The show: If you never saw Young Americans, which apparently many of you did not, it's a show about a poor 15-year-old kid named Will Krudski who gets a scholarship to attend a prestigious boarding school called Rawley Academy. You don't need to remember his name, however, because I write about Jake and Hamilton. Jake is actually Jacqueline Pratt, who is neglected by her actress single mother and decides to make a point by disguising herself as a guy and enrolling at a boys' school so that when she gets caught, her mother will realize how oblivious she's been. It all gets very Twelfth Night when Jake falls for Hamilton Fleming, the son of the dean. If you want to know more about them, you can read my profile. Scout is Will's roommate, and Finn is their English teacher a la Robin Williams in Dead Poets' Society.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters but use them only for the enjoyment of my fellow residents of Denialville.
Oh, how Jake loved study time.
Her chest rested against Hamilton's stomach as he lay on his back on her bed and she lay stretched out right on top of him, her book propped on his chest and the way-too-small print swimming before her tired eyes. As she looked down, her attention wandered off the page and onto Hamilton's crimson sweater. That was her new favorite thing about winter – Hamilton looked great in a sweater.
Her gaze drifted upward, and she could see that the book Hamilton held up over his eyes was beginning to sink, lower and lower until it covered his face. Jake knew he was falling asleep, as he usually did somewhere between ten and fifteen pages into his reading assignments. Normally she wouldn't rush to wake him up, but tomorrow was the last day of fall semester, a full day of final exams, and then they'd be separated for three weeks of winter break. So every moment of the evening that Hamilton didn't spend studying he'd better spend kissing her.
Jake slipped the cap back on her highlighter and urged softly, "Hamilton, wake up."
"No," came his muffled response from underneath his book.
"Come on." She lifted Tess of the D'Urbervilles off his face and scooted forward so her mouth was right over his. "Hey, you've still got fifty more pages."
Hamilton opened his eyes when he felt her breath on his face. He reached up and grasped her head in his hands and pulled her down for a kiss. She happily returned it. His lips were so sweet -- literally -- he tasted like the peanut brittle and butter toffee he'd been munching on, Christmas candy from little holly-covered tins. Gifts for the Dean, mostly food baskets, had been pouring into the Fleming house all week from alumni, friends, and teachers. Hamilton would often show up in Jake's room with a cheese wheel and shrink-wrapped sausages or shortbread and German spice cookies. One day he had even brought her several tiny jars of jam.
"What do I do with a bunch of jars of jam?" she had asked him.
"I don't know. You're a girl. I thought girls like little jars of things."
"Gee... thanks."
"You can put it on a scone or something."
"Did you bring any scones?"
"No."
"Oh."
So the little jam jars had gone into hiding with the other girl stuff, under the bed with the tampons and fashion magazines. Oh, but she loved him. For everything he did that was sweet and stupid.
And now, sinking into his buttery sweet mouth, she didn't care about anything else but him. She didn't care about the English Lit final, the American History final. Plane Geometry was just plain pointless. All that mattered was this warm body beneath her. She grasped at crimson wool, as if she could dig through his sweater to feel his chest. Hamilton slid one hand down her front and slipped his fingers between the buttons of her shirt. His other hand still grabbed at her head, keeping her lips firmly against his, mouth open. He felt like he couldn't kiss her deep enough. He always wanted to go deeper. They both did. It was getting harder to accept that kissing was enough.
Actually, it hadn't been enough for quite a while. They'd been together for almost five months now, and ever since the chastely erotic visit to New York, they'd been exploring various states of nakedness. But Jake insisted they weren't ready for sex. They were only sixteen, after all.
Only sixteen, only five months together… but already inside each other in so many ways.
Their mouths never separated as Jake moved her legs to straddle Hamilton, her thighs pressing against his hips. Her hands went around his neck, and she pulled her lips away just long enough to murmur, "Hamilton . . ." -- as if by saying his name she could somehow draw him closer.
"Mmmmm. Jake, baby --" he moaned softly as he rolled over so that they were side by side. Books were pushed aside and then dropped to the floor. "I can't take three weeks without you."
"I know. I can't either."
Hamilton leaned forward so he was almost on top of her. He began unbuttoning her shirt, placing baby kisses on her neck that grew more passionate as he moved toward her chest, lower and lower . . .
Until a knock on the door, loud and insistent, broke his concentration. Hamilton let out an exasperated sigh and sank his forehead against her chest.
Jake lowered her voice an octave. "Who is it?" she yelled.
An all-too-familiar voice came through the closed door for the third time that evening. "It's Scout. Can I come in?"
Hamilton groaned, then whispered, "Tell him to go away."
"What do you want now?" Jake called to Scout.
"Study questions for history. Will said you had some."
"Scout, I already gave them to him!"
"They only go up to the Louisiana Purchase. You've got more, right?"
"Can't I just e-mail them to you?"
