Jacob didn't wake up until 11 AM. He went to the bathroom, took a shower, then dressed in sweatpants and a white t-shirt. In the kitchen, he retrieved some baked goods from his pocket dimension, made fried eggs with bacon, poured orange juice from the fridge, and had breakfast before moving to the living room.
"System, sign in."
[Daily sign-in successful. Rewards obtained:
- Bear spray
- A large box of butter popcorn
- $100]
Jacob sighed. "At least there's nothing weird this time. The bear spray could be useful. Werewolves and shapeshifters have sensitive senses of smell, but they also heal fast. I wonder what would happen if I spray Peter tonight."
Just then, Allison called. He answered. "Good morning Allison. What's up?"
"I was wondering if you want to hang out or something." She said.
"Sure." Jacob replied. "Should I pick you up, do you want to come to my house, or should we meet somewhere?"
"Send me your address. I'll drive to your house, then we can decide what to do afterward."
"Okay." Jacob hung up and texted his address.
Allison replied: [I'll be there soon.]
Jacob smirked. 'This charm ability is strong, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself. She probably just wants to hang out as friends for now.'
About twenty minutes later, Allison arrived at the iron front gate of his mansion and texted that she was there.
Jacob went out, opened the gate, and said. "Welcome, Allison. Drive your car in."
Allison parked in front of the mansion and stepped out. Jacob closed the gate and walked to her. "Good morning. How are you?"
"Good." She replied, then looked at the mansion. "I knew you were rich after seeing your car, but I didn't think you were this rich."
Jacob smiled. "Want to come in?"
Allison hesitated. "Won't I bother your family or something?"
He shook his head. "No, I live alone."
"What about your parents?"
"They're dead."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
Jacob cut her off gently. "Don't worry about it. It's been eight years. Sure, I miss them, but life goes on. Let's not talk about sad things. Come in, I'll give you a tour."
After showing her around, they went to the kitchen. Allison sat at the table. "Wow, this house is beautiful."
"Yeah, I was shocked when I first saw it yesterday too." Jacob said. "What would you like to drink? Coke or juice?"
"What kind of juice do you have?"
Jacob opened the fridge. "Orange, pineapple, strawberry, cranberry, and some fruit cocktail bottles. Come pick what you want. I also bought a cheesecake yesterday if you'd like some."
Allison walked over. "Do you have any Naked Juice here?"
Jacob grabbed a Coke. "Some of them."
Allison took an orange juice bottle and eyed the cake. "That looks delicious, but I shouldn't eat it."
Jacob looked her up and down. "Why?"
She crossed her arms. "What's with the look?"
'Shit, I messed up.' Jacob quickly said, "Nothing! I just think it's okay to eat sweets sometimes."
"You think I'm too skinny?"
Jacob raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, I'm not playing the fat-skinny game. You look perfect. I just meant you're in no danger of getting fat, that's all."
Allison snorted, took the cheesecake, and sat back down. "Give me a fork."
Jacob handed her one. She stabbed the cake aggressively while eating.
"Savor it." Jacob said, sitting opposite her. "You'll choke."
Ignoring him, Allison kept eating. Jacob got lost in thought, imagining what a chubby Allison might look like, and smirked.
Allison saw Jacob smiling and glared at him. "What are you laughing at?"
"I was just thinking about what a fat Allison would look like." Jacob said.
"Hey! Are you cursing me?" Allison said.
"No." Jacob replied. "But if you keep eating like that, you won't leave anything for me. I haven't tasted that cake yet."
Allison snorted and kept eating, ignoring him completely.
Jacob stood up, grabbed a fork, and joined the battle, fighting Allison for every bite. "Damn it Allison, stay on your side! Aren't you supposed to be a girl?" He said as their forks clashed.
"Of course I'm a girl." Allison retorted, still stabbing at the cake.
"Well you don't eat like one." Jacob countered.
Allison shrugged. "This cake is just that good. I can't stop eating it."
When the last crumb was gone, Allison sighed. "That cake was so delicious, don't you think?"
"I wouldn't know." Jacob grumbled. "You ate all of it."
Allison smirked. "Don't be so cheap. Besides, I only ate half of it. Or maybe a little more than half." Then she burped loudly. "Oops."
Jacob looked at her with mock disgust. "How ladylike of you."
They both burst out laughing.
