As the end of the week was nearing its close, Lisa still hadn't given up on her promise. She was still going to ask Jake out, no matter what. That previous night talking to Becky made her feel a bit more confident then she originally had been. The two sisters talked for what seemed like all night about how she would ask him, when, and, of course, what she would wear. Becky asked her for every single detail about it, although Lisa hadn't a clue as to why she would even care in the first place. But she shrugged it off and allowed her sister to eavesdrop on her plan. But, to be honest… she didn't have a plan. She was just going to find him and pop the question. Even if he said no… It was worth a try!
And so that Saturday evening, Lisa steered one of the Murtaugh's Jet Ski towards the Baker dock, her mind a wish wash of emotions and feelings. Nerves were making her jittery, and she could feel her hands trembling against the Jet Ski's handles. Earlier on that morning, she had managed to get Jake alone with her while everyone played a mediocre game of volleyball, but nerves kicked in and she chickened out. She ended up rambling on about things she can't even remember until running off inside for the "bathroom". But that situation was what fueled her on; made it a necessity to ask him out tonight! Lisa Murtaugh never backed out on anything. Never in her whole life.
But even as she thought this, her stomach was a butterfly habitat that would not go away, no matter how many times she reminded herself it would be okay.
The Jet Ski neared the Baker's dock and she could easily point out Jake, Mark, Mike, and the twins Nigel and Kyle on the shoreline, looking for fish in the shallows. Nigel had his cast covered with a big Ziploc baggie so it wouldn't get wet.
With a final gulp, she parked the Jet Ski and hopped onto the molded wood of the dock, her water shoes squishing with every step. Mike looked up at the sound of her footsteps and nodded at her before nudging the others.
"Hey," Lisa smiled nervously, fiddling with her hands as she approached them. "Whatcha guys up to?"
"We're looking for minnows. I want to study their life span and it might take the whole rest of the trip to fully study it," Mark explained quietly as he bent over the water's edge, bucket in hand.
Lisa looked at Jake funny, and he shrugged and rolled his eyes as if to say "just go with it." Lisa stifled her giggles.
"Want to help?" Kyle asked, his voice on the edge of loud and Mark quickly gave him a glare.
"Don't be so loud, you'll scare them away!" Mark scolded his younger brother, who quickly covered his mouth.
Lisa smiled at the two's bickering. Even though they could all sometimes be at each other's throats, the Bakers were closer than any family she'd seen. They had this invisible bond of some sort she never knew how to explain.
"Anyways, sorry. I can't. I was actually just stop by to see if Jake wanted to hang out." Lisa told the two before looking up at Jake with a shy smile. "We haven't ever really hung out alone for awhile, and I thought it would be fun."
Jake gave a look of relief as he eagerly made his way to the sandy bank, splashing water as he went. Mark shouted at him that he was scaring away the fish, but Jake didn't reply and finally caught up to Lisa with a grin.
"Thank you for saving me," He said under his breath to Lisa, who grinned involuntarily.
"Not a problem." She giggled. "Sorry, Mark! We'll catch up with you guys later." Lisa waved to the other boys as she set off into the forest, no specific destination in mind. As the others waved back, Jake followed her curiously, running to fall in step beside her.
"Where to, Madame?" He asked playfully, nudging her with his elbow. Lisa rolled her eyes jokingly and pushed him away.
"Neverland, you dork." She said sarcastically. Jake snorted beside her, but out of the corner of her eye she could see him smiling."Come on,"
And so for the next hour and a half, the two wandered around the edge of the forest without a care in the world, making random small talk, enjoying each other's company, and just joking around like they usually did. It wasn't awkward or forced like Lisa was afraid it would be. It was just natural; like they had been friends for years. When in reality, they had been. Friends ever since that fateful summer four years ago, while their parents clashed. Luckily, things were resolved and they went back to normal the rest of the summer, acting as if they hadn't just been enemies. Then summer was suddenly over and the Bakers left. And after that, they just never spoke to each other in the width span of four years. But nonetheless, in a sense, Lisa and Jake had still been friends during that time.
After a couple minutes of comfortable silence, an idea formed inside of Lisa's head. Something that could help her ask him out.
"Let's play a game!" She announced giddily, already excited. Jake perked up at her sudden tone and raised his eyebrows at her.
"Alright," He gave a little chuckle. "What do you have in mind?"
Lisa smiled at the sound of his laugh before jumping into the rules of the game. "Okay, so it's called Questions. Let's say I ask you a question. You have either two options; to answer it, or to skip it. If one of the players chooses to skip the question, then the other player has to answer the question they ask and then they win. If they can't answer it and skip it, the game continues."
This would be the perfect opportunity to ask him out without the usual awkwardness of the situation. Lisa could already picture the question rolling off her tongue, him saying yes, the two hugging. But first, she'd have to ask a few questions before hand to warm them up. All she needed was Jake to agree.
