Are you a peppy person?

I'm not.

Never have, never will be. Sure, I act all happy and peppy around my friends, but that's around my friends. I hate when I'm in huge groups and have to act all peppy.

"Aren't you excited about the pep rally?" Lexi asked me excitedly, a wide grin adorning her face. "It's the last pep rally of the year!"

"It's the only pep rally that they ever had while we were here," I pointed out flatly, not really in the mood to talk about something peppy.

"But still!" Lexi continued on smiling, completely oblivious to my unhappy attitude. "A pep rally is still a pep rally!"

I hadn't ever liked pep rallies. I just normally wasn't into the stupid little things they did at them. I'd always come out at the end with a sore throat and throbbing ears, so they weren't exactly my favorite thing in the world.

I still hadn't found out what was wrong with Jesse. It wasn't like I could just ask him or anything, because I know he wouldn't have told me because I knew he didn't want to worry me.

But I was already worried, and I wouldn't be stopping until he told me what was wrong. But then I'd probably start worrying over whatever was bothering him...

"You know Jordan's never liked pep rallies," Chelsea grinned, her arms crossed over her chest as she plopped down onto her bed. "She always whines about how they're so loud and obnoxious."

"They are!" I defended, even though I really didn't have anything that I had to defend. "You know I hate loud things like that."

AJ rolled her eyes. "Come on, Jor. This is the pep rally that honors all the seniors! The only other time they do that is during graduation!"

Graduation. I had been fearing that day ever since I fell in love with Jesse. Before that, I couldn't wait for graduation. I couldn't wait to get out of high school and into college, where I'd be free of my family and be able to do whatever I wanted. But now, I just wanted to stay where I was and not have everything changed.

"I can't wait for graduation," Chelsea sighed, stretching out on her bed and letting out a groan as she did so. "The sooner we're out of here, the better."

I couldn't agree with her. I did, once upon a time, but now I definitely did not. Because back then I was just a whiney, oblivious schoolgirl that thought getting a B on an assignment was the worst thing that could ever happen to me. But now I had grown older, though it had only been a few months, and I knew that there were worse things possible.

"Yeah," Lexi agreed with her usual wide smile. "But it'll be so sad because Jordan's going off to Yale so early in the summer. And then we're all going to be separated because we're all going to different colleges."

My eyes widened, and I had to bit my tongue to stop myself from gasping. I was so distracted by Jesse and Hunter, I didn't even think about the future with my friends. We were all going to be scattered across the country, and there was a huge chance we'd never see or talk to each other ever again.

I didn't want to think like that. Chelsea, AJ, and Lexi were my best friends. There was no way I would lose touch with them. We wouldn't let that happen.

"I love you guys," I blurted without even thinking, and I bit my lip after I had done so. Now they were going to think I was going to die or something! But everything with Hunter... It could have been possible.

Lexi blinked at me. "Is something wrong, Jordan? You've been acting kind of weird for a while."

Now could have been time to tell them. I could have told them how I was in love with Jesse and how we were going out. I could have told them about Hunter and how we didn't really go out, but he was stalking me. I could have told them everything, but I didn't.

"Nothing's wrong," I assured with a forced smile. "I'm fine. I'm just upset that we're going to be so far away from each other."

AJ smiled sadly at me, walking over to my bed and wrapping her arms around my shoulders. This caused Chelsea and Lexi to follow right in suit until I was practically being tackled onto my bed.

"We love you, too!" Lexi cried, squeezing my shoulders tightly. "Nothing's ever going to change that!"

Unfortunately I didn't agree with her. Hunter could easily change everything, which was what I was afraid of. I hated that he had so much power over me and there wasn't anything I could do about it.

"Pep rally time!" Cindy announced as she burst through the door. "They want all seniors to meet by the dock!"

The dock. So many things had happened at that dock. But then again, so many things happened everywhere else. When we first got to the camp, I didn't think I would care about it at all. But now I was attached to it and the people here, and thinking about leaving it so soon upset me.

Lexi latched onto my wrist, pulling me up from my bed and shoving me toward the door. I rolled my eyes at her but followed Cindy and the rest of the girls anyway.

"This is going to be so much fun," Molly giggled, looking as excited as she always did. "I've always loved pep rallies! I love their games and the music and everything."

"Are you alright?" Emily blinked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as Lexi wiped tears away from her eyes. "Have you been crying?"

