Lennon

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve - A Whole New World

"I never knew you could be so romantic, Judey Boy." Meredith teases him, shinning the bright light of the flashlight into his eyes.

                He doesn't allow himself to blush this time, opting out to hit the flashlight out of her hands. We all turn to watch it as it skids across the grass, ending up a couple meters away. Not a single one of us volunteers to go and bet it, as it's too far away for our lazy asses.

                It's a tragedy that the flashlight is now gone, really, as we were having such a fun time with the thing. Aaron managed to scare the pee quite literally out of one of the annoying girls here, which is always a plus. That boy really has a way with ghost stories that make you sit at the edge of the log, needing for him to continue on with the words. I don't know what he plans to do with his life after he leaves here, but I can easily see him being the next big Stephen King.

                "Well, that wasn't nice," Jacque tells Jude, sarcasm leaking all over her soft spoken words.

                "Meredith is never nice." He crosses his arms, stubbornly unwilling to believe that he shouldn't have abused the flashlight like that. Jude sinks further unto the log right to me, letting out a long stream of annoyed huffs. You can never please that boy, can you?

                "It was a compliment, geez! Being romantic a good trait to have, Jude; I just didn’t know you had that in you.” Meredith rolls her eyes, fed up with trying to be nice to her best friend. She shoots me a look, as if to warn me about how difficult he can be with everything sometimes.

                I place my hand on his knee, making him turn his focus on me. The red nails that by some miracle match the color of my lipstick catch the light of the bonfire, silencing the slight murmur of our group.  “You’re sweet when you want to be and I adore that about you.”

                The smirk that I’ve been waiting for appears on his face, making his eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, is that so?”

                The same ridiculous smile betrays my thoughts and paints itself on my lips. “Yeah,” I go with the flow of my head, nodding my head with the smile widening on my face.  When I’m around him, I can’t help but smile at everything he does. Does that mean that my crush on him is deepening or am I just getting more mental?

                I wouldn’t doubt it if the second option is the correct answer.

                “Are you saying that you want me to be more in touch with my sensitive side, playing out all of your teen heartthrob fantasies? I’m sure somewhere deep within me there’s a crying little boy with a handful of roses, fully prepared to be the biggest hopeless romantic to ever exist. Deep, deep down inside. I can do that, if you want.”

                “You cannot be serious.” Now it’s my turn to let my eyebrow rocket up to my airline, disbelief overtaking all of the ounces in my body. While there is no doubt in my mind that Jude’s really a hopeless romantic, I’m astonished with his last words.

                Jude Love, who is the most confident and self-respected human being that I’ve ever met, is willing to completely change everything about his to prove a point. Since the moment he walked through my cabin door, he’s been a strong character. He knows who he, in every sense of the world.

                “Oh yeah, wanna bet?” A daring tone shakes my bones, making my decision dead set.

                Accepting his challenge, I nod my head. It takes all of the self-control I’ve held in all my life not to start busting out the iconic chorus of Hit Me with Your Best Shot. I would never hear the end of it, if I did end up singing the song. Not only do I sing like a dying seal when I try to sing, but it would seem like I was trying to get out of the situation by changing the focus.