Chapter 27
My adrenaline had suddenly spiked and I was running, running as fast as my feet would take me. My athletic inability and dwindling air were albeit slowing me down but, my mind was focused solely on getting the farthest I possibly could away from the Ferris wheel and Cason.
Fairgoers probably thought I was being chased, or was just plain crazy, as I dodged in and out of them as I kept going.
As I took a short cut through the back of one of the games, I realized I was going too fast to slow down as I approached an elderly couple strolling down a path in their wheelchairs. Instead of full on colliding with them, I tried my best to turn my body to the side and miss them however; I seemed to fail as I nicked the side of the woman’s chair.
I glanced over my shoulder with wide eyes as I saw the chair spin around completely before slowing. “Sorry!” I shouted in apology, turning around to avoid the angry stares as I kept going.
Not focusing on where I was going, I somehow found myself slowing down and turning towards the area where the dance had been set up. I knew that Olivia wanted to spend a lot of time there tonight when her and Evan weren’t enjoying the thrill of the rides so, that’s where I decided to check first.
As I approached the dance, I saw that it had been set up with a romantic country theme. There were strings of twinkly lights strung from the surrounding trees, bails of hay around the dance floor to sit and relax, as well as a music booth that was blasting the latest number one hit.
Spotting my friends on the dance floor, I smiled at the scene as I saw the couple slow dancing as Evan whispered something in her ear. I really didn’t want to interrupt and ruin their night but, I needed to get out of here and Evan was the only other person I knew here that had a car to get me home.
I waited until the song ended and the dance floor started to clear out as a more upbeat song came on to try and get their attention. Catching Evan’s eye as he led Olivia off of the dance floor, he acknowledged me with a smile as he made his way over.
“Hey, how’s your night going?” he asked as he stopped in front of me, throwing his arm over Olivia’s shoulder affectionately.
“Fine.” I replied sharply before sighing and running a hand down my face stressfully. “Sorry, I just need a ride home, like now.”
The pair in front of me looked shocked as they glanced at each other, communicating wordlessly with their eyes.
“Umm… sure.” Evan said sceptically but, agreeing nonetheless as he reached into his pockets and grabbed his car keys.
“Wait, what’s wrong?” Olivia asked frantically, putting her hands on my shoulders. “What happened Jessalyn?”
I shook my head, refusing to think about what happened just minutes before. Ignoring Olivia’s pleas for information, I simply looked back to Evan who seemed to be texting somebody on his phone and, that person was probably Cason. “Are you ready to go?” I asked impatiently, getting jittery at the thought of Cason finding me after the little scene at the Ferris wheel.
Looking up from his phone, he nodded as he slipped it back into his pocket. “Yea, I just texted Cason and he said he was looking for you. I told him that I’m taking you home but, to come and meet Olivia here.”
“Oh,” I said guilty as I realized I was tearing Evan away from Olivia, “Are you gonna be okay here until he shows up?”
Olivia lifted her lips up in a small smile and nodded. “I’ll be fine, just go.” she said, pushing me with her words. “And I expect full details tomorrow – no if’s, and’s or but’s!”
Letting loose a laugh, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a quick hug. “You’ll get them.” I said as I pulled back and the jitters started up again. “Now hurry up Evan, I don’t wanna be here when Cason gets here.”
In response, he just rolled his eyes before looking down at Olivia and giving her a kiss goodbye before whispering something in her ear that made her smile. Pulling back he pecked her lips once again, only succeeding in reminding me of the Ferris wheel kiss and spiking my antsy behaviour.
“Come on.” I pleaded, taking matters into my own hands as I latched onto Evan’s arm and started pulling him away as he laughed at my lack of patience.
“You know, you don’t look strong but man,” he said, rubbing his arm as we walked out to where his car was parked, “You could’ve applied a little less pressure.”
“Sorry.” I winced, looking apologetically at the small red ring on his forearm. “So,” I said, switching subjects and looking around the mass of parked cars. “Where’d you park?”
