*IMPORTANT PLEASE READ (again)*
A/N: Hello there :3 Hey I'm sorry if you guys were like "What the hell?" because it said my story got updated, and there was nothing new. I actually did update, but later removed the chapter in order to perform some minor editing. It's better now, so, you're welcome. (Awkward. references FTW!) Just to clear up all the craziness that is the brain and its assumptions (speaking of assumptions, check out The Assumption Song on YouTube) Jonah shall not be gay in this story! I just made a small ode to the fact that many people – wrongly – think he is. So yeah. And I'm a tiny bit worried that people have stopped reading my story because they think I quit it. Well, in case you did, and are somehow reading this, that is not true, so keep reviewing. Seriously, I expect about 4 or 5 reviews for each chapter published (that may seem irritating, but it's so that I know I'm not writing a piece of crap no one actually wants to read. It was pretty funny, I actually yelled at Shelby over Facebook to review my last chapter, because I'd been sitting in front of my computer for days, going "Readers, Y U NO REVIEW?" Don't know the "Y U NO" Meme? Look it up. But seriously, you guys. I was feeling nice (for a change) and put out this update, but I NEED reviews! And if I don't get them, it will be a long time before I update, which kinda sucks, because I already know exactly what's going to happen in this story :D Anyway, now that I think about it, you guys should probably just always read my Author's Notes, since they usually have some important information in them. You probably won't, but whatever. And this is important so you're not like, "WTF?" I know that Shelby's boyfriend's name was Shane before, but it's now going to be Percy. So just disregard the name Shane from previous chapters. *End long-ass Author's Note*
"What the fuck are we doing here, Jamie?" He hissed, glaring down at me.
I stared back at him with wide eyes. "What's the big deal? It's just a park."
Well, it was a little more than a park. There was a shimmering, clear blue lake, fields of flowers tucked into bright green grass, tall trees, always reaching out as if to coax a hug from the clouds, floating lazily through a baby blue sky…
I sighed. I loved this place.
He shifted, reminding me of his presence.
"What's the big deal?" I repeated.
He didn't respond.
For a change, I didn't press the matter, instead just rolling my eyes. "Come on," I tugged gently at his wrist.
He followed with little hesitation, allowing me to lead him to the small, meadow-like area, surrounded with wildflowers and the scent of…earth. There were dewdrops covering nearly everything with a thin sheen, and the sunlight was hitting it perfectly, causing a kaleidoscope of miniature rainbows.
"Just look at it. Isn't it pretty?" I asked, that awed look already beginning to glaze over my eyes. I'd always loved the outdoors. My reputation would have most likely labeled me as someone who hated it, for fear of getting my clothes dirty, or messing up my hair and nails. I still worried about those things and made sure to steer clear of any mud, but I still enjoyed that enthralling sense of freedom I always got. It was as if I were to suddenly sprout wings and fly away, or simply grow into the place itself. I could lie in the soft grass for hours, sunlight warming my face, hair shining in the light, revealing its gold and red hues. There was a faint breeze, and I let my eyes flutter closed, listening to the gentle sway of the branches.
I heard a faint "Mm" in response.
I drifted from my tranquil state, making a tiny huff. "Fine, this way." I dragged him over to the edge of the dock that overlooked the lake, watching the wind softly sway the waves back and forth, the movement causing the sun to sparkle over it like sapphire. I said nothing this time, just gestured lazily towards it, my eyes becoming lost in the benign movement of the water.
He still seemed to hold no response, just stood silently at my side.
This irritated me for some unknown reason, and my natural desire to excel – or at least accomplish – basically every problem I was faced with overcame me. I vow to make him interested in something!
"Tag!" I blurted without thinking, tapping his shoulder lightly. Oh, God, what have I done…?
The one downside of my hyperactive persona was that I often didn't think before I did something. Honestly, I had no idea how that was possible, since I spent so much time over thinking things, but somehow I managed.
I sprinted away, given an advantage since he clearly hadn't expected that, a small smile on my face. He already knew I was crazy, so I figured I might as well have fun with it. I threw a quick glance over my shoulder to see that he was following me. And gaining. Hell to the no I was not wasting all of my endurance from Cheerleading and added daily exercise. I pushed myself just that much harder, attempting to outrun him.
I'd worn my favorite pair of Uggs that day, since the weather was starting to get chilly. Truth be told, I loved rain, but only every once in a while, making perfect, sunny weather my favorite. Because of this, the only thing I enjoyed about Fall was the fashion. And the word Autumn. Okay and maybe I really liked Halloween, but that's not my point.
