Well, jerseygirl13, Sarah DOES come back in the show. And well, James Raleigh's half the reason she went back to England, ;). And I'm sorry about this, but from this chapter on, James' chapters get REALLY short, well, up 'til a point. On the bright side, however, this chapter's pretty funny. I think I like writing James more actually.

James is making yet another HUGE admission in this chapter. He does that a LOT, doesn't he?

Remember, I don't own this. Never have or will.

I'm drenched, but it was worth it. I still can't believe that I kissed her. Uh oh. Moses is glaring at me.

But, then again, I stick out like a sore thumb. I'm dripping wet and shivering. Ugh. I should get rid of some of this water. I could catch pneumonia. That water was so COLD. But I had to bathe sometime, right?

Okay, that's it. I'm shaking some of this water off. I feel like a dog. Hehe, but it's fun to see the looks on the people's faces when they get soaked. Uh oh. Moses' glare is intensifying. He's scary sometimes. Like when you sneak off to Boston to see the Redcoats and wind up throwing the snowball that started the Boston Massacre.

And I thought that punishment was bad. Moses was nicer then. He was also less tall and scary. Which is weird, because he towered over me even more back then.

I'm approaching slowly, that way I can bolt if he lunges at me or something. I tell you, I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't run. I'd probably be long dead by now. I seem to attract danger.

Henri's laughing at me. He knows how dead I am. At least I can swim, more than I can say for a lot of people. I'm really glad that Dr. Franklin taught me how. Moses is crossing his arms over his chest. I'm directly in front of him now, wondering what my punishment will be.

"James? What was that?" Moses asked simply.

I detected the threat in his tone and shivered. I thought for a minute.

"What was what?" I remarked, trying to sound clueless.

I was blonde, after all. Moses rolled his eyes.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, James," Moses countered.

I feigned a confused look.

"What?" I inquired, wondering if Moses had seen the kiss.

I really hoped he hadn't. If he did, he'd have justification to be mad.

Moses sighed, exasperated.

"One minute you were leaving with us, the next, you were swimming to shore," Moses responded, annoyed.

Phew. He didn't know about the kiss. At least, I think so. I scratched the back of my neck.

"Oh, I decided to take a swim," I lied.

Henri grinned at me. Did he know? I hoped he didn't. Eh, I could always kill him if he got on my nerves. Of course, I have so much I can blackmail him with. It's nice to have options.

Moses looked at me suspiciously, but seemed to accept my lame excuse. Why, I do not know. I mean, even Henri saw through that excuse. Of course, he knows ALL about lying. Uh oh. The glare. I have a bad feeling about this punishment. There's going to be lots of it.

"James, I hope that swim was worth it, because you're going to go home, take a hot bath to warm yourself up a little. And after you're done with that, you get to do the wash, clean and sweep the floors, prepare dinner, and set the type until Sarah returns from England," Moses stated sternly.

Henri gasped.

"No! James cannot cook at all! I will starve! If Sarah never comes back, then I will have to eat his awful food for the rest of my life!" Henri moaned, wide eyed, accent thickening.

That is not true! I can cook! I can make, uh, what was it called again? That bread they fed the soldiers with at Valley Forge. Firebread? Sarah would be back. I just have more of an incentive to wait for her to come. She comes home; I don't have any more work to do.

Moses rolled his eyes.

"Well, Henri, if you have any complaints, take them up with Cookie over there. I guess he'll just have to learn how to cook," Moses smirked.

He walked inside. I sighed and went to the bathroom to warm up. I'd forgotten how cold I was.

After I was all nice and pink from the heat, I walked downstairs, where I started setting the printing press. Henri popped up next to me, scaring the living daylights out of me. Seriously, I had to reset an entire row and pick up the letters I dropped on the floor.

"You will kill me, you know. I will get food poisoning from your terrible food, James. You are so mean, mon amie!" Henri complained dramatically.

I laughed.

"Hey, he punished me!" I argued halfheartedly.

Henri gave me a look, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You did not have to lie, you know," Henri continued stiffly.

I sighed.

"Shows what you know," I muttered to myself.

Henri frowned.

"You did not. Non, you could've told him the truth," Henri answered, shaking his head at me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, annoyed. No, I couldn't have told Moses the truth. What was I supposed to say, oh, sorry, I just ran on the ship, kissed Sarah and dove off it? Yeah, I can see how that conversation would go. I'd wind up being punished even more.

"Right. You say that like you weren't in the room when Sarah kissed him. Which reminds me, I never found out why she did that in the first place," I grunted sarcastically.

Henri looked puzzled.

"Sarah kissed Moses?" He asked, perplexed.

I sighed and shook my head. Oh brother. He was clueless about that, even when he was IN THE ROOM, maybe...

"Never mind," I groaned.

Henri gave me a confused look.

"James, I saw you jump on board Sarah's ship. Why did you do it?" Henri murmured quietly.

Okay, maybe he does know. Should I tell him?

I'm sick of lying to everyone. I'm going to tell him. I sighed, rolled my eyes, and looked down at the type I was setting.

"I had to tell Sarah goodbye. In private," I replied calmly.

That was when I stopped being rational and my heart took over my body. Henri gave me a skeptical look.

"Somehow, James, I believe you are not telling me everything, oui?" Henri commented, sounding older.

I exhaled heavily and glared at the boy I considered a little brother. He sure was as annoying as one.

"What do you want from me, Henri? Do you want to know about how we bickered? How she said that America wasn't her country? About how much I hate her at the moment for leaving us, for leaving America, for leaving ME?" I growled, angry.

Henri looked taken aback. I panted, the force of my confession hitting me like the waves of the ocean I had just swam in. But I didn't stop there.

"Or, do you want to know about when I kissed her?" I hissed, the words coming out barely above a whisper.

Henri became silent. The quietest he's ever been in as long as I've known him, even when he's sleeping. Keep in mind that he's an eight-year-old French boy who's obsessed with food. But I wasn't finished yet. No, the cake of my confession didn't have any icing yet.

"Maybe, just maybe, hypothetically, of course, you want to know how much I love her, miss her, and want her to come back to this beautiful land. Maybe you'd like to know how much I want to kiss her and hold her until the war's over. Maybe you'd like to know how I wish I was on that ship, destined for England, even though I hate England as much as I hate those filthy Redcoats, just because then, I'd at least be there, with her!" I snapped, not caring who heard me.

My heart was broken. She'd stomped on it when she left. It was open and bleeding profusely, all because of her. My life was on the line. But nothing mattered anymore. She was gone, back to her comfy home with her mom and that guy. And I was here, all alone, missing her with every fiber of my being.

Somehow, it just didn't seem fair.

- Loren ;*

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