Dream of Starlight
"Please, Jake?" Samantha Forster asked her friend. She seriously considered batting her eyelashes to help her cause, but in the end decided that it really wouldn't affect what Jake would say. There was also the fact that whenever she did that around Jake she just felt stupid.
Jake Ely didn't say anything. He just pulled his cowboy hat down lower over his eyes and shook his head.
Sam was only slightly deterred. "Come on, Jake. I don't ask you to do tons of things. And I've certainly never asked you to go to a dance with me."
Jake snickered. That was a good sign. He wasn't too annoyed by her badgering yet. "You've asked me plenty of things in your life."
Sam huffed. "None of them like this request. The other things were dangerous and you had good reason to say no. You have no good reason to say no to this dance."
Again, he didn't say anything, just looked at her with that lazy tomcat smile on his face.
Sam narrowed her eyes. "And don't you dare mention prom. That was completely your mom's idea."
"Wouldn't think of it," Jake drawled.
Sam didn't miss the glint in his eye. Crossing her arms over her chest, she challenged, "Give me one good reason why you can't go. And don't say it's because you don't want to."
"Tell me, Brat," Jake answered lazily, "why would I want to spend one of my only nights back at home at a school dance?"
Sam tilted her chin up and looked at him directly. "Because you'd be at the dance with me."
The corners of his lips twitched. "How does that make a difference?"
Sam groaned. "Look, I know you don't like going to dances. I know you have better things to do, and I know you may rather spend your night with somebody else." Jake had pulled his hat down even further so Sam missed the slight frown that crossed his face at those words. "But Jake, I haven't gone to any school dances all year because I didn't have a date. Could you please go with me? You wouldn't even have to get dressed up."
Jake was silent for a bit, and then he asked gruffly, "How'd you not have a date?"
Sam hesitated as her face reddened. She wasn't about to tell him that she didn't want to go with anybody else, and she wasn't going to tell him that she had turned down everybody who asked. She also wasn't going to lie. She'd have to phrase her answer carefully. "Nobody worthwhile asked me to go."
"And I'm worthwhile?" came the quiet response.
Sam wished she could see the rest of his face so she'd know if he was joking or if he was serious. "Technically, you're not asking me, I'm asking you. So that doesn't necessarily make you worthwhile."
"Answer the question, Brat."
"I just did," Sam mumbled to herself. However, knowing that Jake was more likely to go with her if she was agreeable, she replied, "You're more worthwhile than the guys who asked me."
She wasn't sure if that'd be enough for him. He was silent for another stretch of time. She saw him reach a hand up to rub the back of his neck, then he said, "You really want to go?"
"Yes," Sam responded immediately. She nearly followed it up with another please but at the last second decided to stick to her one-word answer.
Jake gave the briefest of nods. "Fine."
At first Sam wasn't sure if she'd heard him correctly, but then, after it sunk in, she grinned. "Awesome."
Later that night Sam slowly descended down the stairs, careful not to trip in her heels. She would have been perfectly content wearing flats to go with her knee-length black skirt and blue sweater, but Gram had strongly encouraged her to wear the one-inch silver heels. With her hair slightly curled so it rolled down her back in shimmering mahogany waves, Sam didn't feel too shabby.
She was concentrating so hard on not tripping that when she reached the bottom of the staircase, the sight of Jake only a few feet in front of her startled her. She automatically reached back for the banister to steady herself. "Jake! When'd you get here?"
"While ago," he drawled, smirking at her. "You take time to get ready."
Sam scowled at him, but before she could reply, Gram bustled in from the kitchen. "He's joking, Sam. He only just got here a couple of minutes ago." Then she turned to Jake. "Sam may take longer than you do to get ready, but she takes a lot less time than other girls her age do. Be thankful."
"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled. Sam wasn't sure, but she thought she may have seen his face darken under his hat.
Now it was Sam's turn to smirk at him. "Are you ready, Jake?"
