A light knock on the door caused Jason to jump. He got out of his chair and practically ran to the door. He stopped, took a deep breath, and straightened out his clothes with his hands before casually opening the door.
"You weren't there for breakfast," Ella stated. She gave a quick hug with one arm before pulling away and shoving a plate of food using the other. "I fixed up a plate for you," she chirped, as if it wasn't obvious. The plate was loaded with a bowl of cereal, and some dry toast hanging on the side.
"Thanks," Jason said merrily, he led the two of them over to the table. "Good thing Nate cleaned up the place before he left for class. Good 'ole Nate." Jason smiled fondly before turning his head over to Ella's direction. "She's awesome." He decided, fetching a spoon to finish his breakfast.
"I had no clue what type of cereal you like," She laughed. "I just scooped a bit of each into the bowl. Sorry if it's disgusting." Ella winced, then perched her head on her two hands and watched him eat.
"Huh?" Jason looked down at the bowl. "Oh." He laughed too, letting her know it was okay. "My favorite cereal is the one that comes in the shape of ducks? You know the colorful ones. I like the purple ones the best."
"Duck shaped. Purple ones." Ella repeated, she nodded her head. "Got it."
"Of course, Nate says that they 'all taste the same.' And that I shouldn't be consuming so many food dyes or sugar in the morning. Blah blah blah." His voice trailed off.
"That's what my nanny used to say to me." She winkled her nose. "Gosh, she wouldn't let me have any fun. Thats why I used to love going to Peggy's house." She sighed, "What about you guys? I'm sure Connect 3...connected long before becoming a band?"
"Oh, sure." Jason said. He dropped onto the couch with the slices of toast in hand. "We used to go over to Shane's house and pretend to play guitar with the tennis rackets."
"Do you have any pictures?" She was suddenly really interested in seeing what Jason looked like when he was younger. Jason shook his head. "Oh really?"
"I bet you do." Jason looked up in panic. She knew. She was giggling. "If I didn't look completely stupid in the pictures, I would show her them."
"You have pictures. And you won't show me. Are there any here at camp?" She persisted.
"No." He stammered. "It's official. I am the world's worst liar."
"Okay, fine." Ella frowned playfully, and sat down next to Jason. Silence.
Jason twisted uncomfortably. Was she staring at him? Was she mad? "Maybe if I explain that I don't like the pictures..." He fidgeted. "I figure that I owe it to her."
"Alright! I'll show you the pictures! Just stop staring at me!"
What? Ella looked up from her nails. "Jason? You really don't have to show them to me."
He softened. "But I want to." He gave her a reassuring smile. "It'll make you happy."
Aw, what a good boyfriend.
She smiled and took Jason's hand. "Lead me to them!" The whole time she was thinking about how surreal it felt to be with someone that cared so much. This was something that only happened in movies. She smiled while humming to herself as the two walked.
Jason couldn't help but notice Ella's faint singing. He smiled just as she did, and gripped her hand tighter. He hadn't been this happy since his parents surprised him by bringing him to the aquarium for his sixth birthday. "I'll have to show her some pictures of that, too."
"Where are these pictures?" Ella wondered out loud. She felt comfortable walking while the fresh breeze lingered and the morning sun glowered. It was a little chilly, but she felt warm since she was walking so close to Jason, not to mention holding his hand. She could hear him breathing, which made her heart skip a beat, and gave her an urge to throw her head back and start laughing.
"They're in Brown's office." Jason said, trying to remember why exactly. Perhaps it was when his family moved. It had been summertime, and his family had stashed a worn box of photo's in Brown's office; where it had claimed a corner ever since.
...
"You were one good-looking baby," Ella mused. She fingered the creased edges of the photos. "So cute that I could just kiss this photograph." She giggled and rested her head on Jason's shoulders. The two were sitting side-by-side, and he had his arms wrapped around her. He surprised her by leaning in, hesitantly at first, and then kissing her.
"Oh-h. I suppose I should go," Nate muttered as the door to Brown's office creaked.
"No, no, stay." Ella said. She smiled over at Jason.
"Are you sure?" Nate asked, pained. He was gripping the side of the door. "Brown suggested that I come over here and look at some of those pictures?"
The two scooted over inch by inch until there was a spot for Nate, who sat down uncertainly. He ran his fingers through his thick curls. "Don't tell me that she saw the picture of us. With the tennis rackets?"
"Sorry man," Jason said sheepishly. "But hey," he handed a photograph to Nate. It was the two of them at the aquarium. The picture of lopsided, which explained why Shane wasn't in the picture; he had taken it.
"Isn't this where we saw those dancing turtles?" Nate asked, getting into the spirit.
"Imagine how long it took them to learn how to dance!" Ella exclaimed.
"Totally." Jason agreed. He began to count with his fingers. "My guess would be about 6 months." He was pretty sure of his answer. He nodded his head.
"Turtles can live for over a hundred years; way over." Nate retorted.
"That's cool." Ella replied. The couple were staring into one another's eyes. Poor Nate.