“Behind the candy shop so nobody would hit my car.”
Stopping mid stride, I turned to him confused. “Then why are we headed towards the parking lot?”
Evan simply shrugged but, I saw him withhold a smirk. “You’re the one that’s walking that way, I’m simply following you.”
“Come on.” I grumbled incredulously, turning and heading towards his car as he followed while letting loose a chuckle.
Five minutes later Evan was pulling out of the fair and I was sitting silently in the passenger seat as the radio played.
“So,” Evan said coolly, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel a couple of minutes later. The street, which was usually bare of cars, was now quite alive with people leaving the fair and coming to pick up their children. “Are you gonna tell me why you’re so hell-bent on avoiding Cason? You guys seemed fine less than an hour ago when I last saw you.”
Sighing, I rested my head back against my seat and glanced over at him. “If I don’t tell you, you’re just gonna call Cason as soon as you drop me off aren’t you?”
“You know me all too well cupcake.” he replied, sending me a smirk quickly before refocusing on the road ahead of him.
Crossing my arms as I mumbled my answer quietly, I was sure he hadn’t heard me as his expression didn’t change. When he looked at me curiously, my suspicions were confirmed. “You’re gonna have speak a little louder than that.”
Deciding to just get it over with, I spoke clearer. “He kissed me.”
Everything was quiet for a second, too quiet but, before I had time to ask him if he had heard me this time he started laughing. Looking at him worriedly, I wondered if he was even focusing on the road as he bent over slightly trying to calm down his hysterics.
“It’s not that funny you know.” I said, grumbling to myself as I watched Evan wipe the tears of laughter that escaped his eyes.
“Oh contraire,” Evan replied, calming down his laughter as a grin settled on his face. “It’s quite hilarious. I’m just getting this picture of you as he kissed you and then his face when you hightailed it out of there, just priceless.”
“I didn’t hightail it out of there; it was more of a fast walk.” I said adamantly before I saw the look of disbelief that Evan was sending me. “Fine, I would’ve made an Olympic sprinter proud with the way I ran away from that Ferris wheel but, could you blame me! That kiss came out of nowhere.”
Evan snorted at my reply as he shook his head with sheer amusement. “Trust me, that kiss wasn’t out of nowhere.” he said, looking over at me with a smirk on his face.
“What do you mean?” I asked, thoroughly confused.
“I’m not telling you anything, Cason should be the one to explain it to you.” he replied mysteriously. “But I will tell you that that probably wasn’t the first time he’s wanted to kiss you.”
As we approached the Avondale’s downtown area, I was more confused than before. What did he mean that this wasn’t the first time that Cason thought about kissing me? He wanted to kiss me before today?
At that realization, my eyes widened as I realized that was probably it. My mind flashed back to time’s over the past month or so where Cason acted weird and confusing but, I may have just been disregarding hints at his true feelings. When Evan and Olivia would tease us about liking each other I simply shrugged it off as a joke but, Cason would tense up for a couple seconds as if he was afraid or shocked. When he let me borrow his holiday outfit, buying me that necklace, paying for me, those strange looks he got in his eyes, and those secret smiles he sent me… how could I have been so ignorant?
Olivia had asked me just a couple of hours ago if something was going on between us and I was so adamant that the answer was no. Looking back on it now, something that changed between us the last couple of weeks. I didn’t know what it was exactly but, he was making me smile more and I just enjoyed my time with him.
Suddenly as Evan turned a sharp corner, he broke me out my thoughts as he spoke. “So, I know it’s not exactly my business but,” he started, glancing at me quickly, “Do you wanna tell me exactly why Cason suddenly decided that tonight was a good time to plant one on you?”
Shaking my head at his bluntness, I cracked a small smile. “Honestly, I don’t know.” I replied, before expanding. “We were fine just enjoying the fair and then we went on the Ferris wheel. I had gotten a little dizzy on the last ride so we settled for that one but, when the fireworks started I jumped out of my seat in shock and landed on Cason. He wasn’t letting me go and when I was about to ask him what he was doing he just kissed me."