He didn't reply, and Sam rolled her eyes at him.
"Let me get a couple of pictures of you two, and then you can leave," Gram requested, holding up a camera.
"Gram!" Sam squawked. "You took plenty of pictures at his prom last year, and this is just a lowly school dance. You don't need to take any pictures."
Gram waved away Sam's protests. "Nonsense, dear. You both have changed since the prom last year. And it isn't very often that I get to see you dressed up. It will only be a couple of pictures."
"That's what you said last year," Sam muttered, but she obediently stepped to Jake's side and smiled.
After Gram had taken a few shots of them, she requested, "All right, now Sam, how about you step in front of Jake, and Jake, you place your hands lightly on Sam's waist."
"Gram, it's not like we have all night long to take pictures," Sam reminded her. "We do have a dance to get to."
"Now, Sam, the faster that you two cooperate, the faster that you can leave," Gram replied, gesturing for them to take their newly assigned poses.
Sam's eyes narrowed into slits, and she heard Jake muttering incoherently as she reluctantly stepped in front of him. It took a few moments, but soon his hands settled on her waist. She blinked at the feel of his hands and decided that she kind of liked it.
By the time Gram had finally gotten enough pictures, both Sam's dad and stepmother had stepped into the room, with Brynna holding Sam's one-year-old brother, Cody.
"You two look good together," Brynna told them. Then, as if realizing what she'd implied, she quickly added, "I mean, you both look very nice in your outfits."
Sam nodded as she slipped on her coat with her eyes sparkling mischievously. "Thanks. I'm impressed that Jake isn't wearing dirty clothes."
Sam didn't look at Jake to see his reaction, but if she had to guess, she would say that he was glaring at her. She would have guessed right.
"What time you planning on having her home by, Jake?" Wyatt asked gruffly.
"Eleven, sir. Unless you'd like her back earlier," Jake answered just as gruffly.
"Eleven's fine." Wyatt nodded at them. "Have fun, but not too much fun." This last bit was said with a pointed look at Jake.
"Yes, sir," Jake mumbled. Sam swallowed her snickers, knowing that he wouldn't appreciate her laughter at his embarrassment.
"Okay, see you guys later." Sam stepped up placed a kiss on Cody's cheek. "Be good, baby boy."
Cody just smiled his baby smile at her, making Sam smile back. Then she grabbed Jake's hand and pulled him out of the house.
"Didn't have to rush us out of the house like that, Brat," Jake muttered as she continued dragging him across the yard to his truck. Surprisingly, he didn't put up much of a fight.
"Yes, I did," Sam argued. "If I didn't, it would have taken forever to get out of there."
Jake just snorted in response.
The ride to Darton High School passed by mostly with Sam chattering and Jake occasionally mumbling answers. Not that Sam had really expected Jake to say anything to her in response to her ramblings, but she hadn't wanted to just sit in silence the entire way, even if Jake was okay with it.
Once they got to the high school, Jake parked the truck, and Sam was about to open her door when Jake stopped her with one word. "Wait."
Sam blinked in bewilderment as her hand froze on the door handle. "What do you mean, 'wait'?"
He didn't say anything, but instead got out of the truck and loped over to her side. Sam watched him in confusion until he opened her door and offered her a hand. She gaped at him, wondering what this was about, as she couldn't see his face since it was hidden under his hat. Finally she took his hand, and he helped her down out of the truck.
"Jake?" Sam asked warily as they walked to the doors. "What was that about?"
"Don't know what you're talkin' 'bout," Jake muttered.
"Yes, you do." Sam stopped and placed her hands on her hips. "You aren't usually so...gentlemanly. What's up with that?"
Jake brought his hand up and pushed his hat away from his face slightly. Sam couldn't help but feel grateful for the gesture; she much preferred being able to see his face. "It's a dance, Brat. Figured I should act a little more proper tonight."
