she made me feel like i was fourteen again ·· jane

[sage ashton tremblay]

digital bean? c you in 20. the nineteen year old brunette reread his very simple, straightforward text before sending it. he shut his outdated cellphone closed and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. he paced across his dormitory, thinking about jane. it seemed sage hadn't seen jane in ages. not even for valentine's day. sage wondered if he even stood a chance when it came to jane. the girl was entirely unpredictable, but that's what sage liked best about her. for christ sake, the two had been going to school with each other for the past few months and he was still in the "friend zone." his new year's resolution was to get out of that friend zone, but sage still hadn't seen jane since the year started. he was pretty hopeless when it came to girls. at amara terra, sage never really worried about that kind of stuff. all the girls around his age, he saw as sisters. when sage visited montreal a few years ago, and met jane, he had an itch in his heart that he would marry the girl. and now? now they were classmates, who never saw each other. she had been at bouscher this entire school year, but sage had only seen her occasionally at parties. since january, sage hadn't seen jane at all. but, that would change in fifteen minutes.

sage stood in front of the mirror on his door, surveying himself and his outfit. he wanted to look like he hadn't put much effort into what he was wearing on this oh-so-casual outing. he was wearing a formal white collared shirt, and a black tie. so much for not much effort. sage couldn't help but want to dress to impress. he tilted his head as he turned it towards his closet. he knew the perfect thing to add would be his red sweatervest. now, he didn't look like a middle-aged businessman. not wanting to fret any more about his outfit, and hoping to get to the digital bean on time, sage headed out of his dorm and hopped onto his bicycle. the wind blowing in his face as he rode towards the digital bean felt refreshing. for some reason, it got rid of sage's infectious jitters. at least he would have a lot to catch up on with jane. he was sure there wouldn't be a boring moment at all between them. sage parked his bike on the side of the café gates, and walked into the coffee shop. jane wasn't there yet, so sage simply stood at the side as he waited for her. he wanted to be a gentleman and buy her coffee.

[jane aniya barlow]

{ jane breathed out slowly, as she smoothed her baby blue oxford dress down the front. she had been standing in front of the full-length mirror in her dorm room for about 15 minutes now, fiddling with her hair, retying the bows up the sides of her wedges, adjusting her belt. jane had planned to meet an old friend that afternoon for coffee. she was nervous. she hadn't seen sage tremblay since montreal. meeting him by chance on a day when her life was at an all time low seemed like fate. holding hands and running around the city, taking bus rides for the adventure and diving into learning all about a handsome new stranger in a sense saved jane. after that day, she had become an optimist. in a way, sage was indirectly the whole reason jane had applied for a transfer to bouscher in the first place.

and he had been here all year! jane felt like a complete idiot for not even trying to contact him before. she used to be much ballsier. jane hated feeling as if she barely knew even herself.

jane grabbed her ivory bag and draped the chain strap around her shoulder. almost at the door she arched her back to look in the mirror one last time and with a free hand brushed her bangs a little, not wanting to look too perfect.

in only about ten minutes jane found herself waving a hand out at a car and getting across the street to the digital bean. the sunshine was out and it felt good on her bare legs. jane had never known summers like ehu island's and she couldn't believe that she'd been missing out on this all of her life. jane reached the door and leaned against it, letting it open up. small bells at the top of the door jingled as she entered, and she let out a small laugh at herself. those bells caused anyone who entered to make a scene, didn't they?

jane glanced around looking for sage. how embarrassing it was to see him just feet away, leaning against a counter, looking straight at her. jane's stomach fluttered. it was scary seeing him after so long. "hey..." jane said breathlessly, as she breathed out and into a smile. she took one step into sage, amazed at how amazing he looked. had his eyes always been that deep? had he always been so tall? nice work, tremblay. jane was unsure if she should go in for a hug or not. they hadn't exactly had an extensive friendship before, but still. jane felt close to him, always.

[sage ashton tremblay]

as sage waited, he watched as people walked in, hesitant to pass him as he stood there waiting for jane at the counter. some forced a smile on their faces, obviously feeling somewhat awkward about passing him without saying anything; others raised their eyebrows and gestured that he went ahead of them, to which he replied "oh, no, don't worry. i'm waiting for someone." fortunately, there wasn't much waiting much after that. soon enough, sage's heart melted into a puddle in the coffee shop as a pale girl with dark black hair, wearing a blue dress, leaned into the door at the front of the digital bean, pushing it open. oddly enough, as the door opened, sage heard wedding bells. at that very moment, sage's eyes widened. at that moment, sage knew that he would marry the beautiful girl in front of him eventually. he knew that soon, jane barlow would eventually become jane barlow-tremblay, or whatever she preferred. maybe she would simply be jane tremblay. god, that name sounded beautiful in his head. sage bit his lip, trying not to seem as excited as he was. he didn't want jane to think he was overeager, or anything.

