-21-

Anthony would not shut up that night. He went on and on and on and on about how wimpy I was because I didn't kiss her first, but he was placated when I told him that I kissed her on my own free will later.

Presley fell asleep quickly, not caring about our conversation. Anthony wouldn't stop talking no matter how much I asked him to stop, even when I was genuinely tired. I eventually went to sleep with his bantering as noise in the background.

But morning came, and he woke me up by talking again. Luckily for me, Anthony likes to sleep, so it was around 9:00 when he woke me up, rather than earlier.

"Come on, man!" he whined. "Give me deets!"

"You saw it happen," I groaned, rolling over.

"But I need to know the words exchanged, the feelings felt, and the level of passion experienced! Besides, I didn't see the second kiss! How'd that one go?"

"Would you stop talking so loud? I don't need everyone to know."

"Oh, man! Elliot's gonna freak! He texted me saying he ships you guys-"

"He texted you?"

"You don't just meet someone like Elliot and not exchange numbers with him, little bro. Take that as a life lesson. We're practically BBFs-best bro friends."

"Okay then. Can I go back to sleep?"

"Eh, maybe later tonight, after you've kissed Stacey again."

"I have to do it again?"

"Well, what else are you gonna do for two days? We've got a full day left. She'll be expecting some action."

"Just shut up," I said.

It's not that I would mind kissing Stacey again, but it was all just pretty embarrassing for me.

"So," he said, "details?"

"No, shut up, and leave me alone."

"Okay, I'll leave, but the only reason for my doing so is because we're having sausages for breakfast."

"Then you'd better get going."

He then left the text yelling Spanish in a very high voice. "Salchichas! Ay ay ay!"

Throughout high school, he was always proud that he could do a Spanish accent. His classmates could hardly speak the language they were learning, but somehow he was able to speak and at least sound like he knew what he was doing. Before I took Spanish, he always made me very uncomfortable at home.

I sluggishly dragged myself from the tent, nearly collapsing twice on my way to the house. I was looking forward to seeing my bed again. Three weeks on the ground wasn't exactly pleasant.

One day. Tomorrow was the day we left. What was I going to do?

»»»»»«««««

Martha had us all gathered together for one last activity. I wasn't looking forward to it.

We were all being assigned three names. Whoever we got, we had to spend ten minutes with each person and get to know them a little better. How pointless what that considering we were leaving the next day?

Martha came around with strips of paper for our "buddy assignments" and handed them out. She claimed they were chosen at random, but I swear someone was messing with me. Possibly Anthony. That seemed more than likely.

Why? When I received my paper, this is what it looked like:

Faron Banks

Robert Cass

Stacey Cass

Why? I moaned inwardly.

You might be wondering what the problem was. First, I had to talk to Faron. I hardly knew her, and it would be beyond awkward, I could already tell. Then, out of all people, I had to talk to Stacey's dad. My heart was racing at just the thought of it. What if he suspected something was going on between us? Would he start subtly talking about guns? What if he saw right through me and then threatened me with his guns?

I mean, it was more than likely that he had guns.

At least I'd be forced to talk to Stacey again. I'd kind of been skirting around her, a bit too chicken to talk just yet. I know; I was totally that guy in the teen fiction novel.

"Go find your first partner and sit down somewhere in the yard!" Martha said. "Go! Shoo!"

Faron came up to me with an awkward smile. "Hey."

"Hi."

Faron looked a lot like Martha. She had dark blond hair that had light streaks all through it, tan skin, and light green eyes the color of celery. It's bad enough talking to a girl that's older than you, but talking with her for ten full minutes is worse.

"Time is starting!" Martha announced.

"Dang you, Mom," Faron muttered.

"You don't like this idea?"

"Heck no! Why would I? She's forcing me out of my comfort zone."

I just nodded in agreement. "So, uh, who else is on your list?"

She looked down at the slip of paper in her hand. "Pamela and Anthony. Should be entertaining," she breathed.

"You've talked to Anthony the last few weeks, haven't you?"

"Of course. The kid won't leave me alone. He keeps trying to sneak up and scare me, and we always end up playing Monopoly."

"Okay?"

"What about you?"

"Bob and Stacey."

"She did that on purpose."

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"Mom."

"Still confused."

"Nothing."