"Jordan's making us all emotional," she answered, still wiping at her eyes as we continued our way toward the dock. "She's being all depressing about graduation and college."

Chelsea pursed her lips. "Of course it's Jordan who makes us all depressed right before a pep rally."

I shrugged, trying to smile. "You know I don't like them."

The girls rolled their eyes at me, and I continued on smiling. I missed hanging out with them. I was always with Jesse or Alex, and it even seemed like I spent more time with Hunter than I did with them. The most I had seen them was when I was in the hospital, but Jesse was there every other second they weren't. I hated to admit it, but my boyfriend was becoming my main priority. Even though he kind of had a reason to...

When we finally got to the dock, I wasn't very surprised to see that it was crowded. Usually I was the only person there, except for Jesse or Dallas. But now the entire senior class was there, and I couldn't believe someone hadn't gotten thrown into the lake yet.

As we passed by cabins and great masses of people, I found it kind of hard to keep up with all my friends. They seemed to have no trouble at all bobbing and weaving through the crowds.

Before we could get to the start of the dock where everyone mostly was, someone grabbed onto my arm and I was being pulled away from my friends and into the shadows behind a cabin. I was about to let out a shout for help, but whoever had grabbed me had covered my mouth with their hand.

Was this Hunter? He had snuck onto the camp when other big things happened... Was this him? Was he kidnapping me or something? Not if I could help it!

Before I could elbow him in the stomach, he grabbed onto my elbow and spun me around so I was now facing him. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that it was only Jesse, who was grinning cockily at me.

"You scared me," I breathed, straightening out my shirt when he finally let me go. "I thought you were Hunter or something."

Jesse's smile immediately faded. "Hunter can't get in here, Jordan."

I stared at him flatly. "He's gotten in here before, remember? The prom and the senior carnival--"

I bit my lip so hard that I almost started bleeding. Jesse didn't know Hunter was here for the senior carnival! Now he was going to know and get mad at me for not telling him... especially if he knew that Hunter had kissed me. But this was before we even got together!

"He was at the senior fair?" he asked darkly, his eyebrows furrowing at me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to freak out, like you're probably going to do now," I informed him, grabbing onto his forearms so he wouldn't stalk off and go find Hunter for going near me when he didn't know. "It wasn't even that big of a deal."

"What did he do?"

I stared down at the ground, not knowing what I was supposed to say. He'd get angry if he found out that Hunter had kissed me, even if it was before we even got together. He'd probably go out and try to find Hunter and kill him, and I definitely didn't want him to do anything like that.

"He... kissed me," I blurted, quickly averting my gaze to the crowds of kids awaiting to enter the gym. "But it was because I was running the kissing booth! He wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for that! Please don't get angry. Please."

Seeing my plea, Jesse's angry frown now turned into a concerned one. I knew he was probably beating himself up inside for not being there to protect me, but Hunter hadn't really done that much. Sure, I didn't like that he had kissed me, but it was nothing compared to what else he had done.

Jesse leaned over, pressing his lips to mine. I gladly leaned forward and kissed him back, happy that it was him and not Hunter.

"Why don't we ditch this lame pep rally," Jesse started, his deep green eyes staring into my brown ones as his nose brushed against mine, "and go have some fun on our own?"

"I would," I answered with a grin, stepping up and kissing him again, "but I need to go to this stupid pep rally with my friends. I barely spend any time with them anymore."

Jesse frowned at me, and I could tell that it was deeper than he was intending it to be. "I was kind of hoping to spend the day with you," he admitted.

"You spent pretty much every day with me in the hospital," I reminded him with a small smile, stepping up on my toes to kiss him. "You stayed with me until I was all better. I seriously can't feel any pain in these bruises anymore. But anyway, we can spend time together tomorrow."

Jesse forced a smile. "Yeah... Tomorrow."

"Is something wrong?" I asked, blinking up at him in concern. "You've been kind of out of it for a while. You just haven't... been yourself lately."

"I'm kind of shaken up," he answered nervously, letting go of me and shoving his hands into his pockets. "Especially after what happened with you and Hunter in the hospital. I mean, I'm just worried about you, that's all."

"Well, that's very sweet of you," I told him truthfully, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his lips down to mine once again. "But I'm fine. Honestly. The bruises don't even hurt anymore. I wouldn't even know that they're there unless I look at them."

