Hi. xD Third year of college is in full progress. Yikes. Some of you might have read this chapter already, but I uploaded the version that wasn't autosaved when Word crashed the other day. Oops. So, I've edited.
Caitlyn finally decided on a blue cotton skirt and a yellow top with her black Converse. She grabbed her beautifully decorated but beat-up guitar case (scuffs and scratches and strips of duct tape and bumper stickers because she didn't have a car) and walked out the door to Jason's guitar class.
She sat herself in her usual seat at the front of the class and blushed slightly as Jason winked at her when he walked in the room.
Caitlyn prided herself on being a fairly decent, if amateur-ish guitarist. So when the chord she was supposed to be playing sounded…not like the chord she was supposed to be playing, she was understandably upset. Until Jason came over and guided her fingers to the right place. Then it was better.
"I-um…thanks," she said softly, not looking at him.
"You're welcome," he replied.
She tried not to overthink about how his breath felt on her ear.
When class finally ended, and he had dismissed everyone, Caitlyn hung back.
"Tired?" she asked him with a grin.
"Not anymore."
"Why is that?"
"That noise you made with your guitar…it was hard to ignore."
"HEY!" Caitlyn exclaimed, hitting him in the shoulder.
"Nu-uh," Jason said, grabbing her wrist as it made contact with his shoulder. "No hitting the teacher."
"You dismissed class five minutes ago. You're no longer the teacher." The more she talked, the more she could distract herself from the fact that Jason was still holding her wrist.
"Until the last student leaves the classroom, I'm still the teacher," he said authoritatively.
"Well, then, I guess I'll be going," Caitlyn said, going to pick up her guitar.
"Not so fast, Cait."
He tightened his grip on her wrist and spun her back to him.
"You don't leave til I say you can," he practically growled.
Caitlyn looked up at him, her eyes wide in shock as he drew closer to her.
"OH MY GOD!" Ella said, bursting into the room, and slamming the door behind her. "Nate just won't let up!"
Caitlyn and Jason awkwardly broke apart, and he hurriedly grabbed his guitar.
"And this is an A chord," he said loudly.
"Sorry, was this a private lesson or something?" Ella asked when she noticed them. Her nose scrunched up slightly. "Wait…Caitlyn's no slouch when it comes to guitar. She should know an A chord. OMG, were you two kissing? I'm sorry I interrupted that! I'll just leave. I'll take Nate annoying me about that guy I was talking to."
She turned and left and Caitlyn and Jason were left staring awkwardly at each other.
"Well…that was awkward," Jason said, putting the guitar down.
"I suppose you would know, Mr. This-is-an-A-chord," Caitlyn said with a smirk.
"I thought it was a good cover!"
"It was cute. That's about it," Caitlyn said with a grin. "Now, I have to go to dance class, so I'll see you later."
Later that night, Caitlyn was rolling over in her bed when she heard a familiar voice call her name.
"Caity…Caity…Caityyyy."
She didn't even acknowledge that he was outside her window before she got dressed and walked out the door.
"Cait?" Mitchie asked softly. "What are you doing?"
"Sneaking out to meet Lover-Boy."
"Okay, don't let the lemur by the door throw guavas at you," she said through a yawn as she fell back asleep.
"I won't, Mitch," Caitlyn said as she actually left the cabin this time.
Caitlyn jumped down the steps and looked around for Jason, getting worried when she didn't find him.
All of a sudden, she was pulled off her feet and swept into someone's arms.
"Thought you were never gonna come outside. Worried you had fallen asleep."
"I was kind of waiting for you to visit me."
"I was," she confirmed, smiling as their hands entwined.
"Well...good," Jason said, leading her to a picnic table.
"Any meteor showers tonight?" she asked.
"Does there have to be a meteor shower in order for me to want to talk to you?"
"N-no," she stammered.
He shrugged. "Well, then, there's no meteor shower."
"So...we're just going to talk?"
"Yeah. Tell me about yourself."
