Wildest Dreams [ON HOLD]

❝ don't i have what i want ❞

And it's not what it seems,
And your heart's on the line,
I never wanna be the one fading.
Am I out of my mind?
Do I got it all wrong?
Don't I have what I want?

"Can't Slow Down" -Hedley

Jacen ended up not getting arrested.

Officially, completely, that is.

He got off with a slap on the wrist and a stern warning to be smarter about his ice cream choices. I guess the officer figured a night in a holding cell taught Jacen that he wasn't nearly as important or influential as he perceiving himself to be.

Of course we hadn't planned on stopping when the officer had pulled us over, so we were seriously behind schedule. I had gone to get Jacen as soon as I woke up, at around nine, but even so we didn't make the University of Chicago presentation. We did, however, manage to get to Northwestern in time.

"Sorry," Jacen muttered as we finished the tour for Northwestern. "We didn't get to see your universities."

I shook my head. "It's fine. I don't think our attendance record for these universities is great, though." He didn't respond to that, so I glanced over to see his brow furrowed, gaze fixed across the campus. I turned to see what he was staring at, but there was nothing there. Unless he was trying to count the amount of bricks on the University Hall or something. "What are you thinking so hard about?"

He shook his head and looked back at me. "Considering if I want to sue someone."

"Who?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow. "The police guy? For what?"

"Infringing on my constitutional rights against unreasonable detainment," he replied.

"What? Isn't that a lot of work?" I'd never sued anyone else. Since he'd been charged with arson, the state had been the one to prosecute Nik. The trial had taken a long time, though, and I could just imagine how expensive a lawyer would be. Though, I guess if you were Jacen Winston, legal fees weren't the top consideration.

He shrugged.

"Was it that big of a deal?" I asked.

"Well, I mean you missed your presentation," he muttered.

"Aww, you care that much about me?" I teased, bumping against him. "I'm flattered."

"Yeah, not like I spent an entire night in a five by five for no reason, or anything," he replied sarcastically.

"It's okay, I don't blame you, I know I'm a very likeable person," I said, batting my eyelashes at him. Unfortunately, the effect was ruined when a gust of wind blew a couple strands of hair in front of my face.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "You're impossible, Valentine." He reached out and brushed some of the stray strands behind my ear. My breath caught as we stared at each other. I bit my lip, my eyes straying to his mouth, but I quickly forced them back to meet his gaze.

Are we having a moment?

Is he going to kiss me?

Why isn't he looking away?

What does this even mean?

Should I kiss him?

Just as I was about to lean in and try, he cleared his throat. "So, um," he said, his voice a little hoarse. He cleared his throat again. "You sure you don't mean?" He leaned back, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck.

I blinked. "Yeah, it's- Don't worry about it." I gave myself a little mental shake to get out of that weird ass spell that had come upon me a moment ago. "Didn't I tell you? My parents picked most of my schools."