"Did you get invited?"

"Yeah, I did! Did you?"

"No! Why would she invite you and not me?"

"Because I'm prettier than you and have a better fashion sense? Duh?"

"So not true!"

This was what I had been hearing all day long. At least it was some kind of form of it. At first, I didn't really care what everyone was chattering about, but after the day went on, I was itching to know what people were being invited and not being invited to.

Especially since I hadn't been invited to anything yet.

Jesse was sick or something that day, so I hadn't seen him at all yet. It was actually pretty rare that he got sick, so I couldn't help but be a little worried. Even though I shouldn't have been, I couldn't help but worry. I mean, come on, I liked him, didn't I?

"Jordan!" I heard someone cry as I was walking in between classes. I looked over to see Lexi, who was waving me over to where she was standing. "Jordan!"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I made my way closer to her. When I finally got next to her, I could see that she was looking at a gigantic list that was taped to the side of a wall.

"This is the list of what booths we're going to be taking care of and for what hour," Lexi explained to me. She then pointed up, and I could see her name. "I got the dunk tank!"

"Did you see my name?" I asked, moving closer to the list to get a better look.

Lexi giggled. "I sure did."

I looked back at her in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She only giggled again, waving me toward the list. "You'll see. You're second to last on the third column..."

My eyes slid to the bottom of the page, but they widened when I saw what I had gotten. I let out a small shriek when I realized what I would have to do from twelve o'clock to one o'clock.

"Kissing booth?" I shrieked, my hands covering my mouth moments after. I had only picked that for my last resort! And it was my third choice! I didn't want to kiss strangers for an hour! I could barely kiss Dallas without getting all flustered!

I was such an idiot! Why did I even put that down? I should have put something else!

As I was walking back to Cabin C after seventh period, all the girls were still chattering about it. I even heard some guys talking about how they were invited or not invited. I was starting to get very curious until I finally found out what everyone was so excited about.

As I stopped in front of my cabin, I could see the perky redhead bouncing around as she handed out pieces of paper to almost everyone she passed. I almost slapped myself in the forehead. How could I forget? It was Aimee's birthday that weekend. If I was correct, it would have been Saturday, the day after the fair.

And there goes all my hope of getting invited to the party of the year.

I had to admit that Aimee always threw good parties. I had always been invited to them, since we used to be friends and everything, but now I knew I definitely wasn't going. She probably hated me more than all the other girls, just because I was an apparent threat for her when it came to Jesse. I really did think she had a bigger chance with him than I did...

"Where's Jesse?"

The annoying voice almost made me twitch, but I stopped myself before I could. I looked over my shoulder to see the aforementioned redhead glaring at her, her hands on her hips as she held the invitations in them. I couldn't help but feel a twang up sadness when I reminded myself that none of those invitations were for me. I wasn't her friend anymore...

"I don't know," I shrugged, turning away from her and back toward my cabin door.

Before I could even take a step, she clutched onto my wrist tightly.

"You're lying!" she cried out, tugging me off the cabin steps and toward her. "Take me to him!"

Did it ever occur to her that he may just be in his cabin? Apparently it didn't. But it wasn't like I was expecting Aimee to be smart or anything...

I let out a groan, trying to think of my options. I knew that she wouldn't leave me alone until I took her to Jesse. He was probably just in his cabin, so why did she need me to take her to him?

"Fine," I spat, ripping my wrist from her grasp and making my way toward Cabin B. "Follow me."

I should have just ignored her. Now I was taking her to Jesse's cabin, where she would invite him to her party all lovingly and flirtatiously in front of me, and then he would accept it and flirt right back with her. I really didn't want to see that.

When we got in front of Cabin B, I knocked on it quietly, not knowing if he was asleep or not. If he was asleep, someone else in the cabin would surely be able to hear it, and then they would come and answer the door and Aimee would just give them the invitation for Jesse.

When no one answered, I knocked a little louder. Still, no one answered the door. I was about to turn around and just walk back to my cabin before Aimee grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open.

I blinked at her, but she totally ignored me as she made her way inside the cabin. I didn't know why, but I found myself following her for a reason I didn't know. Probably because I didn't want her all alone in Jesse's cabin... She's probably go through his boxer drawer or something...