"hey…" she said as she walked up to him. sage couldn't help but chuckle as he looked into jane's eyes. even with just one word, it wasn't possible to resist jane's effortless charm. "hey, jane. wow… uh, wow…long time, no see, huh? wow. you look fantastic. uh, care for a cup of coffee? i mean, let me buy you a cup of coffee, or tea. whatever you want, i mean." if sage could stop time to give himself a swift slap to the face for stumbling so much as he spoke, he would. "anyway, let's order something." sage pulled jane into the line with him. only one person stood in front of them. "so, what do you like to drink here? or, are you one of those adventurous people who tries something different every time?" he pegged jane to be that sort of girl. soon enough, the woman standing in front of them stepped aside and it was their turn to order. "i'll have a green tea with milk, and this lady will have…" sage paused, cuing jane to order. "thanks." sage paid the cashier at once, and then stepped aside with jane as they waited for their coffees. "wow, so how have you been, jane? it feels like it's been forever. i can't believe this is the first time i'm seeing you! christ, how long have you been at bouscher again? what have you been up to? anything adventurous? crazy?"

[jane aniya barlow]

{ jane couldn't help but blush when sage kept stumbling over his words. blushing? she's jane fucking barlow, no one makes her blush. or at least, no one had in a really long time. until now. jane nodded as he offered to buy her whatever she wanted. jane loved feeling catered too. and this time she hadn't even needed to go out of her way to get it.

jane got chills as sage gently put his hand along the small of her back and led her into the line. she turned and admired his profile as he perused the menu. jane hadn't realized that she'd been harboring away such a big ole' craving for a slice of sage tremblay until that very moment. looking at him, feeling his hand linger at her side... butterflies felt good again. jane smiled to herself as she heard sage order. everything he did, he was so gentle. "uh, i'll have a jasmine bubble tea, thanks?"

jane followed sage to the side of the counter and enjoyed his company as they waited for their teas. he was asking her so many questions she could barely keep up! but, she enjoyed the attention. hardly anyone around ehu, with the exception of evie brenton and the dance department, talked to her all that much unless they were trying to get her to take her pants off in the backyard of some party at four am. jane grabbed the both of theirs drinks and led sage to a table in the corner, with access to a lot of sunlight.

she set their drinks down and dove into story time, not wanting to waste a second of catching up with sage. "it has been forever! you wouldn't believe it, but i've missed you. a lot changed after we ran into each other... it's good to see you again" jane knew they had only spent one day together, and exchanged a few wimpy text messages but still, she felt as if they'd been the closest of friends. "i came to bouscher in august. i started dancing again..." jane smiled at this. up until a couple of years ago jane had been a practicing ballerina and had just recently picked up her studies again after a brief hiatus. "but," she brought her voice down to a whisper, "i'm pretty sure it was my sight reading that got me in a music minor. i mean, i studied all of that back in hertfordshire so the technique kind of stuck with me a little more than my rusty dance skills." jane winked at sage and started laughing as soon as she did. she was so corny, shelving out secrets and winks like she was a cartoon character or something.

"so, what about you, monsieur tremblay? any publishing deals yet? gotten anyone pregnant?" jane raised an eyebrow at this one, continuing her series of sarcastic faces. she really hoped his humor was still in good tact or else she'd be coming off as so horribly awkward. and how horribly embarrassing that would be...

[sage ashton tremblay]

everything about jane seemed so classy and ladylike. sage even took notice to her unique drink order of jasmine bubble tea. sage didn't even know what bubble tea was, but he was about to find out. as the bartender set their teas down on the counter, jane promptly picked them up. jane's drink looked like an orange smoothie-esque drink with black balls at the bottom. "those look like olives," he pointed out as he followed jane to a corner table. "what in the world are they?"

before he knew it, sage was listening to the beautiful, lively voice of jane barlow again. he loved the way she gestured her hands when she spoke and the way those already big eyes of hers widened whenever she said something that moved her. his stomach jumped when she admitted she missed him. sage wanted to let jane know how much he had missed her, too, and how he couldn't believe it took him months to pick up the phone to finally invite her out to tea. he wanted to tell her that when he found out she attended bouscher, he couldn't sleep for nights and nights because he missed her so much. he wanted to tell her the second sage was reminded of jane, the girl he was dating became so boring in his eyes. but, sage would save that all for later. all he wanted to really do was listen to jane speak. "i can't believe you're dancing again, that's great. was it hard to get back on your feet?" that was sage's terrible attempt at a pun. maybe jane wouldn't notice. he had forgotten that she studied in hertfordshire! god, he was in love that she had been to so many places and experienced so much, already. he wanted to take her everywhere she hadn't been, and everywhere she had been like she had never been there before.