Jesse smiled, though this time I couldn't tell if it was forced or not. "That's good."

"Jordan?" I heard a voice ask, as if they were looking for me. My eyes widened when I recognized the voice as Lexi's. How was I supposed to get out of here without it looking weird? I couldn't just jump out of the shadows and look like a normal person!

"I don't think she's over here, Lexi," a new voice said, and I let out a sigh of relief when I peeked out to see Alex was there with her. Lexi's back was to me, and Alex caught my eye. When Lexi wasn't looking at him, he rolled his eyes at me and made a kissy face, obviously implying that that was what I was doing with Jesse back here. Which was actually kind of true, but I wasn't going to say that to him or anything.

"She has to be somewhere!" Lexi groaned, looking around once again. "I can't believe we lost her so easily!"

"Maybe you should look closer to the dock," Alex suggested, and I felt myself sighing once again when I saw that she nodded in agreement with him. "I'll keep looking over here."

When Lexi finally walked away, I let out one last breath. That was a close one. If Alex hadn't been there, she'd probably go looking closer to where Jesse and I were until she finally found us, and then she would figure everything out.

"You're getting closer and closer to getting caught," Alex tsk'd, shaking his head at me. "I wouldn't risk everything for little make-out sessions."

"We weren't making out," I snapped, walking out of the darkness and passed him. "We were just talking."

Alex rolled his eyes. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"There you are!" Lexi cried, suddenly at my side seconds later. "I was seriously just here searching for you! Looks like Alex found you!"

When he grinned at me, I only rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, I guess he did."

"They're letting the seniors in now," Lexi informed me, clutching onto my wrist and pulling me toward the gym. "All the other grades are going to be cheering for us! I didn't think they'd do anything like that! Isn't that cool? Come on, we're going to miss it all!"

With Lexi pulling me along and talking about a mile a minute, I didn't really hear what she was saying at all. If the classes under us were going to be cheering, that meant screaming, which I definitely didn't like. That was the main reason why I didn't want to go to the pep rally in the first place!

By the time we had caught up with the rest of my friends, we were right by the entrance of the gym. I could hear talking from inside, but none of the seniors had been allowed in yet. I so wasn't looking forward to this. Pep rallies were just so stupid.

"And now," I heard someone announce from inside the gym, causing it to sound muffled to us. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the stupidity. "The senior class of 2011!"

How dumb.

As other people ran inside and cheered along with the rest of the underclassmen, I just rolled my eyes once again and walked inside, following them all lazily. I took a seat in the front, right by the exit, while my friends took seats behind and beside me. They were excited about having everyone cheer for them, but they weren't going crazy like some of the kids were.

My eyes narrowed when I saw Pete, who I hadn't even seen since the incident at the prom. I frowned even more when I saw Jesse and Alex sitting right under him, because I kind of wished that I could sit with them. I loved my friends and everything, but I knew that my girl friends would be screaming and cheering, which I definitely didn't want to do.

The bleachers were too hard. At Adeline, they had cushions so it wouldn't hurt. But that was at a prestigious private school, and now I was at a camp. So I guess I couldn't really complain.

When they were finally done cheering for the seniors, I couldn't have been happier. The sooner this was over, the better everything would be. I couldn't wait to be out of here and away from all the screaming.

"Hey, Pete!" I heard someone shout from the ground a few feet away from me. I didn't recognize him, but I was sure that it was a junior. "I need your help with something! Get down here, with me?"

I glanced back to see Pete rolling his eyes, but when he saw that I was looking at him he winked. Now I was the one to roll my eyes. I can't believe I thought that he was actually a shy, sweet guy. He was such a jerk.

Pete stood up and took a step, but the next thing I knew, he was letting out a shout and falling down the bleachers, landing on top of a few people as he rolled all the way onto the gym floor.

Laughs erupted all throughout the gym, but I thought that mine were the loudest. That was just too priceless! Such a sweet revenge for what he had done to me, even though I didn't do it myself. But karma hit him nicely, and I was perfectly fine with this.

Pete moved to the other side of the gym with his friend that had been calling him, and I couldn't have been happier. The farther away I was to that jerk, the better.

"Before we begin," someone I didn't recognized began, "we'd like to recognize a very upsetting loss that we had a few weeks ago. She was a senior, Alexandria Quirk. I'm sure a lot of you knew her..."