"What are you talking about?" I pressed.

Faron rolled her eyes. "I said nothing."

I squinted my eyes at her until she told me to drop it. It took a minute of brainstorming, but I finally asked her what she was doing in college.

"Oh, I'm studying oil production. In a few years I'll move to California and manage the oil plants down there. Did you know that there's a certain kind of oil called..."

Blah blah blah. That's all I could hear for the rest of the time while she went on and on about oil. How could someone find that so interesting?

"Switch!" Martha called.

As I began to walk away, Faron walked a little longer with me, saying something about oil wells. She sounded so excited.

"Sounds super cool," I said, nodding my head. "Um, gotta go...."

"They're everywhere in California! There was a once guy who tried to ride one like a horse and he got his leg cut off--"

I widened my eyes and quickened my pace, now welcoming the presence of Bob.

I finally got separated from Faron and her crazy oil obsession and found Bob. He nodded his head at me.

"Hey, man!" he said. "I remember when you were a baby... Man, you were fat."

I cocked my head. "Is that...not a good thing?"

"Naw, it was cute. Stacey was also super chubby. You guys were only four months apart, so you'd play together with Carla at around a year old. I have this picture of you guys when you were barely able to stand. It was so weird! You were sitting there looking all confused, and Stacey was there hugging you from the side. And, I swear, she was giving Carla the dirtiest look." He stopped to chuckle a little bit. "It was like a fat baby drama."

I could feel my face burning furiously, but I managed to let out an extremely fake-sounding laugh.

"That's right," he said, "you've had girls on you since your fetus days. How many have you got back home?"

"Why do people keep asking me that?" I asked, not meaning to say it out loud.

"Well, you've got the looks, kid. If you didn't notice, girl kinda like those."

"I don't have any girls at home."

"But the girls keep talking to you, right?"

I thought for a second. "Yeah, I guess. Not as much as they talk to some other guys. Why does it matter?"

"Because. My daughter is a sucker for good looking guys, and I need to keep her away."

My face flushed red. "Stacey?" Was she really boy crazy? Was I just another link on the chain?

"Stacey? No. I was talking about Kayla. Stacey's never chased a boy in her life. I was starting to question her...preferences...when she told me she was going to prom with a boy. I was just satisfied that she was going somewhere, instead of staying home and not meeting anyone. I decided to leave her alone and not tease her about it."

"That was probably a good idea," I said. "Sometimes my dad and brother tease me about girls and it just makes it harder to try to talk to them."

"Ah. I was always a bit shy, too. It was Pamela who made the first move, if you couldn't tell by her spunk. It was so easy to make her jealous. You shoulda seen her face when I talked to some other girl in front of her."

I suddenly imagined Stacey getting jealous. It seemed very probable. I could just see her fuming at the thought of someone she cared about talking to someone else.

Hopefully I was good enough to get her jealous. It seemed too good to be true. I was just that weird kid that other guys looked down upon.

"What are you wanting to do when you're older, Logan?" Bob asked. "You wanna be a rich bachelor?"

"No," I said almost instantly. "I'm gonna go to college and get a job and get married and stuff."

"What kinda job do you want?"

"I'm...I'm not sure," I said, looking down.

"I wasn't always sure, either."

"What do you do now?"

"Game warden."

"Oh. I don't think I'll do that."

"That's fine."

I looked up at Bob. He didn't have Stacey's blue eyes, so she must've gotten those from Pamela. He did have her color of hair. I still couldn't describe it--it was so close to blonde but not quite there. It would always confuse me.

We chatted about college classes for a few minutes until Martha announced that we had to switch again.

It was time to talk to Stacey.

I scanned the large yard for her figure, and when I met her eyes at a distance, she waved me over, close to a corner of the house. I made my way over to her and she led me behind the house. No one was back there; it was just us standing by the bush that we hid in when Anthony terrorized us for getting him wet so many days ago.

"Hi." Stacey smiled at me. Just that smile was enough to fill my stomach with butterflies.

"Hi." I smiled back. "Are they going to find it suspicious that we crept back here?" I looked around to see if anyone was within seeing distance.

"I hope not." She reached out and grabbed my hands, sending shivers up my arm. Was that normal? "Where've you been all day? I've been waiting to talk to you."

"Hiding from Anthony. He's been asking about...you know... He actually saw..."

