UNEDITED
Gemma Alder is used to being the unlucky one in the Alder family: from a nasty rumour about her back in high school to inexplicable mishaps, she seems to be the comical target for unfortunate situations. But if there's one thing she's good...
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Gemma
Today's activities are all about competition – which is something I'm a big fan of. Most of the games we're playing today are ones we've already participated in, but I'm having a lot of fun; Jake and I demolished Penelope and Cassian at a game of washers, whipped Olive and Nolan at horseshoes, and are now sitting out the semi-finals round of the two-on-two beach volleyball tourney we're having. Once again, Jake and I have reigned supreme; whoever wins this game are the people we play against. Personally, I'm hoping Olive and Nolan win so we can annihilate them again. I do feel sorry for poor Nolan, who has had to put up with Olive's drama, but I want to win.
For the past several minutes, I've been trying to focus on the game, but I can't. The aftereffects of last night are still affecting me in a very strange way. For one thing, I can't stop thinking about how the three of us, me, Jake, and Hanna all woke up in the same bed, empty bags of snacks strewn across the quilt and my iPad in the middle of it all. I feel as though I've overstepped my boundaries in regards to bonding with the two of them. Each time I try to distance myself from them, I'm only drawn in further, trying to figure out how I'm going to run my life when they're omitted from it after this act ends.
Secondly, my conversation with Reid is still fresh in my head, as is the inadvertent promise I made to Jake about our overdue conversation. At this very moment, my heart is heavy. Heavy with sadness and regret and curiosity and anticipation. I don't know how this conversation is going to go – if I'm even going to be able to talk to him about everything that's happened. As much as I want to, the hell I went through in high school was traumatic and I hate talking about it.
Issues aside, everything is different now. I'm attracted to the man I've gotten to know, the one who loves his sister and will clearly do anything for her. The one who isn't afraid to admit when he's vulnerable or how he feels. He's the same man I kissed the night of the Spring Dance but entirely different. Jake still has the same cute dimples and pretty eyes but he's more sophisticated now, more calculated.
I glance at him. We're sitting side-by-side in the sand, waiting for one of the teams to make it to twenty points before we're up again. Jake is playing with the sand; scooping it up with one hand and letting it drain into the other before dropping it back to the beach. I watch him do this a few times. The sand is slightly damp from last night's storm and the air still has a clammy chill to it, but the sun is shining and there's some heat. If I'm going to be entirely honest, I'm a little worried about Jake and I. Aside from times where we're had to play our parts, we've barely spoken. I don't know what happened while I was grabbing the snacks last night, but ever since then, Jake has been, well, a little less Jake.
Probably because he can feel his eyes on me, he drops the last handful of sand and turns his gaze to me. "Gemma, I want to ask you a question."
I hitch a casual shoulder, the nonchalant gesture a contradiction to what's happening in my head and heart. I still manage to come up with a reply. "Sure."
