• Jami’s POV

    “Only a little bit farther.” Jake turned off the highway and drove for a few more minutes. I was feeling nauseous. Suddenly, we hit a pot hole and from then on, the road was harsh and unforgiving on my poor butt.

    I groaned, “Have any gum? I feel like barfing.” He pointed to the back and I muttered my thanks. I climbed over the seat and reached for his bag. Grabbing the pack of gum, I retreated and sat back down. “Y’ wa hum?” I asked around my wad.

    “Ya’ Ai wa.” He laughed at his lame comeback and took a piece. Suddenly, he braked and I flew towards the window, crushing my face.

    “Ouch...” He cracked up at my pain and misery, needless to say. I scowled at him and got out of the car. Any witty reply I was going to shoot back at him died on my lips as I took in the view. “Holy crap..”

    “Nice yeah?” He came and wrapped his arms around my neck, burying his face in my long, black hair. “Mmm..” he sighed. “Just for you, babe.”

    I laughed and shrugged him off, the words coming back to me, “Get off, you dumb a**. You aren’t my boyfriend and I ain’t your babe.”

    He giggled Can boys even giggle? and crashed next to me, his head cocked and staring absent-mindedly at the mountains that suddenly dropped into a dark hole. I peered into the valley, my hair drifting in my face.

    I made sure that I stayed far from Jake. One stupid idea from him could send me flying into oblivion. Cautiously, I stepped back again and nestled myself in Jake’s arms. “Fine. I’ll be your babe for now. You’re comfy.” I pushed my head into the hollow base of his neck and smiled. My eyes were closed and my breath was steady, each one full of Jake’s smell. I couldn’t help it.

    Truth: I am in love with my best friend, Jake Green.

    Fact Fiction: Jake is in love with me, Jami Tanner.

    Catch Up With Me

    Jami‘s POV

    But I honestly had no idea how Jake felt about me. He was a cocky arsehole. He fooled with all the mentionable girls at school, even while I was right there. I’m just telling myself it was to make me jealous, but perhaps…he isn’t joking and he really is a ladies man. Then what? I couldn’t bring myself to slap him when he invited me to the dance when he had a date and I didn’t. I was waiting for him to ask me there. We always went to dances as friends. But…he just came up to me, asked me to the dance, and then he broke the news to me that he was seeing Grace Martley. I nearly punched him there, but I had enough will power and self-respect to refrain from doing that to my best friend. So I nodded and went to class.

    But then again, it was his idea to invite me to a weekend of camping. Alone. In the wilderness. Alone. Did I mention that? I was so happy when he asked me, I packed a week early and was forced to wear the same two shirts and three pants that I still had left, for a week.

    Finally, he pulled by to pick me up and we left. We drove past the border, and then some, finally stopping near the Rockies where we were.

    Jami’s POV

    I sat up in his arms. We were lying on the ground, his two strong arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace. I smiled smugly. A picture of this would show that snotty Grace Martley. I grinned at the thought and then frowned. If he liked me like I liked him, then I wouldn’t even need to show Grace Martley. I pulled myself out of his arms roughly. I didn’t care if he woke up. And wake up he did. I pushed him away and stood up, dusting my pants. Looking at Jake, I took in his features, body, everything.

    He had the build of a football player. Wide around the shoulders and lean around the abs. His were rock hard, it was sore lying on it. He worked out everyday, running, and the sort. He was pretty lanky, but still was undeniably fit. He had black hair too. Something like a Portuguese heritage. His hair was long and highlighted at the tips. He looked so cool. Anyways, his nose was sort of big, but his mouth was perfect, his lips just the right amount of softness. Trust me. I know, even though I‘d rather know from different reasons. He kissed me goodbye and hello every day. His eyes were brown and warm.

    Jake blinked a few times, and then looked straight at me…looking straight at him. I didn’t notice until he cleared his throat. I glanced at the ground before gaining my composure and then looking back at his face. “Like what you see, Babe?”