We both looked over to see Jesse passed out asleep in his bed, and I couldn't help but gush at how cute he looked in my mind. I hadn't ever seen him asleep before...

"Jesse," Aimee whispered, shaking his shoulder lightly to wake him up. "Jesse!"

"Don't force him to wake up," I snapped at her, walking over to the other side of his bed. "Just put the invitation on the dresser and leave. He's sick, if you didn't notice."

"I want to give it to him now," she whined, shaking him a little harder. "Jesse!"

Suddenly, Jesse sat up quickly in his bed, letting out a small shout. He was breathing heavily as he looked around the room. First at Aimee, and then at me. I gave him a worried look, looking him up and down. What was going on? When his eyes met mine, he let out a breathy chuckle, falling back onto his pillow.

"Are you alright?" I found myself asking, since Aimee looked like she wasn't going to say anything at all as she just stared at Jesse. "What happened?"

"Nothing, just a nightmare," he muttered, rubbing his hand over his eyes. "Nothing important..."

I had a feeling that he was lying about that, but I wasn't about to argue with him. He looked really sick, and I wanted him to feel better before the fair, and especially the prom. Even though he hadn't asked me or anything... There was still a chance.

"Well, Jesse," Aimee started with a giggle, thrusting an invitation in his hand. "This is an invitation to my party on Saturday! You can bring anyone you want!"

Jesse looked down at the pink piece of paper in his hands, reading everything on it. "Anyone, huh?" he asked, looking up at her.

She giggled. "Yep! Anyone you want!"

Jesse now turned his head toward me. Even when he was sick, he was still cute. "Are you going, Emery?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and shrugged. "Nope. I guess I'm just not popular enough for these types of parties."

"You got that right," Aimee sneered, sticking her tongue out at me.

I rolled my eyes. "But that doesn't mean I'd go even if you did invite me."

"I can bring anyone, right?" Jesse asked once again, looking over the invitation again, as if it was a bomb that could go off any second. Was he acting this way because he was sick? "Anyone I want?"

Aimee only giggled again. "Yep!"

Jesse then turned toward me again and asked the question that wiped the smile right off Aimee's face. "Want to go with me, Emery?"

My eyes widened, and for a moment I didn't know what I was supposed to say. Yes, no? If it was any other party, I would have definitely said yes, but it was Aimee's party. And I didn't want to go to some party that was for Aimee. Especially a birthday party.

"What? Jesse!" Aimee whined, stomping her foot against the wooded floor of the cabin. "Why her?"

I suddenly felt someone clutch onto my wrist, and before I knew it I was being pressed against Jesse's side, his arm around my shoulders.

"She's my girlfriend, remember?" he inquired, tightening his hold on my slightly. "I'd want my girlfriend to go to a party I go to. And you even said I could bring anyone I wanted."

Aimee's eyebrows furrowed, obviously not expecting it to come to this. I couldn't help but smile smugly at her. Jesse actually wanted me to go to the party... He didn't want to be with Aimee. He wanted to go with me... Or was he just using me to make Aimee go away.

"Fine!" she snapped, turning and stomping her way toward the door. "But don't expect me to be nice to the bitch! Because I definitely won't!"

She slammed the cabin door shut so hard that it almost shook the entire cabin. Right after the door was closed, Jesse removed his arm from around my shoulders and moved to the other side of the bed, as far away from me as he possibly could.

So he was just using me...

"I'm sick, Emery," he told me. "You should leave before you get sick, too."

"Um, okay," I replied lamely, standing up from his bed almost immediately. I didn't want to leave him when he was sick, but if he was telling me to...

I then remembered how he had taken care of me when I was sick. I couldn't help but smile at the memory. He had made me soup and got it to taste just like my grandmother's... And it was supposedly only love that made it taste that way...

I turned away from the door and back toward Jesse. He didn't look deathly sick, but he definitely didn't look like he should have been out of bed anytime soon.

I walked back over to his bed, clutching onto his blankets and pulling them over his body properly. He stared up at me in confusion, and I only rolled my eyes at him.

"You took care of me when I was sick," I explained. "So now I'm going to take care of you."

