Chapter Eleven

My body jerked forward as the bus came to a stop. The whistle of its air brake returned me to my senses. Jerome and I hadn't said a word to each other since he'd mentioned the bowling alley. He stared over at me a few times, but I didn't have anything to say, not to him.

I stood to leave, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me down onto his seat with him, using a lot more force than necessary. He'd been sitting alone, like pretty much everyone other than Saylor and me. I didn't resist. No matter what I was in for, I never resisted him.

The worst part, the part I should be ashamed to admit, is that I enjoyed everything he did to me leading up to the moment I was punished. Of course I hated that part, but until then, most times, I had to bite back a grin. I was pathetic.

"You still mad me and Blake ate them slices?"Juice asked, stifling laughter. I shook my head. I wasn't mad anymore, but I had been for most of that summer. Until I started missing him. "You could've had the whole thing. You turned it down, so let it go."

He had offered it to me, to eat alone. Since Marcus had gone to the hospital for his wrist, he had shared Blake's, but I couldn't tell him it wasn't about the pizza. I couldn't tell him I was pissed that Blake had stolen my date.

I turned to see if Saylor was waiting for me. He'd already gotten off the bus. Juice was still holding onto my wrist, waiting for an answer. I liked the way his fingers felt against my skin. I thought about waiting him out, but the last time I tried that, I lost the only two weeks of summer I could've spent with him. I couldn't waste this chance to talk to the real Jerome.

"I didn't care about the pizza or that you were friends, but you and Blake teased me relentlessly about my..."

My lips trembled until I closed them. I couldn't say the word superpower around him. It brought too much pain to the surface. Jerome's smile vanished as he let go of my wrist. His eyes showed regret, but they had betrayed me before. He touched his thumb to my chin and spread his fingers across the side of my cheek.

"I'm sorry for that. I mean it. That's why I can look you in the eye and say that."

I placed my shaky fingers on top of his, the ones that were still resting on my face. His were much darker than mine. They were warm and rough. Mine, cold and skinny. My heart was hoarding blood from them. I felt tears coming on.

"Why? I... Didn't you miss m—being my friend? Like, at all?"

The words tripped over the lump in my throat. I held my breath and blinked feverishly to fend of tears. Jerome would've left if I started crying. I needed his answer way more than my lungs needed air.

"Reverse psychology? We both heard you that day." Jerome said, "You know, powers?" I took exception to how he'd uttered the word with the quavering voice of a campfire storyteller, but I let him go on. "It stuck with us, but we needed proof. Confirmation. We watched our backs all summer. It bonded us. We was scared, yo."

His words made sense. I believed him. I wondered why he'd never tried sitting down with me like this before. In three years, he'd never given me a chance to explain myself. He had always demanded proof. I supposed the lightning must've given him that.

I wanted to explain everything right then, but I had neither the time nor words. Mr. Parker wouldn't have docked the great Juice Williams for staying on the bus, but I was normal, less than even. I had to get my work done.

"I forgive you, Jerome."

His face twitched when I said his name. I stood to leave in a hurry. I didn't mean to call him by it. It slipped out on its own because that was who he was to me, who he'd always be to me. Jerome left his bag and grabbed mine. I had left it on the floor underneath my seat. I'd been in too much of a hurry to grab it. He caught up to me as I was descending the bus steps.

"You know, my moms don't even call me that," he said. I turned and laughed in his face, the sardonic kind. I nearly lost my balance on the last step, but he grabbed a handful of my collar and pulled me up toward him. He smiled as he pressed a finger to my lips. "It's cool when it's just us. I figure you earned that much."

I nodded and turned away again before my giddy smile and flush face could give me away. I covered my mouth with my hands. I couldn't contain myself. I loved having this 'forbidden name' between us. I wanted to scream and cry and swoon and tell Faith and Saylor everything. I was also ashamed of myself, though I didn't look it.

It shouldn't have been this easy for Jerome to wipe clean a three year streak of terror. Dream Jerome always had to wine and dine me, but this one, the real one following behind me, I'd have given him anything on the spot. Even if it was only because of my stupid superpower, I was special to him. He had no idea how long I'd been waiting for proof of that.

The bus was parked in a side clearing right off of the road, instead of the actual campgrounds where it probably should have been, but I understood why. The ground stayed soft and muddy several days after a heavy rain which could've made pulling out a nightmare. The driver didn't want to take the chance of getting stuck. I'd have done the same.

There were several paths leading down to the lake on both sides of the road and most students had already ventured off, leaving Juice and me alone beside the bus. Most of them probably took the path down that led to the bridge and the docks, so I crossed the road to steer clear of them. With enough people around, Juice would undoubtedly make an appearance.

Jerome followed me without question or complaint as I hobbled through tall patches of grass and weaved in and out of white pines and spruce trees. I wasn't the type to follow the trodden path. I wanted to see things others hadn't. The forest was much thicker on the side of the road we were on, so we weren't likely to run into anyone and even if we did, we wouldn't be obliged to talk to them.