    I smirked. “Heck no.”

    He laughed unfeelingly, running a hand through his hair. It fell back over his eyes, shadowing them from my view. I felt a twinge of worry. Was he mad at me?

    He didn’t look up, but walked to the car and then settled in the driver’s seat. Once his door shut, I followed suit, dropping into the passenger seat. He started the engine, and without a word, began driving back down the mountain. Then, all of a sudden, he pulled into a different side road. I glanced at him.

    When he stopped again, I immediately jumped out. He grabbed the tent from the trunk and began fixing it up. I took the food cooler and began making a fire. By the time I got that going, Jake was already putting the sleeping bags inside the tent.

    He grinned at me, one of those smiles that made me fall in love with him in the first place. I smiled back, already forgetting about his mood swing. Grabbing a stick, he sat on a stump and began poking the fire.

    “What will we do tonight?” I asked him.

    He cocked his head as he thought. “Not sure. I was looking forward to looking at the stars. You know, light pollution and stuff like that...” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

    I looked at him and smiled. “That would be nice. Could you wake me when you want to watch?”

    He looked at me weirdly. “You’re watching with me? I thought girls weren’t into that kind stuff.”

    It was my turn to stare at him now. “It’s far more feminine than it is masculine. You‘d look like an idiot if you thought you were being a ‘dude’ in front of your other friends.” I laughed at him and then grinned. “Don’t forget.”

    I kissed him on the cheek and clambered into the tent. I was tired, even though I woke up about 5 hours ago. My sleeping bag was RIGHT next to Jake’s. I could roll over onto my side and kiss him easily. Whoa. Slow down there, Jami.

    Jake’s POV

    I sat near the fire a long time. Jami was here with me so that I could tell her about...My feelings. For her. She probably didn’t know it. I pretty much always knew of them, but it was another matter to give up on all the other girls I’ve dated. And the fact that Jami had been my best friend since I ever entered Carson middle and then into Jefferson High made things a bit more complicated. I bet she didn’t know of all of them since I’ve had a new girl every few weeks. Rarely I go back to an old one.

    Hell, I was called the Bachelor at school. Everyday, I had to pray that no one told Jami about my “nickname”. She would kill me if she knew. She doesn’t approve of things like that. That’s why she only dates once every few years. They never turned out to be serious. She doesn’t bother fixing the rumors that we are going out. I’m glad she doesn’t, but it doesn’t help me when my girlfriend is getting jealous and prissy. She starts getting angry, but at the same time, Jami is still happy and having fun with life. She’s so...careless. It’s different from me. I’m so ‘take care of every little detail’...and she’s ‘Let’s go already!’. I think she got irritated with me when I did stuff like that. So I asked her if she wanted to go camping. It was a chance to prove to her that I could kick back and relax for once. I didn’t tell her that I packed a week early and then unpacked and packed once more every day. She would laugh at me for that. It was playing into my own stereotype. So I kept that hidden and instead pretended that I had no worries in the world.

    Sighing to myself, I climbed back into the tent, to tired for any more words. Unlike Jami, who probably woke up an hour before I picked her up, I had been up all night. Packing.

    I grinned when I saw her lying there peacefully. She was on her side, her lips parted slightly and her hands rested under her cheek. Lying down, I bent my body to her shape, her form. I fell asleep, my face buried in her soft hair. Stars had nothing on this, hands down.

    I was up long before Jami, and I had already started our sparse breakfast. Sighing, I walked a bit into the forest, towards the river. I wanted to take a short shower, but I had to fill up our canteens anyways. Once there, I was cheered up by the sight of the river. It looked so refreshing. I tied the bottles to a branch that hung near the edge. I dived into the water and gasped with the sudden chills.

    Cold. Very. Cold.

    I laughed and splashed no one, just acting the part of a happy guy. I sighed, a bit saddened by this realization and then I swam to the bank and rested my head on it. Then I got a mouth full of water.

