"Something's up with you, Jordan. You're acting strange," my mom leans over the counter, leaving her blender and fruits behind her.

"How so?" I ask her, smiling, since I really can't wipe it off my face.

She grabs my face between her hands and stares straight into my eyes. "Yep," she says. "It's a guy."

"What?" I ask automatically.

"It's Ray, isn't it?" My mom asks, humming as she gets back to her smoothie making.

Is it that obvious that something's going on between the two of us. Gosh, I wish I could hide my emotions better!

"I have not a clue what you're implying here."

My mom pauses and turns, giving me a blank stare. "Honey, do you really think I can't tell what's wrong with my own daughter? It's as plain as day."

I sigh. "That doesn't mean that you're right." What a sad excuse. You've just gotten worse and worse at this, Jordan. You may as well dig your grave now.

"Actually, I've seen it too," Jacob interferes. Wait, when did he get here?

"Huh?" I ask at the same time my mom say, "Aha!"

"Yeah, whenever I say you-know-who's name, she gets all googly eyed and stuff," Jacob says, plopping into the seat next to me.

"Nuh uh," I deny, turning to him with a scowl.

"Yeah. You may as well plaster a sign on your forehead that says 'I, JORDAN OLIVIA GREEN, AM COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY AND ABSOLUTELY CRAZY IN LOVE AND PLEASE DON'T TRY TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ME BECAUSE I CAN'T CONCENTRATE FOR MORE THAN TEN SECONDS WITHOUT FALLING INTO A DAYDREAM. THANK YOU.'

I stare at him. And blink. Silence.

"Isn't that a little long to fit on my forehead?"

********************************

Knock knock

"Jor, you in there?"

My head raises slowly off my pillow, but it doesn't really get that far before I let it drop again and cover it with my blanket.

What time is it? Have a little respect people.

And, some dimwit is shaking my shoulder. "Get up, it's almost noon."

I swat the hand away and do a tired mental fist pump when I actually hit the person in the face.

"Okay, I guess I'll eat these chocolate chip pancakes myself."

And I sit up so quickly that I can't see clearly for a few seconds. "No, you've gotta share."

And while I was expecting to see Jacob sitting on the edge of my bed, it's actually Ray who is holding a tray of pancakes.

The mirror across the room from me shows just how zombie-like I actually look at this moment, and I basically die inside. Please, mom, give me a nice funeral.

"Oh, gosh," I throw a blanket over my head. "Wasn't expecting to see you here." My voice is muffled by the blanket.

Ray laughs. "I'm one for surprises."

Yeah, well, I've already told you on multiple occasions that I, thank you very much, am not.

"Okay," Ray says. "Do you want these pancakes or not?"

I nod my head.

"There's kind of a barrier in the way," Ray says. "You can take off the blanket now, it's not that bright in here."

No, it's not that bright in here. But it sure is bright enough for you to see how horrendous I look right now, Ray. Take a hint, please.

"I will gladly eat these," Ray says in a singsong voice.

"No," I say quickly. "I'll eat them." Silence. Waiting. "Just kindly step out of the room."

Ray laughs. "Come on, Jor. I know you're worried that your hair's not perfectly styled or makeup isn't done yet. But listen," he says. "I don't care. You're beautiful either way. Even if you look like a human eating gorilla, that's fine by me." I punch what I assume to be his arm. "Kidding. Now, please, just eat these darned pancakes. They're getting cold."

I slowly pull the blanket off of my head, trying to casually smooth down my frizzy hair.

"There, that's better," Ray smiles, handing me the tray. "Now eat up, you're not staying in bed all day today."

I shove a bite in my mouth to prove that I'm obedient.

*******************************

"Can you please not put your feet on my face, Jordan?"

"Sorry Jacob," I say, readjusting my footing so I'm standing on his shoulders instead. "Can't reach too well."

"Can you hurry it up?" Jacob asks, obviously annoyed.

I try grabbing the old VCR movies one more time, but they are just outside of my grasp. How swell is that?

"I...Can't...too... Far..." My fingertips are spread to the very end and I am fairly positive that if I reach one more centimeter, my hands will fall off. That would be pretty bad too, because then Jacob would flip out when he say my limp, detached hands. Then he would drop me on my head and I would get a concussion. I would lose all my memory and be all seriously messed up in the mind when I realize that I've got no hands. And my already mentally unstable future self would have to spend the rest of their life in an insane asylum.

And that is why we are not watching a VCR movie today.

Thank you, Ray for suggesting we play 'name that song' instead.

"Okay," he says. "I will whistle a song and you'll tell me what you think it is. If you get it right, you whistle the next song."

"If you get it wrong," Jacob interjects, "you stand out in the cold for a full minute with only summer shorts and a t shirt on."

"The one with the most correct guesses at the end gets to eat the last Hershey's bar in Jacob's closet. Deal?" Ray interrupts.

