“Hi, I’m Joyce, Jack’s mom.” She introduces herself to my mom.

“Hi, I’m Bonnie.” My mom smiles at her.

Jack and I shoot a glance at each other and smile. Jack just came to pick me up and my mom wanted to meet his. My brother comes shooting around the corner.

“Hey. I’m Chris.” He smiles eagerly and gives Jack’s mom a hug.

She laughs and hugs him back.

I glance at Jack, reminding him silently to give my brother his mom’s number. He nods understandingly.

“Hey Chris. Show me your room.” Jack suggests.

Chris and Jack go running off into his room leaving the moms and myself in the kitchen.

“So. I will take Emma to the bus stop and I would be more than happy to pick her up from there on Sunday as well. It really isn’t a problem at all.” Jack’s mom smiles at my mom.

“Are you sure? Maybe I can pick them up Sunday for you.” My mom offers a little uneasy.

“Don’t even worry about it. It’s not a problem. I already have to pick up Jack as it is, so honestly it’s no sweat off of my back.” She laughs, rubbing my moms arm assuring.

“Well alright then. You all better get out of here; you don’t want to be late.” My mom gives me a swift kiss on the cheek and helps me take my bag to the car.

Jack comes running out with Chris close behind. I grin at them and Jack heads straight towards me, giving me a hug. I pull away as quick as I can, hoping my mom didn’t catch that. If she thinks there is something going on between us, I will never hear the end of it. Chris is right after Jack giving me an unexpected hug.

“Thank you.” He whispers to me. “Be safe and come home soon.”

“No problem. I’ll keep in touch and you better do the same.” I squeeze him back.

I pull away and look up at Jack. Guitar? He mouths to me.

Oh shit that’s right. I swear this kid remembers everything. I run back into my room, grab my guitar, and realize I need my phone charger as well. I grab some cash out of my dresser drawer, just in case, stuffing it into my back pocket. I grab both and take one last look around my room, deciding I don’t need whatever I’ve forgotten. Running out of the house, I almost collide into Jack who was heading towards my room to get me.

“Ready tiger?” He asks me, grabbing my guitar from me.

“For sure.” I smile back at him and run to the car with Jack by my side.

We climb in and drive away with his mom behind the wheel. It doesn’t take but 5 minutes to get to the bus stop, so we didn’t have much time to chat. His mom helps us unload our bags and instruments onto the bus after shaking the English teachers hand. Jack and I say our goodbyes to her and take a seat on the bus, waiting for everyone else.

We pick two seats in the back; I’m next to the window and Jack is next to the aisle. There are a few others here but are sitting towards the middle. Jack grabs out his iPod and a pair of earbuds, handing me one of them. I take it and start listening to some unfamiliar tune. I steal a glance at Jack who is already staring at me. I blush looking down at my phone and pretend to pay close attention to my Instagram feed. A few minutes go by and more and more people board the bus. Finally, our teacher comes onto the bus and Jack and I take the earbuds out.

“GOODMORNING CLASS.” He booms excitedly. We all cheer and his face splits into a grin. “I can see everyone is more awake then ever. If only you gave me this attention in class. Anyway, we are ready to take off! The bus ride is about an hour, and the ferry ride is another 30 minutes. After the bus, we will stop at a little food court area where you can stock up on snacks for the weekend. I will let you all roam freely because I think you are old enough to handle it. IF I hear about any of you misbehaving, I will send you home. When we get there, I will tell you all what to do. But for now, sit back and relax. We will be there soon.” Mr. Garcia exclaims and sits down towards the front of the bus where a few other teachers are.

The bus lurches forward and I look around and see no one in our general area. A few rows up, the rest of the class is sitting. It doesn’t bother me and I really hope it doesn’t bother Jack. He turns to me smiling.

“So how did you sleep?” He asks me.

“Pretty good. I’m not sure why but I was exhausted. I passed out when you said goodnight. And you?” I ask him back, trying to avoid eye contact. Every time I lock eyes with him, my heart goes crazy.

“Awesome. Had a dream though.” He grins at me.

“What was it?” I ask, immediately regretting it.

“It was you and I. We were at a concert together, vibing out to some band I didn’t recognize. You had the biggest smile on your face I swear; I’ve never seen you smile like that. It was so contagious that I ended up smiling and you gave me a really big hug. You didn’t let go of me and then I woke up.” Jack admits, blushing a little.

I feel the red creep onto my cheeks and smile at him softly. “Sounds like fun. Maybe one day.”

“Yeah. One day.” Jack grins at me. He grabs some gummy bears out of his bag. “Want some?”

“Sure. These are pretty much my favorite.” I take a few out of the bag.

“Same here. What else are your favorites?” He asks me with a mouthful of gummy bears.

We talk for a little bit about favorite foods, favorite movies, colors, places, bands, video games and a few others. I find out his favorites and made a mental list of them.

Food- Gummy bears or pizza
Movie- Treasure Planet (of course)
Color-Purple
Places-The beach
Bands- Blink 182, Falling in Reverse, Radiohead
Video games- Call of Duty, any of them.

I tell him mine and I can see his brain processing it, probably doing the same thing I am.

Food-Gummy bears or spaghetti
Movie-The Dark Knight
Color-Purple or black
Places-My room…or I guess the park.
Bands: Falling in Reverse, A Day To Remember
Video games: All

After talking for a while, I yawn. Stretching a little.

“Wanna take a little bit of a nap? I’ll wake you when we get there.” Jack suggests.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you with nothing to do.” I reply.