"a music minor, huh? what is your expertise in? i've been playing around with a guitar for the past year. i'm no good, but i know a few songs." sage knew bits and pieces of jimi hendrix songs. he laughed once jane started asking about him. "nope, no publishing deals. unless you count the bouscher academy newspaper. and yeah, i've gotten my fair share of girls pregnant. i'm sure you know by now, life on ehu island is incredibly wild."

[jane aniya barlow]

{ "olives? really, tremblay?" jane laughed at sage's off course observation. uh, actually they're tapicoa seeds. or something, i'm not really sure, all i know is that it's way good. jane held her cup out at sage, offering him a sip. she should be concerned about swapping spit, but honestly, who cared these days? plus, jane was curious for a sip of whatever it was sage was drinking, and she was such a child she couldn't manage to just ask him. after all, she was trying to be at least a little charming.

jane was filled with warmth when sage showed enthusiasm for her dancing again. it meant a lot that he even remembered she had mentioned being a dancer before. she laughed at his pun about "getting back on her feet." "it was scary at first. it was like i'd lost almost all of my technique. but i'm a fast learner i guess because somehow i ended up at this place." jane smiled, doting on bouscher. it was good at be at school again. her semester off had really done her no good.

jane lit up as sage mentioned dabbling in guitar. "yeah! i play guitar a little. mostly, i lean towards my piano. i just know it better. but i've just recently picked up a ukulele and i'm a little obsessed with mastering it." jane was so happy sage and her shared yet another common factor. music was such a universal language. she had all of these nerdy fantasies of them hiding out in her dorm room, playing folk music back and forth to one another like bob dylan and joan baez or something.

jane laughed as sage joked about how wild ehu island was. it was semi embarrassing for jane though because up until he said it, she'd thought that ehu island was a bit wild. being a closet gossip queen, jane had been following scarlett scandal since day one. it was true though, she tended to let her imagination get the best of her. she liked to imagine everyone else as a ten times more extreme version of courtney love, roaming around the island like it was nobody's business. "hmm, you'll have to get that taken care of..." jane mentioned, reverting back to the alleged pregnancies.

jane didn't want to talk about babies. they reminded her of heathington, specifically aimee aldred. she hadn't spoken to anyone from heathington since leaving and not a day passed that jane didn't wonder where abigail and aimee were. jane began humming some old jackson five song, hoping that sunny happy motown music would pull her out of her nostalgic thoughts. she tried not to let anything bring her down, but you could only go so long. "how's your mom?" jane asked awkwardly. how's your mom?! what was she, forty? jane wanted to smack herself in the forehead just then, but wasn't entirely willing to let sage think worse of her than he probably already did.

[sage ashton tremblay]

uh, actually, jane said in a condescending tone that sage couldn't help but laugh at, they're tapioca seeds. she continued, or something, i'm not really sure, all i know is that it's way good. sage couldn't think of any way this grin could be wiped off his face, other than jane telling him she was in love with some mature, older man, or something. he took a sip of the drink jane offered, nodding his head. "it kind of tastes like ramen noodles at first, but i like the aftertaste," he decided out loud. "oh, uh, do you want some of mine?" sage took a quick sip from his straw before holding it out to jane. "i love green tea. one day, i'll take you to this ice cream shoppe in arcata. they sell homemade green tea ice cream that i stopped by to get every time i was in town."

he listened intently, sipping his green tea as jane talked about how scared she was that she had lost all of her technique. sage had once before heard eulaline poe complain when she had to take more than two days off from dancing, so he had a feeling not dancing for months would hurt someone's technique. he smiled once she said she was a fast learner. "oh? do you plan to be in any recitals this year?" sage wanted to watch jane dance. he knew that every single pair of eyes in a room would be on jane, whether or not she had the lead role. jane, to sage, was the type of girl he would never be able to take his eyes off of, especially when she danced gracefully on stage.

sage fell in love with jane the second she talked about her obsession with mastering the ukulele. "you'd be so cute with a little ukulele in your hands," he couldn't say that without grinning. "i can see it now: jane barlow, playing concerts with her ukulele on some days, and being a ballerina on others. you'll own some sort of uh, i dunno, bubble tea shoppe, and you'll have open mic nights where you would play your ukulele and dancing parties where you could pirouette for your crowd." and sage would be in the audience each time, cheering her on.

when jane asked sage how his mom was, he wasn't sure how to react. he wanted to laugh at her, or something. he didn't really know how to answer that kind of question. "well, my mom… well, she's kind of dead. the elders from amara terra are doing well though. i've been writing with them. i've told you about them, right?" it seemed courteous to ask 'and how's your mom?,' but sage had a hard time feeling comfortable with that kind of obviously-small-talk question.