Ever since I had met him, everything Jesse Jacobsen did annoyed me. Until now. Now that I admitted that I liked him, everything he did was cute or funny. I didn't even think I'd get upset if he made fun of me anymore. Maybe for pranks, but I didn't really know about that.

After I had calmed down, we both went back inside and sat next to my mother in the front. We watched my grandmother be buried and Jesse held onto my hand the entire time. He even let me cry into his chest more after they started to bury her.

I hadn't ever noticed how he tried to do sweet things for me, because I always brushed them off as annoying. Ever since he caused me to drop his ice cream all over my shirt, everything he did was stupid and annoying, and I just couldn't stand it.

But now, everything he did was too cute for words.

I'm kind of ashamed of myself, if you want the truth. After hating him for four years, I just randomly decide to start liking him. But it wasn't really like I had a choice. If I could choose, I would have stuck to just hating his guts for the rest of my life.

"I'm so sorry for running out like that," I apologized to my mother after we had gotten home. "I just couldn't take it... And you never told me how Grandma died so it was a pretty big shock."

"I'm sorry, Jordan," my mother sniffed as she sat quietly down on the couch. "I just couldn't tell you that she was killed..."

I sat on the couch opposite of her, Jesse sitting next to me almost immediately. I absentmindedly scooted closer, not realizing it until my leg was touching his. I expecting him to pull away from me, but I was surprised when he pressed his leg against mine.

I hadn't seen my father yet, which worried me just a little. I hadn't seen him throughout the entire funeral, or when they were burying my grandmother. My mother said he was there, probably just mingling and cheering people up, but I wasn't so sure. Hunter had already gone after my grandmother...

"I just don't understand why someone would do this to her," my mother sobbed, placing her face in her hands as she bent over in her seat. "Why would someone do this to an elderly lady?"

That was what I was thinking. Was Hunter really that cold and heartless that he'd kill my grandmother who was going to pass away of old age anytime anyway? Just so he could get to Jesse...

Jesse placed his hand on my knee, almost causing me to jump. I wasn't expecting him to do something like this, but it wasn't like I minded. I wanted him to touch way more than just my knee...

When the front door opened, I almost jumped to my feet when I saw that it was my dad. I let out a long breath of relief, happy that Hunter hadn't gotten to him.

"Sorry I was late," he apologized, dropping his keys down on the kitchen table. "I had to drive Mary Lou home."

I let out another sigh of relief. Mary Lou was my cousin, and she didn't have any relationship with a gang or Hunter. At least not that I knew of...

Shaking it off, I stood up from the couch to hug my father. Even though my grandmother was my mom's mother, he was close to her as well. My dad's mother had died when he was little, so he grew up without a mother because his father never remarried, and I never got to meet her.

When my father pulled away from me, his gaze landed on Jesse and became confused. My eyes widened slightly when I realized he hadn't ever met Jesse before, since I hadn't ever brought up who I was pranking with my parents...

"Um, you remember Jesse, a friend of mine," I introduced, stepping away from my father and toward Jesse. My father wasn't exactly an overprotective person, but he never really liked any boys that I hung out with, except for Dallas, before what had happened with him. He would always say he didn't believe any guy was good enough for me.

Jesse stepped forward, sticking a hand out for his father to shake. "Um, nice to see you again, sir," he stated politely.

My father looked surprised, but shook Jesse's hand anyway. Truthfully, I was pretty surprised as well. Jesse Jacobsen was actually acting shy. That never happened! Never once in the time that I had known him did he ever act shy!

How cute.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I have exciting news for you all today!" Mrs. Strong announced in the front of the room the next Monday morning. "Very exciting news!"

I didn't really think anything was going to be as exciting as she was making it. It was early May, and we still had finals and such that I wasn't looking forward to. After learning how my grandmother actually died and realizing that I had feelings for my enemy, I didn't think anything was going to be exciting anymore.

Except when Jesse talked to me now. That always caused butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

"I know it's short notice," Mrs. Strong continued with a bright smile. "But I'm sure most of you have heard of the senior fair."

The senior fair? I hadn't ever heard of it.

