Tomorrow Will Be Kinder.

Chapter Two: Jazz Music and Stolen Glances.

"You're an awful, awful dancer, Libby, you know that?" Jasper laughs, stuffing his face with the cornbread I made myself.

I stick my tongue out at him as I continue to shimmy and shake all over the place. Duke Ellington wails out my favorite song, 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If You Ain't Got That Swing)' from the dinky radio I manage to sneak out everyday. I jive all over the place, creating circles around Jasper and my picnic blanket.

"As if you could do any better. You have as much rhythm as a rock," I joke, messing my fingers through his hair as I grapevine pass him. He tries to grab hold of my wrist, but I wriggle free from his grip and scurry away. "Gotta be faster than that," I smile at him, shaking my jazz hands in front of him, just to get under his skin.

Jasper looks at me and sets his eyes in a challenging glare. I can't help but to let out a taunting laugh. It's simply too easy to get him riled up.

Just as I predicted he would, he jumps up and sprints towards me, his arms wide open to take me in. Already ready for him to come after me, I zig-zag around the open field. I hold my arms wide open, spreading them out like the wings of a plane. My laughter echoes through the open air, and Jasper doesn't even come close to catching me.

"You're going to have to do better than-" I start to taunt him, but I speak too quickly. Jasper's arms close around my waist and he tackles me to the ground.

We land on a patch of flowers with a loud thump. The wind gets knocked out of me, but as soon as I regain my breath, I start to laugh loudly.

Jasper keeps me pinned on the ground, holding my wrists to the ground, trapped in his large, strong hands. I can't contain my laughter, as much as I want to be mad at him for taking me to the ground. I can see him struggling to keep a smile from appearing on his 'frustrated' face.

I clamp my mouth shut and narrow my eyes at him. I've stopped the flow of laughter from leaving my throat, but I can't even attempt to stop the smile playing on my lips. I stare back into his big, blue eyes. I can't help but to notice the way the light shines on them perfectly and makes them appear a crystal clear shade of blue, matching the sky in the background.

Blue was my favorite color, and I never really could put my finger on why... Not that Jasper's eyes had anything do with it, of course!

A light pink spreads across my cheeks and I pray that Jasper doesn't notice it. Unfortunately, he seems to, for his thick eyebrows furrow together in confusion.

"Get off me, you schmuck," I struggle beneath his grip for a few moments before he releases me. "Gave up pretty easily, I'd have to say, Strauss," I smirk at him, my weird moment flying out of our minds, at least I hoped it had.

"I'm just going easy on you, you pansy," He remarks, grabbing my outstretched hand and pulling himself up from the hard ground.

His hand lingers on mine longer than I thought normal. It was a few moments, moments that felt like hours, before he dropped my hand. 'Get a grip on yourself, Libby! He's your friend!'

"You wish I was a pansy. Then you would actually win at some things," I comment, giving him a rough shove, hard enough to nearly make him stumble to the ground.

He lets out a laugh and looks at me over his shoulder. I see something new in his eyes that makes me want to run the other way. It wasn't scary, or mean, it was just- different... It wasn't the playful smile that Jasper usually gave me.

So what do I do?

Of course I don't simply ignore it and think nothing of it. That would just be too normal.