To Beth's credit, she doesn't say a word about my early morning confession. Part of me wonders if she even remembers. Maybe she was asleep after all and was just sleep talking. Maybe I was asleep and imagined the whole thing. Either way, I'm grateful that I don't have to talk about it, as Beth has to leave as soon as she finishes breakfast (or in our case, an early lunch). She is still grounded, after all, and I'm just thankful that her parents let her stay one night with me. Before she leaves, I promise her that I'll go to her house the next night to help her catch up on her math, and she gives me one final hug before going home.

Once she leaves, I crawl back into bed in the hopes I can catch a little more sleep. I'll still exhausted from pulling an all-nighter with Beth on top of the jetlag I'm currently dealing with. But just as I'm about to drift off to sleep, I hear it. The sound of my phone vibrating with a notification. Sitting up in bed, I reach for my phone and turn it on. My heart leaps into my throat when I see who the message is from: Baker Scott.

"Are you awake?" he asks, and I'm suddenly very happy that I am.

"Yeah," I reply, then I stare at my phone, waiting to see what he writes back.

"Meet me at McEuen Park in an hour?" he asks.

My heart is racing now as I fumble a response. "I'll be there. See you soon."

The moment I hit send, I regret it. An hour? I haven't showered since I got home, and I'm meeting him at the park in an hour? Wasting no time, I jump out of my bed, grab a fresh change of clothes, and hop in the shower, washing myself as quickly as I can before stepping out, drying my hair, putting on my makeup, and putting a cute summer dress on, all in record time. I check my reflection in the mirror, frowning as I try to get my hair just right. But I'm out of time. If I'm going to meet him, I need to go. Now.

I grab my bag and slide in the cookbook I bought for him in Oxford. Then I run down the stairs toward the front door and collide with my dad. He grabs my shoulders to steady me, and I take a deep breath in an attempt to calm my nerves. "Whoa there, girl," he says, a small smile on his lips. "Where's the fire?"

"Sorry," I reply sheepishly as I sidestep him, hoping to avoid a full conversation. "Just in a hurry."

He raises his eyebrows. "Where are you going?"

"Umm...," I say, wondering what I should say. "I'm just meeting a friend at the park." I decide to tell him the truth, mostly because I don't have enough time to come up with a lie.

His eyes widen a little in surprise. "A friend? You mean Beth?"

I shake my head quickly, trying to think of a way out of this conversation. "No. Baker." His brow furrows in confusion, but I don't have time to explain. "I'll be back in a few hours. Probably by dinner. But I have to go. I'm already running late."

"Okay," he responds, and I can tell he's still a little shocked. "Well, be safe. Let us know if your plans change and you won't be able to make it for dinner."

I nod my head as I reach for my keys on the hook. "Yup! Will do!" I open the front door, giving him a quick smile before I say, "Bye! Love you!"

"Love you t—," he says, but I cut him off as I close the door behind me and run to my car. It starts up with no trouble, which means my parents probably drove it a little while I was away to preserve the battery during the winter. Thank God, I think to myself as I pull out of my driveway and make my way toward downtown Coeur d'Alene. I check the time and see that it's been about 45 minutes since he texted me, meaning I might just be a little early.

I pull my car into the library parking lot and run toward the park, my eyes searching for him. But he's not here. I must've beat him. Which, I realize, somehow makes me all the more anxious, because now I have to wait. I stand awkwardly in the middle of the path as kids of all ages run all around me, chasing each other as they play hide and seek and tag. My heart is probably going as fast as theirs right now, and I swear it's going to burst out of my chest and escape.

"Lumen?" a voice says a few feet behind me, and I swing around to see him walking toward me. He's wearing a hoodie in 80 degree weather, and I can see what looks like the remnants of a bruise on his left cheek. But his lips are curved up in soft smile as he approaches, his hands in his pockets as he stares at me with those storm gray eyes. I'm jealous of his pockets. I wish I had somewhere to put my hands right now.

He stops a foot in front of me, his eyes scanning me up and down, as if he's taking this moment to memorize me. A blush rises in my cheeks. "Hi," I say breathlessly, a smile of my own taking shape on my lips.

For a few moments we just stare at each other, like we can't believe the other is actually real. Then his smile widens as he says, "It's... good to see you."

I nod my head, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Yeah. You, too."

Another silence falls between us. Not awkward, but content. It feels like I've been on a ship sailing through a rough sea, and suddenly everything has calmed down. Smooth sailing from here. There's so much I want to say. So much I should say. But it's all too much, and I'm not entirely sure how he feels. So I keep my mouth shut as I continue to stare at him, watching him like he's a mirage that will vanish if I dare to even blink.