"Come on, Jake. I need them now! I'm totally screwed without those questions."
Jake sighed. "Hold on, I'm coming!" She kissed Hamilton's forehead in apology.
Hamilton raised his head from her chest and looked at her seriously. "Do you like Scout?"
"What do you mean?" She gave him a confused look back as she pulled away from him and stood up.
"I mean, you wouldn't mind too much if I killed him, would you?"
Jake smiled at him for just a second then opened the door to find both Scout and Will standing in the hallway. They walked into her room, both of them holding their hands behind their backs.
Scout eyed Jake and her tousled hair, then cast a glance at Hamilton on the bed. "How do you guys get any studying done?"
Jake ignored this question. "Hold on a sec. I'll print out the questions."
"Don't bother," replied Scout. "I don't actually need them."
"What?!" Hamilton demanded, getting pissed.
Will looked at Hamilton. "Every time we come in Jake's room, you're here, and you're either working at the computer with her sitting in your lap, or you're reading a book with her on top of you."
"So?"
"So," Scout explained, "between studying for finals and writing term papers, Will and I haven't gotten any action for at least a month. The girls are all sequestered at their dorm like there's a plague or something."
"Why are you telling us this?" asked Jake warily.
"We just want the two of you to know that we hate you." Scout smiled slightly after he said this, a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.
"And we think," added Will, reaching behind his back and drawing a water gun, "that you need to cool off!"
Will took aim at Hamilton, who yelled and flipped over to shield his face from the spray. Scout drew a Super Soaker of his own and squirted Jake as she darted away toward the bed. She started to scream then stopped herself, remembering that the door was wide open.
"You are so gonna die, Krudski!" Hamilton yelled as he writhed on the bed, Will soaking his back with an almost continuous stream of cold water.
Scout managed to get several nice wet shots at Jake's head before she ducked behind the bed.
She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him, but he just laughed, so she grabbed Hamilton's book and threw that. She almost nailed Scout right below the belt, but he managed to catch the book.
"Hey, watch the aim!" he yelled. He looked at the cover. "You're still reading Tess?"
"That's mine!" Hamilton shouted from inside Jake's bedspread, which he had managed to wrap himself in.
"Ham, this spine looks barely cracked," Scout teased.
That was the last straw. Hamilton threw back the bedspread and lunged at Scout with eyes on fire.
Will yelled a warning. "Dude, run!!"
"Shit!" Scout shrieked. He knew that a pissed-off Hamilton was dangerous, and he took off running down the hall with Hamilton chasing after him. Will decided he'd better go save Scout, so he disappeared out the door as well.
Alone, Jake shook her wet head and flopped down on the bed. She thought for a minute, then got up and started gathering Hamilton's books and papers and putting them in his backpack.
"What are you doing?" Hamilton asked from the doorway.
Jake looked up, startled by his sudden reappearance. "I thought you were kicking Scout's ass."
"I was going to, but then I realized that this is probably all part of their evil plan to trick me into spending less time with you." He came in and closed the door behind him. "And I refuse to be baited into their trap."
Jake half-smiled. She tossed him his backpack. "Go home Hamilton."
"Why?!"
"Because Scout's right. We're not going to get any studying done this way. And I need to pass all my exams so I can complete a full semester at one school and have some hope of graduating before I'm 30. Besides, you're all wet. You need to change."
"I bet you have something I could change into."
"No."
"What's the use of having a girlfriend who dresses like a guy if I can't borrow any of her clothes?"
"Go. I mean it."
Hamilton hung his head. "I can't believe you're kicking me out."
"Awww. . . don't pout, Hammie."
Jake went to him and slid her arms around his waist. She put her nose against his and tilted his head back up. "You'll see me tomorrow night. And we'll finish fall semester with a bang."
Hamilton's whole expression changed, his face lighting up. "Yeah! We're all-systems-go for 4:15. Remember, we've got to get to the computer lab tomorrow right after the last exam."
His military reference amused her. "Should we synchronize our watches?" she teased.
"I'm not that bad, am I?"
"No, it's just funny to see you so excited about this."
"It's gonna be so cool, baby, you're not going to believe it."
"I wrote the launch program, so I can believe it. What I can't believe is that I'm contributing to your juvenile delinquency."
She smiled at him, and Hamilton stole a kiss. "I'm not ready to go," he whispered.
Jake kissed him back, not ready to let him go yet either – for the night or for the next three weeks. She turned her head to look at the frost-glazed window and the late December night beyond it. The winter had been strangely devoid of snow, but it was definitely cold, and she hated sending him out into the freezing night.
She leaned her forehead against his. "You get five minutes."
"Five minutes of what?"
Jake smiled and whispered, "Five minutes of whatever you want."
Hamilton raised an eyebrow suggestively. "You know, there are a lot of things that I could do to you in five minutes."
"Yeah, but would I still respect you in the morning?"