"For the new students, the senior fair is a fair that only seniors and senior's families can attend. It will be happening this Friday, starting at ten in the morning and ending at four in the afternoon..." Mrs. Strong explained, nodding her head at all the new students in the room, including me.

A fair didn't seem that bad. It actually seemed pretty fun. After what had happened with everything, I was sure that I needed some fun.

"And then the Friday after," Mrs. Strong continued, "is prom."

Prom.

That was the word that I hated ever since freshman year. Ever since what happened with Dallas, I hadn't even thought about going to my actual prom. I hadn't even gone in junior year because of it, but I knew I'd have to go this year. But I couldn't go without a date... That would be humiliating.

My thoughts automatically flashed to Jesse, and I frowned when I pictured him dancing with Aimee. Why would he want to go with me? He's go with Aimee, someone that was willing to sleep with him, or Yolanda, the girl he was actually in love with.

But truthfully, I wanted him to ask me. My heart almost ached as I tried not to think of him with another girl.

It was only two weeks away. That meant I only had two weeks to find a dress, makeup, and a date. And I was sure that the last one was going to be the hardest...

I could have always asked someone myself. But it was supposed to be the guy that asked the girl, right? How amazing would it be if Jesse was the one who asked me to the prom, and then I wouldn't have to do anything but say yes? That would have been amazing!

My thoughts were cut off by the classroom door opening. Everything I thought immediately plummeted into my stomach when I saw the person that walked through the door.

Dallas handed a few papers to Mrs. Strong, but didn't take his eyes off me. He was smiling, but I knew he was smiling at me when he said, "Mr. Craven wanted me to give these to you."

"Thank you, Dallas," Mrs. Strong thanked, patting Dallas on the shoulder before he turned around and made his way out of the room, only taking his eyes off me when he had to.

I didn't even think about Dallas.

Dallas... Did he think he was my boyfriend? He had to, since he probably thought that I was in love with him or something. He thought that I hated Jesse, just like everyone else thought... But how was I supposed to fake liking being with Dallas when I'd rather be with Jesse?

I couldn't just tell him that I liked being with my enemy and not him. I couldn't tell anyone that... If my friends knew, they'd hate me for sure. And if anyone knew that I really harbored feelings for Jesse and they got involved... If Hunter found out, they'd be complete goners.

"Mr. Eye Candy was totally checking you out," Lexi whispered, leaning over so she was close enough so only I could hear. "Someone's in love with you, Jordan!"

If she had told me this a few days before then, I would have been thrilled. But the only thing I could think about was Jesse.

Jesse, Jesse, Jesse.

Why was he doing this to me?

I was right when I had said that he'd never leave me alone. Even though it wasn't in the way I had thought that it would be, it was close enough.

"Everyone will sign up for one booth to run for the fair," Mrs. Strong now informed us. "There will be different people for every hour. I'm going to be passing you all lists of booths that are going to be there, and you'll get to pick your top three."

I let out a sigh as I was handed a list. I looked over it but didn't find anything interesting or something that I would have liked to do. Dunk tank was definitely out; there was no way I was going to let people duck me in a cold tub of water.

I signed up for the ring toss as my number one, and then some type of food booth. There was absolutely nothing left that I wanted to do for my third one, so I wrinkled my nose and wrote down kissing booth on the line. I was sure that I wasn't going to get it since it was my last pick.

Who actually had kissing booths anymore? As long as I didn't get it, I didn't really care...

"I'm signing up for the dunk tank," Lexi informed me, scribbling it down immediately. "I'm sure it'll be hot that day. And I want Alex to see me in my swim suit."

"You're still going after Alex, huh?" I inquired, a smirk on my face as one of my eyebrows rose. "How's it going for you two?"

"Amazing," she gushed, leaning over so I could hear her better. "He's so funny, and he's actually really smart! Nothing like Bruce at all!"

"Except they're both blonde," I reminded her, but she only wrinkled her nose at me.

"I'm blonde, too. Maybe I just want someone who looks like me."

"That's kind of creepy."

Lexi stuck her tongue out at me, and I couldn't help but smile and do it right back. I was glad that my best friend had someone she liked, especially since I had someone to like, too. Even though it seemed like I had two people, I still had someone to like.