"What about me?" she asked.
"Middle name?" he questioned.
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "Rose."
"Caity Rose…I like it."
She laughed. "I sound like a country star with that name."
"Country music is cool."
"Yeah, yeah. What next?" she asked. No guy had ever been this curious about her before. It was unsettling.
"What's your favorite flower?"
She picked at her chipping nails. "I um…I like sunflowers."
"Hmm…" Jason said thoughtfully. "What's your favorite scent?"
"Grass after it rains. It's clean and...fresh."
"What's your favorite movie?"
So many questions...Caitlyn said to herself. "Julie and Julia," she answered.
"Your favorite quote?"
Caitlyn laughed. "That's not a question I get every day."
"Answer it," Jason pleaded.
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love. Unknown author."
"Do you believe that?"
Caitlyn blushed. Jason sounded far too interested in her answer for her comfort. She shrugged. "Yeah. Love's weird. I guess. Never been in it before so I'm not sure."
"Love's weird," Jason confirmed. They were silent for a moment before he asked, "Favorite food?"
"You're going to make me choose?"
"Yes," he smirked.
"Dude. My favorite movie is Julie and Julia. I can't choose one food."
"Fine, one meal."
"Still hard to decide...but...Fettuccine Carbonara with Roasted Tomatoes, Caesar salad, garlic rolls and coconut cake to finish," she said.
Jason smiled widely. "Wow, you're really into that health food thing, huh?"
"I think food should be enjoyable."
"I have no problem with that."
"Good," she said with a toss of her hair.
Jason's brows knitted together in thought. "Favorite...perfume?"
"I like Bath and Body Works stuff."
"What about...on a...guy?" he asked casually. Too casually.
Caitlyn really wanted to grin at his tone, but the question made her kind of nervous. "Uhm...I...I don't know." She knew what she liked…but if she just said flat-out that whatever he wore drove her crazy every time he got close to her, that could be weird.
"Oh, come on...you have to know," he said, getting closer to her.
She held her breath as his scent engulfed her. "I uhm...whatever you wear, I guess..."
"Good to know..." he smirked. Caitlyn couldn't take it. "Now...what's your favorite—"
"My turn to ask questions, dude," she said, cutting him off.
"Ask away."
"All the ones you made me answer," she ordered, figuring that answering those questions would keep him from driving her nuts for a while.
"Allen, Orchids, Lemon Pledge, 101 Dalmatians the cartoon, 'I don't care much about music. What I like is sounds.'—Dizzy Gillespie, the number ninety special at Los Pericos back home without mushrooms or peppers, and this Armani stuff that was a gift…"
"And what about what you like on a girl?" Caitlyn asked shyly.
Jason glanced over at her with a secretive smile. "I like whatever it is you wear, Caity."
"Oh, it's just, you know, White Citrus spray from Bath and Body Works…Nothing special."
"It is special…" he said softly.
And before Caitlyn really knew what was happening, Jason had closed the small gap between them, lowering his face to hers, kissing her very gently on the mouth. His arms wrapped themselves around her waist as he pulled her closer.
An owl hooted nearby and she jumped, breaking away from Jason's embrace.
"I-I-I-I…mistake. Shouldn'ta done that. I-I-I-I…can't do. Not this," she muttered, pushing him away and sliding off the picnic table.
"Caity…Caity, wait," Jason said, grabbing her wrist. "What are you talking about?"
"You can't just kiss me like that, Jason. I…I can't do this. I have problems and you just made it so much more complicated by doing that and I…I…I can't deal with this!" She wrenched away from him and ran back to her cabin, shaking as she opened the door.
Caitlyn didn't know which was worse: seeing the hurt look on Jason's face as she ran away from him or the feeling that she had made a really big mistake.
Yeah. Cliffhanger. *evil grin* Next chapter should be the last.
Also, go check out Interruption by angellwings. It's a Natella based on chapters 2 and 3 of this. And it's totally rad. xD