    Giggles.

    Jami.

    Open eyes.

    See that idiot.

    Fall in love all over again. Er. I mean, splash her back.

    Jami’s P.O.V.

    He looked so lonely sitting there……I HAD to cannonball in. It was my duty as a best friend. I laughed when I came back up, my hair covering my face like a creature from the deep.

    Jake splashed me some more, and of course, I got him back. I do believe that I am the better of the two of us. At water wars, I mean.

    I pulled myself out of the water and sat on the wet bank. The sun was barely up, and my lack of twelve hours of sleep was getting to me. Jake pulled himself out next to me and he wrapped his body around me.

    I sighed to myself. So this was what it was like. His lucky girlfriends…wait a second…his girlfriend!

    I frowned and pushed him away. “You can’t hug me. Not since you’re girlfriend is a few miles away, smoldering with jealousy at the fact that you didn’t invite her to this camping trip and instead took your ‘best’ friend with you so that even more rumors about her and yourself would spring from your stupid actions. You don‘t mean anything to me.”

    I looked at the ground. I didn’t look at his hurt expression even though I knew it was there. I don’t even know why I was exploding against him. He didn’t do anything wrong. I stood, his arms fell off my body and I walked slowly back to camp. I didn’t mean to say those things. It’s just…jealousy could do that to you. I wanted to sit there in his arms longer.

    As I walked away, I kept telling myself that I should’ve sucked it up. That the chance may never come again.

    Jake’s P.O.V.

    I sat there in shock at her words. They weren’t hateful themselves…just…just the way she said them. She knew about everything, didn’t she? I felt like my heart was being heaved off a ship…and the entire drop was just leading up to a final plunge. That slam against the blue waters was the final words. ‘Stupid actions.’ Were they really? Slowly, I stood and pulled on my jeans.

    She wasn’t in sight when I reached the campsite. Probably in the tents. I stayed outside, just staying in the same dirty clothes to avoid her stark gaze. Then…I noticed something.

    The car.

    …

    Gone.

    Jami’s P.O.V.

    I didn’t know why I was running from him. He didn’t have a reason to do this to me. Or rather, I didn’t have a reason to do this to him. He always had a girlfriend. Even in the same day as a break-up, there would be a get-together. I knew all about his little ‘nickname’ at school. “The bachelor.” What kind of name is that? Does it make him more charming? I fell in love with that guy who was my best friend. Not some egotistical idiot whose sole purpose in life was to date every girl in school.

    Groaning, I pulled over to the side of the road. I was only half-a-mile down the road, still in the countryside, but it wouldn’t be safe for me to drive with tears blocking my vision. I rested my head against the steering wheel, my arms acting as a slight cushion. My tears didn’t come now. All I did was sit there and breath for a few minutes.

    I didn’t know the time. It was Jake who told me in the end.

    Jake’s P.O.V.

    I panted as I ran. Adrenaline kept me going. Only one thought ran through my head: This road is really crappy.

    I forgot what I was running for until I realized that Jami wasn’t by my side. Doubling my pace, I finally saw my car after almost five minutes of running. Breathing a sigh of relief I slowed down and cautiously made my way to the driver’s window.

    She was against the steering wheel and for a second, my heart stopped in fear that something terrible happened to her. I squeezed my eyes shut, afraid to open them again and find blood spatters all over the car. After a minute, I finally forced myself to look…and all I saw was two red eyes.

    Slowly, she opened the car door as I stepped out of the way. She looked down at the ground, her chin trembling slightly. I nearly began crying right there. She looked so dejected. It was so unlike her usual self, that before I knew it, I was hugging her. Her face was buried in my chest, her head just touching the bottom of my chin. I sighed into her hair and I felt a warm puff of air on my chest in response, followed by a growing wetness. Her tears felt good on my hot skin.