When he pushed a button on a projector and a huge picture of Alexandria, Aimee, and Elizabeth popped up onto the screen, I wanted to scream. Why the hell were they starting a pep rally with something so depressing? Yeah, they hadn't really talked about Alexandria's death or anything, but at a pep rally? And I didn't think it could have gotten any more ridiculous!

Before whoever had the microphone could continue, someone pushed through Lexi and me and bolted out the door. No one seemed to notice but Lexi and me, and my eyebrows furrowed in concern when I saw the flash of red hair pass me.

Aimee?

Lexi looked over at me, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She must have been thinking the exact same things as me, but it was kind of hard to believe. The only reason Aimee would leave would be because she was upset about Alexandria. But I couldn't remember a time that Aimee was ever upset about anything like this. I don't even think I had ever seen her cry before.

"I'm going to go see her," I blurted out in a whisper to Lexi without even thinking. She didn't stop me as I got up and quickly slipped out the door. Even after everything that Aimee had done to her, I knew Lexi felt bad for her, since death was involved and everything.

When I got outside, I looked around for the familiar red hair. I knew that she probably didn't want to see me of all people, but I didn't really care right then. Because she had been my friend once upon a time, and I was going to be the bigger person and help her.

"What do you want?" she demanded once I had found and sat next to her under a tree. She refused to face me, and her hair was covering her eyes. It was obvious that she had been crying, what with her voice and appearance. It was so hard to believe that Aimee Dennett had actually been crying.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

"I'm fine," she snapped.

"No, you're not," I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the trunk of the tree. "It's obvious that you're upset, Aimee. I'm not an idiot."

"Could have fooled me."

Okay, why was I helping her again? Yeah, she used to be my friend, but there was a reason that she used to be. And even though it didn't really affect me, it affected one of my best friends. And even though I didn't think we would ever be friends again, I couldn't help but feel bad for her.

"I know you hate me," I started, trying my best not to nibble on my lip in annoyance, "but we used to be friends. You may not remember that time very well, but I do. I know Alexandria was your friend. I understand that, I really do. I'd be sobbing if I was you--"

"What happened?" Aimee asked, turning toward me and moving her hair out of her face. Her blue eyes were sparkled with tears, most of them streaming down her face. "You were there. You were kidnapped by this guy, weren't you? Did he... did he kill her in front of you?"

"No," I answered, shaking my head at her. "He didn't. I was... blindfolded."

I hated lying to her. Even though she had lied to me so many times, I didn't like lying to her about something so serious like this. But I couldn't tell her, or anyone for that matter, about what really happened. I couldn't tell her that it was my fault Alexandria was dead, because then she would have hated me even more. I couldn't tell her that it was Hunter that had killed her, and I went there on my own will.

"Did you... hear it?"

What, was this twenty questions or something? I knew that she was curious and she wanted to know about what happened to her friend, but I couldn't just keep lying to her like this. I couldn't keep lying to everyone like this. How long was it going to go on?

"I didn't," I lied, even though I did hear Alexandria's screaming. "I covered my ears. I'm sorry, Aimee, I know that you want to know everything about what happened to Alexandria, but I just can't talk about it. It brings back horrible memories for me..."

"It's okay," she sighed, and I couldn't remember a time when she had ever sounded so broken before. "I understand. I shouldn't even be so upset over something so stupid like this."

"It isn't stupid," I assured her, a giant frown planted on my face. "One of your best friends died. It's understandable that you're upset, Aimee. It would be stupid if you weren't upset."

She rolled her eyes, chuckling without humor. "This isn't me," she sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "You know me. I don't cry. It may not seem like it, but I'm the same person that I was when we were friends just a few months ago. I don't think I've ever cried in front of you before... I've never cried in front of anyone before."

For the first time in my entire life, I felt bad for Aimee Dennett. When we had been friends, she had always been the queen. I guess people seeing us from the outside would have called her our leader, but we didn't really see her that way. We had always been equals, up until the day we found out what she was doing with Bruce.

"I don't think we'll ever be able to be friends again, Aimee," I started honestly, letting out a sigh as I did, "but I'll always remember how we used to be friends."

Aimee shook her head, springing up to her feet and scrubbing the tears away from her eyes. "Well, I don't remember," she snapped, even though I knew she was lying. "And you're right, we won't ever be able to be friends again. You stole Jesse from me, and I definitely won't forget about that."