The sucky thing about Uggs is the fact that they're kind of clunky. It doesn't make me love them any less because they are way too warm, and fuzzy, and comfortable, and all around, they're pretty fashionable, but they're still clunky. Pair that with my habit of spazzing out, running, and some loose gravel? Of course it can only end wonderfully.
The toe of my boot caught on an evil little stone poking out a little more than probably necessary, and I stumbled. And of course my luck couldn't have me just faceplant. Instead, I had to careen off the edge, water rushing up towards my face. Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…
I sliced through the surface of the water, surprisingly more cold than expected. Actually, it was freezing.
I flailed around a bit, quickly resurfacing. I began swimming back to shore after a moment, the shame not all too easily visible since my face was completely obscured by my soaking hair. But I was having issues making it there.
Okay, I'm not going to lie; I loved layering my clothing. But it wasn't a great factor when all of those layers were soaking wet. So I was starting to sink.
In all honesty, I'd never really pictured myself drowning, and I'd always thought it was a pretty horrible way to die. I figured holding my breath and trying to float would work out fine, but my clothes kept dragging me down. Okay, now I was panicking. I suddenly felt like I couldn't get any air in my lungs, and my arms and legs kept thrashing around on their own accord. The action wasn't helping me at all, so I dropped even lower into the frigid water. I gasped for air, only to inhale about a gallon of water. It came as a shock to me, but I couldn't do anything to stop it as black clouded my vision.
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"Jamie! Jamie you need to open your eyes, okay?"
My eyes fluttered open, and I immediately turned, emptying my stomach – completely filled with water. I coughed and sputtered for a bit, until I felt hands holding my long hair from my face. I turned back around to face him. "…Th-thanks," I coughed, and I knew for a fact I would be blushing if I wasn't so cold.
"I'm just glad you didn't fucking die," he smiled halfheartedly, but the look quickly shifted to worry.
"Well, I didn't," I said cheerfully, pushing out a laugh. I choked on it, though, only to fall back into a fit of coughs.
He just looked at me, affliction clearly showing in his eyes as he seemed to decide whether or not to do something. Apparently, he decided against it.
"Okay. Now I'm going to make sure something interesting enough happens so that you don't seem to get pissed off by being here."
"I'm pretty sure you almost drowning was something," he looked at me disapprovingly.
Touché.
"Look, are you sure you don't just want to go home?"
"No, not really. I'm fine."
"Your clothes," he gestured to my entirely soaked form with a raised eyebrow.
"…Right. No, it's fine." I probably would've convinced him, had I not shivered right after.
"Jamie, it's fucking freezing, don't even try to bullshit me about that."
I glowered. I did not enjoy being treated like a child in the slightest. Even though I sometimes acted like one. "Fine," I huffed, brushing my bangs from sticking to my forehead. Then I realized my hair was probably a mess, as well, along with makeup most likely running down my face. I had a momentary panic-attack before remembering I'd worn waterproof mascara that day. I always wore brown eyeliner and nude eyeshadow, so I wasn't particularly worried about those either.
I stood up on my own because I was perfectly capable of it, and refused to be treated as a pathetic little damsel. Oh, who was I kidding, it would probably make my day to be fawned over as such. But I wasn't going to admit that; it was too degrading.
My breathing was still a little bit off, but it wasn't noticeable, for which I was grateful as I walked back over to my car, concentrating on not wobbling with each step. I opened the driver's side door, only to be intercepted.
"There's no way in hell I'm letting you drive right now," he said, deftly sliding in front of me.
I said nothing, just stared at him for some time. Then I shrugged, going around to the passenger's side. Obviously, my near-death-experience was messing with my brain, since I normally would've thrown a fit over being treated as if I were incapable of something as simple as driving. He followed me, holding the door open and everything. The gesture was something to be admired, but for some reason, it irritated me. I didn't bother covering up my eye roll. I got inside slowly and determinedly, making sure my muscles didn't decide to fail and give me a concussion as well. I must have been pretty out of it, since the next thing I registered was the front of my house. What the-? No, I can't go home now; it'll be obvious I skipped! Wait, no one's home. And it's – I turned to look at the clock on the dashboard – 6:13. That's not very suspicious. Or maybe it is…
"Here," he said, removing the keys from the ignition and handing them to me.
"What are you doing?"
"Giving you your keys," he said matter-of-factly.
"Are you planning on walking home?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"No, you're not."
"This is your car; I'm not taking it with me."
"Yes you are; I'm not making you walk home. Come to think of it, you're the one who got the shit beat out of them today! I feel horrible about making you rescue me now, since that must have taken quite a toll on your body. Then again I suppose I couldn't really help drowning-"
"Thank you for pointing that out; you really couldn't have helped drowning. Now stop worrying over something stupid. I'm not a girl, I'm fine."