"It's a high school dance," Sam emphasized. "It's not a wedding, church, or even prom. It's a normal dance. Why would you need to act more proper?"
"Just go along with it," Jake told her with a sigh. He offered her his hand. "We going in or not?"
"Fine," Sam acquiesced after one final peculiar look at him. She accepted his hand and forced herself to ignore how good and right his hand felt against hers.
Once they were inside the school building, Sam gasped at the room in front of her. What was normally an odorous and disgustingly dirty gymnasium had been transformed into a starlight wonderland. It was dressed in the nines with twinkling stars above their heads and all around the room, with the color scheme appearing to be dark blue and a sparkly silver. Sam was astonished at how beautiful it looked.
"Whoa," Sam heard Jake say under his breath.
"I know, right?" Sam said softly to him. She let go out of her hand and spun around slowly, taking it all in. "I almost feel like I snuck in here and am just pretending to be a duchess or something. Like I'm not really worthy of this."
"You are, Sam," Jake told her in a low voice. His hat was once again covering his face, much to Sam's annoyance. "You're worthy of it."
Sam glanced at him. "Thanks. I think." She spotted Jennifer Kenworthy and Ryan Slocum over by the food table. "C'mon, let's go over by Jen and Ryan."
"Sam, what do you think of all of this?" Jen asked when they walked up. She used her hand to gesture around the gym. "Pretty fancy, huh?"
"Yeah," Sam agreed. She sighed happily. "It's great. If only I could freeze time right here and now."
"I have to agree with you there," Jen told her wistfully. "Sometimes I can't wait to get out and go to college, but it's other times like this where I wish I could stay sixteen forever."
"Exactly. I don't want to leave this school, these people, this town, this everything," Sam stated. "It's too great."
"Don't be worrying so much about things you can't change," Jake cut in, much to Sam's surprise. "You're going to leave. Accept it. But you're not there yet; don't let the thought spoil the rest of your life."
Jen raised her eyebrows and looked at Jake mockingly. "Wow. Words of wisdom from Jacob Ely. Will wonders never cease."
Even Ryan was staring at Jake in disbelief. "I can't believe you spoke more than five words at a time."
"Shut it," Sam snapped, feeling defensive against their teasing of Jake. "He's the only one of us who's in college. I'm guessing that he's going to know a little more about these things than we do."
A slight smile appeared on Jen's face as she heard her best friend vehemently standing up for Jake. She exchanged a look with Ryan who looked just as amused, and then said, "You could have a point. But if Jake here is so smart, why is he at a high school dance when he should be back at college?"
Sam felt herself scowling, but before she could say anything, Jake drawled, "It's not the where, it's the who." He jerked his head toward Sam. "You think it's dumb to be spending time with Sam?"
Sam blinked in shock at his words. Jen and Ryan seemed equally bewildered.
Ryan quickly recovered. "Look, let's not spend the night arguing with each other. Let's just enjoy the night while we can."
"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Jen muttered under her breath.
"There are no sides here, guys," Sam said. "We're all friends, even if you don't believe it half of the time."
"Well, that would be because some of us are not technically friends," Jen mumbled with a look at Jake.
The others wisely kept from replying to her comment.
"Come on, let's go dance to this marvelous tune," Sam exclaimed when nobody else said anything. She grabbed Jake's hand and tugged. "Jake?"
"Coming," Jake mumbled. Sam couldn't help but be a bit surprised that he didn't argue.
Once on the dance floor and swaying to beat, Sam saw an all-too-familiar smirk appear on Jake's face. "What?"
"'Marvelous tune'?" he quoted her with a quirked brow.
Sam glared at him. "It's the decorations. The whole starlight theme makes me feel like using words I wouldn't normally use."
"Right." The smirk didn't leave his face.
"No, honestly, Jake. It's the theme of the dance. Makes me feel like starlight...makes me feel like dreaming impossible things," Sam said softly, looking up at the ceiling full of stars.