And that was what I got for trying to be nice to her. Though I could tell, though she was trying to act like a bitch, she was really thankful to me for coming out to speak to her.

And that was all I really wanted.

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

"Hey, hey... Jordan," I heard someone whisper, causing my nose to twitch. Was this some kind of dream? I was in such a deep sleep...

I looked over at the clock at my bedside to see that it was almost two o'clock in the morning, and I rubbed at my eyes, still wondering if I was dreaming. It really did seem like someone was whispering my name...

My eyes widened when I saw a dark figure sitting on my bed. I didn't scream, because I knew that I couldn't wake up the girls, but I honestly didn't know what to do. My eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark yet, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

I let out a shaky breath, pressing my back against the headboard of my bed. Did Hunter sneak into my room? What if he killed the girls and now was coming for me? What I was thinking of was ridiculous, but it was always a possibility.

I felt myself let out a sigh of relief when I realized it was Jesse.

"Why are you here?" I asked quietly, scooting closer to him now. "Do you know how risky this is? One of the girls could wake up and catch us."

Even though the darkness, I could tell Jesse grinned as he leaned closer to me. "I'll take that chance."

His lips brushed against mine slowly, and I quickly leaned into him even more. The rush of getting caught excited me, and it made me want to get even closer to him.

We pulled away from each other when we both began to breathe heavily, and I couldn't help but smile at him. My eyes now adjusted to the dark, and I could see him a little better now.

"I love you," he breathed, his cool breath tickling my face.

"I love you, too," I smiled, my arms still wrapping around his neck. "But why are you risking getting caught by coming in here?"

"Would you marry me right now if you could?" Jesse blurted out suddenly, as if he hadn't even heard the question I had asked. "Like, right here. If I got a priest or something, would you marry me right here in front of your sleeping friends?"  

What was he asking me? Was he asking if I'd marry him? Of course I'd marry him! Why wouldn't I marry him? I loved him more than anything! He didn't even have to ask me!

"Of course I would," I grinned, my grip on his neck tightening. "I'd marry you absolutely anywhere, at any time, and at any place. I love you, Jesse."

Jesse smiled, leaning in and kissing me once again. He pulled away after a few seconds and stood up, offering his hand for me to take.

"Let's go for a walk."

Even though he had suggested it, we didn't go on a walk. Well, we did walk all the way to the dock, hand-in-hand of course, but we sat there and stopped walking almost right away.

We had positioned ourselves so that I was laying my head on Jesse chest as he laid on his back and propped himself up on his elbows. We sat in silence for a little while, just enjoying the sounds of the crickets chirping and the wind blowing.

"It's really hot out tonight," I observed, looking around. "I'm glad I wore a tank top and shorts to bed."

Jesse smiled slightly. He was in his leather jacket, a T-shirt, and jeans. I couldn't even imagine how hot he must have been, especially with me on top of him.

"So... you're bruises don't hurt anymore?" Jesse asked, lifting up my shirt to expose my still lightly bruised stomach.

"Nope," I answered, shaking my head. "Only if you push on them really hard, which no one does. I still get out of gym for the rest of the year though, which I'm sure glad about."

Jesse chuckled. "Well, that's good."

"How many kids do you want?" I asked suddenly, looking up at him as my head continued to lay on his chest.

"I'm not really sure," Jesse answered, and I could hear the vibrations of his voice through his chest. "I guess it all depends on the time and the moment, you know?"

Something was still off with him. I was going to make it my mission to find out what it was on the dock that night, no matter what it took.

"I think I want two," I answered my own question with a slight nod, still not moving my head away from his chest. "A boy and a girl. I know you can't control the gender of the baby or anything, but I definitely want to have a boy and a girl."

"Sounds like a good plan," Jesse sighed, wrapping one of his arms around my shoulders.

"Should it be a boy or a girl first?" I now asked, removing my head from his chest to look at his face now. "I'm not really sure which one would be the best. I mean, I think I want a boy and then a girl, but then the boy would probably just pick on the girl all the time. Even though Austin never picked on me when we were younger... So maybe a girl and then a boy?"

"My older sister picked on me every single day until she went off to college," Jesse informed me with a slight chuckle, squeezing my shoulders a little bit tighter. "She's the same age as your brother. Camilla wasn't exactly the best sister a guy could ask for, but I wouldn't trade her for any other."

