Camping with the Jerk

Chapter 5

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I'm loving all of the encouragement that I've gotten from you guys. :))) <<< That face has many chins. :P

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Eventually, I left Colton and Dean to their own conversations, knowing I wouldn't want to join anyways. Nobody stopped me, unsurprisingly. I ended up walking around silently, observing all the changes that the camp had gone through ever since my dad built it.

There were about twenty cabins, each one of them housing people. The dirt trail wasn't as bumpy, and the mess hall was even bigger than before. I'm positive this was the most popular the camp has been so far.

If only dad were here to see it...

No. Just stop thinking about it. He's gone and he's never coming back. G-O-N-E. Gone.

Even though I already knew this, the words send an ache to my chest. I breathed deeply, trying to rid myself of the pain and continued on my walk.

"Hey, Jessica!"

I looked back and saw Jason heading towards me, a brought smile lighting up his features. He was cute, in a way. Slim and a little bit lanky, but he had a kind face that you couldn't resist smiling at. "Hi."

"Where's your sister? I promised I'd take her out for ice-cream."

I shook my head. "You're a little late. Maya and Gina took her already. It seems they've grown impossibly close over the course of a few days..."

He nodded his head and shoved his hands into his pockets. "So what about you?"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What about me?"

Jason laughed as if I were telling some sort of joke. "Do you want to go grab ice-cream or a coffee or something?"

On one hand, it would take my mind off of my dad, but on the other, I couldn't help but feel a little awkward around him with his happy-go-lucky, bubbly attitude. "Um...sure."

Great job, Jess. You just can't say no to anybody, can you?

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There was nothing fancy about the coffee shop we went to. It was warm and welcoming, and smelled amazing. A few people were already there, but none that I should be worried about seeing. Conversation between us was scarce, and I was almost afraid to break the silence that passed between us.

Once we ordered, we sat down at a small booth in the corner of the room. Jason took a bite out of his chocolate cake and grinned at me. “So how have you been lately?”

Ah, small talk. Smart move, Jason. Boring, but smart.

“Fine,” I lied easily. I mean, what was I supposed to say? Oh, I’ve been doing really bad, actually. Aside from all of these stupid camp activities and raising my sister, I’ve had to dodge a few punches, block a few kicks. You?  Yeah, no. Not a good idea.

“That’s good,” he nodded. My hands curled around the steaming cup of coffee in front of me. Despite the fact that it was the middle of summer, coffee was extremely comforting. “What about Maddie?”

The sound of her name made my lips turn up in a tiny smile. “She’s great. Really friendly as always.”

“Cool.”

It was silent after that. A few words were said between the two of us before we finally decided to get up and leave. When we got back to the campsite, I was already anxious to see Maddie. It’s been a while since she was out of my site for more than an hour, therefore causing my nervousness.

Jason turned to me outside of my cabin. “I had fun today.”

I nodded, trying to smile. “Me too.”

And that was it. I’m sure you were waiting for a romantic moment to pass between us. A kiss, maybe? But nothing happened. No matter how sweet Jason was, or how much he liked Maddie, I couldn’t bring myself to really talk to him.

I don’t know how long it was before Gina and Maya brought my sister home. I just sat there, staring at the page of a book, not able to concentrate on the words in front of me.

“We’re home!” Maya called, opening the door with a flourish. Gina stepped in after her—much more quietly—with Maddie balanced on her hip.

“Hey, Jess. How was your day?” Maya asked, kicking her shoes off.

For some reason, I didn’t know how to respond—whether or not I should lie. So I just shrugged and said, “It was different.”

Because sometimes, the truth is the only thing you can say.

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I'm sorry about the TERRIBLY short length of this chapter, but it's been kind of hard to find inspiration.

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