"Sounds complicated…" Jake said, rather unconvinced. "But let's give it a try."
Lisa cheered inside her head. "I'll go first. Umm… what's your favorite color?" Lisa decided to go with the easiest question first.
"Easy. Green." Jake decided with a small. "I ask now, right? Umm… what's your favorite season?"
Lisa smiled at that question. "Summer by far. I love coming to this lake; it's one of the things I look forward to all year."
"Aww, that's cute." Jake chuckled. Already, Lisa could tell they were nearing the house and began to panic. She needed more time! As they followed the dirt trail, Lisa began to grow nervous. At the end she could see the Baker's lake house in the distance.
"My turn now, right?" Lisa asked and Jake nodded. "What's your biggest pet peeve?"
Jake pondered his answer for a second. "I don't know why, but when people scrape their plate with a fork it always gets to me. I just hate the sound." He mused with a smile.
Lisa giggled, nodding her head in agreement. As the last tree past them, she grabbed onto Jake's hand and tugged him in the direction of the lake shore. "Come on, I want to go feel the water." She lied, really only needing more time. "We can continue our game there."
Jake nodded and allowed her to tug him in the direction of the sandy shoreline. Together, the two of them walked onto the wobbly dock and sat at the edge, dipping their feet in the water. Lisa tried to hide her smile when she sensed how close Jake's hand was to hers.
"Your turn." She smiled cheerily at him, and he smiled back.
"Okay…" He sat there and thought for a bit, staring across the murky water. When he decided, he turned to her. "Who's your favorite sibling?"
Lisa bit her lip. "Well, I hate picking favorites, but I'd go with Becky. She's just always been there for me, especially lately."
For some odd reason, she felt Jake tense up next to her. He gave her a stiff nod. "Yeah…"
Lisa sensed that he wasn't comfortable right now, and even though she didn't know why, she wanted to quickly change the subject. "What about you?" She asked quickly.
He gave out a sigh, and Lisa wondered if she had said something wrong. Wondered if she upset him in some way. But before she could say anything, he spoke up. "It's kind of complicated right now… It, umm, it used to be Sarah. But we're kind of in a fight right now."
Lisa turned to give him a look of concern, but his eyes didn't meet hers. He was staring down at the water, creating ripples with his toe. His lips were turned into a deep frown and his eyes masked the pain only Lisa could see. "The only problem is that I don't even know why. She just was suddenly mad at me. And now she's ignoring me."
"Oh, Jake." She felt truly bad for him right now. All her life Lisa had known Sarah, and it didn't seem like she was the type of girl to do that. She and Jake were as close as siblings could be, and quite frankly she didn't know what to say that would make him cheer up. "I'm so sorry."
Jake waved her apology away with a shrug, flashing her half a smile. "Thanks."
"I wish I could do something." Lisa told him. She really did.
But Jake only shrugged again, the smile gone. She could tell it was really hurting him. But then again, of course it was! If Becky had been ignoring Lisa for some unknown reason, she'd feel hopeless. Devastated, even. What would I have done in a situation like this? Lisa asked herself, biting her lip.
"Hey, don't get too wrapped up into it." Jake told her, breaking her thoughts. He was now looking at her, the same concern she had filling his eyes. "This is my fight to settle. Don't worry about it, I got it." He gave her a smile and she hastily returned one back.
And then they sat on the dock together, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. Jake thinking about Sarah, and Lisa thinking about that very question that made her come over to this house in the first place. It was on the tip of her tongue, and once again a wave of butterflies erupted in her stomach. Her hands grew clammy and she was glad for once that her and Jake weren't holding hands at that moment.
Suddenly, Jake stood up. It startled Lisa a bit, and she looked up at him, covering her eyes with her hand from the harsh sunlight above.
"I'm going to go find her, and see if I can talk to her." Jake told her in a hurried rush, already backing away from the dock. Lisa at first didn't understand who he was talking about, but as soon as it registered Jake was already jogging up to the house. And then she realized that had been one of her big chances that she just ruined.
"Jake, wait!" She yelled after him and stood up, but it was too late. She watched the screen door swing shut with one last squeak of the rusted hinges, a sense of finality hanging around it. And once again, Lisa Murtaugh knew she ruined a major chance. If she didn't ask soon, all her doubts would overcome her and she would probably never ask him out. She needed to do it soon.
Guys, I don't know how frequent I can update because school starts tomorrow and I'm heading into high school this year. Officially a freshman!(: But anyways, yeah, I'm not sure how quick I can update this story so expect large gaps between each chapter in the future. So sorry, I feel awful doing this but it's the only way I can focus and do well in school. I won't forget this story entirely though, I promise!3