But I couldn't like both of them for long. I was sure that I had a bigger chance with Dallas, but I couldn't have really been sure... Jesse was always sweet to me, but so was Dallas. But Jesse was the one that comforted me when I learned that my grandmother had died...

I just couldn't choose. At least, not yet. I just couldn't choose between Dallas and Jesse.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When AJ, Lexi, Chelsea, and I all took a walk that night, we weren't very surprised when we saw Aimee clinging onto Jesse.

My heart fluttered when I saw Jesse, but then it went away quickly when I saw how close he and Aimee were. Her arms were around his, and she was pressing her body so close to his side that it almost looked like they were one person.

AJ was obviously unhappy, because she looked away almost immediately. I was unhappy as well, but I tried to keep a brave face on and act like I normally would if I saw Aimee and Jesse together.

"Get a room, will you?" I asked, stopping next to them. The three girls did as well, but none of them said anything as Aimee scowled and Jesse smirked. I wasn't about to bring up pretending to be Jesse's girlfriend in front of my friends, because I knew they would have accused me of liking him and being jealous.

And they would have been right.

"Oh, Jordan, I didn't recognize you," Aimee started, causing my eyebrows to furrow in confusion until she continued, "I'm so used to seeing you sucking face with Dallas, I hardly recognize you when you don't."

I felt my face flame, even though I didn't know why. Jesse knew that Dallas and I were together, as together as we could be, at least.

"I recognize you just fine," I retorted. "If you didn't have your hands on every guy you meet, I wouldn't be able to recognize you at all."

Her scowl just turned harsher, and I couldn't help but smile victoriously. That's what the bitch got for messing with me. She was a total slut, and she totally deserved everything I called her. Who backstabbed their friends and then acted like they didn't even care! A bitch, that's who!

"Come on, Jesse, why don't we go back to my cabin?" Aimee suggested seductively, running her hand up and down Jesse's chest. This movement made me nauseous, and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from puking all over them.

If she didn't get off of him in three seconds...

She wasn't going to have a hand anymore!

Wow. I hadn't ever been jealous like this before. I really didn't like the feeling. But did anybody? I highly doubted that anyone liked being jealous.

"I actually have to study," Jesse informed her, removing her hands from him. Finally, she stopped groping him... She was pretty much eye-raping him after he forced her off of him.

But then I realized something. When did Jesse Jacobsen ever study?

I didn't know what his grades were, but I knew that Jesse didn't like to study. He had told me that he didn't like studying back in sophomore year after I asked why he wasn't studying while I studied. Now I didn't know if it was the truth or not, but I kind of hoped it wasn't. That meant that Jesse just didn't want to be around Aimee, which made me happy.

"How about I come and study with you?" she suggested once again in the same tone, stepping toward him. "It can be a study date..."

Everyone witnessing this knew that she had more in mind than just studying for that date.

I felt my blood boil, and all I wanted to do was rip her red hair out of her head. If she didn't step back from him, I swore it would be the last step she took...

Wow, jealousy sucked.

"Sorry, I like to study alone," he apologized, taking a step away. This caused him to be closer to me now, and he turned with a suggestive look on his face. "Unless you want to join me, Emery."

My cheeks flushed red I was sure, but I knew I had to act as normal as possible around him so he didn't think anyone was up. He was just teasing me... That was all he was doing...

"In your dreams, Jacobsen," I snapped, crossing my arms and turning my head away from him so he couldn't see my blush. But this caused me to be able to see Aimee's jealous death glare, and I almost burst out laughing. Maybe Jesse liked me more than her.

"Oh, yes. We're definitely... studying in my dreams," he winked, shoving his hands in his pockets as he smirked seductively at me.

My eyes widened, and I couldn't help but gulp. He was just joking... He was only teasing me...

But I really wished that he wasn't.

"You're a pervert," I spat at him, turning around and making my way back toward my cabin, my friend following. "Have fun studying with Aimee."

"I'd have more fun if I was studying with you!" Jesse called after me, and I clenched my jaw as I tried to stop my blush from coming.

If he was going to keep teasing me like this, I definitely wasn't going to last.

Later that night, I couldn't fall asleep because of the guilt I felt for liking both Dallas and Jesse. There wasn't anything wrong with liking two guys, right? There was no problem with it at all... But then why did I feel so guilty about everything?

