Drake woke up from a terrible dream in which Carlton was jeering at him, telling him he had slept with his girl, and how good it was.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Drake slowly opened his eyes. He could feel the heat of the sun blazing through the window. He checked the time on his cellphone and saw that it was one o’clock. Below the time it showed that he had one new WhatsApp message.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Drake walked towards the door as he checked his message. It was from Arnold.

Man ur ex-gf jenny has lost it. Xe

slapped her friend Sandy man.

She must have found out that Sandy betrayed their friendship, thought Drake.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“I’m coming!” Drake said loudly. When he unlocked and opened the door he was surprised to see that it was Jenny.

“Jenny! … I …”

He didn’t know what to say. Arnold had just revealed that he saw Jenny slap Sandy at school. What if she had come to channel that anger towards him as well? Drake looked into Jenny’s face but couldn’t read her expression. I’ve got no idea if she’s happy, sad or angry, but her eyes look serious, Drake thought.

“Can I please come in?” Jenny said.

“Sure, no prob,” Drake replied as he let her enter his home. Her eyes looked watery. Has she been crying, Drake wondered, feeling worried.

“I heard the news about Sandy and Alice. People talk you know.” Jenny said. “The moment we decided to go to that party our love was already distracted,” Jenny said.

“Did you just say ‘love’?” Drake asked.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love you, nor would I have slapped Sandy,” Jenny said. “I was just disgusted by Sandy and Carlton. To think that he paid Alice R4 000 to sleep with you is just sickening!” Jenny’s face was angry.

Drake felt turned on by Jenny’s anger. “It was supposed to be me and you that day,” Drake said as he cupped his hands around Jenny’s cheeks. He then smiled at her as he rubbed her face softly. She smiled at him seductively.

Drake again felt the connection that he had had when he first saw Jenny. He felt the chemistry between them as he had got to know Jenny, then he felt the love channelled in their kiss. All those feelings had combined into pure, indescribable love. Drake knew that Jenny felt the same.

He placed his hands on her hips, and looked at Jenny’s pinkish lips then into her eyes and she looked at him with her sparkly eyes then he kissed her on the lips. He couldn’t feel anything except Jenny’s presence. Jenny placed her arms around Drake’s shoulders and Drake moved his hands on Jenny’s soft booty and they started to kiss passionately.

“I love you,” Drake said breathlessly, fuelled by the moment. “I’m sorry for sleeping with Alice. Despite everything I feel like I should’ve known that something was wrong.” Drake broke away from kissing.

“It was a trick. A damn good one. One which I even fell for. But it’ll strengthen our love for each other,” Jenny said. “I’m sorry as well for shouting at you, and taking the decision to sleep with Carlton. I should’ve thought about why you didn’t want to go to the party in the first place. Instead I let my emotions cloud my judgement.”

Drake gently grasped her hips and guided Jenny to his room, where she pulled him slowly down onto his bed.

Things got really hot, really fast.

“Guess I am going to stay,” Jenny whispered.

*****

When Jenny woke up later Drake was looking at her tenderly.

“I just want to spend more time with you. I can’t get enough of you. My heart felt really empty when I thought I’d lost you,” Drake said. “I thought I had lost you for good.”

“You’ll never lose me Drake. But if you do then you’ll meet someone else. Life is too short to focus only on one person. Let’s experience love and see where it takes us,” Jenny said, planting a kiss on his mouth.

“Love. My feelings for you are love as I speak right now Jenny. I don’t think I ever want to meet someone else. You’re the girl that I want to see every day until, well … whenever,” Drake said as he kissed Jenny back.

“Me too, but promise me that you’ll never love anyone more than yourself.”

“Why are you talking like this Jenny? Don’t you see a future for us?” Drake asked.

“It’s not like that. Your kindness is your weakness. I just want you to be aware of that. Sometimes things don’t work out. That’s how life is,” Jenny said.

“No. Everything will work out. I’ll make sure of that,” Drake said.

“Promise me that you won’t love me more than yourself.” Jenny’s lips twisted in a serious expression.

“I promise. I get where you coming from. Life is unpredictable,” Drake said.

“And teenage love is different from adult love,” Jenny said.

Drake laughed, then said, “I am tired of talking. But I am going to say this: age doesn’t matter. No-one sets the rules of love. No-one can explain love because it wasn’t created by humans. It’s a feeling that comes naturally whether young or old. The feeling will never change. For me and you to be here right now is because of frequency. I’ve felt it ever since I laid my eyes on you. I know this connection will burn for ages no matter what. I’m willing to bet on it.”

“Hmm. That’s a huge bet,” Jenny said. Drake placed his hands on her cheeks and fondled her soft lips with his thumb.

“I am prepared for anything, whether positive or negative. I’ll keep my promise. I won’t back out on my word,” Drake said.

Jenny looked at him with pride, and love, shining from her eyes as she placed her arms around him.

***

Tell us what you think: Does age matter when it comes to romantic love? Is teenage love different to adult love?