    I have no idea how long we stayed like that; just that we didn’t really want to break it.

    Jami’s P.O.V.

    That hug made me loose track of my emotions. Love, anger, all those little things grew and swelled in me. Finally, they found a channel. Jake. His hug was so unlike his usual tight-reined self. I cried into his shirt and then, pushed myself off.

    We walked back to the campsite, forgetting the car in the road. It was a hassle later to get it, but that walk made up for it. Oh, no. We didn’t say anything. It was just a walk between…something.

    Jake’s P.O.V.

    It was a slow day. Made slower by the fact that we just sat together the entire time. I doubt either of us remembered what the argument was about.

    Tomorrow we were going home.

    We spent the night packing in silence.

    When we were done, we watched the stars.

    Jami’s P.O.V.

    Teenage love was something I never expected to happen to me. But here it was. Holding me in strong, capable arms.

    I dreaded the morning, we would have to drive home, conversation lost on the privacy and intimacy we shared this last day. And then, the time when he will drive away. Leaving me alone on my doorstep, wondering if our actual feelings would carry us over into school. Or if it was all a bunch of stupid actions.

    Probably was. He’s a charmer, once he managed to loosen up.

    It was harder than I expected. I tried making conversation, but the mere thought of what happened yesterday morning smothered my words into dust and blew them away over the side of the cliff. I managed smiles. But that’s all. I’m not sure that Jake understood how hard I was trying to keep it together. All I could do was hope.

    Jake’s P.O.V.

    I couldn’t believe that we couldn’t talk. It threw me off. And then, like my usual self, I began to think about it to much. So far, my only thought is that I am not as high in her favor as I thought I was. Well…its that or: She definitely, totally, undeniably repulsed by the merest thought of me being more than a friend.

    Preferably, I want the first. But that’s just me.

    The entire ride. Silence. I nearly suffocated. So I made an excuse and pulled into a restaurant to relax for a bit.

    Now, I’ve been preoccupying myself with napkins. N.A.P.K.I.N.S. Did you know…that there is at least ten hundred stitches in one row?

    When I looked up at her, she was looking blankly at me. That was a better conversation stopper than saying “STFU.”

    I swear. Mostly because it’s from her.

    We piled into the car, and right before I left the parking lot, she shouted, “Wait! I gotta pee!”

    I stopped short. “You have to pee? Now? We were in there for half an hour and you didn‘t say a damn thing!” I glared at her unintentionally.

    All she did was blush and buckle herself in.

    Great. Way to go, Jake. That’s how to patch over an argument. After nearly whacking my head against the dashboard, I reversed and parked the car in our spot. “I’m sorry, Jami. Go.”

    The situation was so awkward already.

    Jami’s POV

    My natural urges fled as soon as he shouted at me, but I unbuckled myself again, and climbed out of the car. I shut the door quietly behind me, and walked into the restaurant, at a slow, thinking pace. Just as I was turning into the door, I caught a glance of the car, and the silhouette inside, banging it’s head against the window. I nearly burst out laughing, but at the same time, I nearly cried.

    Good thought: Maybe I was the cause of it. Bad thought: Maybe I was the cause of it.

    My brain was trying to kill me.

    Five minutes later, we were driving down the main road that led through the town. My house was on the far side of it, Jake’s about a mile from mine. The tension wasn’t so bad anymore, but I couldn’t help but swallow every time Jake took a breath. There’s no way someone is supposed to have that kind of impact on me. Unless…it’s love?

    Jake’s POV

    Her house was on the next block.

    And my mind was racing. I had to think of something to talk to her about. To just renew the bond we had. I couldn’t stand not knowing what was going through her head. To me, it didn’t matter if it was just a small joke that she heard two weeks ago. This was the love of my life. All these thoughts raced through my head, but I couldn‘t say anything.

    Maybe that’s why I didn’t see the Mustang race around the corner and barrel into her side door. And maybe that’s why she hates me.