been ignoring me for the whole class so far and even though I didn't know why, I sure as heck wasn't about to be the one to make the first move.

Irene noticed and glared at him. "Jacob, hugging distance."

He looked up at her, flipping his silky brown hair out of his eyes before huffing and moving a foot closer. When Irene continued to glare he got closer until his shoulder was touching mine and his legs were stretched out next to me.

"Much better," Irene clapped again and started talking about 'depending on your partner' but I wasn't paying attention. Jacob's shoulder was warm and his hand was next to mine on the floor, really only about two inches away and he smelled good; like good in a way that only guys can smell. Let's just say it was a little distracting.

Before I knew what was happening, everyone around me was standing up and Jacob had pulled away, towering over me with an exasperated look.

"Are you getting up or what?" he asked, holding out a hand to me when I gave him a confused look.

I took his hand, ignoring the tingly feeling that shot up my arm, and stood next to him as all of the partners headed off to different portions of the room.

I cocked my head to the side. "How is that stretching?"

He rolled his eyes arrogantly. "Irene decided we would get to know our partners instead of stretching which is really the most pointless task ever for everyone but us. So let's go over there." He motioned toward the bench near the front of the studio and I nodded my head in agreement as I processed this information.

I sat down at one end of the bench and leaned against the wall so that I was facing Jacob as he sat on the other side of the bench.

"So what are we supposed to do?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"Get to know each other," Jacob stated bluntly.

"Any siblings?" I asked, voicing the first question that came to my head.

"Three little sisters; you?"

Wow, three girls, I thought to myself before answering, "An older brother and sister, and a little brother."

When he merely grunted in acknowledgement I figured I needed to be the one to continue the conversation.

"Okay…you have any pets?" I asked, twisting a stray piece of hair around my fingers.

He just stared at me for a moment as though to judge my level of insanity before answering. "A cat named Italics; you?" he asked, criss-crossing his legs and turning so that he was facing me as well.

"An adorable husky named Bruce," I grinned, thinking about my puppy-dog.

His eyes abruptly widened and his arrogant mask dropped off his face, leaving behind a look of shock and…happiness?

"Wait, so you were talking about your dog yesterday?" he clarified, talking slowly.

"On the phone?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah; I was talking to my little brother, Chris, about my dog, Bruce…why?"

He shook his head, shaking off the question as he regained some of his composure before asking casually, "So, any boyfriend?"

I raised one eyebrow, wondering what that had to do with my dog. "Not at the moment; figured I'd stay single since I'm starting a new school tomorrow. You have a girlfriend?"

He shook his head. "What school are you joining?"

"Yours." I answered reflexively without thinking about how stalkerish that would sound. "I mean the private school that…you attend?" He smirked as I tried to recover again. "I mean I was talking to my friends who go there and happened to mention you and they were like oh he goes to our school too and I was like oh that's cool since he's my partner and how it would be cool to go to the same school and stuff and…now I'm rambling." I blushed as I finished my almost incoherent chatter, waiting for his reaction.

He stared at me blankly for a split, heart-racing second before chuckling, a low melodic sound that calmed my fears.

I relaxed, giving him a small smile.

"So why are you leaving your old school?" he asked, seeming totally relaxed now for no apparent reason.

"Well let's just say Westwind High School was a momentary lapse in judgment by my father," I grimaced.

Jacob laughed. "You're at the pot school?"

I glared. "It's an alternative school, meant to encourage different learning methods in unique ways."

"Pot school," he persisted, not even listening to my explanation.

Deciding that arguing the point would be a fruitless waste of time, I changed the subject slightly. "So how do you like your school? My friends seem to like it and my dad has heard good things but I've never been there."

Ignoring my question he asked, "Who are your friends?"

Indignantly I told him, "Answer my question first."

He grumbled a little but replied, "The science teachers are great, make sure you get Mr. Samson, umm…whatever you do, don't get Mrs. Mygatt for English, she lectures everyday and never gives back your papers and is just a nasty old lady in general. Overall, though, it's a good school, even the cafeteria food is decent. The only part I don't like is the uniforms, but whatever. Now who are your friends?"

"Elizabeth Montgomery and Jeffrey Dahoeda; they've been my best friends since forever."

He looked mildly surprised at my response. "You're friends with Liz and Jeff? I have some classes with them; they hang out with our group sometimes."

"Yeah, Liz kind of mentioned that." I smirked slightly when I remembered her mentioning Jacob's apparently sexy 'French voice.'

He nodded, adjusting his position slightly.

"Do your sisters go to Chilton Academy also?" I asked, referring to the private school I would be joining him.

He nodded. "Yeah; Sarah, the youngest, is in 8th grade, Kelly is in 9th, and Brooke is in 10th; she's the oldest girl."

I smiled. "Sweet, maybe I'll be friends with her."

Jacob gave me a weird look. "She's only sixteen."

I felt a blush coming on as I replied. "Well, I'm only sixteen."

He cocked his head to the side. "I thought you were a senior."

"I am; I skipped the 7th grade." I hated repeating my nerdy story to people, but Jacob deserved nothing but the truth from me.

Although I was expecting shock, weirdness, or some generally negative response, Jacob didn't seem to be phased in the least. "Cool; you should meet Kelly, she's such a nerd I think she should've skipped a grade too."

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding and smiled. "Sounds like my kind of girl."

"If you're younger, then how'd you meet Liz and Jeff?"

"Well I've known Jeff forever, we went to the same preschool and our dads are business partners, and Liz moved in next to my house when I was four and I don't know, we just all kind of bonded. I'm so excited that we'll all be going to the same school for our senior year." I smiled again, thinking about my best friends and how close we were to each other.

And how close Liz and Jeff might potentially get.

Shaking off the twinge of jealousy that threatened my good mood, I looked up to meet Jacob's gaze.

"That's cool; I met my best friend, Seth, in preschool too. But we hated each other until 2nd grade." He smirked. "He thought I was arrogant and I thought he was a computer geek, which he totally is."

I perked up slightly, wondering if we had yet another connection. "Seth Parker?"

He nodded. "Yeah, how do you know him?"

I grinned, knowing that my whole face was lighting up. "Seth is my cousin."

He gave me a look. "Seriously?"

"Yep; I love him and his geeky gamer skills. Except when he beats me at Super Smash Brawl, then I beat him up." I said this all with a straight face, loving the shocked look Jacob was giving me.

"You beat up Seth? He's gotta be like 100 pounds bigger than you, and all of it is muscle."

"Well…," I dragged out my response. "I guess I don't exactly beat him up, more like I try to punch him then run for my life from his scary linebacker body."

Jacob laughed agreeably. "That sounds more like it."

"I can't believe you guys are friends, I just knew he was a football player at Chilton and that I might see him sometimes."

"Well if you stick with me you're going to be seeing a lot more of him."

I just stared at him.

"I mean, you know, if we happen to hang out sometimes," Jacob covered up quickly, rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous manner.

I'm pretty sure I was glowing as I replied, "Yeah, of course."

Jacob opened his mouth, probably to cover his 'stick with me' comment some more but was saved by Irene.

"Children gather quickly," she waved her arms dramatically from the middle of the room. "It's time to dance."

x x x x x

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~Once Upon a Time is Forever