"You look hot," I say, and he blinks in surprise. I shake my head quickly. "I-I mean... you. You're wearing a hoodie. It's a warm day. Are you hot?"

He shakes his head, but I see his cheeks are tinged with a light shade of pink. "No. I'm okay. I think I'm just used to it. But you... you look very... cool." His eyes look me up and down again, and I wonder if he's checking me out. They linger for a moment on my legs before they find my eyes again. "I... like your dress."

"Thanks," I reply, sliding my hands along the light blue fabric nervously. Then my eyes widen as I feel the bag hanging from my shoulder. "Oh! I almost forgot. I... got you something. From Oxford." He grins at me as I reach into my bag and pull the cookbook out. "I saw this at a bookstore and thought of you. Merry Christmas, I guess. Five months late, but better late than never, right?"

He gently takes the book from my hands and slides his fingers across the cover, his small grin blossoming into a full on smile. "A mac and cheese cookbook." He flips through the pages really quickly, stopping on a couple of them to look at the recipes. Then his eyes find mine again, and the way he's looking at me sends chills up my spine in the best way possible. "I love it. Thank you."

I smile back at him. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

More silence as we stand unmoving on the pathway between the park and the splashpad. And just as he opens his mouth to say something, I hear someone call his name. My eyes search around for the source of the voice, and a moment later I see Ian running toward him. He stops when he gets to us, his chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath. "Baker," he says, still panting. "Do you have any money on you? I was hoping to get some fries at The Buoy."

Baker grins and his head as he reaches into his jeans pocket and pulls out a battered old brown wallet. Then he pulls out a twenty dollar bill and hands it to his brother. "Here. Get yourself a lemonade too."

Ian nods his head as he takes the bill. "Thanks," he replies, grinning. Then he turns to look at me and says, "Hey, Summer. Welcome back."

I smile. "Thanks, Ian. Good to be back." He grins at me quickly before running off in the direction of The Buoy. I turn to look at Baker, my eyes wide in surprise. "That's Ian?" I ask, and he nods his head. "Holy crap. He looks so different."

Baker chuckles as he runs his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, he had a bit of a grown spurt. Gotten a little better with the shyness, but still quiet. I'm trying to convince him to go out for his baseball team this year, but he doesn't think he's good enough. We've been practicing out here when we can. Hoping it'll boost his confidence a little."

"Seems like it's working," I say as I watch the little boy run down the hill toward the burger shack. "Last time I saw him he barely spoke to me at all. At least now he can say hi without you coaxing it out of him."

He nods, smiling warmly as he watches his brother. "Yeah. He's a good kid." Then he sucks in a small breath before turning to me and saying, "Do you want anything to eat? Fries? A burger?"

I shake my head. "No, that's okay. It's too hot for any of that right now."

He grins. "How about an ice cream then? Mrs. Honeypeeps is right around the corner."

"Won't Ian be jealous?" I ask, smirking a little. "I mean, what kid doesn't love ice cream?"

He laughs. "Ian, surprisingly. Always gives him a brain freeze. But if you want an ice cream, I'd be happy to treat you."

My stomach flips as I nod my head. "Yeah. Actually, ice cream sounds amazing." I shoot a nervous glance over at his brother, who is now sitting on one of the metal chairs waiting for his order of fries to come up. "Sure he'll be okay by himself?"

Baker nods his head. "Oh yeah. He's got a phone on him too, so if I need to get ahold of him I can. Come on. Let's go get you some ice cream. And I want you to tell me about your trip. Did you have a good time?"

He leads the way to Mrs. Honeypeeps as I tell him all about my trip, starting at the beginning with my introduction to the Carmichaels. He loves the stories about Elsie and Lily, and he even laughs when I tell him about the uniforms and how much the girls despised them. We get to the ice cream store, and I order a double scooped cone with chocolate chip cookie dough and triple chocolate fudge, while Baker orders a pistachio on top of mint chocolate chip. He pays for our cones, and we start walking back out toward the park again.

"My semester actually ended in April," I tell him as I take a bite of cookie dough. "They have shorter semesters there, but they don't really have a summer break like we do either. More like brief breaks between terms. They're probably getting ready to start the summer term soon."

He shakes his head. "So weird that I'm still in school and you're already out," he says. "How does that work? Do you get credit for the full semester?"

