Chapter 5

"Well it really looks like we missed something." Darrell said jokingly breaking Sam and Jake from their moment. Sam let go of Jen's hand quickly, her mind was spinning. Jen gave her a concerned look but turned back to the boys before they started asking more questions.

"What you're missing is a brain." Jen answered with a very contrasting sweet voice and cute smile. Jake chuckled and the sound brought Samantha back to reality.

"You know when a girl teases you it means she likes you" Jake said to Darrell jokingly but Sam saw Darrell's face light up. On the contrary Jen's face twisted in anger.

"And Jen does tease me a lot" Darrell answered with a huge smile. "Right baby." He added with a wink. Jen's face turned a bright shade of red and gave Darrell a look of death.

"Well I'm a go get something to eat." Jen said specifically to Samantha, "Before I commit double murder." She added looking in the direction of Jake and Darrell. Darrell stared after Jen while Jake took Jen's spot. He angled his body so that it was clear that he didn't want to include Darrell in the conversation.

"So, how school been Brat?" Jake asked Sam. Sam's head was spinning again and it took her a few seconds to be able to get things straight.

"Uhm, fine." She managed to mumble. Jake gave her a worried look then turned to Darrell.

"Hey man would you mind getting my phone I left it inside my room." Jake made sure that only Darrell could see his face. Darrell smiled mischievously but said okay and turned to leave to the house.

Samantha was close to hyperventilating. She was having trouble sucking in air. She felt nauseated and a cold sweat had erupted through her body.

Alone with Jake! She thought to herself.

"Uhm Samantha are you okay?" Jake asked, his voice filled with worry. Calling her Samantha instead of Brat was making Sam loose it even more.

Calm Down! She told herself.

"Yea, I'm fine." She told Jake in a shaky voice. To calm down she turned her attention away from Jake and focused on the party. She saw her gram and Mrs. Allen sitting together, talking and laughing. She saw her dad talking with Luke Ely, Jake's dad, Jed Kenworthy, Jen's dad, and Dallas and Ross. She saw Jen eating her food next to her mom who was talking with Brynna. She saw the rest of the Ely brothers teasing and laughing. Seeing all her friends and family laughing and enjoying the party made her feel more calm and normal. Her breathing had returned to normal and she no longer felt like barfing.

"Are you sure?" Jake's asked clearly still worried.

"Yes, I'm sure." Sam asked with a normal voice still not looking at him.

"Samantha?" He said her name tentatively with another emotion she couldn't pin down. Like long ago in the barn she had to look up. His dark mustang eyes showed hurt. Samantha was confused.

"Yea?" she answered Jake trying to not break down. Jake was obviously having an internal battle because he had torn his gaze away from Samantha and was now looking at the ground. Samantha was counting in her head to keep her mind busy so as she wouldn't fall apart again.

"Sam," Jake started but was still looking at the ground, "Did I do something wrong?" he finished giving Sam a look that made her feel like a horrible person. Sam didn't know what to say. She was trying hard to be able to talk like a normal person to him without falling apart but she just couldn't.

"No." She answered but felt bad immediately for giving only a one word answer. "What makes you say that?" She tried to add a smile but it ended up looking like a grimace.

"Well," Jake started his voice a little shaky, "Well, nothing I guess I'm uhm I guess I'm just imagining or something." He stuttered.

"Mmm well I guess I'll see you later Brat." Jake said as he walked away. Sam couldn't help smiling at the way he had forced himself to say Brat. Then she too got up and went to rejoin the party.

Weeks passed and Sam was getting much better at keeping her cool around Jake. She saw him almost every day considering he was helping Wyatt as a ranch hand and that had significantly helped her. She could even have an almost decent conversation with him but still it always seemed very forced and awkward. Her family had even started to notice how the inseparable best friends had turned to mereacquaintances.

Sam first noticed her family's observance while helping her Gram prepare dinner.

"So has Jake told you anything about how college was?" Gram asked not so subtly.

"No, we hardly talk." Sam answered void of emotion.

"You spend almost the whole day together around the ranch and you hardly talk?" Gram asked skeptically.

"Yea, I mean we're always really focused in our work I guess." Sam answered with a harsher tone than necessary.

"You know you and Jake have been together longer than you've been apart, shame to loose a friend that way." Gram said using her wise old lady voice. Sam couldn't think of anything to say so she stayed quiet.

Brynna proved to be as observant as Sam's gram. While Sam was helping Brynna at Willow Springs she noticed Brynna's true intentions.

"Why don't you go have fun? You know go for a ride or something?" She unexpectedly asked Sam. Sam got taken aback because she was grounded from riding over the next three days for forgetting to do her chores and going riding instead. Though it had been worth it because she got to see the Phantom and saw that he was okay and that his herd was doing fine.

"Uhm Brynna I'm grounded." Sam told her step mother with a look that said are you crazy. Brynna laughed at how Sam was looking at her.

"I know that silly but its summer and you're out already. Though I think it will be easier to think of a story to tell your father if you go with someone else." She said confirming Samantha's suspicions that she had gone crazy. "You can even use the phone to call Jen." Brynna added with a twinkle in her eye.

"Uhm, the Kenworthy's left on vacation last night and aren't back for the next two days. But you know that." Sam said cautiously and suspiciously.

"Oh yea I guess I forgot," Brynna answered and then began thinking hard, "Oh I know, why don't you call Jake to go riding with you." She added with a triumphant smile. Samantha had grown very suspicious and was wondering if Brynna had been building up to this the whole time.

"Thanks for the free pass but I'd rather not risk it." Sam said with a smile. Sam laughed in her head when she saw the clear disappointment in Brynna's face.

Sam was even starting to think that he dad and the rest of the ranch hands were trying to force Jake's company on her. Everyone kept assigning her jobs to do with Jake. Every single job she had to do on the ranch was in partnership with him. Even jobs that she could clearly handle on her own and jobs that Jake obviously did not need help in had to be done by both of them. Samantha was getting pretty sick and tired of her family's meddling but on the bright side she was getting much better at being around Jake and she kind of wanted to see him and be near him.

Every time she saw him her heart skipped a beat. Her body felt like jelly. She found it hard to breathe. And for some weird reason she enjoyed every single second of the torture.