CHAPTER TWENTY

It was half past three when they took an intermission in the middle of the highway, right in next to the view of Redwood river, and despite the fact that his panicked voice made everyone's hearts lodge to their throats, Reagan was thankful Corbyn decided they took a break in the middle of the road.

The moment they got down, Jack and Daniel went to the back of the truck to retrieve their skateboards, while Corbyn, Jonah and Zach peered over the edge of the road that led to a steep cliff.

Logan wasted no time getting his camera and Reagan watched, laughing, as they all huddled to greet the video recorder.

She didn't participate. Being filmed didn't appeal to her and she very much preferred watching the boys jump in surprise when Logan would suddenly scream beside their ears, camera held up in front of them to record their reactions.

Logan ended up moving to a street sign meters away to talk to the camera by himself and Reagan didn't expect it when Zach was suddenly dragging her to the cliffside to where Jonah and Corbyn were grinning at her.

"Take pictures with us, come on," He smiled brightly, nodding his head to the direction of the two boys waving her over, and her smile got impossibly wider.

She ended up holding the phone to take pictures of them more often than standing in front of the camera, but they somehow got her to take a few pictures with them after a lot of convincing.

Her smile during pictures was forced and uncomfortable but she would only roll her eyes and laugh when Corbyn pointed it out.

"You don't like taking pictures do you?" Jonah asked while she was stood on top of the cement barrier between the road and the cliffside, Corbyn's hand slung around her shoulder for the picture, and she wrinkled her nose.

"There's nothing I hate more," She admitted, laughing, just as Corbyn held up two fingers in a peace sign.

"You look great in the photos, don't worry about it!" Zach assured her sweetly and it made the gnawing insecurity at the back of her mind loosen.

She smiled while Jonah counted down to three for the picture and sighed out a deep, relieved breath when he put the phone down.

She was about to jump of the barrier when she heard Daniel call out, "Wait, I want a picture too!"

Daniel jumped over the barrier before Reagan could jump down and threw an arm around her the same way Corbyn did.

"Say cheese," He called out, grinning widely to the camera in Jonah's hands, and Reagan forced out a tight lipped smile.

Afterwards, she looked at Daniel, "Want a picture with just you?"

"Nah," He grinned, jumping down from the elevated platform, "Just wanted a picture with you looking uncomfortable as all hell."

Reagan paused for a second but once it registered in her head, she called out after Daniel with a laugh, "You're a jerk!"

Daniel glanced over his shoulder to look at her and laugh before turning back around to where the polaroid camera was sitting on the back of the truck.

She realized that Daniel was actually trying to fix it and she shook her head, smile still wide, and turned around to to stare at the valley in front of her.

She liked this. She liked having the time to appreciate the town she grew up in and she liked having good company to do it with her.

They were all kind and easy going, switching between skateboarding and taking pictures, all the while laughing and enjoying just being together.

She was too caught up in listening to their laughter and watching the rushing waters in front of them that she didn't hear Jack sneaking up behind her.

With no warning, he pushed her forward by the shoulders and her blood ran cold when she thought she was about to stumble over the bannister.

For a second, all she could see was the steep drop below her--frozen still, not breathing--until the same pair of hands pulled her backwards, and Jack Avery's obnoxious laugh was ringing beside her ear.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," He was already chanting through his laughter when he turned her around by the shoulders and the moment she saw his face, the initial shock drained out of her and she pushed him by his chest.

"You are such an asshole!" She yelled at him as he stumbled backwards onto the road, catching his landing when he fell from the cement block, but he still hasn't stopped laughing.

She hasn't either.

Reagan placed a hand against her chest and let another bubble of laughter out of her, saying, "Goddamit, I think my life was about to flash before my eyes."

"I'm sorry," Jack replied but looked nothing like someone who was sorry. He was still laughing, clutching the side of his stomach.

Reagan rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm the short burst of adrenaline that came upon seeing the fall beneath her and turned around to sit on the cement, letting her feet dangle beneath her.

She didn't think she was afraid of heights but anyone who was about to fall off the edge of a ledge was meant to be shaken. She pointedly kept her gaze far from the drop below her and set it to look at the river.

"That was funny," Jack said, jumping up to take the spot beside her. Reagan could almost hear the grin in his voice, the asshole.