"Is that under the assumption that girls are incapable of being 'fine'?" I asked, my half-smile showing my joking tone.
"It's under the assumption that you are, since you can't play a game of Tag for more than a minute without falling into a lake," he smirked at me. "I see what you meant when you said you were clumsy."
I gaped at him, my brain not being able to think of a comeback as usual. I was known for my wit – it was a necessary skill not too long ago – so not having a response was certainly out of the ordinary. I'd later blame it on the fact that I'd nearly died, so I shouldn't be expected to perform at the same brain level as usual.
"Perhaps you should walk home," I responded after a minute.
"Nah, think I'll hold onto these," he said nonchalantly, snatching the keys from my hands before I could react.
"Dick," I muttered as I attempted to hide my smile, climbing out and walking up to the door.
I turned to offer a wave, only to find he was right behind me.
"What are you doing?" I hissed.
"You probably can't get in without these," he dangled my keys before my eyes, "and I'm making sure you don't fall and give yourself a concussion or something," he replied calmly.
"Actually I left the door unlocked, but whatever," I was too tired to argue right now, and a part of me was secretly pleased at his concern for my safety. Even if it was from myself. Besides, we were like 2 steps away from the door anyway, so it didn't really matter. I stopped when I was halfway inside. "Hey," I said, my voice lacking its usual flair of confidence. "Thanks for…making sure I didn't die today…" I giggled awkwardly. I didn't like talking about feelings and emotions – especially my own.
"It's no big deal," he shifted awkwardly, which made me glad I wasn't the only one who disliked this.
"Yeah it is. But just…thanks." Hey! You! Yeah, I'm talking to you! Why are you so shy around this guy? What happened to all that Jamie Miller confidence? Quit being a wuss! My conscience was right. So I did the best thing I could have without my face setting fire.
I leaned onto my tip-toes to press a soft kiss to his cheek. "Thanks," I whispered again, before disappearing behind my door. I leaned back against it, slowly sliding down to the floor with a smile. Oh, my Jamie Miller confidence was definitely just one-upped.
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I peeled off my wet clothes, throwing them into the washing machine immediately and wrapping a towel around myself. My beloved Uggs were probably ruined, so I found their original box, placed delicately in my closet, laying them inside for a proper burial sometime in the future. I crossed the room to pick up my phone which I –thank God –had left at home today. Otherwise, it probably would've drowned along with my Uggs. There were literally over 100 texts from various people at school. They were all asking about this newfound friendship between me and Alex. These people were like lemmings. I rolled my eyes.
I continued scrolling through the messages, pleasantly surprised when I came across several from Maddie and a missed call from Shelby.
Wer r u?
I snorted at her complete disregard for proper grammar.
Wats this shit about u and alex being friends? Evry1s talking about it
"FUCKING TALK 2 ME!"
I smiled, opting for a call instead.
"What the fuck, J?"
"A simple "Hello" would've been nice, but okay."
"Don't give me that shit right now, I'm pissed."
"I could tell. Is Shelby with you?"
"No. She's been with Percy all day. Probably off getting some alone time," I could hear the leer in her voice.
"You are incorrigible," I giggled.
"That better mean awesome."
"Sure."
"Well, whatever. I know I was off having a little fun, myself, but seriously, what's going on? Everyone – and I mean everyone – is talking about you guys."
"I don't know…we're just friends."
I could practically see her eyebrows rise suggestively.
"Not the type of friends you're thinking about," I smiled.
"Okay, I believe you. But I know that you like him, so is there anything else there?" She inquired deftly.
"Um…Kind of…"
"What? Tell me – now!"
"I will, but can we call Shelby, too?" I asked, trying to delay my confession.
"She hasn't answered her phone all day, so don't even bother."
"Oh. Um, why don't you come over here, I want to talk to someone in person."
"Ugh, I would but I'm a little sore."
"Why?"
She giggled, "Well, Chad-"
"I can infer, don't explain anymore," I grimaced.
"Fine. But seriously, tell me what happened."
"I, uh, kissed him-"
"What?"
"-on the cheek," I stressed the end of my sentence. "And that was after he saved me."
"Oh. Well that's disappointing."
"Maddie!"
"Hey, I guess for you guys that's something, right? I was expecting a make-out session," I could hear the pout in her voice.
"I swear, it's like you want me to throw away my values."
"Values for what? Making out isn't sex, J."
"True. And I have no problems making out, but…"
"But what?"
"But I'm not going to just start making out with someone I don't even know that well. I know you would, but that's you." Oh God, that sounds so mean…
"Hey, I know I'm the please in this setting, but you're the tease. You flaunt yourself around school because you know it drives guys crazy," she giggled, "But who could blame you? You've made out with plenty of guys before. Not a ton, but more than a few, and I know that you didn't know all of them incredibly well." I was secretly pleased she hadn't been offended by my abrasive remark.