"So a boy and then a girl," I smiled, leaning over and pecking his lips lightly. "Though we can't control the gender or anything."

Jesse forced a smile, kissing my forehead before I laid my head back down on his chest. "Good plan. Good plan..."

There was something going on with him, and I couldn't be more worried. He just wasn't acting like himself. Would now be the right time to ask him? I wasn't so sure... But...

"Jesse?"

Here goes nothing...

"Hmm?"

I removed my head from his chest once again, pulling away from him a little so I could look at him. "Is something wrong?"

He blinked at me, but didn't answer. This scared me even more, and I didn't know what to think. Was he going to break up with me? Why would he talk about marriage and kids if he was? What could have possibly gotten Jesse Jacobsen worried?

"Please tell me," I begged, clutching onto his hand as my frown just deepened even more. "I know something's been bothering you ever since I woke up. I can just tell, Jesse. Something's on your mind. Please tell me what it is...You're worrying me."

"Jordan," he sighed, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. "Jordan... I'm leaving."

"Leaving?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean, you're leaving? For how long?"

"I'm leaving the camp," he told me, looking away from me and shaking his head. "I'm leaving everything... forever."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, not understanding what he was talking about. What did he mean by that? He was leaving everything? Did everything include me?

"Hunter said he wouldn't leave you alone until I was dead," he informed me with another sigh, in case I had somehow forgotten. He was going to say something else, but my eyes widened and I wouldn't let him continue.

"You're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?" I almost screeched, but stopped myself when I remembered that I couldn't be too loud. "You're not going to get yourself killed just for me, right? You can't do something stupid like that!"

"No, I'm not going to get myself killed," he clarified, running his hand down the side of my face. "I'm just... leaving. Running away from it all. Protecting you. If I run away and fake my death, Hunter will think I'm dead. He'll think I'm dead, and he'll leave you alone, just like he said he would. Because, even though it doesn't seem like it, Hunter is a man of his word."

"No," I snapped, tears now filling my eyes. "You can't leave. You can't leave me!"

"Why didn't you tell me Hunter wouldn't leave you alone until I was dead?" he asked, reaching up and wiping a tear from my eye. "If you told me that right after it happened, everything could be different. You wouldn't be all scratched up and bruised, and people would still be alive."

"But you wouldn't be here," I cried, shaking my head as I tried to blink the tears away. "You would have done something stupid like this. You would have gotten yourself killed or you would have left, just like now. I didn't tell you because I  knew you'd do something like this."

"Because it's for the best," Jesse insisted, shaking his head at me as he pushed away. "My life isn't as important as yours, Jordan. Even though I'm not going to die just yet, you could have easily been killed that night with Hunter and Alexandria. If Alex and I didn't get there when we did, you would be dead."

"I don't care," I snapped, and I could feel this argument getting more heated. "Truthfully, I don't really care about anything anymore. Except for you. I've let you get to me so much that I barely spend any time with my friends anymore! I'm always with you or Alex... or even Hunter! I'm not connected with my friends anymore because they don't know what's going on! They don't know how much I love you. You're really all I have anymore."

"No, I'm not, Jordan. You still have your friends."

"I know I still have my friends," I breathed shakily, wiping at my eyes before any tears could fall. "I know they're still here for me. But they're not the same as you. They'll never understand what we've been through together and how we feel. They hate you, Jesse! They still think I hate you! You can't leave me!"

"It's for the best, Jordan," Jesse told me softly, leaning in and pressing his lips to my forehead for only a second. "It really is for the best."

I shook my head, more tears threatening to fall. "No, it's not."

Jesse took off his leather jacket, the one he would always wear. I couldn't remember a time, unless it was blazing hot outside or we were in his cabin or something, when he didn't wear it. He draped it over my shoulders as my legs hung over the side of the dock, and he now kissed the side of my head.

"Goodbye, Jordan."

When he stood up and began walking away, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. He was leaving me. Jesse Jacobsen was actually leaving me... forever.

"No!" I shouted, jumping up from my spot and letting his jacket fall off my shoulders and onto the dock. He had only taken a few steps away from me, and I quickly sprinted so that I was in front of him, blocking his path. I clutched onto him, burying my face into his chest. "You can't leave me!"

"Jordan, I have to go," he told me, trying to push me off of him as gently as he could.

