24 Hours (Wattys 2016)

Hour 7

Hour 7

(1:00 EST)

    We finished our hike just as I realised Jamie's last day of camp would be over.

    "We have to pick Jamie up!" I said to Beckett as we climbed into the car.

    "Yup thats next on our list." He nodded. "And we will ask her what she wants to do this hour."

    "Knowing her it will be something boring." I comment.

    "She could surprise us and have it be something thrilling." Beckett grinned.

    "Either way this will be her time to spend with us on this last day." I looked out the window at the town we had lived in our whole lives.

    "She should feel honored she gets a whole hour with us." Beckett joked.

    "An hour to do whatever she wants with us." I laugh, then realise something. "What if she makes us do something random, like dress up like chickens?"

    "Then we will be the most adorable chickens Florida has ever seen." Beckett joked, rolling down the window and letting the Florida heat in the car. "Its safe to say I won't miss this heat in North Dakota." Beckett rolled the window back up.

    "I like the heat." I protested, but I kept my window rolled up too.

    "Then Texas is perfect for you." He laughed as we came to a red light.

    "Do you remember when we took that skii trip up to the mountains in Massachusetts?" I asked Beckett with a smile.

    "And you complained the whole time about the cold."

    "Yeah." I laughed. "You would give me your ski jacket and claim you were never cold."

    "And every day when we would get back from the slopes you would make a beeline for the hot tub." Beckett laughed at the memory of me spending hours in the hot tub, until there were spots in my vision from the heat.

    We came up to Jamie's camp, and I saw her running over to Beckett's familiar truck.

    "How was your last day at camp, J?" I asked her as she climbed in the truck next me, and I slid over in the two-person truck so we shared a seat.

    "Hot." She complained, and we laughed at the irony of our previous conversation and her complaints.

    "We spent the whole day outside because the instructors decided we deserved a free day." Jamie pouted, and I kissed the top of her head.

    "I used to love those free days!" Beckett grinned a Jamie.

    "He would play capture the flag all day until he was dripping with sweat." I laughed at the memory of a forteen year old Beckett running all day.

    "Well I decided to pass on the capture the flag, it was too hot." Jamie said.

    We pulled around a corner and Jamie's eyes brightened. "What are you guys doing this hour?" We had told her about our twenty-four hour plan earlier today.

    "Anything with you that you want to do." I grinned at my sister.

    "Lets make cupcakes!" She grinned and pointed to the grocery store on our right.

    "Lets do it." Beckett agreed, pulling an abrupt turn into the store.

    Jamie grinned with excitement as she climbed out of the car and followed us into the store.

()()()()

    "Now add the flour." Jamie instructed from her seat on the counter. Apparently when she said we should make cupcakes she meant that Beckett and I should make cupcakes while she told us what to do. There was music blaring, some pop that Jamie had put on.

    "Flour." I stuck my hand out and Beckett slapped the flour down in my hand.

    "Now stir." Jamie said and I stepped out of the way for Beckett to stir.

    I leaned against the counter and took a breath. Jamie was working us hard.

    "Add the eggs." Jamie called from the counter top.

    Beckett walked over to me and wiped his forehead. "You have a little flour on your face." He touched his hand to my forehead and wiped his finger, smudging the flour. He then placed his finger on my lip, wiping it across my lips.

    He leaned into me, and I closed my eyes, waiting to feel his lips touch mine. I waited but I never felt his lips against mine. I opened my eyes and Beckett was still close to me, but he pulled away, holding the egg carton from where he retrieved it from behind me.

    "Teaser." I slapped his shoulder and he laughed.

    "You are the one with flour on her lips, that's not teasing?" He mocked me, laughing.

    "I didn't know I had flour on my lips." I grinned, reaching behind him and digging my fingers in the flour. "But now you do." I reached over to his face and wiped my flour filled hands across his mouth.

    "That does it." He took an egg out and cracked it against my head. I could feel the wet egg drip down my hair. I squealed and threw flour against his t-shirt.

    Beckett cracked another egg on my shirt and I was laughing so hard I fell into him. We just stood there, in eachothers arms, covered in flour and eggs.

    "Dance with me." Beckett whispered in my ear as a slower song played off Jamie's pop station. We swayed in the music for a moment before a loud voice made us jump.

    "As entertaining as that was, I do still want cupcakes." Jamie's voice made us laugh, and pull away. She snapped a picture of our mess on Beckett's polaroid.

    "Lets make cupcakes." Beckett smiled, pressing a soft kiss against my lips. I could feel the flour from where I had attacked him with flour, but at that moment I could care less.