Discovering Jessica

A Future.

Chapter Five: A Future.

Parker's POV: Before

I stared at our joined hands and smiled down at Jessica who had her head on my chest. We were on top of the roof of my house, just outside of my bedroom. This was the place that I usually came to star gaze but I brought her with me this time. It was getting late and I needed to tell her something before she returned home. My nerves were scaring me into silence though and guilt was eating me alive because what I needed to tell her could possibly make or break our relationship.

"You said you wanted to talk to me? Should I be scared that you're running off with another girl?" Jessica asked me, playing with my hand. I guess I can't back out now.

"I'm not running off with another girl but, I-I got my acceptance letter into the military today and... I'm accepting the offer." I told her, once the words came out my mouth her whole body was still.

"O-okay, I-I'm really p-proud of y-you." She stuttered out before looking up at the star-filled sky and blinking quickly. Her grip on my hand loosened and before I uttered another word she was getting up.

"I think I should go, so I'll, um, see you tomorrow or something." She then vanished through the window, leaving me alone with the words I wanted so badly to say on the tip of my tongue.

~

Jessica avoided me until graduation. Everyday no matter how much I tried to see her, she was hidden whether that be in a crowd of people or over at a friend's house. My texts remained either unread or replied to with one worded excuses. My phone calls were answered with the sound of her voice mail or the calls remained a distant conversation that made up of me trying to be what used to be of us.

Daniel was getting suspicious of my depressing mood and while every other person of our graduating class was overjoyed to get out of high school, I was wishing to go back in time. My sadness was all replaced with relief as soon as graduation day came around and Jessica finally, after a very long two weeks, acknowledged me. When I was walking up to the podium to collect my diploma my eye caught sight of her. This time was different than the looks we had shared in the previous weeks, this time she finally held my gaze and smiled, in that moment I knew that everything was going to be okay.

~

After the ceremony both my family and the Turner's piled up into our cars and headed back to our house to have a celebratory dinner. Daniel and I planned to go to the graduation party that our friend was throwing afterwards and I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, our parents would force us to take Jessica along with us like they usually made us do.

Most of the dinner conversation was focused on both Daniel and I's feelings about graduation and if we were nervous about going to bootcamp in August. Jessica sat across from me and kept playing footsie with me the entire dinner and would smile when everybody wasn't watching us. Oh how I've missed that smile!

"So, when you boys head off will you be leaving any broken hearts here?" Jack, Daniel's father, asked both Daniel and I as he and my dad chuckled. Daniel laughed along with them and soon I nervously started laughing as well.

"Jack, stop it you're embarrassing the poor boys." Daniel and Jess' mother, April, said. "Look you have Parker blushing, that isn't a sight that I've seen in ages." With that comment my cheeks felt even more flush than before. Jessica was laughing slightly at my embarrassment but that scared me, as it should have her as well, our relationship could have been discovered and I hadn't even gotten the chance to speak with her yet.

"Don't look so nervous there Parker, I'm just teasing you boys." Jack told me. I nodded and then everything went back to normal. Conversation drifted away from Daniel and I and soon enough everyone was slowly starting to move out to the living room. Jessica and Jane were on clean up duty since Daniel and I did it the last time our families had dinner together.