I continued to stare up at the dark ceiling, thinking about who I should have liked more. Dallas had always been sweet to me; he only messed up one time. But then Jesse messed up a lot of times, but still had his sweet moments here and there.

Right before I was finally about to fall asleep, I heard a bed squeaking before the floorboards squeaked themselves, someone obviously walking on top of them. I cracked one eye open and looked over to where I had heard the sound, and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I saw AJ exit the cabin.

She left the door open, but the screen door shut. I sat up, since her back was to me now, to see that she wasn't going anywhere. All she did was plop down on the porch steps and place her head on her knees.

When I heard soft crying, I let out a quiet sigh and got out of my bed, trying my best not to make any noise. I didn't want to wake any of the other girls up and embarrass AJ anymore. I didn't want her embarrassed when she was crying.

It had almost been two weeks, but she was still crying about Scott? Sure, I cried for a while when Dallas ditched me, but not for two weeks...

I opened and closed the screen door silently, AJ too busy crying to hear me. I sat down beside her, and she didn't even notice that I was there until I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she apologized immediately. "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry."

"No, you didn't," I assured her with a sigh, removing my hand and looking straight ahead into the darkness of the woods that surrounded us. Normally I would find this scary, but for some reason it was calming to me now. "I was awake thinking about... things."

"Me, too," she admitted, pulling her knees up to her chin. "Me, too..."

I was glad she didn't ask me what I was thinking about, because then I would have had to come up with an excuse, and I was definitely no good at that. If she had asked, I probably would have had to tell her what was wrong. And I definitely didn't want to do that.

"Scott?" I guessed, even though I knew I was right.

"No," she informed me, shaking her head as I stared at her in confusion. If she wasn't crying about Scott, then why was she crying? "I'm over that stupid bastard... I don't care about him anymore."

"Then why are you crying?" I voiced my thoughts, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion as I continued to stare at her though the darkness.

"Aimee," she sobbed, burying her face into her knees. "I miss my best friend! She isn't acting like herself at all!"

"She was fooling us, AJ," I told her quietly. "Yeah, she seemed like a good friend at times, but... she really wasn't. She's always been like this."

"Not to me," she sniffed, wiping a tear from her eye as she looked up at me. "She was always nice to me! But after what happened with Lexi and Bruce... None of you wanted to forgive her!"

"She didn't deserve forgiveness," I insisted, shaking my head. "What she did was unforgivable. Lexi loved Bruce, AJ. She really did."

"But what if Aimee loved Bruce?" AJ asked me now, tears glistening her brown eyes. "What if she loved him even more than Lexi did?"

"Then she'd still be with him now,"  I informed her with a shake of my head. "If she really loved Bruce, she would still be with him and not after Jesse."

"Jesse," AJ spat, as if it burned her tongue. It reminded me of how I used to say his name before my grandmother's funeral. It made me feel kind of guilty. "I hate him so much. He's annoying and rude and the most insensitive guy on the planet!"

A few days ago, I would have agreed with her. But I couldn't now, because I knew that it wasn't true. Jesse could be sweet and kind when he wanted to, he just didn't choose to be. And he wasn't insensitive, because he wouldn't have held me for hours as I cried if he was.

"Yeah," was all I said. "He is."

I had to make her think that I still hated him. I had to make everyone think that I still hated him, especially Jesse. He couldn't know that I had a crush on him. If he did, who knew what could have happened... He could have made fun of me and laughed in my face. That seemed like something Jesse would do.

"I don't get how you put up with him for four years," AJ continued in a huff, causing me to blink at her. "I would have killed him!"

I thought that I'd kill him many times, but of course I never did. I had been so angry with Jesse so many times, and I always threatened to kill him, but I never did.

I still believed that the only reason AJ hated Jesse was because Aimee was giving him all of her attention. She would have been saying this about anyone that Aimee was interested in. She even went on about Bruce for a while when she was with him.

 "Maybe you should try to get some sleep, AJ," I sighed, stretching out on the stairs now. "It's really late. We'll get in trouble if we get caught, and you'll be cranky in the morning if you don't get enough sleep."

