Jeez, it has been forever since I have written! Sorry about that. I have been so busy with exams and a little project I have been working on. A publishing company is interested in one of my little book projects I have been working on. They are reviewing my manuscript and will get back to me soon with their opinion. It may be published! Wish me luck! Enjoy the story, guys.

JPOV

I waited outside of Alice's house in my car. I had a blanket and our picnic lunch in the back seat, set carefully enough so that it wouldn't fall over and ruin our food. Alice had just gotten home from her second interview with the school. The first one had gone great, but they had said they wanted to see just a little more. Alice hadn't told me the results of this interview yet, so I was excited.

She walked out of the house, shouting something back through the door before closing it. She had a huge smile on her face when she got in the passenger side.

"So, how did it go?" I asked.

"Amazing! They want me, Jasper!" she replied quickly.

"I'm so proud of you!" I took her face in my hands and kissed her lips once. I could feel her smiling against my lips.

"All thanks to you, Jasper. I love you for this!" She leaned back and let out a deep breath. "I am so excited!"

"Well, getting into that school is a pretty exciting thing. You should be."

Her head turned to look at me, smiling. "No, silly, I'm excited to go on our walk. I mean, I'm excited about the school thing too, but this is my main focus right now."

My lips curved up on one side, my happy smile. "Wonderful. But I have to ask you something before we change the subject. When do your Saturday classes start?"

"Next Saturday. I have my schedule and list of things in my room. That reminds me, I was going to ask you if you would take me there on Saturdays. I can give you gas money."

"Don't worry about the money. Yes, I will take you. It would be my pleasure."

She squealed and hugged me tightly. "Hooray!" She sat back normally in her seat and clicked her belt in place. "Okay, let's go."

I drove us to the trail a little ways from my house and grabbed the basket and blanket from the back seat. I grabbed Alice's hand and led her around the trail. I was a bit of an expert on things back here. I had always had a large thirst for knowledge, so I searched up all the different types of trees back here. Then, when I started to notice the animals, I would research them as well. I was such a nerd when I began this, that I cataloged them all in a photo book. I took pictures of them and then printed out a description and placed them in the pages. I had the book with me today and planned to show it to Alice. As we walked along, I pointed out a few things to her when she would comment on an animal or a sound.

We reached the creek and Alice's face was flushed with excitement and wonder. She was loving this place and that made my day. I rolled out the blanket and set the basket on it. Alice sat next to it and began to help me unpack the lunch.

"You thought of everything, Jasper," she stated.

"I wanted this to be a good date," I said.

"It is. You brought lots of yummy food and the scenery is beautiful!"

Alice and I had sat all the food out on the blue and white checkered blanket. Some wild daisies and other flowers leaned over the edges of it. I had brought some chicken, macaroni and cheese, fruit salad, and mashed potatoes. My mother had made it all for us, since cooking was not one of my specialties.

"It looks delicious," Alice said, eyeing the mac and cheese.

"Courtesy of my mother," I said.

"Right! I brought something too." She reached into her purse and pulled out a container full of something. She handed it to me.

I opened it and inspected its contents. They were cookies. My favorite kind, too. Chocolate chip. I picked one up and broke it in half. It was still warm and squishy, exactly how I liked them.

"Alice, these are amazing."

She blushed. "I made them."

"When did you find time to do this?"

"I put them in the oven right when I got home and let them bake while I changed."

I stuffed the broken cookie in my mouth. It was gooey and amazing. "I love cookies."

We both laughed. We dished up the food onto the paper plates I brought and began shoveling it in our mouths. It was amazing, as Alice had told me. In between bites, she explained in detail how the interview went. She even told me how she chose which pictures to draw and what colors to use. I was amazed at the intellect behind all the choices. I had always viewed drawing as picking up some pencils and making lines. I had never dreamed that artist would use a certain color combination to create a mood in the picture. It really made me appreciate art more.

After we finished our food, I pulled the book out and handed it to Alice then went to sit beside her so I could explain better.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Well, it's nerdage at its best." I laughed. "I have been working on this for a while. It's a catalog of all the trees and animals and stuff around this forest. Those pictures are the ones I took and those are my explanations based off of research I did."

Her jaw hung open as she flipped through the pages. "Jasper, it's beautiful. These photos are amazing."

"You think? I never really looked at it that way. They're just pictures to me. My mother got me one of those professional looking cameras for my birthday one year for this purpose. It's just a hobby though."

"Pretty interesting hobby." She looked up at me. "Can I borrow this? I want to read it."

"Um, if you want to. I don't think you will be very interested. It's not exactly a page-turner, you know."

"I want to read it."

I lifted my hands up in mock-surrender. "By all means."

She smiled and placed the book by her purse. She turned and looked deviously at me.

"What?" I asked.

She playfully tackled me to the ground, her legs straddling my hips. She brought her lips down to meet mine, effectively stopping both of our laughter. I placed my arms around her, clasping my hands by her lower back. I'm not sure how long that went on. All I remember is being completely focused on the feeling of her warm lips against my own. It was a wonderful experience.

She pulled back eventually and smiled at me, earning a smile in return. Her head fell against my chest and she sighed happily. "I like it here."

"Me too." I played with her hair, something I had grown accustomed to doing.

"What are we going to do when we graduate? Graduation is in six months."

"I know. I'm not sure what we should do."

She propped herself up on her elbows, one on each side of my head. Her face was inches from mine. "Do you plan to go on a senior road trip?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Not really. All my friends want to go to a beach and I'm more of a forest kind of person, as you can tell. I like to go on trail rides on horseback. Stuff like that."

She nodded. "I know what you mean. Plus, I don't have enough close friends to go with here." She titled her head to the side. "But I was talking about after graduation. And us specifically."

"I don't know."

She gasped. "I know! You could try to get into that school, too!"

"An arts school, Alice?"

"Yeah! You are amazing at photography, you can act, you can sing..."

I thought about that for a moment. I had never really considered myself an arts person. But now that I looked at it, I guess I am. "I could try."

"They also offer minors in history there." She smiled. "Cause I know you want to write Civil War books."

I smiled. "You're so thoughtful."

"And we could both put our money together and get a place together, if you wanted."

I stole a few more kisses from her. "I think I want to do that even if I don't get into that school."

"Really?"

I nodded and kissed her a few more times. "Yes, really."

And suddenly that feeling him me again. That feeling of need, want. Desire.

It left me breathless again.

Alice looked worried. "Jasper?"

"I'm fine." I shook my head, attempting to shake the feeling. No luck.

She kissed me again. My hand went to her hair, holding her face in place. Our kiss became more violent, but still loving at the same time. I rolled on top of her then realized what I was doing. I released her and rolled off, laying beside her. I could hear her heavy breathing as well as mine.

After a moment, I said, "So, about that house..."

"Yeah...No, forget the house for now. You felt that, too, right? It's not just me?"

I turned over onto my side to face her. "What did you feel?"

She looked at me. "It was...an intense feeling. I didn't want you to move."

I nodded. "Yeah, I felt it. Sorry about that, it was way out of line."

She kissed my cheek and smiled reassuringly at me. "Don't worry about it."

I let out a sigh of relief.

Another moment of silence passed.

"Do you want to talk about the house now?" she asked.

"In the car." I started to pack up the food. "I need to go home and get a shower."

She giggled at first, then it turned into laughter. I was embarrassed for a moment before I started laughing with her.