Evan nodded and smiled in understanding. “So you were all over him and he lost control.”
“I wasn’t all over him!”
“Oh come on, you were probably on his lap and he had his arms wrapped around you holding you up.”
Although that was almost exactly what happened, it’s not like I had any choice in the matter. “It was an accident.” I said stubbornly, refusing to think I had led him to kiss me.
“It may have been an accident but, whatever Cason’s feelings are for you obviously overpowered his sense of logic because you ended up with a kiss.” Evan explained as he pulled up to my driveway and put the car in park.
Surprising me, I looked at the clock on his dashboard and saw that it was already after twelve thirty.
Unbuckling my seatbelt, I opened the door to get out when Evan’s words registered in my mind. “Wait,” I said, spinning my head around quickly to look at him with shocked eyes. “Feelings? What feelings does Cason have?”
Evan simply smirked and shook his head, refusing to say a single word. “Bye Jessalyn.” he said teasingly, starting his car back up as a sign for me to leave.
If I really wanted to I knew I would be able to press the issue but, I was honestly too tired to do anything at the moment so, I let it go. Climbing out of the car, I threw a quick goodbye over my shoulder as I made my way to the front door only to find it locked. Digging in my pockets for a second, I realized that my mom had probably ended up going over to Diana’s party before finding my keys and letting myself inside.
The lights were all off, showing me that my mom had either gone out or was already asleep. Making my way upstairs, I made a quick pit stop in my mom’s room to see that she was indeed gone out before entering my own room and flicking the light on.
As I spared a glance at my alarm clock, I realized how late it was a let loose a yawn as a wave of exhaustion flooded over me. Grabbing a pair of pajamas and changing into them quickly, I was just about to tuck myself into bed when I heard the buzzing of my phone, alerting me of a new message.
Worried it might be Cason I was hesitant to look however, when I did pick up the phone, I sighed when I saw it was just a quick message from Olivia.
Hey, I got a ride home with Cason but he looked absolutely shocked out of his skin! Tomorrow you’re gonna be telling me everything about whatever happened between you two! No getting out of it! xx
Although I already knew she’d want an explanation, if she didn’t already have it, I was still anxious to tell her because I knew she’d might just tell me ‘I told you so’. Yawning once again, I replied telling her that she’d get her story before putting down my phone and trying to sleep.
Sleep, as I thought it would, didn’t come easy that night. As soon as I closed my eyes the kiss scene would replay in my mind and cause me to startle. I’m pretty sure I was still half awake when my mom came into my room around one thirty to check on me but, eventually, after a bunch of tossing and turning, I finally let myself fall into dreamland.
Waking up the next morning was definitely a difficult task. For one thing, with the loud of exhaustion that hit me last night I completely forgot to close my blinds so, the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a ray of light.
Groaning, I rolled over to my other side with the hopes of gaining a few extra minutes of sleep but, the odds were against me as I was almost completely awake.
Rolling out of bed quickly, I headed to the bathroom and what appeared in the mirror was a horrific site to see. I had forgotten to take off my makeup before going to bed so it was now smeared under my eyes and, my hair, which I neglected to put up when I got home the night before, had turned into a giant tumbleweed over the course of the night. Turning around to turn the shower on, I realized I had a bit more to do than just a quick shower so; I grabbed my makeup removers and quickly got to work.
Almost an hour later, I had managed to shower, control my hair and get ready for the day without a single interruption. I had thrown on a shirt and pair of shorts at random, knowing I didn’t exactly have anywhere to be today and, simply threw my hair into a messy bun.
Before going downstairs, I grabbed my phone and was slightly shocked that it was already approaching noon. Sliding my phone into my pocket, I left my room and headed downstairs to find my mom sitting on the couch watching one of her newer soap operas.
“Hey mom,” I said, taking a seat beside her on the couch as I slid my feet under my butt.