"I'll get you back," She promised silently, feeling Jack's body heat reside on the spot to her left despite the wind in the highway.

Jack didn't say anything after that and just sat there, watching the wind rustle the leaves and the water push against rocks far below them.

He hummed subconsciously, she recognized it to be one of the songs that was playing in the car, and swayed his dangling feet the same way she was.

"This is beautiful," He said after a minute of silence, "Everything in Oregon is beautiful."

There was an edge to his voice but Reagan didn't pay attention to it. Just nodded in agreement.

"Honestly wish I could draw this," She sighed, her fingers almost twitching.

Part of it was because of being shaken from what for a second looked like near death, part  because she wasn't used to not having anything to occupy her hands, but mostly because Jack's presence a foot away from her was obnoxious (but welcomed, if she was honest with herself).

"Now that I think about it," Jack responded, "You haven't shown me any of your drawings."

Reagan snickered, "That's 'cause it's shit."

Jack's eyebrows shot up, likely because of the word choice, and he laughed, "That's what a world-class artist would say if they're being modest."

"Or just awful wannabe artists being honest," She shrugged back, pointedly not returning his gaze and continued to appreciate the landscape.

"I'll be the judge of that," He said decidedly and from the corner of her eye, she could see him smiling at her, "Show me what you draw sometime."

"Absolutely not."

"Aw c'mon, Wallace," He groaned before letting a coy smile fall on his face, "You could draw me like one of your french girls."

She rolled her eyes. Jack joking and being remotely playful would've normally taken her off guard, but that line was just plain awful.

"You don't find it ironic that your name's Jack and you're the one saying that?"

"Look," He said, sounding almost serious if she didn't know any better, "If that's your way of telling me that we're Jack and Rose then I'd be honored to--"

She shoved his shoulder harshly, making him burst out in laughter.

"Idiot," She muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes with a barely-hidden smile, which only made him laugh louder.

"You never call me idiot anymore," He said thoughtfully once his laughter died down.

She let the words run through her for a moment and realized that she, in fact, avoided being friendly with him, and that enlisted teasingly calling him names.

Somewhere in the back of her head, she knows that it's because being asked to be a friend out of a demand wasn't an easy thing to comply to.

But when she was sat on the edge of the highway: Oregon in all of it's glory in front, their friends behind them, and Jack Avery on the spot right next to her, she realized she's okay with just being friends with Jack.

She's spent every moment since the night on the roof pretending like she was okay with it until that moment when she didn't have to pretend anymore.

"Don't worry," She assured him, "I'm still not tired of saying it."

She could live with being friends with Jack. The sight of him still stops her short and little things he do can make her head short circuit but having him as a friend was better than not having him at all.

That was until he nudged her shoulder, just before they were meant to go back to the truck, when he leaned in to whisper.

"We aren't going to the waterfall right?" He asked in a low voice, almost conspiratorially--almost ashamedly.

Her heart plummeted.

"No," She answered, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Okay," He said with a firm nod before hauling himself off the seat, "Good."

So maybe being friends with Jack wasn't the easiest thing in the world. Especially when he seemed openly regretful of their time at the waterfall. But she wouldn't let that be a reason to ruin their night camping.

The rest of the boys were smiling at her, racing over each other to show her the pictures they took, and Reagan knows they're more than enough of a reason to enjoy the road trip.

irdk what this chapter is

if i had a dollar for every time i spelled corbyn as cobryn i'd be so rich rn

im sorry im so bad at updating :( it'll be really slow from now on too bc school starts on monday :( i'll still try my best to make time for this story though :-)

and i goT MY LAPTOP i can finally stop typing chapters on my phone. i spent nearly 4 hours in photoshop making new covers ngl

also disclaimer please be patient w me if i have any grammar/spelling mistakes :') english isn't my first language and i barely speak english irl so im sorry for inconsistencies

thank you for being patient with me and how sucky i am at updating <3 im about to check my notifs, ily guys <3

OKS EDIT THIS IS RANKED 555 (sardines) HAS 20K READS AND WTF???? IM MINDBLOWN WTF GUYS I LOVE YOU

EDIT DOS IM ADDING THE COVER HERE BC WATTPAD RUINED ITS QUALITY AND IM ANNOYED