"No," I sobbed, now letting tears make their way down my face. "You can't leave, Jesse, you can't leave! We were talking about marriage and kids! We can go off and get married right now! We're both eighteen; we don't need our parents' consent! It's legal. We can go elope right now!"

"We can't, Jordan," he sighed, shaking his head.

"Take me with you," I pleaded, my fingers curling into his shirt as I continued to look up at him and sob. "We can fake our deaths together! We'll go off together and start a new life, just you and me!"

"What about your friends?" Jesse asked, still trying to push me away a little. "What about Yale?"

"They'll get over it!" I cried, wiping the tears away from my face. "And I don't care about Yale anymore! I haven't cared ever since I fell in love with you! All I care about is you!"

"I knew that this was going to happen from the start," Jesse admitted, not staring down at the dock. "I knew that I was going to have to leave you one day. I knew from the start that I couldn't be with you. That was why I had acted like such a jerk when I first met you. I immediately fell in love with you, but then I knew the gang would never let me get involved with you unless you joined as well. I couldn't drag you into something like that, so I acted like a jerk, I purposely tried to get you to hate me..."

"And it worked," I whimpered. "It worked for a while."

"It did," Jesse agreed, nodding. "And I was hoping it would work forever. But it didn't, because you fell in love with me. I wanted you to hate me forever so when I finally left, it wouldn't hurt you. But when you got upset over Aimee and me at the prom... I had to tell you how I felt. I couldn't hold it in any longer."

"Let me go with you," I begged now, fully ready to get on my hands and knees to beg him. "Please let me go with you. My friends will get over it after a while, and so will my family. I love you too much to let you go, Jesse!"

"You need to go to Yale," he told me, ignoring my pleads as if I wasn't even saying them. "You can't pass up that opportunity for scum of the earth like me."

"Scum of the earth?" I repeated, my eyes going wide. "That isn't what you are, Jesse! You're amazing, sweet, and funny and you shouldn't be throwing your life away like this!"

"I'm not throwing my life away," Jesse smiled at me sadly. "I'm saving yours."

"This is stupid," I declared, more and more tears pouring down my face. "Don't do something stupid, Jesse! You have friends and family, too. You have people that care about you!"

"But you have more," Jesse countered. "I have my mom, my sister, and Marnie there for me in my family. That's it. And then I have you and Alex, and that's pretty much it."

"Does Alex know what you're doing?" I asked, still not removing my hands from his chest. "Does he know that you're doing something horribly stupid?"

Jesse smiled wryly. "Of course not. You know he'd try to stop me."

"Of course he would!" I shouted, clutching onto his shirt and letting more tears fall down my face. "Because he doesn't want you ruining your life and hurting me like this!"

"This has to happen," Jesse stated, and I knew he didn't want to debate about it any longer. "It's the only way you'll ever be safe. Once I'm gone, Hunter has to leave you alone. He doesn't go back on his word. He never has, and he never will."

"But what if he does?" I demanded now, almost shaking because I was sobbing so hard. "What if he lies and comes after me? Who will protect me then?"

"He won't," Jesse assured me, cupping my cheeks with both of his hands. "You only have one more month here. And then you get to go off to Yale and meet so many new people."

"I don't want to go to Yale," I pouted through my tears. "I just want you."

"And I just want you," Jesse whispered, leaning in and planting a soft kiss against my lips. "You have no idea how hard this is for me to do. I knew that I was going to have to leave you since the start, but I never thought it was going to be this hard. I never thought I could love someone so much."

"How long ago did you plan on leaving this way?" I asked, resting my head on his chest. "How long have you known you were going to go like this?"

"Since after Hunter told me he wouldn't stop until I was dead," Jesse breathed into my hair, wrapping his arms around my waist and squeezing me tightly. "Though I knew I could never be with you and that I was going to have to leave one day, preferably after graduation or when we went off to college, I knew I had to leave sooner after what Hunter had said. I knew I was going to have to either get killed or fake getting killed. I planned on leaving once you got better..."

"And I'm better," I gulped, remembering all the times Jesse had asked if my bruises were okay. I should have said no... I should have said no!

This was why Jesse wanted to spend the day with me. If I knew that this would have been my last day with him, I would have spent it with him! I just felt so bad that I hadn't been spending any time with my friends... I told Jesse that I was going to spend the day with him tomorrow... But that day with him would never come.

"Promise me something, Jordan," Jesse pleaded, pulling away from me only a little so he could cup my face. "Please, promise me this."

