June

I do now how it happened. I know exactly how it happened and one day when our children ask how we met, I can tell them every single detail. How I went to Carmel to see their Aunt Suze and how I was excited to see some West Coast men. And then how I saw him across the room and he smiled at me the same smile I saw when I last came at the age of 16.

"Damn, Suze, I'm ready to get CRUNK." I told her as I did a little one, two step in her new apartment with CeeCee.

She gave me a look with raised eyebrows, "Crunk? Right well, I'm not exactly sure you will find anybody getting crunk in Carmel. As they said, 'It's the perfect place for the newly wed and nearly dead' and apparently, the dead as well."

But I wasn't listening to her, in my mind I was already chilling on the beach with some fine men who looked good and all wanted my number.

"Dude, are you ready yet? I want to go eat some of your step-daddy's home cooked meals!" I applied a layer of lip gloss to my lips.

"Yes, yes we can go. I guess I'll just meet Jesse there." She said looking at her phone as if it was Jesse himself.

"Oh let him play with his cadavers. I wanna go eats!" She laughed as I pushed her out of her bedroom door. It was Sunday and everyone was going to be at Ms. Helen's house. Which reminded me…

"Has Brad started balding yet?" Suze laughed out loud.

"No! Why would you say that, Gina?"

"Ah, no reason really, I just have a feeling High School were the best years of his life." Suze snorted and we continued on our way to the Ackerman household.

We pulled up the drive way and were greeted with open arms by Suze's mom herself, looking glamorous as usual. It was nice being here. I always liked this house and how it was fixed up. I also had fond memories in a certain room in this house; and a not so fond one in Suze's. I never did get the nail polish out fully; taps played gentle in my heart for the lost piece of fashion.

"Welcome back, Gina" said Andy to me. Something delicious came from the kitchen.

"It's wonderful to be here." I told him gratefully.

"Susie, will Jesse be joining us?" Ms. Helen asked.

"Yeah, he's still working on a lab, but he'll be here soon." Suze said with a goofy grin on her face. Ms. Helen held one of her own- I'm sure she was over the moon that Suze was engaged to a Doctor-to-be.

We were ushered into the dinning room where we were to eat and put into the chairs that surrounded the table. Andy brought dish after dish out of the kitchen onto the table with the help of Ms. Helen as well. It was cute to watch those two- they were clearly in love with each other. I vaguely remember Suze's dad. I knew it was a touchy subject with her but the way Andy looks at Ms. Helen is oddly familiar to the one I would see Mr. Simon give her.

The doorbell rang which singled Suze to jump up out of her chair. "That's Jesse, I'll go get it." You could see the restraint in her legs as she tried not the run to the front door. A minute later, in walked Jesse looking tall and crisp and not at all like he had never been working in a lab a minute that day.

"Jesse, it's lovely to see you" said Ms. Helen as she gave him a small hug.

"How are you today Mrs. Ackerman?" he asked politely back. She smiled and responded when Brad walked into the room with David following right behind him. To my surprise, David had turned into a little cutie. He was very much built like his eldest brother but with red hair and freckles. Brad on the other hand, looked…rough. I was right. No, he wasn't balding…yet, but I'm sure High School were the best years of his life. I wondered if he still lived at home…

"Everyone, sit down, sit down!" Andy said excitedly has he rubbed his hands together. He was obviously proud of himself tonight for making such an impressive spread of food.

"Wait, where's Jake?" Ms. Helen asked.

"Mom, we always have to wait for Jake. He's never on time" said David as he looked on hungrily at the food.

Then I heard it, "Go ahead and eat, David. You look like you're about to eat that whole ham." And I looked up from my place setting and saw him. My stomach twinged and I thought it was from my hunger but I know better now that it was from him.

"Jake, we were getting worried!" Ms. Helen said. He walked over to her and she gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

"Sorry, Mom, Dad; I got held up at work." He said and took the spare set next to me.

Ms. Helen frowned and I knew it was because she thought he works too much. But Andy just gave the blessing for all of us to eat and like raging animals, the platters were snatched and passed all around.

"So, still working a lot I see." I said casually to him as he passed me the plate of pineapple-glazed ham. I held my small smirk on my lips.

He gave a laugh as he took the plate of potatoes from Brad, "Yeah, well I have to pay off my schooling somehow. That and gas for my baby."

"You finally got your car?" I asked- I already knew, Suze had mentioned it once before.

"Yup, as a graduation gift my dad paid for the rest I hadn't raised. I got a little over half." He was very proud of his accomplishment.

"So you graduated from college. That's great." He handed me the potatoes and I had to say, Andy Ackerman should quit his day job to cook. I meant that too!

"Thanks, I am now certified to be a History teacher at the Mission school." I looked at him and he was grinning from ear and ear. And his smile made me smile too.

"Wow, that's really great, Jake. I'm glad to hear that." Then I, Gina Augustin, did the unthinkable- I blushed a little bit. I took an interest in my meal for a minute while Jake asked David how school was going for him. I looked up across the table to see Suze's face with a raised eyebrow. I glared back in the only way a loving friend can. I wasn't about to loose to Suze. So I made a bold move.