"That was because I didn't care about them!"
The words were out before I could stop them.
It was true. Especially about what she said. In our little trio, I was the Tease, Maddie was the Please, and Shelby was…Shelby. I did flaunt myself around school, because I loved the attention. It was shallow, but I'd always been that way, and I'd always become extremely jealous if I wasn't in the spotlight. And if I ever gave anyone the "honor" of a closer acquaintance – for example, "making out," as it was so crudely put – it was out of boredom, and not because I liked the person enough.
Sadly, boyfriends and all concepts of dating had been mostly for people to feel better about themselves – mostly girls rejoicing over the fact that they must be somewhat attractive, since some poor dolt could stand calling them their girlfriend – from now since elementary school. Yes, I'd had a few crushes before, but they turned out to not be desirable intellectually or personality-wise.
"…So…you really like this guy, huh?"
"…I think I do."
"Well, that's a good thing, 'cause it means we'll all have boyfriends pretty soon, and I just love the idea of us having like…triple dates or something."
That was an idea I was strictly opposed to if her future boyfriend was who I thought it was. "You're not talking about…Chad…being your boyfriend…are you?"
"Um, duh. I mean, I get with a lot of guys, and he gets with a lot of girls, and I don't want someone who's gonna judge me for that. And he's actually pretty nice. I mean he's not perfect, but how could I complain when he looks like that? I figure as long as he's bearable. And he's not a dumbass, so that's a plus…"
I listened to her ramble on and on about how "amazing" and "hot" Chad was, and part of me wanted to believe it. But another, larger part was too hung up on the Chad I'd seen for myself.
"Yeah," I offered halfheartedly.
"He talks about you a lot." There was something in her voice I didn't recognize, because I'd never heard it before.
"Oh?" I offered unhelpfully.
"Hey wait a minute. Didn't you say something about you kissing your dude after he saved you? What went down exactly?"
"Oh, it was nothing; I just fell in the lake." There was only the one lake in this small town, so she knew what I was talking about.
"Nothing? Bitch, that's everything! Do you even know how easy it is to drown in that thing? Did you almost drown?"
"…Yeah, kind of."
"Are you okay?" I could hear the worry in her tone, and it made me smile.
"Obviously, since I'm talking to you right now." Apparently my gratitude didn't stop my usual snarky comments.
"Right. So your perfect suitor saved your life from the evil clutches of the lake, and you repaid his debt with a chaste kiss on the cheek, like a true virgin princess?" She asked with a mock drama to her voice.
"I'm surprised at your description; usually I'm the only one who uses literary devices like that."
"Yeah, well, you're not special. Lots of people can do it, too, you know?" She said jokingly.
I laughed. "Do we have all of the gossip laid out there now?"
"I suppose. But we're definitely going over this again with Shelby."
"Oh, joy."
"You better believe it. Bye."
"Bye."
I picked up a towel tossed carelessly onto the floor, wrapping it around myself and heading to the bathroom. I took one look at myself in the mirror, pleased to see I didn't bear too much of a resemblance to a drowned rat. I skipped over to my shower, turning it as hot as possible.
It felt amazing. I just stood there, basking in the feeling as the hot spray scalded over my skin, chasing away the cold from earlier in the day.
I got out reluctantly, after covering myself in the scent of Cozy Autumn Vanilla I'd purchased at Bath and Body Works over the weekend.
I dried my hair, too tired to do anything else with it, and climbed into the retreat of my ridiculously warm bed, curling up with the soft feel of my fuzzy, teal pillow as a now infamous dream swirled through my mind.
A/N: Sorry if you guys wanted me to describe the dream, I tried a whole bunch of times, but I just couldn't get it right. I'm sure you're all sitting in front of your computers going "OMGOMGTHEYKISSED!111!one!" and completely disregarding the entire rest of the chapter. Don't lie ;D I'll admit even I was sitting here going "Aww!" as I wrote it, so you're CLEARLY not alone. Even if it was just on the cheek. It still counts! (Kind of. Not really.) Well, I guess for them it's like a big huge jump, so whatever. Maddie, I know you don't type like a retard, so don't have like a fit or something, haha. And Shelby shall be happy when I make it known in the next chapter that she was whoring around with her BF. I also just feel like sharing, but I found it hilarious that my Spellchecker kept trying to change "Uggs" to "urges." Don't worry, Spell-check, there will be plenty of urges later on (; Hope you guys liked the chappie, and you better review if you read it! Seriously, reviews = chapters, so the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update!