Camden Vaile

Friday, May 1st

I woke up more tired than when I went to bed. I didn't sleep well at all. It didn't help that Joel felt the need to keep me crushed to him all night. It was like he was afraid I'd try to run away in the middle of the night or something. I tried to stretch. Great! I was gonna have a crick in my neck. What a great way to start the day!

I sighed as I let my arms fall back to the bed. I turned to look at the clock and was shocked to find it just after 0800. When I straightened back out I jerked. Joel was staring at me with a smile. I said, "How long have you been awake?"

He grinned and said, "Long enough to know that you're grouchy."

I snorted and said, "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well."

He kissed my arm and said, "I'm sorry." He kissed up my arm and up my neck. When he got to my lips he said, "Here... maybe I can help you with that," as he slid into me. I sighed and let him take me to a happy place. It was slow and sweet and just what I needed. His kiss took my sigh of release.

He looked down at me and said, "I don't want to go back to school."

My eyebrows shot up and I said, "What?"

He said, "They won't let us room together."

I pursed my lips and said, "Oh yeah."

He kissed along my jaw and said, "We could always rent an apartment." When I didn't say anything he said, "It's just something to think about. If we're getting married down the road what does it matter? Plus, I've got about six more years of school left sooo I'm gonna be there a while."

My eyes went huge and I said, "Six more years?"

He shrugged and said, "Maybe seven... it depends. You've got what... five more?"

I made a face and said, "Yuck... it sounds never ending when you put it like that."

He laughed and said, "So... my point is, we're both going to be there a while. Why not move outta the dorm and get settled?"

I bit the inside of my lip and said, "Let me think about it."

"Take your time," he nipped my chin and said, "I'm starving. Let's go eat." He got up and threw my robe at me.

We took a quick shower and went to dig something up for breakfast. We found some cereal and by the time we were done nobody else was up. We left a note and went to walk the beach.

Kyson called while we were gone and said that they weren't going to be able to make it. He got called into work over the weekend. It sucked but he said that he'd work on the details of the camping trip next month and let us know.

By the time we got back everyone else was up. We let them eat and dress and then all went to play putt-putt. We were on the eighth hole when we got a bite.

I had just gone and was walking down to the next hole to stand with Jasmine, Braden and Jana when I saw him. He was leaning against his car in the parking lot right outside the fence. I froze and thankfully only Jasmine noticed. I tried to recover quickly and turned to say something but the words caught when Jasmine looked at me. I swallowed hard and she gave a slight nod. She had seen him too.

Joel laughed at something Daniel said and came down the green to putt his ball in. I tried to keep smiling and acting like Jackson wasn't watching us but when Joel got his ball out of the hole he glanced up at me. His face went really serious and he stood up really quick and started looking around.

I took a breath and turned back to the parking lot and there was no Jackson... no car. There was just an empty spot. My heart pounded and I turned to look at Jasmine. She just cocked a brow.