Stacey laughed, but a pink tint showed on her cheeks. "I worried about that. But you know, it could've been worse. Did anyone else see?" she asked nervously.

"I think he was the only one."

"Good," she said, light coming into her eyes.

"Stacey... I don't know how to say this.... But, we're leaving tomorrow, and..."

"You always have trouble forming your sentences when you're nervous," she said, laughing quietly.

"I... Well, uh..."

"Don't worry. It's cute."

I couldn't think of a good response so I just said, "Cute like my dimples are cute?"

"Cute like you're cute."

My stomach dropped. Some tiny part of me worried if the butterflies were okay, but then I realized I wasn't thinking straight.

"Um," I said. "You're cute, too."

Stacey laughed at me. "You're too nervous. Do I need to clear your mind?"

She stepped closer and then I couldn't breathe. She let go of my hands and used them to grab my face, pulling me nearer. First, she touched her forehead against mine, and the butterflies went berserk. Then her lips landed on mine and I think the butterflies just decided to die.

It was a familiar sensation, but I didn't know if I'd ever really be used to it.

She pulled away, some few seconds later. "Better?" she asked.

I knit my eyebrows, testing to see if I could think clearer. Surprisingly, I could. "Better," I said, laughing.

Stacey exhaled. "I didn't think that would work."

"You just wanted to kiss me," I said, smirking.

She blushed. "So what if I did?"

I poked her cheek. "You're blushing."

"You're not much better."

I couldn't think of a comeback, so Stacey laughed.

She straightened her back, suddenly turning serious. "Do you remember what I said a few days ago?"

"You probably said quite a few things a few days ago."

"When I got mad at you after you played the piano. I said I never realized?"

"Yeah. You never finished that sentence, by the way."

"I know." She took a deep breath. "I had this thought. I thought maybe it was just a crazy realization. I thought it'd go away. I..."

"You can tell me what it was now," I said.

"Shut up! You're not making this any easier!"

She took deep breath and spoke quickly. "I never realized that...I kind of liked you." Her face was beet red. "Not just this year, but I thought and I realized that I've...I've always been attracted to you." Stacey buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

"Stacey," I said, pretending to scold her. "What would Carla say?"

"Oh, gosh. She'd kill me." Stacey laughed halfheartedly. "If she hadn't... This wouldn't have happened."

"I know."

Neither of us spoke for a minute, but then I decided to continue my thought. "Tomorrow's the day we leave. You realize this isn't going to be easy, right?"

"You mean keeping in touch?"

"I don't know... Just...everything." I looked down at my feet and asked, "When will I see you again?"

"I know that we'll be adults by the next reunion, but that's the thing. We'll be adults. Just make it through the year and we can see each other then, independent."

"I don't want to go home," I said quietly.

"Me neither. Believe me. I've got an idiotic Brody to deal with."

"And I've got...stuff."

Stacey raised her eyebrows. "Stuff?"

I nodded. "Stuff."

She came forward and wrapped her arms around me, and I hugged her tight.

"I'm gonna miss you," she said.

"Hold up," I pulled her away to look at her face. "We're not saying goodbye yet."

"Well what should we do?"

"What do you want to do?"

Stacey smirked. "Have you ever watched Doctor Who?"

"I can't say that I have."

"Oh, boy. C'mon!" She pulled me to the house by my arm.

It may be needless to say, but Netflix kept us busy for the rest of the day.

__________________________

Welcome...to the place. (I seriously love saying that!!)

Now... Are you ready? Are you ready for this? Are you hangin' on the edge of your seats?!

I've been saying that a lot lately. Like yesterday before we ran the timed mile in P.E., I walked up to people and started singing that. LOL.

But, I have a little something to say.... *clears throat and lifts finger* I declare...

One more chapter.

This is insane.

Hannah! Why'd you write it so fast! Agh!

I don't know! Put the spiky pineapples down! Nooooooo!

Man, I was just absorbed into this story like...like vacuums. Yeah, something like that.

I think it was November when I began writing this. The original idea came to me in July. I was working on another story in September, but my main character seemed a little queer...so I put it off. I'll probably never post it, just sayin'.

So... What do you guys think? Not all stories get a satisfying ending....

Bye. *leaves awkwardly*

-Double Triple H

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