"Hey," Jacob frowns.

"Deal," I nod.

Ray begins with a simple tune to kick us off. I listen as he whistles the song I automatically know the name of.

"Oh!" My hand shoots up into the air.

Ray raises his eyebrows in amusement. "Yes, Jordan? Do you know it?"

I nod my head eagerly.

"You don't have to raise your hand, but alright, have at it," he nods to me.

"Strawberry Fields Forever," I smile proudly.

He nods his approval. "That is correct."

I think over the playlist of songs that's inside my head. No, no, no, there's nothing good enough.

Aha, that'll work. Until I realize something.

"Uhhh..."

"What is it this time Jordan?" Jacob rolls his eyes.

"I can't whistle," I say.

"That would've been nice to know before we started this game," Jacob scowls at me and throws a Whopper from his box of candy at me. I gladly take it off the ground, wipe it off on my shirt, and eat it.

"It's fine, you can hum, Jor," Ray says.

So I do. I hum the first verse, and into the chorus. It is actually very difficult, because you actually can't stay on the right pitch very well while humming.

I'm quite glad I don't have to continue to the next verse when Jacob says, "Oh, duh. That's Shake it Out."

Ray chimes in, too. "Isn't that your ringtone?"

I nod. "Yep."

And then Jacob's off to whistling his song, which he seems to have already picked out. Smart of him.

I still don't really recognize the song, and I can tell he's nearing the end. If it gets all the way to the end, we're both considered losers. That's super humiliating. So, I decide to take a stab at it.

"Is it Hey There Delilah?" Hey, it's possible. Jacob could be a terrible whistler for all I know.

Jacob laughs. "Not even close."

"What was it then?" I ask.

"Don't Shoot Me Santa, by The Killers," Jacob grins with success.

"Oh my gosh, I forgot about that song!" I exclaim. "Dad used to play it every holiday season!"

Jacob nods. "Now get your sorry, loser-y butt outside."

Oh, right. Forgot about that part of this game. I brace myself before heading towards the sliding glass door that leads to our back yard. Ray sets a timer for a minute and Jacob shuts the door as I step outside. He even goes so far to lock the door.

For the first ten seconds or so, I just stand there with my hand on my hip, glaring at them and pretending I'm not cold at all. Of course, that act doesn't really last long when your bare feet are buried in snow and it's less than twenty degrees outside. I pull my arms inside my t shirt and huddle myself together to keep out the cold. Well, at least, attempt to keep out the cold.

I can see Jacob laughing inside, in fact I can hear him. I'm fairly certain I'm going to have to be thawed out after this grueling sixty seconds.

My feet are completely numb and the feeling is beginning to spread up to my knees. My face feels like its on fire, it's so cold. My ears am nose are bright pink, I can feel it. Yeah, this could be torture right here.

I an hear Ray's phone timer go off and Jacob irritatingly slowly opens the sliding glass door. I slap his chest hard when I enter. I angrily stomp into the living room and sit on the couch, huddling myself into a little ball, attempting to keep warm.

I feel arms lift me up, and I'm about to swat the arms away, thinking they're Jacob's. Then I smell the unmistakable scent of peppermint soap and detergent and I realize it is, in fact, not Jacob wrapping their warm arms around me. It's Ray.

I am so warm and cozy, and feel butterflies explode into smithereens in my stomach. I rest my head on his shoulder and let out a sigh. I place a cold hand on my frozen cheek and realize that I'm probably going to be sick tomorrow. Just great.

"Aww, isn't that adorable," Jacob flips onto the smaller couch on the other wall.

"Shut up," I mutter.

Ray takes both my hands in his and warms them up for me. I smile gratefully at him and for about the millionth time realize how lucky I am to have him.

********************************

At some point, Jacob abandoned us to go play one of his lame football video games. I told Ray he could leave, but he assured me he didn't want to.

So, here I am, sitting next to Ray on the couch. My head is comfortably resting on his shoulder, and his cheek is pressed against my hair.

"How is it," Ray says quietly, "that you woke up at noon, yet you're ready to fall asleep again at seven?"

"You'd be surprised," is all I say.

"You surprise me a lot, Jor," Ray tells me.

"Yeah?"

I can feel him nod. "Yeah."

I nod too, as well as I can with my head on his shoulder. "You surprise me a lot, too. Too much, in fact."

I haven't blinked for a few minutes now, which is the sign that I am ready to go to bed. Yet, I don't want to leave. I don't want to move. And I'm afraid I'll lose this perfect moment if I close my eyes.

I can feel Ray's fingers carefully unknotting my tangly hair. Never in a million years would I have imagined myself in this position. About two months ago I would've thought myself crazy if someone told me that this is the future me.

But it's true. It's real. And I'm so, so glad that it is.