She turned to me and smiled as she pressed a button on the remote to mute her show. “Hey sweetie how was the fair last night?” she asked.
I was about to reply with a positive answer when the events of last night came racing back into my mind. Cason had kissed me! I had ran out of there as fast as I could, probably hurting him and making an even bigger problem between the two of us. I still didn’t understand why he’d want to kiss me but, I guess I’d never know now if I was avoiding him.
Clearing my throat, a blush had probably risen on my cheeks but, I tried to look unbothered. “It was fun.” I said, my voice cracking slightly as I ducked my head down in embarrassment.
Shooting me a look of disbelief, I kept my head ducked as I felt my mother’s eyes boring into the side of my head. “Really?” my mom asked over exaggerated as she voiced her disbelief. “Because it sounds like something happened.”
“Well, I tried deep fried chocolate covered strawberries.” I stated with excitement, remembering the heavenly treats that met my taste buds less than twenty-four hours ago. “They are probably the greatest fried food ever.”
“And nothing happened between you and Cason… nothing at all?”
As she questioned me, a sudden feeling passed through me as I realized that she must have already known about something. “How much do you know?” I sighed, bringing my knees up to my chest as I glanced at my mom worriedly.
“Honey, I was just asking.” she said. “Last night I was about to leave Diana’s when Cason came crashing through the door and froze when he saw me. He looked angry, confused and, a little bit frustrated. He asked me if you got home safely but, when I told him that I haven’t been home for a couple hours he just nodded before stomping past everybody and up to his room. I was just wondering why he didn’t drive you home if you went together.”
“Evan drove me home.” I replied with a shrug, telling the truth while leaving out the main answer to her question.
“And what would Olivia’s boyfriend be doing driving you home?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow. It looked as though the more I tried to stall, the more amused she was becoming. “Shouldn’t he have been, oh I don’t know, driving Olivia home?”
“That was Cason’s job last night?”
“Okay so, are you going to tell me what happened or am I going to have to take drastic measures?” she asked.
Before I could reply, my phone started to play the beginning bars of my ringtone and I slid it out of my pocket to see Olivia’s name flashing across the screen.
Saved by the bell.
“Hey.” I said, answering the phone as I put it to me ear.
“JESSALYN HARTLEY!” Olivia’s voice exclaimed through the phone. “YOU BETTER HAVE A DAMN GOOD EXPLANATION ABOUT WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!”
“Umm… one second.” I muttered into the phone as I muted the call so my mom wouldn’t be able to hear. “I’m just gonna take this…” I said to my mom as I got up and headed upstairs to my room.
When I was safely tucked away in my room with the door locked, away from the curious ears of my mom, I unmuted my phone and brought it back up to my ear.
“Okay, I’m back.”
“Was that really necessary?” Olivia said in a slightly whiny voice. “I’m over here dying for information and you just tell me to wait! What kind of friend are you?”
Even though I could tell she was desperate for every detail about last night, I could also hear the teasing undertone in her voice.
“I was in the living room with my mom.” I explained. “I had to run up to my bedroom so she wouldn’t hear what I’m about to tell you.”
“Oooohhh!” she squealed. And when I say squealed, the sound that escaped her was inhuman and vaguely resembled a pig that was about to be hog tied and killed for dinner. “It’s juicy! Please woman, spill!”
Laughing at her crazy amount of excitement, I fell back into my pillows and sighed nervously. “Do you want the whole story or just the so-called juicy part?” I asked, still stalling as the scenes from last night flashed in my mind once again.
“I don’t care, just spill woman!” she said, obviously losing patience by the second.
“Okay well, after you and Evan left we just decided to walk around the fair and started at the food stands, you know since we were there already.” I started explaining. “We were just walking past most of them but, then when we got to the stand that sold a bunch of fried food, Cason dragged me to the stand and bought a large order of deep fried chocolate covered strawberries.”
“Oh!” Olivia said, interrupting my story. “Those things are delicious, I swear I could eat a whole barrel of them a day without getting bored of them.”