After catching her breath, Allison asked. "Earlier you said you were shocked when you first saw this house. Didn't you know about it? Weren't you living in a place like this in New York?"
Jacob shook his head. "No, I didn't know about it until I arrived yesterday. All I knew was that my parents left me a house in Beacon Hills. I was living in an orphanage back in New York."
Allison's expression softened. "Oh. I'm sorry..."
"Don't be." He shrugged. "It wasn't terrible. The people there were nice to me and the other orphans. We had food and a roof over our heads. It's just... not home, you know."
Allison pressed gently. "Didn't you have any other relatives to live with? Or couldn't you get adopted?"
"No, I don't have any living relatives." Jacob explained. "As for adoption, I didn't want to leave the orphanage. It was nice there. And to be honest, I was scared to go to a new home and get abused. I heard stories from other kids about their bad experiences after being adopted."
Allison felt a pang of guilt. 'Damn it, what's wrong with me? Why am I asking stupid questions and reminding him of things he probably wants to forget. I'm such an idiot.'
Seeing her worried expression, Jacob reassured her. "Don't worry Allison. I don't mind talking about my past. It made me who I am. Now tell me about you, do you miss San Francisco?"
"Not really." Allison replied.
"Did you grow up there?"
"No." She said. "We were in San Francisco for more than a year, which is unusual for my family. We move a lot because of my dad's work, so we never stay in one place more than a year."
Jacob raised an eyebrow. "So you went to a lot of schools, huh?"
Allison nodded. "Yeah. I was also homeschooled by my mom sometimes, so I didn't even have friends growing up and..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I repeated a year."
Jacob smirked. "Oh, because you're stupid?"
Allison glared and hit him with the empty juice bottle. "No! Because we moved a lot!"
Jacob laughed. "Sorry, I thought it was because you were too stupid."
Allison snorted. "You're an idiot. I'm telling you about my depressing life and you're making fun of me."
"Don't be mad." Jacob said, still grinning. "I'm just joking."
Allison smiled and asked. "What about you? Did you have friends back in New York?"
"Friends?" Jacob said. "I had a lot of those. I make friends easily, but I never had a best friend. And I've got lots of enemies too. I tend to joke around and make fun of people, so most don't like me that much."
Allison nodded. "I noticed. Just this morning you called me too skinny, then fat, then stupid. You're really hard to like."
Jacob smirked. "Come on, if you keep complimenting me like that I'll blush."
Allison rolled her eyes. "Scumbag."
Then she noticed Jacob's cheeks flushing red. "You really are blushing! You pervert!"
Jacob's face turned even redder. "Stop it! You're killing me with your compliments."
"You really are a perverted weirdo." Allison said, shaking her head. "Why are you turning redder? Maybe I should leave."
Jacob burst out laughing. "Relax! I can make my face red by clenching my jaws and tightening my facial muscles. It's a skill I developed when I was nine to look cute and get more sweets, and maybe even a few dollars from the caretakers at the orphanage."
Allison's eyes widened. "What? And that actually worked?"
"Of course!" Jacob grinned. "Just look how handsome I am now. Imagine me at nine, cute with chubby cheeks, telling those ladies they were beautiful while blushing on command. They gave me everything I asked for."
Allison said. "That's disgusting! You lied to those women and manipulated their emotions!"
"Hey, don't judge me." Jacob said, raising his hands. "I did what I had to do for the sweets."
They both laughed, and Jacob got up to clean the kitchen. "So, should we go to town or play some video games?"
"Let's play video games." Allison decided.
They spent the afternoon in the game room until 5 PM when Allison finally paused the game. "I should head home. I need to go clothes shopping with my mom."
Jacob nodded. "Okay." He walked her to her car and got in beside her as she drove to the iron gate. After opening it for her, Allison said. "Thanks for today, Jay. It was fun."
Jacob smiled. "You're always welcome here, Allison."
Allison returned his smile. "Then I'll come bother you more often. Bye! See you tomorrow. And please wait for me at the school gate if I'm late. I'll do the same if I get there first."
"Okay, see you tomorrow." Jacob agreed.
As Allison drove away, Jacob closed the gate and walked back to the mansion, thinking. 'She's a nice girl. I hope she'll fall in love with me. I'll do everything I can to keep her safe until I can share my powers with her. Now, time to get ready for going to the woods tonight, and meeting Stiles, Scott, and Peter.'
To be continued... 😊