Jake didn't respond verbally, but when Sam moved her gaze to his face, she found curiosity there. Knowing him well enough to know what he was asking her, she replied, "You know, dreaming things that couldn't possibly happen. Like us getting married, having ten kids, and then teaching them how to dream of impossible dreams." Sam paused and thought about the last phrase she'd just said. "Well, maybe the whole teaching the kids to dream impossible dreams doesn't really make sense. But it sounded good."
Sam looked back at Jake and realized he had stopped moving. Instead, he was looking at her with a funny expression on his face. "What?"
His eyes became hooded. "You dream of us getting married?"
Sam's eyes doubled in size as her face burned from embarrassment. "What? No! I mean, that's not what I said. No. It was just an example!"
"An example of something impossible?" he said quietly. Sam noticed that even though he'd stopped moving to the beat, he still had one hand on her waist with her hand in the other.
"Well...yeah," Sam stuttered, feeling her face get hotter as she fumbled for words. She averted her eyes away from his face. "I mean, it was just something that came to mind. It's kind of impossible, don't you think? Imagine, us getting married." She laughed nervously and continued rambling. "And having ten kids? Of course not. That's even more preposterous than us getting married. I mean, that's preposterous enough, right? It's—"
"Sam." It was only word one, but the tone that Jake uttered it in was enough to get her to abruptly stop rambling and look at him.
The expression on his face made her swallow hard. It was something that Sam had never seen on him before. She tried to name it, but she could only come up with a combination of different things, including frustration, befuddlement, anxiety, and perhaps even a little hope.
The fact that she was able to see all of this in his expression showed just much he was struggling with his emotions. Most of the time when Jake was in a stressful or uncertain situation he would just assume a blank look, yet this time was different, for some reason. Sam, clueless as ever, couldn't figure out why.
When he didn't say anything else, just kept staring at her with that look on his face, Sam became nervous. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You are..." he started, and then seemed to change his mind. His next words came out very slowly and precisely. "Why is the thought of us getting married so impossible to you?"
The redness that had so recently subsided returned full force to Sam's face. "Isn't it to you?" she returned to him in confusion, not really knowing what she was supposed to say. "I mean, isn't the thought impossible to you, too?"
He blinked. "No."
"No?" she repeated, staring at him. This was a side of Jake that Sam had rarely, if ever, seen.
"We're friends," he stated slowly. "Why would it be impossible?"
"Because..." Sam trailed off, and then began again. "Well, because you're you and I'm me. We don't...I mean, we aren't like that. We're friends." Even if being more may have crossed my mind at different times.
His mustang eyes, which she could actually see for a change, smoldered at her. "What, and it's not possible that we could ever be more than friends?"
He's talking crazy, was the first thought that ran through Sam's head after he had spoken. She felt her eyebrows shoot up as she gulped. It was one thing for Jake to use sarcasm when he was teasing her, but it was quite another for him to use it in a situation like this. "Um..."
"C'mere, Brat," he muttered, removing his one hand from her waist and using his other to pull her along with him.
"What? Where are we going?" Sam asked as she followed him. She was completely lost about what was happening between them and decided it would be for the best if she just went with him.
He didn't satisfy her with an answer; instead he continued leading her out of the decorated gymnasium, through the school hallways, out the front doors, and over to a secluded area where Sam could look up at the night sky and see the stars peeking out of the darkness.
"Jake? What are you doing? We're going to get in trouble," she whispered, wishing that there was a little moonlight so she could see him better.
As if summoned, the moon came out from hiding behind the clouds. It wasn't a full moon; no, that would have been only too convenient. But it was a half-moon, and that was good enough for Sam. She was now able to see that his hat was tilted further upward than normal and he was looking at her.
"Since when have you cared about getting into trouble?" he teased her gently.
