Simpsational

Practice

Kayla

Everything she wrote in a letter had so much more weight. Once it was sent, she wouldn't be able to clarify any of it. There would be no way to call it back. If she hurt his feelings it would take a week or more to straighten it out. Finally, she decided to keep it simple.

J

I've been thinking about you and miss you a lot. I asked you to delete me in a fit of pique and I am very sorry. Please forget about our deal and feel free to write, call, or visit me.

K

She sprayed a puff of the perfume he'd given her for Christmas on the paper before sealing it in an envelope with a lipstick kiss.

Sending it proved a lot more challenging. She knew about stamps, but had never used one before, so she didn't even know where to buy them. Once she managed to locate them at the campus bookstore, she then had to get it sent. After watching it sit untouched in the outgoing mail slot for several days, she had to take it to the post office. She guessed that never delivering mail to her meant the postman never checked for outgoing. She wondered how the world had even functioned before internet.

And then she waited. And waited.

Jace

He was really nervous about seeing Chrissy again, but at least he didn't have to worry about what to say. Page had scripted it out completely.

"Hey, Chrissy, you miss me?" he asked, flopping out on his bed

"Actually, yes. Changing clothes without you staring at me has been nice."

This fit perfectly into what he was supposed to talk about. "Well, I've certainly missed staring at you."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I hear you and Trin were dancing naked around the bonfire."

"Yeah, I heard that, too. I have a vague impression I was making out with Page, too. It was a nice reminder why I don't drink." The rumor mill would have suggested a lot more had gone on between them, but Page insisted that Chrissy would believe what she wanted to and would avoid pressing to protect her illusion. It wasn't something worth lying over.

"I'm sorry I missed it. I was busy showing some kids how to burn Marshmallows."

"Speaking of," Jace said, getting to the real point of the conversation, "are you busy tomorrow?"

"I'm working, but nothing is booked, yet."

"I was thinking about booking a High Springs ride."

She looked at him warily. "I can take you for free if you wait a couple of days."

"I'd rather not wait." Page had said this was the perfect gesture. The tour was expensive, but he really had no use for all the money he was making. It also showed Chrissy that she was worth more to him than his money was without the awkwardness of gift giving. Page would make sure no one else booked the tour.

Chrissy smiled at him, clearly pleased. "Ok. Pack a bathing suit."

"I was thinking of going without," he teased.

She pressed her lips together in an imitation of a frown, "Bring a bathing suit."

Making good on his threat, he carefully watched as she stripped for bed for the night. He decided to forgo his t-shirt as well.

The ride the next day was a lot of fun. She put him on Cricket, the horse she'd used for competition before Komac. Cricket was a lot more spirited than any horse he'd been on previously, but she was well trained. Chrissy had them galloping over a flat stretch of the trail, something the tour groups never got to do.

Chrissy had worn a bikini under her clothing, so was waiting for him while he changed in the little bathroom erected near the stream.

He joined her on the rock plate at the edge of the water. It was impossibly blue and churned with the ever-present flow of water from the spring below.

"You ever been up here?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. Do you know why the water is so blue?"

"Dolomite. You paid for the full speech. Do you want it?"

"Sure." It would be fun to put her on the spot.

"This entire region was once ..." she began, launching into a detailed description of the geology, the history, and the legend of the spring. She was animated the whole time, putting on the real performance for him.

"Hey, you're pretty good at that."

"Thank you." She smirked at him. "Now stop stalling and jump in."

It was a hot day, so he was looking forward to cooling off. He didn't have the first clue how cool he was about to get.

He hit the water with a splash, the chill of it instantly sending a shock through his body. It didn't feel like swimming at all. He couldn't breathe and his limbs, already fatigued from week of hiking and climbing, felt like they were trying to cramp up as he struggled to shore. Chrissy's laughter suggested his response was not unexpected.

"That is so cold," he said, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Yeah. I think I did mention that in my speech." She dove in cleanly, swimming back to shore quickly, her skin speckled with goosebumps.

"There goes my romantic plan of kissing you in the water."

Her eyebrow rose. "So, you're ok with kissing now?"

"When Page kissed me, I had this awful feeling I was making out with the wrong person. But it wasn't Kayla I was thinking about. It was you." It was nice having Page write his lines for him.

"Hmph. Let's eat our picknick. We can talk about his kissing thing later."

She turned to walk to the horses, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. He could almost hear Page whispering in his ear. "Kiss her, soft but lingering." He did, tipping her chin up to take her mouth. After a moment of surprise, she started to kiss back. "Ok, good. Now break it off, leave her wanting more."

Chrissy's face turned pink as he pulled away from her. She stood frozen, dazed. "So, what are we eating?" he asked.

She shook her head to clear it. "Sandwiches. Potato salad. Some fruit, it's usually apples."

"Sounds delish. I'll spread a blanket." He picked a spot with soft grass under a tree. He was still really cold, but he knew that wouldn't last and he hoped to spend an extended time on the blanket with her. He was strictly forbidden to do any more that light petting with her, which he'd stick to if she let him.

Jace had been so focused on this impending date that he'd forgotten how much fun Chrissy was. He'd been at the pig roast, yet somehow, she had more funny stories about what had gone on than he did.

But the weirdest thing about Chrissy, he thought as they necked away the afternoon, was how much she liked him. When she was around Jace, she acted how most of the other girls did around Hawk. She blushed easily, laughed at every joke he made, and would reach out and touch him occasionally like she didn't even know she was doing it. Admittedly, Jace looked the best he ever had, but she'd liked him from the day he'd arrived.

If only he could get Kayla to look at him this way.