"Jake, what are you doing tonight?" I asked him as he took a bite of his food. He then proceeded to cough a little bit. I patted him on the back, "Are you alright?" I asked sweetly with my most flirtatious smile.

"I'm fine." He coughed twice more, "Uh, what?" He looked at me with narrowed eyes as if he could not believe what he had just heard.

"Tonight, what are you doing?"

"Uhh, nothing why?" He scratched the back of his neck with his hand.

"Well, Suze is busy tonight," Suze rolled her eyes on this comment, "so I figured you could take me out. You know, show me around." I added the tiniest amount pressure on my lips with my teeth.

"Uh, sure, yeah! I'd love to."

"Awesome, it's a date." I took a bite of my food and couldn't help but smile.

After the meal was over with and everyone had dispersed, I found myself sitting in a cherry red Camero with Jake Ackerman. Carmel, California was not too active at night and with the windows down, the wind just blew through making you feel amazing. The salt sea air was crisp and refreshing to me who has lived in a city my entire life. My body was electrifying right now, I could almost feel it running through me- I couldn't really believe he had agreed to take me out.

Jake was quiet then when we were in the car but I didn't care- he was generally a quiet person so I didn't hold that against him. His hair which was once shaggy and covered most of his eyes was now cut to reveal the wonderful hazel color he had. Sure it was still shaggy, but it was much better than before. I didn't ask him to take use anywhere and he didn't ask me if wanted to go anywhere so he just drove. He cruised around the road expertly with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the gear shift. I looked at his hand that was close to me- they were very big. A smile broke out on my face as I thought of once upon a time, that hand grazed mine once in his room and how he jumped at the feeling; but my heart jumped just the same then.

We pulled into a parking lot for a secluded beach somewhere on the shoreline. He turned off the car and I took that as my cue to get out. So I took a deep breath of the ocean air and exhaled. Not really wanting to go into the sand, I sat on the hood of his car- it was warm but the air was cool and the combination of both temperatures was amazing.

Then I heard something come from the inside of the car.

What's the deal with my brain?
Why am I so obviously insane?
In a perfect situation
I let love down the drain.
There's the pitch, slow and straight.
All I have to do is swing
and I'm a hero, but I'm a zero.

He joined me on the hood of his car and he just laid back on the windshield looking at the ocean, feeling the heat of his car engine, and listening to music.

Hungry nights, once again
Now it's getting unbelievable.
'Cause I could not have it better,
But I just can't get no play
From the girls, all around
As they search the night for someone to hold onto.
And I just pass through...

I looked over at him and saw his lips moving gently to the lyrics of the song. It had to be a favorite of his and then he finally joined in.

singing...
ooooooh oh. Ooohhhhh oh. Ooohhh oohh.
Singing...
ooooooh oh. Ooohhhhh oh. Ooohhh oohh.

"Oh, I know this song!" I said and smiled. He looked over at me and smiled too.

Get your hands off the girl,
Can't you see that she belongs to me?
And I don't appreciate this excess company.
Though I can't satisfy all the needs she has
And so she starts to wander...
Can you blame her?

My foot moved a little to the music- it wasn't normally the type of music I would jam out to, but I enjoyed it all the same. It was nice being on the hood of his car next to him. I knew when I would enjoy telling our kids this story when we got older. So I joined in with him.

singing...
oooooooh oh. Ooohhhhh oh. Ooohhh oohh.
Singing...
oooooooh oh. Ooohhhhh oh. Ooohhh oohh.

For the rest of my days on the earth.

Tell me there's a logic out there.
Leading me to better prepare
For the day that something really special might come.
Tell me there's some hope for me.
I don't wanna be lonely
For the rest of my days on the earth.

I watched him as he looked out onto the Pacific, singing this song, and drumming his thumbs to the beat. He looked content and totally relaxed. So I felt the same. I would go on to realize later that I would never feel this with a boy ever again unless it was him. It's something I still cherish to this day.

oooooooh oh. Ooohhhhh oh. Ooohhhhhhhhhh.
Singing...
oooooooh oh. Ooohhhhh oh. Ooohhh Oohh.

And that was Weezer with Perfect Situation, coming up next…

I didn't bother to listen to anything else, so I spoke up, "So, is this how you normally take girls out on the town?" I teased him.

He laughed, "Only the special ones." I turned to see him looking at me.

"OH, I guess I'll feel special then 'cause uh, not too many boys around my neighborhood would ever do this for me. Not that I would go crusin' around Brooklyn like this. I'd have to be stupid to do that."

And that's how we spent our first date together- on the hood of his cherry red Camero in front of the Pacific talking and listening to Weezer. And later that night when he dropped me off at Suze's, I wrote my number on his hand and told him to call me the next time he got to urge to just sit on his car.

And then he gave me a kiss.

And that was how it started.

Our Perfect Situation.

Hello loverlies! I have the first chapter up, woo! But uh, I just have to say that they are all probably going to be short, its not going to be incredibly long- like I'll be surprised if I make it to ten chapters. Either way, I don't normally have songs in but this is an exception since its important to the story :) Okay, well just do me a favor and Review, tell me what you think and then check out Lolly's monthly challenges! She had March up now so go! GO NOW!

Until next time!