"You don't have to do that, Emery," he told me, trying to sit up as he shook his head. I placed my hands on his shoulders and pushed him down as lightly as I could. "I'm not that sick."

"Too bad. I'm taking care of you," I started before sticking my tongue out at him, "whether you like it or not."

Jesse rolled his eyes, waving me away from him. "Fine, but stay away a little. I don't want you getting sick, too. I can't even breathe through my nose at all. I don't even know how this happened. I never get sick."

I shrugged. "Same with me. It's just random sometimes, you know?"

Jesse smirked at me. "Exactly. Same with me."

I found myself smiling at him now. He understood what I was talking about! Ever since I was little, I would just get sick randomly. I wouldn't even do anything that could have possibly gotten me sick, and I would be in bed coughing and hacking. But it only happened every once in a while. Did the same thing happen to Jesse?

"Make sure to have a swim suit for Aimee's party," Jesse informed me. "It's a pool party."

My eyes widened. "A p--pool party?"

Jesse smirked at me. "What's the matter, Emery? Can't swim?"

"N--no!" I stuttered, chuckling nervously as I looked away from him. "Of course I can swim!"

"Uh-huh, sure you can."

Truthfully, Jesse was right. I knew he was just teasing me about it, and I was sure he thought I could swim, but I really couldn't. I just never wanted to learn when I was little, and I was really scared of the water. It was probably because I was pushed into the pool when I was a toddler and I almost drowned.

I probably sound like an idiot. I was almost eighteen, and I didn't know how to swim. I know, I should have gotten over my childish fear and learned how to swim, but it wasn't that easy.

What had I gotten myself into?

"Want some soup?" I offered, pulling up a chair from the desk by his bed, desperate to change the subject to something else. "I'll try to make it just like my grandma used to when I got sick... It always made me feel better when I was little, and when you made it that one time I felt better after, too..."

I found myself frowning now as I thought of my grandmother. Jesse was the only other person besides me that knew that Hunter was the one that had killed my grandmother, and he knew that that had made it an even touchier subject for me...

"You okay?" Jesse asked once he saw my smile falter. "Don't think about Hunter, okay? You're safe. I promise you that he'll be thrown in jail for what he did to your grandma, alright?"

I nodded, trying my best to smile at him now. How could I never notice how sweet he had always been to me? He was the sweetest guy I had ever met... Even more than Dallas. How could I have been so stupid for the past four years?

"I'll go make your soup," I informed him quickly before jumping up from the chair and making my way out of the cabin. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

After I had made his soup, I stood outside the door for a few minutes. I looked down at the soup and sighed, fingering the spoon and moving it around a little. It looked just like my grandmother's soup, but I didn't know if it tasted like it... I could only hope, I guess.

She said it was made with love. If it tasted the same, did it mean that I loved Jesse? No, it couldn't have... I couldn't let some old soup tell me how I felt. I'd know if I was in love with Jesse... I didn't need some stupid soup to tell me that.

But I couldn't help but lift the spoon from the bowl and put it into my mouth. When I pulled it out, I couldn't help but smile broadly when I tasted exactly what I had tasted when I had eaten the soup Jesse and my grandmother had made me.

Love.

Maybe stupid old soup can be the judge of things.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Alex is going to be begging on his knees!"

I rolled my eyes as all the girls gushed over Lexi in her new swim suit. She was doing the dunk tank the hour after I was doing the kissing booth, which just so happened to be in five minutes.

"Have fun, Jordan," Chelsea giggled as we got to the kissing booth. The guy there looked happy to see me, and he got out of there before I could even blink. He was a pretty good looking guy, so the rest of the girls in line looked disappointed to see him go.

When they saw it was a girl who was replacing him, they quickly scattered away. I rolled my eyes hoping that no guys would walk passed for the hour I'd be there.

It was only a dollar for a kiss. A dollar? That was just ridiculous. Couldn't they charge more or something? Jeez, I felt like a prostitute...

When the first person came up, I definitely was surprised. He was a little six or seven-year-old boy and he was barely able to look over the top of the booth. He waved the dollar bill up in the air. "Can I have a kiss, lady?"

I couldn't help but think that he was the cutest little kid I had ever seen. I nodded, taking the dollar from him kindly and leaning over before kissing him lightly on the cheek.

