"Don't blame me, love made me crazy."
Jules Howard has always lived in the shadows of her sisters, being the middle child is never easy, especially when you're only half related. When a tragic accident ends the life of her parents and her eldest sib...
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It wasn't until Alex took hold of Jules' hand for the first time that she realised she'd been deprived of physical touch. They were sitting in the cafeteria talking to Kiley and Kiara when he reached into Jules' lap and gently slid his hand into hers.
It was so simple, so minor but it set off flames in her stomach. It had been just over two weeks since they'd kissed and Alex had kept her wish of taking things slowly but today, he just really wanted to hold her hand, so he did. And it felt so natural.
A couple of days later Alex had progressed onto cheek kisses, and lots of them. Jules enjoyed it at first but after a while it became too often and it always seemed to be when they were around other people like Kiley, Kiara and Cole.
"Catan today, beer pong Saturday." Alex was saying to Kiley. He and Jules were sitting beside each other on the picnic table in the school yard.
When Alex leant into Jules and placed his lips against her cheek, she couldn't help but glance over to Kiley, who turned away from the two. Kiley excused herself, beginning to walk towards the school doors, "See you later."
"I'll find someone to sub." Alex called out to his friend as the bell rang.
"Beer pong?" Jules questioned as she picked up her bag and placed the strap on her shoulder.
"Yeah, it's a bonfire thing, you'll see." Alex told her as they started making their way towards the building, "Still, it's insane to me that you've never been to one."
"Oh, I have, New York's full of them." Jules joked, "They have about five a day in Times Square."
"You're hilarious." Alex playfully rolled his eyes, nudging his arm against hers, "It's a very big deal around here. Oh, and there's this rock formation thing I wanna take you to. Something about the acoustics makes it feels like you're miles away from the bonfire, or anyone really. And it's super dark, so the stars are all you can see."
Jules wasn't sure if people used the word swoon anymore in this day and age, but it felt appropriate right now. He was so thoughtful, it made her feel all giddy inside, so she did something she'd never done before, she reached for his hand this time and smiled, "Can't wait."
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"Why do I keep hearing that this bonfire is a big deal?" Jules questioned in a quiet voice as she took a seat in front of Kiara in the school library. It's all she'd heard students talking about for the past two hours.
"Because it's where everyone hooks up." Kiara responded, putting down her pencil, "You're going with Alex, right?"
"Oh God." Jules could feel the heat burning in her cheeks. Her eyebrows forced themselves together, "Does he think we're gonna... It's not gonna happen."