“This would go faster if you didn’t interrupt me you know.” I said teasingly.
Once again, she made a sound that was definitely inhuman before replying. “Sorry, continue.”
“Anyways, we just started walking around the other parts of the fair with our food and ended up at the game booths first. After walking past a bunch of them a group of guys was trying to win a prize at the milk bottles game and when they finally gave up, Cason suddenly had the bright idea to try his luck at the game. At first I just thought that he was crazy for trying a game that was obviously rigged and, after more than twenty tries at the game, I was proving to be right when he didn’t even win once. Right when I was about to drag him away from the game in favour of one he could actually win, I watched him try one last time and, surprisingly he actually won.”
“I guess some kind of energy suddenly erupted inside of him because he hit most of the bottles down on the first shot and then the guy working and me were both shocked when the last milk bottle fell and, come to think of it, Cason was pretty shocked too.”
"Anyways, when the guy told Cason to choose from the prize rack, which honestly didn’t even look like it had been touched yet, instead of picking something for himself he chose a pale purple elephant that was probably the cutest stuffed animal I had ever seen and gave it to me. It was probably one of the cutest things ever because he just looked so shy and nervous but, it put a smile on my face.”
“Come to think of it though, I forgot the elephant on the Ferris wheel last night and, after I just ran away from him last night I doubt that Cason would’ve grabbed it for me.” I added as an afterthought.
“Oh come on, even though this is one of the cutest things I’ve ever heard in my life,” she said and, I could almost hear the wide smile that must’ve been plastered onto her face. “Can you please just get to the part on the Ferris wheel when you mysteriously stomped all over Cason and ran away?”
“It wasn’t like that.” I protested, although I probably sounded pretty defeated as I realized that what I did may have come across like that.
“Just carry on please.” Olivia pleaded, practically begging for the rest of my story.
“So, after that the night just went on and on. We played a couple more games together and took turns trying to beat each other at some of them, we went to a couple more food stands, hopped on a lot of rides around the park, explored the rest of the fair and, obviously we met up with you guys a couple of times.”
“Around midnight Cason got me on that huge rollercoaster that was set up and, when we got off I had next to no feeling in my legs and I was feeling a little queasy. Cason told me to sit down for a second before he disappeared and, reappeared a few minutes later with a cotton candy for me. Since I wasn’t totally up for a high thrill ride right away, Cason led me to the Ferris wheel and when the ride actually started everybody below started counting down to midnight.”
“Oh my god, I think I’m hyperventilating!”
Rolling my eyes at Olivia’s latest interruption, I decided to just ignore her as I continued. “Anyways, everybody counted down to the New Year and then, when everybody reached one, the fireworks went off and they scared the crap out of me. I guess I jumped or something because the next thing I knew I was out of my seat and falling across the ride into Cason’s arms.”
I could tell that Olivia was now holding her breath because I could no longer hear her breathing down the line as I reached the climax of my story. “I thanked him quickly for catching me but, when I looked up at him with a smile he was just staring at me. Something flashed in his eyes before it happened…”
“He kissed me.”
I held my own breath as I waited for Olivia to reply but, when she said nothing, I checked to make sure the line hadn’t cut out. “Olivia? Are you still there?” I asked, slightly confused at why she wasn’t talking.
After another silent pause, I heard my best friend scream her lungs out and, almost succeed in busting my eardrum. Pulling the phone away from my ear until I couldn’t hear her screeching anymore, I placed it back to her obsessive ranting. “Oh my god! OH MY GOD! Jessalyn, do you even realize what happened last night? Cason, the guy that’s been friends with you for the last couple of months, the guy that you’ve grown so close to, kissed you! He kissed you!” she said excitedly and, kept talking fast enough that I couldn’t get a word in. “I was so right last night! I told you that something was going on, even if it was just him. Oh please don’t tell me it’s just him, please tell me that you like him too!”
