Author's Note:

Sorry I haven't been updating more often - I've got a lot going on and not a lot of time to write. I know that the name of Selina's crush changes from Jackson to Alex, but about 5 minutes after I posted the first chapter I remembered that Jackson is actually the name of a guy I know, and I don't want to give him any ideas... Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

So, um, we were running around in the woods last night, and we saw this guy who was, um, also running through the woods," I stuttered to Alex, who was listening intently, despite my lack of interesting words. "And um, well, he turned out to be a convict named, uh, Valjean, and well, we made friends with him, and we said we'd go back and meet him tonight, and we said we'd bring you along, so can you please come? Oh yeah, and there's this guy who's a, well, he's a police guy, and we have to look out for him."

"Sounds dangerous," Alex replied. "I'm there."

"Cool!" I say, sounding much more breathless than I intended to.

"What's this jailer guy look like?" Alex questions.

I take a deep breath. Being around Alex is breathtaking. He has dark brown eyes that look like milky, smooth chocolate, and he has light brown hair that is parted down the middle and sort of long. He's so beautiful….

"Serina, did you hear me?"

"Wha - oh, um, he, uh, he has, like, gray eyes." I'm flustered; he caught me daydreaming about him! "And dark hair, and sideburns, and a ponytail, and he's tall, and yeah. Try to avoid him." Well, it could be worse! I could be speechless! Behind him, I reach out my hand and touch a strand of his silky brown hair. Luckily, he doesn't feel a thing.

We were sitting in my tent. It was like, nearly impossible to get Terisa to leave us alone. The rest of the group practically had to drag her out. I think she has a crush on Alex too. We were sitting on Terisa's and my cots, holding hands. Tingle city!

"Yeah," breathed Alex. "Yeah, let's try to avoid him." We lean close. I can see every line of black in his chocolaty eyes. Are we going to kiss?! I want to scream with excitement when Terisa, Irina, Katie, And Alyssa climb back into the tent. Terisa glares at Alex and I. I know what she's thinking. We'd make a great couple, both with dark brown, thick hair, and my ocean blue eyes greatly complemented his brown ones. I can't see Terisa being jealous, though, with her soft, curly golden hair and crystal blue eyes. Her skin could be made of porcelain, with rosy cheeks and naturally red lips.

"There's a sunset outside, and it's like, SO pretty!" gushed Irina. "Wanna come see it?" Alex and I turned to look at each other. A sunset might be romantic.

"Okay," I say. "Let's go, Alex." I stand up, and he follows.

It really was a pretty sunset. The sky was littered with clouds, that were all a soft shade of pink or purple. Our campsite is very high up, and from the ledge we're standing on (might I add that we're not supposed to be here, this large could crumble any minute, it's dangerous, bla, bla, bla,), we can see about a billion trees in the valley below. Most of the trees are black with shadow, but the trees nearest to the sun are lit up with an iridescent red glow. It's beautiful.

I take Alex's hand in mine. We don't even have to look at each other. We are one.

So my friends (and maybe, possibly, future boyfriend) and I stood there until the sun set and we walked back to the campsite, where the rest of our grade was eating dinner.

"Hey guys!" a girl who I think is named Sierra greats us. She's one of the drama club, and she's kind of cool. "Where have you been?"

We all look at each other, hoping someone would come up with an answer. When no one does, I say,

"We went to the bathroom," I reply. Okay, it was a lame excuse, but it was better than no excuse! Luckily, Sierra bought into our alibi and went to sit over by her friends. My friends and I find a vacant table near the fire. Strange, but convenient.

After the fire has died down, I stroll into the woods, along the path I think Terisa took. I'm a little ways into the woods when I hear a rustling noise. I freeze. It could be just a rabbit, I tell myself, or maybe it's Valjean hoping to see us early? I stare at the spot where the sound is coming from.

Oh. My. God. THE BUSH IN FRONT OF ME IS MOVING! I let out an "uh!" of fear, and a weird guy jumped out of the bush! He was wearing the same thing as Jean Valjean - maybe he was another prisoner. Yeah, that was it. Drat, I wish I had that fake pistol. The best I can do is act calm.

Jeez, he's the one who's acting scared. I can actually hear is breathing. This is a really awkward silence. Wait. DID HE - what the- where's the - I look behind me. Oh, thank GOD, the cave is behind me. I guess the time - travel line must extend beyond the cave, a little.

I try to act cool. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" I demand.

"Uh," he says. Great answer. Convicts should be noted for their punctuality. NOT!

"Know anyone named… Valjean?" I asked. At least if he does, I'm out of the woods. I cross my fingers he does.

WOW. Cannot BELIEVE my luck. His face softens. HE DOES! I think. I hope. Well, at least he doesn't look as though he isn't debating whether or not to knock me out before running away.

"Yeah." He sounds really relieved. "He's my friend."

"Cool," I say, unable to think of anything else. He looks confused. Riiiiiight, the word "cool" wasn't invented back then, except for the meaning of like, cold. God, how was I going to survive talking to people from the stone ages!

"So, what does 'cool' have anything to do with anything?" Oh yeah, I forgot this guy was still here.

"Oh, uh, cool means…" I tried to think of something that 19th century people would understand that meant cool. "It means, um, okay, interesting, that's good, that kind of stuff," I explain.

"Okay," he says. I can't think of anything else to say.

"Well, I should probably be going now," says Valjean's friend. That's when it occurred to me he probably escaped, like Valjean. I can't believe I didn't see it sooner.

"Okay," I acknowledge. "Hey, um, my friends and I are going to meet up with Valjean over by that cave at like, midnight tonight. You can come if you want to. Also, unless you want to be um, caught-" I had to think of some reason for him not to pass that cave- "don't go past that cave. There are a bunch of people over there."

"Thank you," he replies. "I might show up." He starts walking back in the direction he came, and I sprint down the hill and throw myself into the tent. Why does trouble follow me everywhere, WHY?!

Not 30 seconds after I lay down on my sleeping bag, I heard someone open the tent flap. Was it another convict?! No, it was only Alex.

Only Alex?! ALEX! He was looking for me! EEEEEEEE!

"Oh, uh, hi Alex," I greeted him. He smiled at me.

"Come on, Selina," he held out his hand to me. "We're going for a walk."

A walk in the middle of the night with my crush?! I'm SO there!

"Okay," I replied breathlessly, and took his hand. I felt tingly all over. I hope I'll be able to hold up. We wander up another path which is almost completely covered with foliage. I glance at my watch. 9:00. We have about an hour before we need to start heading back toward camp - nighttime countoff is at 10, then we all go back to our tents for bed. Two hours later, we sneak off to meet Valjean. I love staying up all night!

So, after about 10 minutes, Alex pushed aside a ginormous leaf and revealed a meadow with soft, green grass, maybe about 4 acres. We slide down a dirt hill and step into the field.

It feels like we've just stepped out of reality and into a fairytale. The sky is littered with a million stars, too many to count. The stars light up the night, so everything has a bit of a glow to it. Still holding hands, we walk for about 10 minutes to the center of the grass. I turn to face him.

"Thank you," I say. "This is beautiful." He puts his hand on my shoulder.

"It's magical."

I stare into his eyes. He looks into mine. With reality far behind us, we lean forward. I can see every detail on his face, his dark eyebrows, his soft skin, his soft lips. I close my eyes. I can feel his lips next to mine. We kiss. Some kind of electrical spark flies between us. From this moment on, we are together. Forever.