PRECIPICE [h.s.]

Chapter Twenty Six*

☼☼☼

Oh, I see the light and the heat

Oh, I wanna be that complete

I wanna touch the light,

the heat I see in your eyes

☼☼☼

Jaime's P.O.V.

July 6th 1997

I walked into Lon's to start setting up for the day. The lights were already on and the door was unlocked meaning Monica had beat me in. I placed my stuff on the hook in the back before knocking on her door.

"Come in JJ," she called from the inside.

"How did you know it was me?" I asked before sitting myself down at her desk.

She looked up from the paperwork on her desk. "Well I mean you are the only one scheduled to come in. Plus all of your initials are JJ, so it's not like I would be wrong if Jess or James walked through the door."

I laughed. You could walk into Lon's and yell "Hey JJ!" and one of us would respond.

"True," I said. "Hey I wanted to thank you for letting me have off yesterday."

"You don't have to thank me. Thank James for covering your shift." I rolled my eyes at the mention of his name. "Oh? Is there something I should know?"

"If I knew Monica, you would. He's been acting weird. A little too protective in my opinion."

"Wonder why," Monica droned on, her voice packed full of sarcasm and slight laugh. Her eyes continued to scan over the paperwork on her desk.

"What the hell am I missing that everyone seems to be in on?" A lightbulb went off in my head. There's no way. Could there be? I mean weirder things have happened. "Oh my god. Does James have a crush on Harry? Is that what it is?"

Monica's face falls flat with a combination of pity and shock. "Really, JJ?"

"What?" I asked.

"Jaime?" I looked up at Mon and she had a look of concern on her face. "Should I be worried?"

"Worried about what?" I had a feeling where this was going.

"You seem to be getting awfully attached to this boy."

Is she joking right now? I knew I was in a happiness bubble. Everyone knew it. I wasn't acting like myself. I was cheery. I was smiling more and wanting to be places other than work for once. But just because I was changing doesn't mean it's a bad thing. That's the thing about change, we don't know if it is good or bad until it is over.

"These past few months you have done nothing but push me to be happy. Go out and have fun!."

"I'm just worried that's all," Monica kept her tone calm because I was raising mine. I never used to snap at Monica like this. Then again, I don't think I have ever cared about something, let alone someone, this much before. I love Monica and my friends, but this was different. It was also temporary. Jess and James would always be here. I knew Harry wouldn't be. And knowing that he was leaving soon was hard enough without all the constant reminders from everyone. Harry was sand slipping through my fingers and the hardest I grasped the quicker he fell.

I took a deep breath. Everyone was looking out for me. I had no reason to keep getting mad at Monica and James.

"I appreciate your concern," I mumbled. "I am just so determined to hold on while I can. We all know he is going to leave at the end of summer. It's not a secret. He knows it and I know it. And it's not that I am unhappy or ungrateful with my life here. But I like my life with him in it right now. I'm not used to this, but I'm scared that I will and that's when it's going to hurt the most."