“Who said anything about Cason liking me?” I asked, even though I knew it was a high possibility after last night. “I don’t remember him confessing anything before I hightailed it out of there.”
“Come on Jessalyn,” Olivia replied, not believing what was coming out of my mouth. “You have to know that the guy has feelings for you! I mean, what’s not to like?”
“Thanks.” I said as a small blush spread across my face at the topic of our conversation. “And I honestly don’t know how I feel about Cason. Lately he’s been making me smile more and we’ve just gotten a whole lot closer but, I guess I just don’t know if I want a relationship right away.”
“Jessalyn, it’s not like you’re just meeting the guy.” she reasoned truthfully. “You guys have been close for a couple of months now and, even when you weren’t friends you still hung around him so you must’ve felt something towards him besides repulsion and annoyance.”
Laughing lightly at her reasoning, I just sighed as I took in all the information. “I’m not saying I do but, if I did find myself having feelings for Cason I don’t think he’d want anything to do with me now. I mean, for Christ sake, I ran away from him with all the adrenaline I had in my body last night after he kissed me without saying anything!”
“He won’t think anything and, if he does he’ll just think that it’s your old habits coming back for a visit.” she said with encouragement. “It was just your automatic reflex and, it could have happened to anyone.”
“Yea but, it happened to me.” I muttered into the phone line in disappointment, realizing that running away last night probably wasn’t the best way to handle the situation.
I didn’t hear Olivia’s reply because the sound of the doorbell chiming throughout the house caught my attention. At first I didn’t pay any mind to it but, when I realized that Cason might be the one at the door and my mom didn’t know any better to not let him in today, I sprung up from my bed in a haste.
“Olivia, I’m gonna have to call you back later, I think I might have to deal with Cason sooner than I thought.” I said into my phone and, before I could understand what she was replying I hung up, throwing my phone safely on my bed before rushing out of my room.
“If that’s Cason, I’m not here!” I exclaimed, getting my mom’s attention when she looked at me shocked as I bustled quickly down the stairs.
“Honey what’s wrong?” she asked in a hushed voice as the doorbell chimed again.
Now I knew it was Cason because I doubt anybody else would ring the doorbell again when nobody answered the first time. He was probably desperate for somebody, mainly me, to answer.
“Just tell him I’m not home.” I begged, pulling a quick puppy dog face before I sprinted around the corner and hid in the kitchen, my back against the wall as I listened to the sound of my mom opening the door.
Even though the sound was slightly muffled because of how far away I was, I could still make out Cason’s distinct voice that I had heard many times over the last couple of months. “Hey Wendy, would Jessalyn happen to be here?” he asked and, although it shouldn’t have, it bothered me that he called me Jessalyn and not Jessa.
Crossing my fingers behind my back and closing my eyes, I just hoped that my mom listened to me and told him I wasn’t here at the moment.
“Sorry Cason, she’s not here at the moment.” my mom replied and, I let out the breath I was holding in a whoosh as my heart started to slow down slightly. “Did you want me to give her a message when she gets back?”
“Umm no, that’s fine.” Cason replied sounding a little defeated. “Just tell her I dropped by.”
After hearing my mom say goodbye and Cason return it, I waited a couple of seconds to hear the door close before closing my eyes in relief and completely relaxing my muscles.
“Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?” my mom asked, scaring me as she appeared in front of me suddenly with a serious look on her face.
Putting my hand up to my chest to calm my racing heart, I looked up at my mom. “God mom, you scared me.” I replied lightly.
My mom looked at me pointedly, causing me to straighten up slightly before speaking. “Jessalyn, I know that we’ve always been close and, even though there are some things you might not want to tell me, I just want to know if anything serious happened between the two of you.”
“No mom,” I said in defeat. “Nothing that could be harmful physically happen between us, it’s just something that happened between the two of last night that’s got me avoiding him.”
Hoping that my explanation was enough, I felt like sighing when my mom nodded in understanding. “Okay but, if you do ever want to talk you know I’m always here for you.” she said, giving me a smile that comforted me.
