JESSICA

"Hey Jess," Jeremy said, after the pep rally, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing the back of my neck.

I squirmed out of his reach, "Hey,"

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked with a question in his eyes.

We had just finished up the pep rally and I saw Damon sitting in the audience during the rally.

"Nothing," I lied.

I was still shaken up about the kiss yesterday, and facing Jeremy was hard-really hard.

"Okay, well we were all going to head to Guido's did you wanna come?" He asked, referring to the pizza parlor that everyone at Sweet Valley High went to.

As soon as the pep rally was over it was an early dismissal and everyone had been making plans.

"Well actually, me and Liz were going to go to Vito's with some of our old friends from SVJH," I said, Liz was already waiting for me by the entrance of the gym.

"Oh, okay, well see you," Jeremy said giving me a quick kiss and then jogging back over to his football friends.

I walked over to Liz and rested my head on her shoulder, "This is so hard,"

Me, Liz, Anna, and Kristin all drove over to Vito's together.

"Oh my God, Jessica?" I heard someone ask.

I turned around and saw the one and only, Bethel McCoy.

"Oh my God, Bethel!" I squealed and ran over to her, giving her a hug.

"I knew you were at the school, but I hadn't seen you, wow, you're a... cheerleader," Bethel said, looking at my cheerleading uniform with a hint of disgust in her voice, I could tell it was just sarcasm though.

I laughed and we headed over to one of the tables, it was the one with 4 tables all put together.

Liz was already sitting down talking to Salvador and laughing, he had his arm around her shoulder.

Bethel glanced at the table, "Okay, no seats together, well I'm going to sit by Jameel, there's a seat by Damon," she said pointing to where Damon was sitting.

I felt my heart flutter but I nodded and went over next to him and sat down.

"Hey," I said quietly.

"Hey," he replied, "You were great today,"

"Huh? Oh, thanks," I said, a little out of the conversation.

"Hey you guys, what type of pizza do you want?" Toby asked.

"Pepperoni with extra cheese," we both ended up saying in unison.

"Same old, same old," Salvador said sarcastically.

Liz laughed and rested her head on his shoulder.

The rest of the group laughed.

"The dynamic duo, together again!" Kristin said with a smile.

"To old friends, and old relationships," Bianca and Larissa said, and the rest of the group except for Damon and me raised our glasses and clinked them with each other's. I guess we were both out of it.

"Are you guys okay?" Liz asked.

"I'm fine, great, never better, just a headache," I said.

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night," Damon said.

Me neither. I thought.

We finished eating and everybody got up to head back to his or her houses.

"I'm getting a ride home with Sal, Anna, and Toby," Liz told me walking over to me, slipping her tan corduroy jacket over her shoulders.

"What about our car?" I asked.

"We drove it here, remember? That's what I'm driving home, do you want a ride?" Liz asked.

"No, I'm okay," I said.

"Okay, see you later," she said and headed out the door.

I plunked back into my chair and rested my head in my hands.

"Do you need a ride?" I heard someone ask.

I turned around and saw Damon standing behind my chair.

"Um, yeah, I guess everyone already left, so unless I want to hitchhike, I better catch a ride with you," I said with a quiet laugh.

Damon smiled and grabbed my jacket off of my chair and slipped it over my shoulders for me.

We got into his SUV and he pulled out of the parking lot.

"So, how's the song for the War of the Bands going?" I asked.

"Pretty good, Blue wrote part of a song and now we're trying to finish up the lyrics," Damon said.

"That's cool, how are your sisters?" I asked.

Damon looked at me with an awkward look on his face, "You just saw them, not even 24 hours ago," he said with a little laugh.

"Girls are growing up fast these days," I said with a smile.

Damon glanced at me and smiled, "Yeah, they are,"

I smiled back and turned to look out the window.

"So how is Jiminy's band going?" Damon asked.

I let out a laugh, "It's Jeremy," and once I had laughed once I couldn't stop.

Damon started laughing despite himself too, he pulled over to the side of the road, because he couldn't concentrate on driving.

"Jiminy Cricket," I said, as we continued laughing.

I couldn't remember what happened next, my image began to get fuzzy, but somehow my face grew closer to his until my lips were pressed against his, I was all the way onto his lap and his hands were around my waist and mine were around his neck.