“For sure.” He smiles, opening his arms for me to snuggle into.

Ah, there’s the catch. I was planning on leaning against the window. I look up at his face; the face of pure joy and excitement. Well, fuck. There’s no getting out of this one really.

I smile and slowly lean into his embrace. He wraps his arms around me, letting my head rest against his chest and my knees curl up in the chair. Jack slips an earbud into my ear and one into his, putting on a band I hadn’t heard in forever. Explosions in the Sky. Listening to Explosions in the Sky is literally the greatest way to fall asleep. Sometimes I feel like Jack knows me better than I do.

I close my eyes and let my body slip into a peaceful sleep.
I open my eyes and turn over, finding Jack lying next to me under a white feather down comforter. It did not feel weird, nor did it feel abnormal. It felt as if this was something I’ve been doing my whole life. As I take in my surroundings, I realize I am in a room I don’t recognize, but feel as if I should. It is giant with white walls, wooden floor, and a bathroom connected to it. Sunlight shone through the window, giving the room a positive feeling. I glance back at Jack who is sleeping peacefully. He looks a little different, older. He looks to be about 20. He has his black hair all flopped down, the blonde streaks tangled in the black. I squirm my way into his arms and he wakes up.

“Morning my love.” Jack greets me kissing my forehead. I smile and kiss him lightly on the lips.

“Goodmorning handsome.” I reply, happier than ever.

Jack rubs my back lightly as I lace my arms behind his back. Our legs entertwine and he kisses the top of my head. I sigh happily and relax into his arms. We lay like that for about 15 minutes until I tilt my head up to look at Jack.

Jack leans in to kiss me. I don’t pull away, rather I kiss him back, lacing my fingers together behind his neck pulling him closer. I feel him smile against my lips and flip me over on top of him. I continue to kiss him as his hands rest on the small of my back. All of a sudden, I realize we are absolutely naked. I stop kissing him and open my eyes. He looks at me quizzically, but I just smile at him. He returns the smile and holds my left hand to his face. I look at my hand and see a ring on my wedding finger. He sees me eyeing it and chuckles.

“Still not used to being engaged I take it?”

Engaged.

Jack.

Engaged.
“Emma, wake up.” I feel Jack lightly shaking me.

I sit up immediately and look at my left hand, making sure there was no ring on it. There wasn’t.

“You okay?” He asks looking at me confused.

I look at him with big eyes, unsure of what to say. “Sure. Let’s go.” I stand up and Jack does the same.

Holy shit. That was surreal.

Jack and I scurry off of the bus, last ones out of course. Our teacher hands us an itinerary with all of the teacher’s names and phone numbers on it.

“We meet back here in 45. Be safe. If you need us, call.” Mr. Garcia smiles at us.

We smile back and run to the nearest store. It’s a Walgreens. Jack and I run off to the candy section and rape it. Jack grabs 3 bags of gummy bears and I grab 4. I also grab some Milk Duds, gum, and Lifesaver gummies. Jack snatches up some Twizzlers, Snickers mini, and gum as well. We pay and go off to the food court for some real food.

“So how was your nap?” Jack asks as we wait in line to get pizza.

“It was good.” I say, trying to forget it.

“Any dreams?” He asks nonchalantly.

“Nope.” I reply looking down at my feet.

He lets it go, as we are next in line. I order a single cheese slice and he orders the same. We both get a soda and walk over to a table to sit down and eat. I’m still a little groggy from my nap, but try to wake myself up.

“Excited for the ferry ride?” I ask him.

“You know it. I love the water.” Jack replies biting into his slice.

“I wonder what it’s going to be like on site. I know the cabins are on opposite sides, but what’s in between them? And how far are they?” I ask excitedly.

“Slow down there.” Jack laughs. “We’ll find out once we get there. It’ll be cool as hell whatever it is.”

I nod in agreement as we finish up our slices. We check our phone and realize we have 15 minutes until we leave. Jack and I decide to walk back to where the bus had been a little early.

“I’ll be right back. I forgot to get something. Wait here for me okay?” Jack asks me looking into my eyes.

“Okay.” I say, unable to tear my eyes away from his. He squeezes my hand and jogs off.

I sit down on a nearby bench a few feet away from Mr. Garcia. Using my camera’s front camera, I wipe away a tiny makeup smudge and smooth my already straight hair. Relaxing back, I sit and wonder where Jack is. A few people stand at our meeting point, but still no Jack. 2 minutes until it’s time for the boat to leave, Jack sprints up to us. He approaches me and plops down next to me on the bench.

“What did you need?” I ask him.

“Guy stuff.” He replies simply and I leave it at that.

“Alright! Now that everyone is here, I think it’s time we board the ferry.” Mr. Garcia states. “Follow me closely everyone! We don’t need anyone getting lost.”

We follow him onto the ferry. It is pretty spacious with seats inside. Jack and I take the back seats, again. We settle into our seats as Jack reaches into his backpack and grabs out his laptop.

“Wanna watch a movie?”

“For sure.” I grin at him.

He pulls out 3 DVD’s from me to choose from. I decide on Step Brothers and lean back in my chair as Jack sets it up.

He plugs in the earbuds and hands me one, putting the other in his ear. Jack hits play right as the boat begins to move.

The movie begins and Jack and I relax, watching it together and enjoying each other’s company. But all I can think about is the damn dream…

Notes

You guys have been so great, I thought I would update a chapter. I hope you enjoy and love/appreciate ALL of your comments. They seriously make my day.
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