The three went through another pile of photographs, they either chuckled to themselves, shared the photo with the group, or hastily shoved it away. Except for Ella, who was having a ball looking at all of them. There was Jason, at the circus. Jason, playing in his backyard. Jason and Shane, both smeared with face-paint. A school picture of Jason, where he had his hands together in front of him. He was wearing a neat collared shirt and a bright red tie. The little boy looked uncomfortable despite the fake smiled he wore on his face.
"I love this one. It makes me smile." Ella said. She hugged the picture close to her. "Let me see," Jason demanded, hoping it wasn't something embarrassing. He grasped the photo and grimaced, remembering the day in which he took the picture. His mother had fussed over him the whole morning, and his father had taught him how to tie his tie. Of course, Jason had messed up beyond belief, and his father had to do it for him.
"It is too possible to get both hands stuck while tying the tie!" Jason suddenly yelled, at no one in particular. Nate rolled his eyes. He then silently hoped that his school photo was somewhere tucked away in his mother's purse or something.
"This picture is lovely, too." Ella breathed. She assumed that it was a family. The mother figure was beaming, and dressed in a white dress with stylish blue stripes on it. She was holding a cute baby, who was peacefully sleeping in a blanket rimmed with lace. The father figure was donned in a strikingly bright white suit, also beaming. He looked at the camera haughtily and smiled. The boy had mischief written all across his face. Ella squinted, realizing it was Jason who was dressed as a sailor.
Jason looked down at the picture. His seemed to fill up with a touch of sorrow.
"This was before the divorce, huh?" Nate said quietly, not exactly sure if they should leave Jason alone.
Jason nodded. "After that, my dad moved to some state in the north." Ella nodded, listening. "I don't remember the name. I visited him a couple of times." Jason shrugged, sorry that he didn't have much information to offer. "But it was such a hassle that we never really saw each other again." His voice trailed off and his heart felt heavy as he said the last words.
Nate stared at the ground.
Ella interlaced her fingers with his. "Even if you don't see him, he probably sees you all the time, on television, on magazine covers. And I bet..." She asserted. "I bet that he's proud of you, or sorry he can't see you more often. He probably thinks to himself, 'My has my boy grown!' or 'That's my son!'" Ella stated, mimicking a low-pitched, husky-sounding voice.
Jason chuckled and looked back at Ella, who was gazing at him expectantly, her eyes shining and her eye-brows raised. "My dad did kind of sound like that." To this, Ella giggled. Even Nate chuckled a bit.
"How do you know exactly what to say?" Nate mumbled in a low voice, glad the awkward silence was over at last.
Ella shrugged, getting up and taking a seat on Brown's large, vivid leather chair. Spinning around, she called out, "Whoo! Do you think he'll mind if we turn on the radio?" The other two did not protest, but just sat there lazily on the ground. Taking this as a 'yes,' Ella pushed her manicured nail onto the power button of Brown's slick, high-tech stereo. She then slipped off the chair and slunk down between her boyfriend and Nate.
An up tempo carol with sleigh bells in the background began to flood the room from the speakers. "I wonder why a radio station would play a Christmas carol in the middle of the summer."
"Oh Nate," Jason said, shaking his head and throwing his hands in the air, "Who cares!?" Ella nodded.
"This would be the perfect time to look at these," She agreed, placing a stack of pictures related to snow in front of them. The pile was so thick that it began to lean and eventually spilled over. "Look at you guys sledding! I bet you that all of your girl-neighbors are sorry they didn't talk to you now." She motioned at their faces and smiled. "You guys are so hot. Especially you, Jason," She threw in casually.
Nate blushed, but rolled his eyes, pretending not to be flattered. Jason just smiled.
"Hey! I had a great time building that snowman." Nate recalled, shoving the picture under their noses. He pointed at the eight-year-old Nate, standing beside the life-size snowman and waving to the camera with his small hands enveloped in gloves. "And that's Shane's snowman. I don't know what the heck you were trying to build, Jason."
She took the photo into her own hands to study. Wishing she had lived in their neighborhood, she ran her hand over Jason's snow sculpture. "It's a duck, silly." She looked over at Jason, waiting for him to confirm that he was correct.
"Finally! Someone figured it out without me having to tell them!" Jason hooted. He smiled over at his girlfriend, "This is definitely a sign; we're soul mates!" He dramatically waved his hand in the air before giving her a light kiss on the cheek.
"Seriously? It's a duck?" Nate asked, distracted. He took the photo back to examine it. Sure, Jason had told him that it was supposed to be a duck all those years ago, but never had a second human being actually agreed that it was indeed a duck. "Wow. Jason, you finally have a supporter."
"What would I do without her?" Jason agreed, stroking Ella's hair.
Ella sighed with bliss, and took the photograph. She put it in a distinct pile.
"What are you doing with those?" Questioned Jason.
"These are my favorite," She explained. "I want to take them with me."
"Take them with you?"
"Yes, so I'll always have a piece of you with me."
AN: This chapter is a bit random, sorry. Please review! Reviews motivate me. (: