Jenny opened her eyes slowly and as she felt herself come fully awake she smiled. She considered last night possibly the best sleep of her life. She was renewed and filled with energy. She debated the best use of this vigor and decided that what she really wanted to do was spend some time expending it with Julian. A plan was quickly formulated and she swung up into a sitting position and stretched out, tossing the covers aside.
Part one of her plan was enacted as soon as she entered the kitchen. Giving her mom a small smile Jenny walked over to the cabinet and searched for a glass. While her face was hidden she thought of her last steamy encounter with Julian. She imagined his lips trailing kisses down her neck and found herself absently rubbing her neck as if she could indeed feel him. By the time she found her tumbler and closed the door she was slightly flushed, a fact which did not escape her mother's attention.
"Jenny? Are you okay? You look a little flushed." As she spoke she made her way over to place her hand against Jenny's forehead.
"I do feel a little hot but I'm sure it's nothing."
Her mom just continued to look at her and finally Jenny turned to her.
"I'll eat a big breakfast and that'll help."
"You should stay home if you feel sick."
"Yeah maybe but I have some reviews in my classes that I probably shouldn't miss."
"I don't know…" her mom trailed off, still uneasy about sending a sick child to school.
"I'll tell you what. I'll go to school and if I still feel a bit off by lunch time I'll go see the nurse and lay down for a while. How's that?"
Her mom pondered the suggestion before nodding her head slowly in a gesture of agreement.
After a hearty breakfast of French toast and an egg-white omelet Jenny swigged down the last of her glass of water and kissed her mom goodbye and prepared to leave the house for school.
"I want you to come straight home and go right to bed when you get here." Her mom announced and it was clear that her tone brooked no argument.
"Fair enough." Jenny said, barely suppressing her smile. "See you tonight."
Once she was clear of the house she finally let loose with the grin she had been holding in. Part one was a complete success. Sure, she could have stayed home with almost no effort but this way would work to her advantage. This way she could do exactly as her mom dictated and go straight to sleep when she came home without question and she had managed to leave a window open for her to stay home tomorrow from school. Now all she had to do was get through her classes until lunch. Then she could go to the nurse's station and lay down, hopefully to nap the rest of the school day away.
It was a few hours later that Jenny found herself outside of the nurse's office. Taking a deep breath she once again summoned some arousing imagery to help her out. This time she imagined that Julian hadn't stopped her from removing her shirt. What would he have done? What would she have liked him to do? With her eyes closed she could almost feel his hands on her skin, stroking her abdomen with feathery touches before slowly moving his fingers upwards, caressing her ribcage until finally…Her eyes flew open and she glanced around worriedly, afraid that someone was around to witness her little display.
When she opened the door to the nurse's office she was more flushed than she had intended to be, but that worked to her advantage. The nurse took one look at the heat in Jenny's cheeks and began fussing over her.
"Oh my goodness! Look at you!"
"Uh hi. I was just wondering if you had a cold compress or something I could use for a few minutes. I feel a bit hot."
The nurse had latched onto Jenny's arm and proceeded to pull her towards a cot during Jenny's polite inquiry.
"You're not leaving here until I get that fever under control. Maybe after you've rested for a while you can go back to class." She stuck a thermometer under Jenny's tongue and waited for it to beep. When it did she pulled it out and looked at it, making a tsk-ing sound as she did. "What class are you supposed to be in right now?"
"Oh I don't want to be any trouble, really. I should just go." At the nurse's quelling look she gave in. "Actually this is my lunch period."
"Your temperature is higher than I'd like to see it. All right. Let's get you settled and then I will go and have the office let your teachers know where you are. They can have someone take notes for you until you get back."
"Okay." Jenny agreed meekly, allowing the nurse to tuck her into the cot and apply a cool compress to her forehead.
"I'll be back to check on you in a little bit. I'm going to the office and then to lunch. I want you to just relax, okay? Can you do that for me?"
"Yes ma'am I'll try." Jenny agreed obediently and then closed her eyes. The nurse hit the light switch and left Jenny alone. She waited until the nurse's footsteps had faded before once again breaking into an enormous smile. Part two of the plan was complete. Now all she needed to do was go to sleep and work off some of the tension she felt with Julian.
She was really keyed up and found it next to impossible to fall asleep. She decided to focus on her breathing and get it evened out. In…out…in…out…she pushed all other thoughts out of her mind, willing it blank.
"Jenny?" His voice came as a surprise to her and she opened her eyes to find that she was in the same bed from the night before.
"Wow I guess I fell asleep quicker than I thought." Jenny said in lieu of a greeting. She looked up and met Julian's concerned stare. He was standing at the bottom of the bed and she smiled at him.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Fit as a fiddle; though don't tell my mom or the school nurse I said so."
He quirked an eyebrow and waited for her to explain herself. She took a moment to catalog his appearance. He was wearing a black T-shirt and black jeans. Both were tight in all the right places and she voiced her approval.
"You look fantastic." Her voice came out a little breathy.
Julian glanced down to remind himself what he was wearing and smiled at her.
"Thanks, so do you."
"So my mom and the school nurse think I'm sick. I'm in the nurse's office bringing my fever down."
"You have a fever?" He took a step toward her and raised his hand as if to put it against her forehead and feel for himself but she stopped him in mid-gesture.
"No, I really don't. They just think I do."
"Oh? And why would they think that?" He asked, clearly not buying her story.
"Well I made myself get all flushed so I'd look like I had a fever."
He shook his head and grinned at her.
"And how did you do that, pray tell?"
"Actually it wasn't that hard."
"Let me guess. You pinched your cheeks?" Julian asked, amused by the thought.
Jenny reddened a little and laughed.
"I almost wish I had thought of it. No, it was a lot more pleasant than that. I just thought about you is all." Ignoring the slightly widened eyes her comment caused she continued. "Actually I thought about you and me together. Any time I reflect upon some of our more physical encounters I tend to get a little overheated and decided to use that to my advantage."
"Why would you do that, I wonder?" This time it was his turn to have the breathless voice.
She set her gaze upon his and slowly smiled. She pushed herself into an upright position and then crawled on her hands and knees toward the edge of the bed where he was, never breaking eye contact.
It took all of Julian's willpower to maintain eye contact. He wondered if she was aware that he could practically see down the front of her shirt in her current position. He concluded that she probably knew it full well, if the grin on her face was any indication. His whole body tensed further with every movement she made that brought her closer to him. He clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists and waited for her to give him the reason for her unexpected visit. Maybe she needed more comforting? He hoped not—he was pretty sure that he would find it impossible to touch her in a manner intended to simply relax her.
"I want to play."
Julian unclenched his fists and jaw and exhaled, unaware until then that he had been holding his breath.
"Thank god."
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Disclaimer: Hi there everyone! No, I don't have breaking news about my rights to the characters or more specifically, lack thereof. Same old song, different chapter: "I own none of these characters."
Author's note: Here are the reviewer thanks for this chapter. Jump on the bandwagon and review and you'll see a line written just for you! Hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!
pixxi—Boy I was sorry to hear that you were home sick…I hope you're feeling better? "A passion hard to identify with" that had me cracking up! Glad to see your sense of humor was not dampened by your illness and that I could help you pass a few moments of your day. Thanks as always for reading and reviewing! Ps---One of the reviews for Ch. 32 had a song suggestion for you!
Shadow—Thanks…I promise a fantastic chapter coming up! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Forest Elfin—You crack me up. I'm sorry to hear that you're so jaded by your past board game experiences! You thought that chapter was tempting? Just wait! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
CeredwenFlame—Your name is very cool, first of all. Thank you so much for your sweet words…I hope my muses were listening to you! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Shadow—Hello again! Yes, Tom will be absent for a few more chapters I think! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Venus Smurf –Thanks for reading and reviewing! Your lavish praise may be unwarranted but I still am tickled pink by it! I hope the remaining chapters are up to your standards!
Venus Smurf—Hi again! Yes, Tom is being a bit of a sweetheart about the whole thing, that's for sure. I guess I just want to believe that the experience they all went through with The Games made all of them realize how important they are to each other and that it was something that bonded them forever, like many life-or-death scenarios. So Tom's feelings are eased by the knowledge that they are forever entwined, regardless of their individual destinies. Plus, not to give too much away, but Tom has been questioning the relationship since Game 2 and he's honestly excited about the prospect of a new life for himself. It's like he's discovering a whole new way to be himself. Boy I sound so cheesy! lol
Venus Smurf--*insert misty eyes* Gosh, your reviews are better than any other form of therapy I could conceive! I just need to read one and I have this "high on life" thing going for days! I agree that it is really important that Jenny feel comfortable with Julian because if she can't relax in his presence then she's just headed for a nervous breakdown. Not that he still doesn't make her knees quake but it's better now because of the familiarity. Speaking of knees quaking I better get back to the next chapter!
Skyfire—Thanks so much! I really appreciate that you seem to enjoy the story a lot….it constantly motivates me to get my next chapter out that much faster when I read such glowing reviews!
Amber Evans Potter—Dry your tears and I promise I'll give you an incredibly steamy chapter…sound fair? I mean, you did give me candy after all, it's the least I can do!
me again...Your fics aren't mindless, unless as you stated you mean for them to be! Lol…no, it didn't sound wrong at all unless you equate tempting with wrong! Thanks for checking back in with me!