He beamed as he looked up at me. "Thanks!" he cried. "You're really pretty!"

"Thank you," I smiled, putting his dollar in the jar under the booth.

For the next forty-five minutes, I was kissing pretty much only nerds and geeks. Occasionally there would be an okay looking guy, but mostly everyone was someone that made me want to gag. I had to kiss them to raise enough money for prom. But I really, really didn't want to...

I thought no one was going to come up for the last fifteen minutes, so I only stared down at my phone and texted the girls under the booth so no one could see. Not that it really mattered if they saw, but I wanted people to think that I was waiting for someone to come.

When I heard someone sit on the stool on the other side of the booth, I looked up with a smile to greet them. My smile immediately deteriorated into a frown when I saw who it was.

"Get out of here or I'll scream," I threatened, trying my best to lean away from him as possible. Hunter only chuckled, leaning over the booth as he continued to sit on the stool.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Jordy," he chuckled. "There're too many people around."

"You already hurt my grandmother," I snapped, scowling at him. "How'd you even get in here anyway?"

Hunter laughed. "You said so yourself, Jordy. I look like I'm your age."

This only had me scowl at him even more. He did pass as a student... which wasn't a good thing. I didn't want him anywhere near me!

He slid something across the table, and I thought it was a piece of paper until I saw what it really was.

A dollar. Just a normal old dollar.

At first I didn't understand why he was giving this to me, but I then realized what I was supposed to be doing right then, and how much it cost.

"No way," I spat, tossing the dollar back at him. "No way in hell!"

He laughed again, pushing the dollar to the side of the booth. "Denying a customer, Jordy? That isn't good... Are you sure you're not going to get in trouble for that?"

My eyebrows furrowed at him. "I'll take my chances."

Hunter tsk'ed, readjusting himself on the stool. He continued to smirk at me as if I was the most amusing thing on the entire planet, and it annoyed me greatly.

And I hated how he would all me Jordy, like Dallas had when we were little. It reminded of too much...

"So, are we going to kiss or just stare at each other?" Hunter asked, suddenly right in my face. I let out a squeal, almost falling back and completely off the stool I was sitting on.

"I'm not going to kiss you," I snapped at him. "I'm not kissing the murderer who killed my grandmother!"

Hunter only smirked. "Aw, why not? It sure was fun, Jordy... You should try it sometime. Maybe we can do it together. The most fun part about it is hearing the person scream for mercy, for you to spare them, and then watch them suffer as they die..."

I felt my fingernails digging into the wood of the booth, but I didn't even care. Tears were forming in my eyes, and I swallowed to stop the tears from falling. He did that to my grandmother... Had she begged for her life? Did he laugh in her face while she begged for him to spare her?

"Tell me what you did to her," I demanded, my voice cracking as I tried to keep myself in control. "What did you do to her?"

"You sure you want to know, Jordy?"

"Yes."

"There was a lot of blood... That's all I'll say," he smirked, leaning even closer to me now. Our noses were almost touching, but I didn't care anymore. I wanted answers. I wanted to know what had happened to my grandmother, what they both had said...

"What did you say to her?" I demanded now. "What did she say to you?"

"She begged and pleaded," Hunter informed me, that sick smirk still plastered on his face. "Boy, did she beg for me to stop and spare her... But when I told her that he little innocent granddaughter Jordan got her into this, you should have seen the look on her face, Jordy... I've never seen someone look so betrayed..."

I removed my hands from the booth to wipe at my eyes now. How could someone be so cruel?

"I see that your time is almost up, Jordy," he informed, staring down at his watch. He then looked up at me and smirked. "I'll leave you with this."

"What are you talking abou--" I started, but was then cut off by Hunter grabbing the sides of my head and pulling me closer to him. He pressed his lips to mine, moving them ever so slightly, as if motivating mine to move with them. When I didn't react, he pulled away.

He winked at me. "See you later, Jordy."

He then jumped off the stool, starting away into the crowd. If I was smart, I would have screamed and told someone to stop him. But I wasn't smart. I was too shocked to do anything. I continued to stare into the crowd, wide-eyed and terrified.

