I’ve become accustomed to sitting with the cheerleaders to the point they don’t phase me anymore. Jasper was right, they may be quirky and a bit crazy, but they were genuine for the most parts. They were friendly with us and even invited us to the outings they usually do.

One of the girls raced from the outside and quickly sat down on the table, grinning towards everybody, “Barbeque at my place tomorrow.”

I saw Jasper and Tristan slowly approached our table, both of them holding two trays each. Smiling in appreciation as he set down my meal on the table, the girl once again told them about her plans.

“Let me guess,” Jasper said, leaning against the chair that was next to mine, “The parents are out of the house?”

She nodded as she turned to some of the varsity, requesting for help in getting the food drinks for the said party.

“Are we going?” I asked Jasper, turning to him as I munched on the sandwich he bought for me.

Smiling down towards me, he slung an arm around my shoulder, “Only if you want to.”

When my eyes lifted up towards Kyla, she was giving me a pointed look, before turning back to her boyfriend. My best friend was partially pressuring me to tell Jasper about the freshman program, but I kept insisting that it was nothing of importance.

Alright, so maybe I should tell him, but she should just let me do it when I know that we’re both ready.

Since it was finally Friday, the boys were freed from their training and they were allowed to go on their merry way. Jasper decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to have a fancy date, but I, on the other hand decided to just hang out in a chill environment.

So that’s how we ended up inside his room with him sprawled out on the floor as I used one of his pillows as a chair while I continuously flipped through my notebooks so I could get my homework done.

Jasper suddenly popped his head over the book I was currently holding and he reached out a hand to snatch it away from me, “Would you please stop working for a second?”

Blinking towards him, I dropped my pen to the floor of his room and leaned towards him, “Alright then.”

“I want to catch up,” he mumbled, rolling to his stomach, “It feels like I haven’t seen you in a week.”

“You have,” I pointed out, “But not as much as you used to.”

“I missed you then,” he muttered, even though it’s lighthearted, there was still a meaning in there.

I wonder how much we’ll miss each other if we have to move miles away from each other after we graduate. That’s if we still stay together after high school.

And here’s the disadvantages of being a pessimist.

Jasper noticed my silence and he reached out to take my hand in his, “Please stop worrying about it, I’ll make time for us.”

He’s gotten the wrong idea. He thought that I was depressed because I’ve seen less and less of him, it may be a contributing factor to my dampened mood, but the thought of the freshman program was running inside my head, making it impossible to concentrate on anything else when I’m with him.

“We survived three years without talking each other,” he tried to give me an encouraging smile, “This is nothing compared to it.”

With my eyes focusing to his features, I tried to commit it to my memory. How his lips will press into a slight frown when he’s upset or how his eyebrows will scrunch up in a funny way when he’s thinking too hard.

“I have an idea,” he brightened up, “Let’s go on a vacation this summer, just you and me or we could invite Tristan and Kyla,” he grinned, “Just to get some time together before college.”

If I were to ever be accepted to that freshman program, I wouldn’t have time to experience a summer vacation like what he’s planning. I would be traveling away before we could even hop on a car to whatever spectacular thing he had planned out.

I wouldn’t be experiencing those cliché last summer trips with my boyfriend.

But with the smile he was giving me, I thought that maybe I could push the idea of telling him to the back of my head, “I’d like that.”

*

*

*

You could say that I was slowly being warmed up to Jasper’s crowd. At least I no longer felt like an awkward mess while standing beside him as he interacted with his other friends.

Jasper then thrusts a cup of beer into my hand, giving me something to occupy myself with as we strolled along the house. Getting greeted by a few people along the way.

“Just a normal day for the both of us,” he muttered, guiding me through the huge amount of people, “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Yeah,” I nodded as I subtly pointed to the table where all the foods are located. He laughed and maneuvered us to it, falling in line as grabbed our plates.

Just then, somebody climbed up to the stacked coolers, yelling at everybody to shut up. We turned to him and he raised his cup, starting to propose a toast.

“This is for Jasper,” he grinned. Turning to my boyfriend, his eyes widened in shock as he started to sprint his way to him, shoving and pushing the people that’s in his way, an act of desperation to make the boy stop talking.

“You’re really great, man, who else could have…” before he could even finish his sentence. Jasper tackled him to the ground, pulling him off of the coolers. Both were unharmed, but when I slowly approached the mini pile they made, I stared at Jasper, waiting for an explanation.

Kyla cautiously made her way towards my side as Tristan helped his best friend up along with the other guy. He reprimanded Jasper, but the latter only huffed in annoyance as he helped the poor boy he attacked.

“You alright?” Kyla questioned and I gave her a numb confirmation that I was. What was running inside my mind was what made Jasper panic like that.

“Don’t do that again,” Tristan warned under his breath, “You both could have gotten hurt.”

“Yeah,” Jasper murmured as he gave the guy a pat on the shoulder, “Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright,” he waved off, dusting himself off, “Next time, don’t man handle me.”

With no hard feelings between them, they quickly forgave each other. I, on the other hand, still stared at him with outmost curiosity and worry.

“Jasper,” I finally called out, making people’s attention turn to me, “What was he saying?”

All color drained from his face as he opened his mouth to explain, but he quickly closed when he couldn’t find the words. I couldn’t get mad at him if he’s trying to hide a secret, since I am too, but I don’t think I would go to an extent where I might physically injure my friend just to keep it hidden.