“I know mom.” I said, stepping forwards to give her a quick affectionate hug before pulling back. “But, I think I’m just gonna take a quick walk on the beach to clear my head a bit.”
After telling me to be home within the hour, unless I was grabbing something to eat on the beach, she pushed me towards the back door and gave me the alone time that I desperately needed.
Deciding that I just couldn’t handle the chatter of all the tourists and locals at the public beach I sunk my hands into my shorts pockets as I headed towards the dock.
The weather was perfect for my mood; it wasn’t too hot and the wind coming off the water was creating a refreshing breeze. My hair was loose behind me and blowing around my face lightly in the breeze, but other than the odd hair that blew into my mouth, I was relaxing.
As I reached the dock, I walked down to the end and let my legs dangle over the edge. My feet entered the water, creating ripples of waves as I moved them slowly back and forth in a calming motion. Resting my hands back on the dock, I leaned back and just let my mind run through everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.
Should I have known Cason wanted to kiss me? Did I offend him when I ran away from? How was I going to face him when the time came?
Then I realized, I shouldn’t be thinking about how Cason was feeling because really, he made it quite clear last night but, I should be thinking about how I was feeling. I knew for sure that I liked spending my time with him – he was one of the very few people I was completely comfortable around. He was funny, outgoing, nice and definitely supportive as he helped me with my anxiety and nerves. The rumours I had first heard about him had been proven wrong a long time ago and, I honestly felt like I could trust him with anything and he wouldn’t laugh at me if I confided in him with something.
Whatever happened after this moment was completely in the hands of the gods however, I just hoped that Cason would still be in my life.
After a half an hour of just hanging out on the dock, I visibly froze as I heard the one voice I was hoping to avoid for a couple more days.
“JESSA!”
All my muscles tensed up and my feet stopped swirling in the water as I heard his feet starting to hit the dock loudly as he ran towards me.
“Jessa,” Cason said, stopping behind my frozen figure as I heard him catch his breath. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
At the softness of his tone, I let my shoulders drop. “Well you found me.” I replied emotionless.
“Do you mind if I sit down?” he asked softly.
Instead of replying, I just shook my head, letting him know I didn’t mind. I simply moved over slightly on the dock and pulled my feet out of the water, bringing my knees up to my chest while wrapping my arms around them.
“So…” Cason trailed as he sat down beside me but, not really knowing what to say. “How’s the New Year treating you so far?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I still hadn’t looked at him since he approached me and I really didn’t want to.
I heard Cason sigh beside me at my lack of responses. “I just... I can’t… I want to… I just want to know how you, um… are feeling after, um… last night.” he said, stumbling over his words stressfully.
Shaking my head, I stood up quickly and turned around. “I just can’t talk about this right now.” I said quietly, wrapping my arms around myself self-consciously as I made my way off the dock.
I was almost at the end of the dock when I heard Cason’s hurried footsteps behind me but, they suddenly stopped as he spoke once again. “Didn’t that kiss mean anything to you?” Cason exclaimed and, it sounded as though he was almost angry at me for avoiding him.
“Of course it did!” I replied loudly, turning around quickly to face him for the first time since he interrupted my peacefulness. I felt bad at yelling him as soon as I saw his shocked and stressed face at my reply. “I mean of course it meant something Cason, it was my first kiss.” I continued in a much softer voice.
“It was… what... shit.” he muttered angrily, although I think the anger was directed more at him than me. “I didn’t know Jessa.”
“Well who else did you think I’d kissed?” I asked him incredulously. “I was bullied for being the nerdy and nervous girl at my old school and you’re the only guy I’ve ever been close to Cason! What other guy do you think I would ever let that close to me? You saw that one guy who hit on me in the convenience store a couple of months ago, I ran out of the store.”
“Yea, just like you ran away from me.” he muttered, probably thinking I couldn’t hear him.
