Escaping Love (Rewrite) [Book #1]

Chapter 11

|| CHARLOTTE ||

|| Saturday, October 12th ||

I woke up from an exhausting night. I turned my head to look at the clock. It was only 9:00 AM.

My body turned to face Jackie, who was still sound asleep. She looks so peaceful. I looked down and saw her hand holding mine. It made me smile, and I want to move in and kiss her awake.

I let my fingers gently rub hers. Hands are rubbing back, and I felt her move into me without opening her eyes. They wrapped around my body and held me tightly.

She nuzzled into my neck and hummed.

"Morning," I whispered in her ear, and I got a hum as a response.

She slowly pulled away and gently opened her eyes, smiling at me, "Hi."

"Hi." I pecked her lips.

"I love waking up next to you in the morning," Jackie mumbled.

"I do, too," I smiled. "What would you like to do today?"

"I still have my art project to finish," she whined.

"I can help you, or at least watch you paint."

"Yeah, be my cheerleader and give me encouragement," she said.

"Then I need pom-poms," I said.

She chuckled and buried her face in my neck. I could feel her laugh vibrating against my skin. "I can design them for you," she said.

"No, you're finishing your project. I might distract you with my terrible cheerleading, and we don't want that."

"Awe, but I don't mind a distraction," she said.

"I'd embarrass my ass," I chuckled.

"That's the best part."

"That I'm embarrassing myself in front of you?"

"Well, not that. That you'd go through the embarrassment to cheer me on," Jackie smiled.

I smiled wider and leaned in, "This is what I love about you," I said, kissing her lips.

"These are the times that I've missed from our childhood. Jokes, humor, and encouragement."

"Yeah, but this time it's better," I said.

"How?"

"Because we're so much more than what we were back then. Let's get up and grab some food," I said, sitting up from the bed.

"Five more minutes, please?" Jackie asked.

"Like always," I moved closer and wrapped my arms around her waist.

~~~<>~~~<>~~~<>~~~

"See, all done," I smiled at Jackie.

"Yeah, after three hours," Jackie yawned.

"Are you going to bring it on Monday?" I asked.

"Yeah, so it's in Mrs. Riley's classroom, and I won't forget it in the middle of the week if she decides to extend the date."

I nodded, "I'll help you clean up," I said.

She stopped me and shook her head. I watched her take the canvas and place it in the corner of the room to dry. Jackie walked to her closet and pulled out a blank canvas and put it on the table.

"Another project?" I asked.

She only smiled and handed me the pallet of paints. "Paint something," she said.