I nodded, my face still in his hands. "Anything, Jesse. I'll promise you anything."

"Go to Yale," he began, a serious look on his face. It was a look I had never seen on Jesse's face before... It scared me just a little. "Go to Yale and meet someone. Someone who deserves you, someone who's good enough for you... Promise me you'll marry him and start a family. Promise me that you'll forget about me and live your life to the fullest. Promise me that you won't let me hold you back. Promise you'll fall out of love with me."

There was no way that could have been possible. If I ever did somehow find someone else to love and marry, there was no way I'd ever be able to stop loving Jesse Jacobsen. My heart would always belong to him, and no one could change that.

"Jesse, I..." I wept, rubbing at my eyes once again. "How can I promise something that isn't possible?"

"Please, Jordan," he almost begged now as he brought my face closer to his. "Please promise me."

"I promise," I whimpered, clutching onto his hands that continued to cup my cheeks.

"Thank you," he breathed, resting his forehead on mine.

This couldn't be happening. Jesse couldn't really be leaving me... He couldn't really be faking his own death just for me! He had family and friends... He had everything I had, but he was throwing it all away... for me. I didn't think Jesse Jacobsen was so stupid.

"Are you going to marry another girl?" I couldn't help but ask, scared of the answer he was going to give me. What if he was planning on marrying some other girl and then starting a family with her? Not only did the thought depress me, it also made me jealous as hell.

"Probably not," he smiled sadly, stroking my cheek with his thumb. "I can't imagine being with anyone else but you. I can live a life all alone, Jordan... But you can't. I'm supposed to be dead and you need to live. You need to live your life as if I didn't even exist."

If he wasn't going to marry anyone, I didn't want to either. But I had already promised him... So there wasn't anything I could do about it. I was going to have to find someone else to love... I was going to have to fall out of love with Jesse.

That last one was never going to happen.

"I love you, Jesse," I whispered, squeezing his hands tightly. "Don't ever forget about me, okay? Think about me at least once in a while, alright?"

For the first time that night, I saw tears in Jesse Jacobsen's eyes. "I'm going to be thinking about you every single day. I'll never be able to forget you."

I jumped up, wrapping my arms around his neck and crushing my lips to his. This was the last time I would ever be able to kiss or touch him again... I had to savor it for as long as I could...

When Jesse finally pulled away from me, I was still clutching onto his shirt. I didn't want to let him go... I didn't want him to leave me. Never seeing Jesse again absolutely broke my heart, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do about it.

"I love you, Jordan," Jesse swallowed, looking away from me and dropping his hands from my face. "I'll always love you... forever. Stay safe for me. I promise you, Hunter will never bother you again after this. After he gets the news that I died, he can't ever come near you again. But still, stay safe."

I nodded at him. "I will... I will, I promise."

"Goodbye, Jordan."

"Goodbye... Jesse..."

He smiled sadly at me one last time, and he took a step away. I was no longer touching him, and I already felt cold without him. It had only been five seconds without him and I already couldn't stand it...

When he started to walk away, I wanted to wail and scream after him, but I couldn't do it. I had to be quiet since we weren't even supposed to be out here at two thirty in the morning. I had no idea what I was supposed to do anymore...

My entire body felt numb. I thought I was going to collapse. Jesse Jacobsen was walking out of my life forever...

As he got smaller and smaller, all I could do was watch his retreating figure until he was no more. When I finally couldn't see his silhouette any longer, I turned back toward the water on the dock, where Jesse's jacket was. That jacket he'd always wear...

The jacket he left with me.

I slowly walked over to the edge of the dock, contemplating on jumping in. I was in some sort of trance as I slowly sat down, grabbing Jesse's jacket and slipping my arms in before tightening it around my body. I hugged my knees to my chest, and the jacket was big enough to cover them as well.

I stared out into the water, not knowing what I was supposed to do anymore.

"Don't go," I whimpered my very last plea, as if he could somehow hear me.

I didn't know how long it took, but my eyes slowly fluttered shut and I drifted off to sleep, right then and there on the dock. I didn't care who found me, and I didn't even care if I woke up. All I cared about was that Jesse Jacobsen was gone, and I would never see him again.

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The end. :(

...

JUST KIDDING. :D I'm not that mean! xD 

Man, this was hard to write. :'( Jesseeee!

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D