AJ let out a breath, but nodded anyway. I knew she didn't want to argue with me so late in the night. I was sure she didn't want to argue with me at all. "I guess you're right," she gave in, standing up and heading toward the door. She then turned toward me when she saw that I wasn't moving. "You coming?"

"In a bit," I waved her away. "I just need some fresh air."

"Alright," she nodded. "I'm going to close the door so you don't wake up any of the girls. I won't lock it though, of course."

I nodded at her. "Alright."

For the next few minutes I only stared into the darkness, pondering different things. Jesse, Dallas, AJ, Aimee... The list could have gone on and on. I just wanted to go to sleep, but I wasn't tired at all. I knew if I tried to go to bed, I'd just be lying there for a few hours until the next morning.

Sighing the idea of sleep away, I leaned back onto the steps and stretched, letting out a quiet yawn. I then wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled my knees up to my chin.

"You look like a loner again, Emery," a voice informed me, causing me to almost fall off the step. I glared at the person above me until I saw that it was Jesse, and I let out a small sigh of relief when he sat down next to me on the step.

Truthfully, I wanted him to do that. I didn't want to be alone at night.

"So," Jesse started, almost sounding unsure. "Your mom's really nice."

"Yeah," I sighed, nodding. "She is."

I couldn't help but grin at him when I remembered how shy he had acted in front of my father. He teased me all the time, so I guessed it would have been a little fun teasing him a bit...

"What're you smirking about, Emery?" Jesse asked curiously, leaning closer to me in the darkness when he noticed that I was smirking. "Finally noticing my good looks?"

I had always known that he looked good; I just never admitted it to myself. But now that I liked him, I really wasn't afraid to admit it.

He was hot.

Totally hot.

There, I said it. Now I won't have to say it ever again.

"I just remembered how shy you were when you met my dad," I teased, sticking my tongue out at him when Jesse frowned. This was obviously not was he was expecting.

"I was not shy," he insisted, shaking his head at me.

"You totally were," I insisted right back, leaning closer so he could see my smirk once again. "It was so cute!"

I clamped my mouth shut when I realized what I had just said. I just said something that he did was cute... He was so going to think something was up now!

Jesse was the one smirking now. "You think I'm cute, Emery?"

"Yes."

What was wrong with my mouth? Why was I just blurting things out like this? He was going to know I liked him now! I was such an idiot!

This must have caught him off guard even more than it did to me, because his eyes went wide for a second and his smirk completely disappeared. I couldn't really remember doing something that made the smirk completely disappear from his face. I actually really liked that... But surprisingly, it didn't come back. It was replaced with a real, genuine smile.

"I think you're cute, too, Emery."

My eyes widened when he said this, and I felt my cheeks burn. I hoped that it was too late for him to see my blush. I couldn't help but feel all fluttery inside after he had said this. He had called me cute before, but that was when I thought he was just tricking me. Did he really think I was cute?

Before I could say anything else, Jesse hopped off the step. "I think we should go to bed before we get caught by a counselor or your roommates," he told me now, only giving me a small smile as he looked over his shoulder back at me.

"Wait!"

I hopped up before I even knew what I was doing, clutching onto his shoulder and spinning him around to look at me. I stood on my toes, kissing him lingeringly on the cheek.

He stared at me, completely dumbfounded, and I couldn't believe what I had just done. My cheeks were on fire now as I tried to think of an excuse that wouldn't give away that I liked him.

"That's a thanks," I excused, looking down at the ground in embarrassment so he wouldn't have to see my red cheeks. "Thanks for being there when no one else was."

I quickly spun around and scampered off before he could say anything, and I didn't even turn around to look at him. I just continued to hurry back inside to the safety of Cabin C, where I could let my cheeks cool off and lose the red color that they had gotten too used to when Jesse was around.

But if only I did look back at him. If I did, I would have seen how Jesse hadn't walked away when I had scampered off. I would have seen him staring at me longingly, a hand over his blushing cheek where I had kissed him, as if it would fly away if he ever let it go.

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I can't watch Pretty Little Liars anymore without thinking Lucy Hale's name is Jordan on the show. >.>

Which reminds me... I missed tonight's episode. Dang it. I was miniture golfing with my family. And I lost. Big time. Dx 

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