Hunter Drax had just kissed me.

I had kissed my grandmother's murderer.

I had never been so disgusted with myself before in my life.

"...ery? Emery?"                   

I blinked, zoning back in to see Jesse staring at me in concern. I shook my head, rubbing at my eyes to make sure they no longer had tears in them. When I felt that they were dry, I looked back up at him.

"You have five minutes," Jesse informed me, looking down at the clock at my side. He then smirked at me. "You kiss any hot guys?"

"No," I answered truthfully, shaking my head at him. "No one."

Jesse only continued to smirk at me. I couldn't tell him that I had just kissed his enemy, the person that was out to kill him... Even though I hadn't kissed him, my lips still touched his... And I didn't pull away. I was just too shocked to pull away.

"So it's a dollar, huh?" Jesse asked, looking up at the sign that had the price. He then reached into his pocket, and I felt myself hold my breath when I saw what he pulled out. "So what would a twenty get me?"

I continue to stare at the twenty dollar bill in shock. He was just joking, right? Twenty bucks would mean twenty kisses... Did he even want to kiss me once, let alone twenty times?

"It would get you twenty kisses," I answered truthfully, leaning over the booth slightly so I would be closer to him. Remembering how Aimee did it, I put a flirtatious smile on my face. "Do you want twenty kisses?"

Jesse smirked at me. "Sure, Emery."

I took the twenty dollars from him, placing it in the jar. I couldn't believe that I would have to kiss Jesse twenty times... Butterflies erupted in my stomach just thinking about it. Sure, I had kissed him before, but not when I had had a crush on him...

I leaned forward, eagerly wanting to start. I pressed my lips to his for a few seconds before pulling away.

"One," I counted, my lips still close to his.

I leaned forward again, pressing my lips to his a little bit longer now.

"T--two," I whispered, his breath tickling my face.

Before I could lean forward and kiss him again, his hands were on either side of my hand, tangling themselves in my hair as he pulled me closer, locking his lips to mine in a fiery kiss that made me see fireworks and church bells. Everything you're supposed to feel when you kiss someone special, someone you love...

When we finally pulled away from each other, neither of us had enough air. How were we supposed to continue on with seventeen more kisses after a kiss like that? We'd have to stop for a ten minute break in between each kiss, and I only had two minutes left...

"Three," was all I managed to say.

I was going to lean forward and plant a light kiss on his lips for the fourth kiss, but I was cut off by someone loudly shouting my name.

"Jordan, Jordan!" the person shouted, causing both Jesse and me to pull away from each other almost immediately. "Jordan! Jordan!"

I looked over and my eyes widened to see Lexi standing there, red and puffy almost all over.

"What happened?" I asked, jumping up from the stool and knocking it over. "What's happened, Lexi?"

"I got stung by a bee!" she cried out, her hands over her face. My eyes widened as I tried to think of what to do to help her.

Ever since she was little, Lexi had been deathly allergic to bees. She had gotten stung by a few when we were in third grade, and she almost died. I hadn't ever seen in this bad by only one bee before...

"Jesse," I said quickly, turning toward him. It was kind of strange facing him after the kiss we had shared, but I didn't really care very much at that point anymore. I just had to help my friend before it was too late. "Tell the people at the dunk tank that I'll be there to take Lexi's place as soon as I can, alright? I'm going to take her to the nurse to help her."

Jesse nodded at me. "Alright."

I started away with Lexi, as did Jesse in the opposite direction. Even though I should have kept going, I had to stop to look back and shout, "Thank you!"

"You still owe me seventeen kisses!" he shouted back with a smile.

I couldn't help but smile back at him, but he had already turned around and starting toward the dunk tank while Lexi and I hurriedly started toward the Kate, the nurse's, office.

Even after what had just happened with Hunter, Jesse's kiss would last me a lifetime. I never would have thought a kiss from my enemy would leave me feeling so high. And I couldn't help but wonder if he was feeling the same way I felt...

Was this what it was like to be in love with someone? If it was, then I never wanted this feeling to ever go away.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've come to realize that a lot of Jesse McCartney's songs are perfect for Jesse or Jesse/Jordan.

And then I realized his name is Jesse. o.o

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D