Chapter's song: Can't stop the feeling by Justin Timberlake ;)

However, I was excited to spend three hours sitting next to Bryan. For the first five minutes. Tom sat on the row beside us and he decided to go over the activities list with Bryan. They planned to take us hiking as soon as we got to the camp site.

We hadn't brought food. From what I gathered, the camp had a lake and a little vegetable patch where we would have to harvest our own food. It sounded kind of cool. If you were able to use your two freaking hands.

There were twenty of us. A few had given up on the course after the first week of restaurant practices. It was hard to get through school and then practices. Especially if you had a job in the first place. Maybe that was the main point. Hundreds of people signed up. We'd started the course with about fifty people. You could tell that things were getting a little competitive. It was a good thing, though. If you'd endured until now, it was sure that you were going to end up the course. There were still a few weeks to go, but we were graduating before Christmas. I was sure every graduate had secured a job at one of the restaurants we were practicing. That was one hell of an incentive.

Two hours later, we finished working on the details. I say we, because I'd arranged half of the things they'd planned, so I had to answer their questions and such.

Small chatter filled the bus, but for the most part, people were quiet. I tried to peek behind me to find my friends, but without much luck. Knowing Andrew, he probably sat at the back.

"Do you want to change seats?" Bryan asked beside me, and I turned to him.

He wasn't looking at me. He leaned on the back rest and had his eyes closed, but by the tone of his voice, I could tell he was feeling wary.

"I'm fine." I frowned. Is he jealous? My heart warmed at that. He was always moody whenever Andy was around. I wondered if I should ask him, but I had no clue if whatever we had could be considered a relationship. Wait. He did ask me out, didn't he?

Ugh.

I bit my lip, when his voice sounded again. "You sure?"

My eyes cut to him. He tilted his head and was gazing at me, studying me. I nodded. He glanced to the side, where Tom had leaned back on his seat and had plugged earphones, before his hand grazed mine. An electric current played in the place our hands connected. The tingles ran through my arm, up to my heart and down to my stomach.

We both stared at each other for a moment before the bus passed through some bump and the spell broke. However, my heart rate was up to the sky as I turned my head away. I started to pull away my hand but he held it tighter. My lips curved up, while my stomach flipped. Silence reigned in our seats, but warmness encased my heart for the rest of the ride.

***

The bus parked in what it looked like, the middle of nowhere. One lonely cabin was the only sign of civilization. Yet, the place looked like out of a children's story book. It was surrounded by large oak trees, wild bushes everywhere and you could hear chirping birds on the background. The air was crisp and fresh, and it smelled like nature.

We formed a line to gather our things, while Tom and Bryan disappeared inside the cabin to talk to the camp manager. I saw Monica at the back of the line and I joined her, knowing full-well that she would start teasing me.

"This is pretty cool, huh?" I smiled at her.

She nodded. "I wish I could bring Carlitos here. He would love it." Her eyes roamed all over the place. She was so excited that she couldn't stand still in her place. "Plus, it smells awesome!" Her dark eyes glinted as she beamed at me.

"We have to bring him here. Definitely." My heart soared for her. She was a good Momma. It still surprised me how young she was to be in charge of a little one already.

She placed her hand on my shoulder. "We're sharing a tent, right?" She raised her eyebrow watching me intently. I chuckled at her seriousness, while she leaned closer. "I can't sleep with those girls."

My eyes travelled behind her, towards the small group of girls. Granted, I hadn't exactly hang out with them, but they didn't seem bad. On cue, the blonde one glared our way before whispering something to her friend. They both turned to look at us, and they didn't look happy. Okay. Scratch that. They were menacing, all right. Scrunching up my nose, I glanced at Monica. "You know, the whole purpose of this camp is trying to work out as a team..."

Monica rolled her eyes, placing both hands on her hips. "I'm a bitch, Jess. Let's stop pretending that I'm not. I. Am. Proud. To. Be. A. Bitch."

I chuckled when Andy stood next to me, watching us with an evil glint in his eyes. He leaned closer, glanced to the right and to the left, before saying, "I can camp with you girls."

Monica snorted. "In your dreams," she added while I shook my head. My lips were twitching as I suppressed a smile.

Andy raised both hands in mock surrender, when Bryan's voice sounded from the cabin's front porch. "Guys, we're setting camp right now and then we're going to do a little trek to the vegetables patch." He gestured to his right. "This way, please."

I turned around to grab my suitcase, but Andy beat me to it. "I got it. Lead the way, Jess." Sighing, I murmured a thank you before trailing behind the group. The guys in front of us were grabbing their backpacks and a sleeping bag in their other hands, and that's when I remembered what I'd forgot.

