Fourteen

"You know when you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

- Dr. Seuss

The manager interviews us (which takes about fifteen minutes each) and hires each of us, thankfully. He tells us how to make the sandwiches --Oh yeah, did I mention this is like, a sub place?-- and how to work the ovens for the bread.

"You start on Monday, two days from now."

"Thank you so much, sir," Tess says as we head to the door.

"No problem. Be here at 6:30, bright and early on Monday."

We nod and walk out and into the car.

"Well that was easier than I expected," Cameron says as he starts the car.

"Yeah," I say, hopping into the back and pulling my seat belt over my shoulder.

Tess buckles up and we drive back to the Lacey's house.

We get there, and instead of parking a couple blocks from the house, we park outside of it.

We get out and knock on the door. Oakley answers, and happily invites us in. Jill walks into the living room where we sit, looking out the window. "Made your decision?" she asks, brushing her hands on her apron.

"Yes," Cameron says. "We're staying here."

"Perfect!" Jill says, clapping her hands together. "Do you have luggage?"

I bite my lip. We only have what's in my pack. She might be suspicious. Before Cam and Tessa can say anything, I blurt out, "Yeah, it's in the car, come on guys, lets get it." They don't protest. They know something's up. We head to the door. "Also, we're gonna stop at the grocery store to get some things." Before Jill can say anything, I shove Cameron and Tess out the door and into the truck. I start it, and drive towards the store. "What are we doing, Eleanor?" Cameron asks from the back.

"We need to act like we have more stuff. It would be weird if all our 'luggage' was a few applesauce cups, sweatshirts and a laptop."

They nod as I keep driving. "We all need clothes, for starters," I say, pulling into the Simple Green Grocery parking lot.

After shopping for clothes and food, we drive back to the Lacey's house. We pile into the basement and unpack. By the time we're done, it's time for us to sleep. We're all tuckered out. Jill invites us upstairs for leftovers, so we head upstairs and eat some. Then we head back down and slither into bed. Tess sleeps at the bottom of the bed, and Cam and I sleep on the two sides.

At about three in the morning, I wake up. Same reason as always. That voice whispering my name. I look over at Cameron's face; so fragile, so delicate. I look at his eyelids that have blue eyes that sparkle in the light underneath. I continue to inspect him, and then I realize that I'm getting closer and closer. Then I get a feeling to do something. So I do it.

His lips are warm against mine. I sit there for a minute, and then his eyelashes flutter and he opens his eyes. Our lips depart. I start to pull away but he grabs the back of my head and pulls me in. We sit there for a minute. We hear Tess fidget around but ignore her completely. After a few minutes, we pull away. I giggle a little and he giggles back. After a while of sitting next to each other, I rest my head on his chest and fall asleep.