Ones Ignored

Chapter 19 | "Cute face"

The next morning I wake up with the birds singing in what seems to be in my ear and groan into my pillow. I hear a few voices from outside and groan once more as I am forced out of bed from the noise. I unzip my tent and look at the fourteen teenagers that were eating breakfast by nearby picnic tables. I glance at the rock that Jameson and I sat on late last night.

For some reason I could still feel the way his hands brushed over my leg in  a way that seemed more intimate than an accident. "Morning", I hear a grumble and find Jameson crouching down next to me. "Why are you guys up so early?", I ask turning back inside my tent in hopes to go back to sleep again. That is wishful thinking because Jameson says,"It's past twelve, Ivory."

"No way", I grumble grabbing my toiletrie bag and unzipping my duffle bag in search of a new outfit today. I settle on a cute top with a lacy neckline, one that didn't swoop too low but was flattering enough. I also pick out a long pair of black jeans. Once the outfit is hanging on my arm, and I have done a good job of hiding my undergarments, I stick my head out the tent.

"You good?", Jameson asks me as I almost kiss the ground after attempting to get out of the tent. I nod, not sparing him a glance, and say,"I'll head over to get dressed for the day."

"I'll say you breakfast!", he yells back and for some reason I notice the way he uses his teeth to smile at me now. He didn't used to do that before. With my cheeks heating up, I turn back and head to the common bathroom area. I change into my outfit really quickly before brushing my teeth and washing my face. I add gloss to my lips and keep my makeup minimal. After twenty minutes I'm done and am walking back to the campground, my arm around my stomach. I didn't think it would show this much stomach.

"You took long", Jameson comments when I walk over to him.

"Is my outfit too revealing?", I ask him and I swear his eyes bulge out of his eyes at the question. His eyes roam around my shirt before settling on the skin I was showing around my stomach. I pull the pants more up and say,"I don't have a cardigan."

"Firstly, it doesn't matter if you are—"

"Save the TedTalk, James", I say cutting him off and glancing at Agent Hopper who was staring off into the river. "I just don't feel comfortable walking around with just this on."

"I'll get you something", he says and then says,"I left your breakfast at the picnic table. You should start to eat, we have a lot of ground to cover today."

I nod and head over to the picnic table as he walks backward, probably to his tent. Once I get there, I take the rock off of the plate he used to cover my food and find a few pop tarts and some strawberries on the plate. I smile at the drizzle of syrup on top of the pop tart and pick one up. I chew it and feel something drop on top of my shoulder. I look back to find Jameson who placed his linen white button down my shoulder.

He smiles at me and moves off to the side,"We have to leave in ten minutes."

I frown and he says,"I'll be in the car."

I playfully roll my eyes and say,"I'll see you there." He smiles at me— he was doing a lot of that this weekend. I stare after him, at the way he walks toward the car. Could it be? Could Jameson like me? I mean, at this point it wasn't a big surprise to myself that I liked him, but did he like me? We have known each other for only a few weeks, was that long enough to take a liking to someone?

I look away from him and instead eat the food he had saved for me. I'm finishing off my last strawberry when I hear Agent Hopper shout out,"Five minutes until we leave!" I shove the rest of the strawberry in my mouth and wipe my hand on a piece of napkin. Once I have the button down on me— it falls loose at my shoulders and at this point it's an off the shoulder top— I walk toward my tent and grab my purse. Making sure I have all of the important stuff in it (lipliner, lipgloss, and a few sanitary items), I place it onto my shoulder and walk off toward Jameson's car.