"Shit!" my eyes were wide as I turned to Monica, "I forgot my sleeping bag!" Stupid, stupid, Jessica.

My alleged friend burst out laughing, at the same time Andy glanced at me. His blond hair sparkled under the sunrays. "I can help you with that. I don't mind sharing," he wriggled his brows and I shoved him hard with my good hand. "Although I'm not sure your boyfriend would allow it," he smirked.

Monica's laughter faded. "Hey," she tapped me on the shoulder. "You are staying with me, aren't you?"

Suddenly, the image of Juno giving me the condoms popped in my mind. Blushing like crazy, I nodded at my friend. "I am."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I can be bitchy, Jess. You really don't want to know that side of me."

"That sounds naughty," chirped in Andrew. Monica scoffed.

Sheesh. "I'm staying with you." I stated gazing at the group of people in front of us.

We arrived at a clear space right next to a lake. The water rippled under the sunlight, creating little gleams every few seconds. Leaving my friends behind, I stepped closer to the shore. The water was crystalline, and you could see fish swimming away from the shore.

"That's our dinner," Bryan's rough voice sounded beside me. "Try not to touch the water, Jess. I'm sure it won't be good for your wound."

I glanced at my bandaged hand and a heavy sigh left my lips. "This sucks," I raised it while grimacing.

He smiled. "You'll learn how to fish, don't worry. If you don't help with dinner, you won't eat." He winked, before walking away towards another group of people, but his playful smile was gone when he reached them.

I knew that it wouldn't look good if people knew that there was something going on between us. He was not only my teacher, but also my boss. I didn't want them to think that I was still in the program for that reason only. I figured that Bryan was harsh with me for that exact reason, too.

Why would he ask me on a date then? Wouldn't that complicate things even more?

Biting my lip, I made my way to my friends. They were trying to set the tent, but Andrew got this stud-like attitude that he would fix it for us, and told us to step aside. Twenty minutes later, he was sweating and the thing wasn't up. He called two of his friends and finally put it up. Monica and I laughed at them the whole way.

The veggie patch was impressive. They had tomatoes, bell peppers, and zucchinis, among other vegetables. We gathered everything to make ratatouille for lunch. After washing them, we grilled them while Tom and Bryan started to talk about the difference of organic vegetables against the normal ones. To be completely honest, they tasted the same to me. Either way, it was a delicious grilled-ratatouille.

After lunch, we had free time to wander around. Some of the boys plunged into the lake, not caring if there were fish or not. I thought it was gross, but Monica found it hilarious. Especially when Mark, one of them, jumped out screaming like a little girl because a fish had rubbed against his leg.

"How are you feeling?" Bryan sat beside me, as I sobered up from laughing at Mark too.

I glanced at him. My breath caught in my chest. He was digging that Henley blue shirt and dark blue cap combo. It brought out the color of his eyes and my hands itched to touch the strands of hair that peeked from the cap.

I looked away. My heart could only take so much. "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt."

"Good." He stood up and extended his hand to help me get up as well. "Let's go fishing."

"What?" I snapped my head to him.

"We've got free time and I want to teach you how to fish." He paused for a moment, and rubbed the back of his neck. "If you want to."

I bit my lip. "But what about the others?"

"What about it? It's not like I'm going to kiss you in front of everyone." His lips curved up in a lopsided smile. "Or who knows? Maybe you're the one who might jump on me." He teased me while raising an eyebrow.

Please. I can totally control myself. I huffed, uncrossing my legs to stand up.

"It's not like we're going to be alone in a secluded place."

His strong hand encased mine and he pulled me up effortlessly, my chest thumping on his. His gaze dropped to my lips for a moment. My heart was beating a mile a minute, while my mouth felt dry.

With that stupid smirk on his face, he pulled away. "Come on Jessie, get a hold of yourself." I rolled my eyes and huffed. A chuckle left his lips before he started to walk away. Smartass.

Hi guys!

Sorry for taking forever to update. It's been one hell of a month. My second book, Hopelessly Imperfect is published (previously Turn Around) and I had to finish my second book (Perfectly Imperfect, that's getting published too! YAY) and I've been really busy. But I'm back. I have to write my third book, but I plan to do it in a couple of months (because I guess I work better under pressure! ha!). I'm also participating on Sun-kissed anthologies and the wattpad block and I'll be posting a short-story too.

*takes deep breath*

But I've never been happier :)

Hopelessly Imperfect is available on Kindle, Paperback or for free with Kindle Unlimited. It's a great read. I promise! :)

Love you guys!!