Sam just rolled her eyes at him, even though she knew he couldn't see in the darkness. She had a feeling that he knew exactly what her response had been, anyway.
She saw him shake his head when she didn't say anything. "Not going to get in trouble," he replied to her in a low voice, becoming serious once more. "Teachers won't even notice we're gone."
Perhaps that sentence should have evoked a feeling of fear and wariness in Sam, but it ended up doing just the opposite – it relaxed her. "Okay. So why are we out here?"
"You think it would be impossible for us to get married, Brat?" he asked her point blank. Unfortunately, the moonlight and starlight weren't bright enough for Sam to see enough of his face to know how he was feeling.
"It..." she started, feeling confused. "Well, yes. Why wouldn't it be impossible?"
"Why wouldn't it be possible?" he countered.
Sam looked at him warily. "Jake. It's not like we're...like we've...well, we're just friends." She shrugged. "We've always been friends, and we've never been more than that. There's no reason for me to feel like marriage is possible."
"Then maybe I should give you a reason," Jake challenged her.
Sam raised a brow in inquiry, wondering what he was thinking. "What?"
He just looked at her in response, and even though Sam couldn't fully make out his face in the darkness, she suddenly knew what he was about to do. Her eyes widened and she felt blood rush to her face as she swallowed in anticipation. She brought her hands up to rest on his shoulders as he carefully placed his on her waist like he had earlier for the pictures Gram had taken.
Jake seemed to hesitate slightly, as if questioning what he was about to do, but then it was like he threw caution to the wind. Sam was slightly startled when, instead of slowly leaning in like she thought he would, Jake dipped his head down and in one smooth motion pressed his lips against hers.
She savored the softness of his lips for a moment before responding to him. She felt him tighten his hands on around her waist as she leaned into him further and firmly held onto him.
The brief moments in paradise were over all too soon for Sam's liking. Jake was the first to pull back, and to Sam it seemed that he did so reluctantly. But then, she may just be assuming that he felt the same way that she did.
He pulled back enough so there were a few inches of space between them, but not so far that Sam couldn't see his eyes boring into hers.
"You have a reason now?" were the first words that he uttered after being silent for a few moments longer.
"I...what?" Sam stuttered, still in a daze from the kiss. She shook her head slightly to clear her head and then tried again. "Um, yeah. Yeah. I have a reason."
"For what?" he inquired. Sam looked at him like he was crazy. She thought he might have had a tiny smile on his face when he elaborated, "Tell me what you have a reason for."
Sam sighed and rolled her eyes, all the while trying to hide her own smile. "Fine. I, Samantha Forster, may have reason to think that...the idea of marrying Jacob Ely...may be crazy, ridiculous, and insane...but it's...not...completely impossible."
She could only imagine that now he was the one rolling his eyes at her and smirking. "Good enough."
She opened her mouth to say something in response but was stopped by Jake placing a finger on her lips. "C'mon, Brat. Let's head back inside."
And, instead of making a smart remark, Sam chose to simply nod. She took his hand as he led her back into the school building, smiling to herself as she walked.
This had been her best night ever.
Author's Notes
First of all, the standard disclaimer: I don't own these characters and am not making any profit off of this!
The idea for this fic was inspired by Taylor Swift's "Starlight," but only because whenever I hear the song I think of dancing at a dance, not because the song is actually about a dance. In any case, I don't own the song.
The prom that was mentioned by Sam in the beginning is referring to the prom mentioned in one of the Wild Horse Island books. I'm not sure which book, though; it's been a while since I've read those.
This was originally written for moleking's challenge, but unfortunately I didn't get it posted in time. In any case, I still have moleking to thank for getting me to take the plunge into writing PS fanfic ;)
Thanks to Kavazya for being my beta-reader and saying that this is perfect as it is! That is truly a compliment.
Thanks to anybody who read this! (And also thanks to Sam and Jake for cooperating with me. I was impressed by how readily they talked :D)
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