"Yeah," I reply, taking another bite. "At least that's what I was told when I signed up. But that's largely in part due to my grades. I think if I was a total fuck up then they wouldn't allow it." "Speaking of grades," he says, a playful smirk taking shape on his minty green lips. "You should know that I'm set to finish the semester with a perfect 4.0. Straight As. All the way down the line." I glare at him as his smirk turns into a smile. "What? I told you I wasn't going to make it easy on you, Lumen. You want to be on top? You gotta earn it."

I laugh. "Oh you are so going to regret those words," I say, and he laughs again. "Seriously, you don't know who you're dealing with here. What I said on New Years wasn't a lie. I'm getting my spot back."

"It's my spot," he says teasingly, and I playfully bump into his shoulder. "We'll see who comes out on top next spring."

"Bring it on," I reply, and he grins. "Just try not to cry when you lose."

"Just try not to hate me when I win," he says, taking another bite of his mint ice cream.

We sit in the shade on the grass for a while as we finish our cones, licking our fingers of any remaining drops of ice cream. Once we finish eating, we lean back in the grass, enjoying the late spring sunshine as it bathes us with it's light. Off in the distance we see Ian sitting at the table eating his fries, and it looks like he's texting someone on his phone. I smile when I see it. "So, does your brother have a little girlfriend or something?"

Baker shrugs his shoulders. "I doubt it. He's still very shy. Doesn't have many friends either. Probably just looking at baseball stats." He looks up at the sky, squinting a bit as he sucks in a small breath and says, "What about you? Did you pick up a boyfriend in Britain?"

I grin. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Someone to distract me while you secure your place as Valedictorian."

He smiles and shakes his head. "I don't need anyone else distracting you, Lumen." I blink, wondering what that means. "So... did you?"

"Did I get myself a boyfriend in Britain?" I ask, and he nods his head. "No. Was a little busy studying."

"But there was that one guy, right? Geoffrey?" he says as he continues to look away from me.

"Graham?" I ask, wrinkling my nose. "No. He's a nice guy, but I'm not interested. Actually, it turns out he has a little thing for Elsie. Funny how things work out, huh?"

He nods, a small smiling playing at the corners of his lips. "Yeah. Funny." His fingertips touch mine for a fraction of a second as he leans further back in the grass. And in that one single second, I feel a jolt move up my arm. Like a small zap of electricity. My eyes fall on my fingers, and I stare at them in confusion, as if looking for the source.

Baker rests his head in the grass as he looks up at the sky. I lean back myself, trying to ignore the pounding in my heart as I watch the clouds roll by. We sit in silence for a long time as I wait... hope... he'll touch me again. But he doesn't. And after a while I look over and see that he's fallen asleep. His chest is moving up and down, and his bottom lip is puffed up in a little pout. It's so cute. And I wonder what it would be like to kiss him. Would he let me, if I asked? I stare at his mouth like a freak, feeling the urge to do it. Wondering if he'd stop me if I did.

"Baker!" Ian calls a few minutes later, and I watch his eyes flutter at the sound of his name. He sucks in a large breath of air before turning to look at me. And when he sees me watching him, he grins.

"Planning how you're going to kill me, Lumen?" he asks, and I roll my eyes.

"More like planning my escape," I reply, and he laughs.

"Baker," Ian says as he runs up to us, panting. "It's almost six," he says breathlessly.

Baker's eyes widen as he sits up and looks at the time on his phone. He swears under his breath. "We have to go. I'm sorry, Summer. I... we have to get home."

I nod my head, a bubble of disappointment welling up inside me. "It's okay. I should go too. I told my dad I'd be home for dinner."

He gets to his feet and holds out his hand, helping me up as well. And when we touch, I feel it again. That jolt of electricity. Like a small current is running through my veins. He pulls me up, and for a few moments he holds onto my hand, allowing me to feel the waves flowing up my arm. When he releases me it stops, leaving me wanting more. "Thanks for hanging out with me today," he says, and I nod my head, unable to speak. "I'll... call you?"

I nod again, and then I watch as he makes his way through the grass and back to the park before making it to the parking lot and his car. And as I watch him leave, I think to myself how dangerous this actually is for me. He could still be screwing with my head. I mean, what other reason would he have to want to hang out with me like this? He has to be trying to distract me. But it doesn't feel as true as it did a few months ago. I have so many questions and even more feelings, and I just know I'm getting into trouble here. But I can't bring myself to care. The only thing I care about is that current I felt in my hand when he touched me. And how I can get him to do it again.

Author's Note:

Little bit of a longer one tonight. But I think it was fun. A little more banter between our main characters. Can't go wrong there, right? Can't wait to know what you all think in the comments. Next chapter coming as soon as I can write it. Be safe and healthy until then, my dears!
XOXO,
~Aly