“Boy’s in trouble,” somebody hollered from the crowd, easing the tension a bit. People gradually came back to what they were doing before the sudden scene caused by Jasper.

But my body couldn’t move, it was like waiting for a word from him to assure myself that it was nothing.

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights and I was a car speeding towards him. This time, I turned on my heel, giving him a look that clearly showed that he should follow me so we could talk in privacy. Kyla tried to reach out to me, but Tristan quickly pulled her back.

This time, I was thankful for Tristan’s intervention, he knew that this was a matter that should be discussed with just the two of us.

Who knew that the least crowded place was the girl’s front yard?

“So…” I trailed off, kicking a pebble that was sitting on the green grass, “Are you going to explain?”

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled, trying to wave off the topic, “It’s has no importance.”

Those were my exact same words when Kyla pressured me into telling Jasper. Somehow, it scared me to be the receiving end of that statement. He could be in the same position as me, but I didn’t want to jump into conclusions.

If I was stubborn of keeping my own secret from him, then I shouldn’t be such a hypocrite, but the cat is already out of the bag, I just have to chase it, it’s practically impossible for him to shove it back in.

“Got it,” I smiled rather bitterly as I started to stomp away from him.

“Where are you going?” he called out after me.

“Home,” I yelled out as my reply, not even pausing to see if he was running after me. I already know Jasper enough to figure out that he’s already sprinting the small distance I placed between us.

He yelled out my name, but instead of turning back, I kept on going. Never mind the fact that he could easily go into his car and catch up.

Because of how fast he is, he managed to find his spot next to me, now walking to match my pace, “Savannah, come on.”

Nope, I was holding my ground on this.

The place wasn’t actually far away from our houses, but it still took a bit of time to get there on foot. You could only imagine how irritating it was for me to listen Jasper’s attempts to snap me out of this mood. I was near seconds away from banging my head on the stop sign.

I felt so relieved when I finally saw my house come into view. Unfortunately, even on my way to the front door, Jasper followed me.

Just when I was about to enter, Jasper said something that made me chest drop.

“It’s as if you weren’t hiding anything,” he said, making me turn to him with shock. I’m pretty sure he was smirking victoriously inside his head because he accomplished his mission to make me notice him again, but he masked it with a hard look, “I know about the freshman program thing.”

My body felt numb and all color drained from my face as I released the doorknob I was clutching. I blinked several times at him, trying to wrack my brain for something to say.

How did he find out? What should I do?

“You must have a good reason to hide it,” he continued, “Then you need to understand that I do too.”

“I’m sorry,” was the only thing I managed to say. Looking down towards me, he shook his head and reached out take my hand into his.

“Let’s go back,” he suggested, running smooth circles on my skin, “And forget this ever happened.”

“That’s kind of impossible,” I muttered, but to compensate, I leaned up and pressed a kiss on his cheek, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Savannah, don’t be like this,” he mumbled under his breath, obviously frustrated how this is turning out.

Trust me, I was getting annoyed as well.

The both of us needs to cool down and have a nice and peaceful conversation tomorrow. He needs to tell me about whatever secret he’s keeping and I need to explain why I even hid my own secret from him.

He ran a hand through his and sighed loudly, “I don’t want to tell you yet because I feel like you’re going to act differently.”

Whatever it is, it mustn’t be as bad as mine, or am I just denying myself?

“Now come on,” he tugged on my hand lightly, a signal that he thinks that this was over, but before he could even take a step forward, I closed my eyes and pulled back.

“I didn’t tell you because I was scared that the end was finally coming,” I almost yelled, “It’s very far away, Jasper, almost across the country, and I didn’t want to be separated from you.”

That line was exclusive for a girl who was so desperate for her boyfriend and thinks that she can’t live without him. It wasn’t fit for me, yet here I was, blurting out those words to him.

“The freshman program requires me to be there earlier than the start of the school year,” I explained, my voice becoming weaker with every word, “And that means that I wouldn’t get to spend the summer with you, I was scared that I would be crushing whatever you were hoping for.”

“Then you should know that I’m extremely proud of you,” he expressed out sincerely, effectively shutting me up, “I mean, my girlfriend was amazing enough to do that.”

I forced a small smile so he would stop his little speech that I’m sure would break me down. I allowed him to drag me back to the barbeque where we were greeted with a bunch of questions, I allowed him to introduce him to his lackeys that I know ran away from me months ago, I allowed him to see me happy.

 Knowing him, he’s going to be so disappointed if I tell him that I got accepted to the program and I’m considering on going. He’s only trying to be positive because his knowledge is only limited to the fact that I might not want to go.

-----------------------------------------

I promised I'll update, didn't I? Here you go, guys, sorry for the long wait.

It was my prom last night and let's just say I'm feeling extra happy right now so you could imagine how that turned out. You know that moment when you were praying for it to happen since the beginning of the event and then it happens? I actually squeal when I remember it so I'm sorry if I'm acting like such a love sick girl. 

Question: What is Jasper's secret?

Just saying, we're nearing the end, but we have their championships, prom, and graduation to wait for so I hope you all stay there for their ride. Love you guys and please leave a comment, vote and follow.

P.S. As seen from the cover, I suggest you watch The Age of Adaline, just from the trailer, it makes me want to see the movie already, a bonus is that Blake Lively is the lead.