Autumn's P.O.V.

I lean my face into my hand that is rested on the table, day dreaming exciting thoughts about Sally and imagining how she would react to them, while Sally is chatting away about chemistry or science or something. I don't know why I haven't made a move yet aside from the fact that Jade is burning in the back of my mind, telling me that Sally is a wonderful distraction and that is all she'll ever be. I silence those thoughts and focus on the brunette before me. Just looking at her full pink lips is enough to make me wonder if she is a good kisser. She is so cute when she presses her glasses in the middle of the frame just to make sure they are where they should be.

Jade pops back in my mind along with all those wonderfully painful memories that I swore I'd forget. I try to push it away but this time it doesn't work. It's as if she is right in front of me.

I look up at Sally who is still rambling on, never even noticing that I haven't been paying attention at all. As if feeling my eyes on her only now, she stops mid-sentence and stares back at me. Before I give myself time to over think things, I press Sally down on the bed and straddle her waist. I lean a bit forward and cage her face between my arms. Her eyes don't leave mine once. She doesn't dart them to my lips or any other part of me for that matter.

Swirling behind her orbs is excitement and a little fear. She's waiting for me to kiss her. And I want to, but only for my own selfish reasons. Yeah I may have imagined this moment over and over since developing this little crush I have on her, but this time it was more to help get Jade off my mind.

It doesn't work though because the closer I bring my lips to hers the clearer I can see Jade.

I sigh loudly and then push myself off of her. Sally doesn't seem too pleased by my actions but she doesn't say anything.

"I have to go," I don't give her a reason why.

Sally grabs my hand bringing me to a stop. Instead of saying anything she looks into my eyes, searching them. She then releases her grip on me and looks away before I can read her expression.

I sneak into Jade's bedroom through the window and see her lying on her bed only wrapped in a towel. She has one earphone in her ear and I can tell that she was too distracted to even notice me enter. My eyes roam over her smooth pale legs and then back up to her wet hair. Her eyes never leave the ceiling. I steal a quick glance at her almost exposed cleavage taking as much advantage of this moment as I can. Pervert, I know but I'd be lying if I said she wasn't beautiful. But if I really had to be honest with myself I wasn't just attracted to her outer appearance. She stole my heart with her kindness, her intelligence, her sense of humor, how humble she is and her selflessness, among other things.

I clear my throat.

Clearly surprised, Jade swiftly sits up, her back pressing against the wall. She tugs on her towel.

"Autumn?" Jade says looking perplexed. Her cheeks take a red tint.

I don't know what to say to her. I don't have a reason to be here other than the fact that I wanted to be near her, because my mind wouldn't allow the distance.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, removing her earphone from her ear.

If it wasn't for that stupid kiss in the boiler room I probably wouldn't be here right now. I'd be macking out with Sally, forgetting all about her.

"I'm not sure," I lie, hoping that she can't tell.

After my little episode at home, my dad suggested that I should not tell Jade about my secret. He says that it might be some kind of defense mechanism that my Fairy side is implementing to protect me from her. That or I may just be the strongest Fairy his ever heard about.

My eyes linger once more on the exposed body parts, making Jade realize she is still only in a towel. She jumps up and leaves the room. I just stand there, scanning over her things. Her room is as messy as ever and I have to stop myself from gathering her bundles of laundry lying everywhere on the floor. My eyes land on the earphones on her bed. They are a shocking orange. I pick it up to confirm that one bud is missing.

Jade was the person that was standing in my back yard a few nights ago.

When I hear the door open I quickly stash the earphones in my jean's pocket. I'm not sure if I should allow the thoughts that want to creep inside my brain in. Jade can't really be dangerous, can she?

She walks past me and rests her small frame on the edge of her desk, using her hands to keep her from sliding off. I drink in her beauty. Her hair is still somewhat wet and is now taking on their natural curls, they're not as out there as my curls, instead they're small and sexy looking. When her hair dries naturally, she won't even need to style it. Her eyes pop more because of it as well. Both of us just stare at the other, not sure what to say.

"I still want to be with you," she whispers finally breaking the silence. Her eyes keep me hostage. The way she says it makes me think that she knows it might not happen. A million witty response travel around in my head about how I can't be with her after the way she left but one thought stands out from all the rest; so do I.

I walk over and place myself between her legs, resting my forehead against hers. This is a very bad idea.

I place a finger on her chin and tilt her head back, capturing her mouth with mine. This kiss starts off slow and sensual but escalates quickly to the point where my tongue is roaming her mouth. Little bursts of electricity travel though my veins, my skin. Her hands slide down my sides and moves around to the small of my back, causing a light burning on every part of my body she touches. Once there she presses my body closer to her. Both my hands dig into her hair. A new hunger for her builds within me. I free my lips from her and leave kisses down her neck, to her collarbone. She muffles a moan and snakes one of her hands under my shirt and traces her thumb over my bra. My whole body begins to bubble from within and I can feel my Fairy wanting to burst out.

I fling myself to the other end of her room, watching her lust-filled gaze follow me. I make a beeline for the window but before I can escape she grabs a hold of my wrists.

She places a chaste kiss on my lips and pulls away too soon for my liking.