“Well I’m sorry Cason!” I yelled at him, my anger spiking at his last comment. “What was I supposed to do? Praise the ground that the almighty Cason Michaels walks on?!”
“No!” Cason replied with wide eyes, realizing I had indeed heard his previous reply. “I didn’t mean it like that!”
“Oh, than how did you mean it?”
“I just,” he started, running both of his hands stressfully through his hair. “I’m sorry; I just shouldn’t have kissed you last night. It was a mistake and I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Oh, so now kissing me is a mistake.” I stated, acting thrilled at the new information as I felt tears start to fall down my face. “That’s great Cason, thanks for making how you feel real clear.”
“No!” Cason replied but, I couldn’t stand another minute fighting with him so, I simply shook my head as I turned around and started to head back to my house.
I didn’t get very far though because Cason quickly caught up with me and latched onto my arm. As he spun me around, I still felt the tears falling from the corner of my eyes but, I could see the worried look Cason had on his face.
“I didn’t mean that it was a mistake kissing you,” he said softly, looking into my eyes as he begged me to understand him. “I meant that I went about it the wrong way. You were just there and it was midnight on New Year’s Eve and, with all the fireworks and celebration going on around us I couldn’t hold back anymore.”
“I like you Jessa,” he stated, making my eyes widen as his words registered in my mind. “I like you a lot and I just never told you because I knew you were uncomfortable with these things. I didn’t want to lose you as a friend because you’re too important for me to lose. You were there when I told you about my dad and, you didn’t run away once I told you about my past. Hell, you were right there beside me when I went to visit my dad for the first time in three years after you pushed me to!”
“What are you saying?” I asked quietly, wanting to wipe the tears from my face but, my arms were still being held at my sides by Cason.
“I’m saying,” he started, bringing his hands up to my face as I felt his thumbs swipe underneath my eyes, wiping the tears I wanted so badly to disappear just seconds before, “That I like you Jessa and, after last night, I want to give us a chance.”
“But, if you’d rather us just stay friends, I can live with that too.” he added as an afterthought.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I couldn’t understand why Cason – a guy that was smart, funny and, an all-around good guy – chose me as the girl to set his sights on.
I felt Cason’s mood deflate slightly and, I realized that shaking my head was the wrong thing to do as I was giving him the wrong impression. “Why didn’t you just tell me and, we could’ve avoided all of this?” I asked.
Now thoroughly confused, Cason’s eyebrows were scrunched together as he tried to understand what why question had anything to do with anything. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” I said shyly as a small smile erupted on my face. “I could’ve given you a chance a lot sooner and simpler if you would’ve just come and talked to me about how you were feeling.”
Cason’s eyes widened at my words before a grin the size of Saturn erupted on his face. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he asked, looking as though he was waiting to be told he had won the lottery.
Biting my lip shyly, I nodded in reply and, before I could utter a single word, Cason’s mouth came down slowly until it touched mine. This time, although I was surprised, I felt my eyelids close on their own accord and my lips start to move slowly with his.
I didn’t get our first kiss right, standing still and pulling a disappearing act once it was over but, right now, on a secluded and private dock where we both knew what the other wanted, we got the kiss that should’ve been.
We didn’t need titles or confirmation about what we were; we both knew we were together and, that’s all that really mattered.
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I hope this makes up for the cliffhanger I left at the end of the last chapter! And I’m also sorry about the delay – I just wanted this to come out perfectly :)
Also, I can’t believe the amount of votes that this story racked up in just the past week! I mean, we got into the top ten on both the Teen Fiction and Humor charts… and that’s amazing :) I’d just love it if you all could continue supporting my story on its journey to the Watty’s, which means, if you liked this chapter… click that little vote button on the top right of your screen ;)
It’s also unbelieveable that within this week, I’ve gained about 1,000 fans! So thank you again and, if you aren’t following me yet and like my writing, what’s stopping you? :)
I hope you all have a good week and I’ll upload the next chapter, which you all should like, next week! xx
P.S. there are only 6 chapters left in UIMY