The downside was that it took a lot longer to get to the lake this way, but honestly, I didn't care if we ever reached it at all. The woods were peaceful, the weather was perfect and I had Jerome all to myself.

I wasn't sure how long we had been walking when he finally grabbed the back of my collar to stop me and take the lead, but I was glad he did. I didn't have a good sense of direction. The only thing I knew for certain was that we'd gotten turned around a few times already. We didn't need to be anywhere in particular.

Our assignment was to take photos that highlighted the importance of choosing shutter speed. It had something to do with capturing different types of motion to get a certain sharpness in the background. Okay, you got me, Saylor was probably the only one who actually understood it. If it really came down to it, we could've taken pictures of falling blades of grass and Mr. Parker wouldn't have cared. Class was what you made it.

Jerome and I were having a pleasant, but mostly silent walk through the woods and I was perfectly content. Especially, with my view from behind. He was wearing red basketball shorts with black compression shorts underneath that only showed when he lunged or hopped over a bush.

In those moments, the bottom rim of his tight black tank top—the kind that clung to his muscles for dear life—would raise high enough that I could see his v-lines. His back and shoulder muscles were a fine sight as well. They burst through his caramel skin like the ridges of popcorn kernels.

He hastened his steps as the lake came into view. It might've technically been the Iowa River, but I'd have to speak with a geographer to confirm. When we reached the body of water, I had almost given up hope of us sharing words until he said, "Here," and pulled me down with him on a patch of dirt beside the rocky shore.

I would've resisted had he given warning. I wasn't trying to mess up my jeans, but it was too late. My butt was in the dirt right next to his and his white shoes weren't so white anymore. The water was calm, as was the day, aside from chattering birds. Jerome and I were alone, sitting next to each other, just us. Our bodies were obscured by bobbing cattails and tall blades of slightly browning switch grass, swaying in the breeze. I wasn't sure why he'd chosen this spot, but I wasn't about to ruin it by opening my dumb mouth.

I leaned back on my hands. I stopped thinking about how moist the dirt was and wondered instead, how long this moment would last. He leaned back to match, but with arms spread wider, so his nearest one was behind me and our elbows were touching. As far as I was concerned, he had an arm around me and that was what I'd tell Faith before she'd inevitably catch me in a lie.

I was definitely reading too much into it. I really wanted to lean into him and rest my head on his chest, but I resisted. This was as close to honest, old times we'd been in years and I didn't want to freak him out by being greedy.

"Wanna snap some of me skipping rocks across?" Jerome stood up and brushed himself off, abruptly ending my moment of euphoria.

I nodded with lips clasped and dug my Nikon out of my bag while he started practicing. He didn't need it. The water's surface was a trampoline to his sidearm Frisbee throw. I started snapping pictures without telling him and kept him at it much longer than necessary. I had to get some good shots of him as well. Not for submission, of course. In my mind, I had dozens of excuses cooked up to get him shirtless, but I wasn't bold enough to voice any of them.

"So, how does it work?" he asked.

"I don't know, cohesion? You're doing fine without my help." I said dumbly. I put my camera back in its bag and slung it over my shoulder. "We should go look for some birds."

Mr. Parker had let everyone know that birds in flight were best captured at the highest shutter speeds.

"Not that, your superpower," Jerome said. He didn't say it with any funk on it this time and he walked up to me until he was at heart combusting distance. "How does it work?"

I had to step away. I didn't want to, but my voice wouldn't have worked otherwise. I guess the larynx requires so much blood to produce sound, stingy heart.

"I get these random glimpses, I guess. You can tell one's coming on if you see me clutching my face," I said.

As dumb as that already sounded, I had lied to make my superpower sound less pathetic. There were no glimpses into the future. Up to three spires with flecks appeared. That was it.

He put his hand on my face again and leaned in to look closely at my eye, as if it was supposed to have some amber werewolf tint to it. It didn't. Honestly, I'd have settled for Dune gray even, but I was dealt boring brown.

Unlike mine, his deep brown eyes up close were an amazing sight. So many obsess over eye color while few stop to appreciate the unique topography of an iris or how light constantly changes them, especially in brown eyes. It's such a travesty. Jerome's, his were mountainous. I could climb for days.

Still, I closed my right eye. I was self-conscious about creeping him out if the left one went off and did its own thing like it was known to.

"Did you know you can fix the whole mad-eye by wearing a patch for awhile or doing eye exercises," he said.

I wanted to scream at him because I'd obviously tried everything to fix my lazy eye, even though I could tell he was trying to be helpful. He'd only mentioned it after I'd closed one.

"My power makes it this way, not through lack of use." I flinched and braced myself for the worst. If I had ever said that in front of his entourage, he'd have broken out his best nasally voice to mimic me until I shrunk down into nothing.

This time, it never came. Juice hadn't come along on this trip to the Lake, only Jerome. I opened my eyes and saw my old friend, the man I'd saved feelings for, for all these years.