"Now you can go," she says and releases my wrist.

♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀

As soon as I enter my room I dig around in my drawer for the orange bud.

It's a good thing I got out when I did. I think if I kissed Jade three seconds longer, I'd be in my Fairy form, struggling to explain myself out of that mess.

I find what I am looking for and pick it up, completing the earphones and making them whole again. I knew that it would be a perfect match but because of Jade I guess I was still holding on to the idea that they weren't hers. I should be objective about this and view Jade as a threat, like I would do if it were any other person lurking around. What was she doing in my backyard? And why didn't she just come in through the window like she normally did? Why did she feel the need to hide from me?

I collapse on my bed and roll the earphones around my finger.

If my dad is right and this a defense mechanism, I need to know why my Fairy side is protecting me instead of letting me take form in front of her.

A knock on the door pulls me from my thoughts and I put away the earphones for now.

Sally walks in with a pizza box in her hand, giving me a shy smile. She has her back pack with her, so assume she is sleeping over.

"I thought you'd be home by now," I say taking her hand and leading her to the roof.

"I went home but my mom kept yelling at me about my grades."

I quirk up an eyebrow. Sally gets perfect grades and even corrects the teachers sometimes; I don't think her mom was really complaining about her grades.

"Okay fine, I just didn't feel like being there," she admits.

As soon as we sit down I flip open the pizza box next to me. Sally rests her head on my lap

"Your mom has been drinking again, hasn't she?"

Sally tenses, "I don't want to talk about it."

"We don't have if you really don't want to, but I have to ask," I pause quickly just so I can look in her eyes when she answers, "did she hit you again?"

Sally quickly shakes her head and I sigh a breath of relief and kiss her head. It takes her a while, but Sally finally relaxes again, shoving a slice of pizza in her mouth. I will have to exercise a little harder tomorrow to work off the pizza I'm about to eat.

"Autumn." Sally calls after several moments of silence.

"Hmmm." I say, not removing my eyes from the dark sky.

"Why didn't you kiss me?"

"You're straight, remember?" I lie with ease.

"Is it because of Sam?"

The way she phrases it makes me wonder if it is a question or a statement.

"I still love her," I admit more to myself than to her.

Sally shifts her gaze from me and I can tell my words had a stronger effect on her than she is letting on.

♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀

My alarm clock blares in my ears. I roll over and shut it off. Sally walks out of the steamy bathroom, dabbing a towel at her wet hair. I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing her without her glasses. In my opinion she looks better with them anyway.

She is wearing one of my booty shorts and a tank top, topped with my favorite flannel shirt. And damn does she look sexy.

"You better get your butt in there," she points at the bathroom, "I don't want to be late."

"Yes Ma'am," I say pressing my hand against my head, giving her a salute. Sally giggles and shakes her in amusement.

The walk to school is silent. I will never get enough of the scenery; I look at every tree from across the street, like I've done a thousand time before and will do keep doing it a thousand times over. Thin threes stretch high into the sky, with old dried up leaves consuming the ground. It's officially Fall but the evergreen trees, give the forest some life. Some might say the shadows below are eerie, with the bits of sun creeping though, but I am intrigued by it.

Sally has her school bag over both her shoulders, clutching on the straps. I wonder if she ever notices that it brings out the nerd in her. I on the other hand have only one strap over a shoulder and I dread every step towards school.

We enter through the giant doorway and part ways to our lockers. Just like I suspected, Jade is standing next to mine, rummaging through her locker. She looks up as if she could sense I was near and smiles, revealing her two perfect dimples. My heart does two flips and I can't help but smile back in return.

"Hey beautiful," she says, her smile still intact, showing off her perfect white teeth.

"Hi," I manage to muster even though it feels like every last word has disappeared from my vocabulary. It's not fair that she makes me feel this way when I actually have to be cautions around her.

I punch in my combo and she wraps her arms around me in a hug, like she use to in the old days. Only now we don't have to be secretive about it.

I turn around and with furrowed brows. Does she think we're a couple again?

"What's wrong?"

I avert my gaze from her before she can capture me with her gorgeous blue orbs. I reach into my backpack and pull out her earphones, handing them back to her.

"Where did you get these?" She asks.

"I took them from your house so I could return back the missing bud."

Jade freezes and looks down at it. She doesn't say a word.

"What were you doing in my yard?" I ask, feeling more confident to look her in the eyes now. The ball in my court.

I see the cogs turning behind them.

"I went for a run and saw you on the roof. It's been a whole year since I last saw you. You were staring at the moon and you looked so serene."

"You don't run, you hate it?" I point out, "I know because you faked a sick note every year claiming you had asthma just so you could get out of gym class." I fold my arms over my chest.

"It's a habit I picked up at boarding school; the sick notes are not so easy to fake over there. I ended up liking it," she closes her locker door.

"Okay, so why not climb up and say hello? Why hide behind the tree?"

"I didn't know how you would react and I'm pretty sure you would've skipped school if you knew I was back."

"You got that right," I huff.

This isn't the way I imagined the conversation to go; she seemed so innocent, like she had nothing to hide, other than her feelings for me. In fact, I now look like the person who has something to hide.