Forbidden

"Whoa what?" Jackson exclaimed, very loudly, as I was sitting down across from him and giving him his iced coffee.

"Whoa what what?" I asked, puzzled.

"Repeat the part where you said you guys spent the entire night together..."

I rolled my eyes around, then back at him, "Did you completely just disregard the fact that I was hanging at the edge of a waterfall with the possibility of losing my life?"

"No," He replied, unsatisfied. "You just happened to bring up the part where the two of you spent the night together. And you're still alive, and I think the alive part of you should do some explaining about spending the night with another dude."

Jackson always tended to be one of the overly jealous types of guys, but I really didn't understand why he was worrying about Nate. So I have no idea what he was freaking out about.

I looked at him with widened eyes, just taking a sip of my iced latte.

"Just think," I started, trying to make him less built up. "We were in the woods. Under the rain. I was hungry, thirsty and tired. He was probably feeling the same. Do you really think something would've happened? I know what's going on in your head, do not even think about denying it."

To think if I told him about the positing I woke up in Sunday morning.

Who would he kill first?

It was either Nate.

Or me.

One time, a sketchy guy that I had first met said there was a piece of dust or something on the top of my eye, so he wanted to get it off for me.

He only put one finger on me and Jackson had him on the floor with blood over his face within twenty seconds.

Yeah, so I try my best to keep away from his jealousy problems.

Come to think of it, I shouldn't even have told him about being stuck in the woods with Nate.

It gives him more of a reason to be paranoid with us living under the same roof.

I placed my palm on my forehead, groaning. Jackson just leaned against his chair as we were experiencing another moment of awkward silence in the coffee shop of Starbucks.

"Just, promise me one thing," Jackson started.

"What is that?"

"That you're gonna keep this Nathan kid your stepbrother. Nothing else."

"Jackson... That is rid..."

"Just promise me," He said, raising his voice, while cutting me off. "He's your stepbrother. You guys are part of the same family. Please make sure it stays that way."

Jackson had an extremely upset and serious look on his face that I had never seen during the five years I've been dating him.

I choked on my words a little before answering, "Okay. Promise."



From the mall to my house took about ten minutes to get there and back.

And in the ten minutes of departing from the mall to my house, Jackson and I sat in the car in complete silence.

After buying Jackson's Dad his birthday gift, we sat in a Starbucks in the mall and after having that conversation about Nate, we didn't say a word to each other.

And that has never happened before.

We've never sat in the car together in complete silence.

Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut about Nate.

Anything that happens to Nate, just keep quiet.

So he doesn't have to be paranoid.

Jackson drove up into my driveway and I saw the lights in Nate's room turned on very brightly, and his window curtains were open.

I narrowed my eyes and slightly saw him turning his head towards the side of my right. It seems like he was playing on a computer, but I couldn't really make out what he was doing.

All I know was he was doing some sort of activity.

"Your room's are next to each other too?" Jackson began, after the very long awkward silence we went through.

I turned my head to look at him and pressed my lips against each other, not knowing what to answer. I only reached out my hands to tap his shoulders and sighed, "Can you not worry so much? Your worrying is starting to make think that you don't trust me."

He quickly grabbed my left hand that was on his shoulder, holding it against his lap.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Janie," He answered, "I'm just afraid."

I looked at him sympathetically, grinning. I sighed loudly once, pulling a piece of hair that was in the way of his forehead.

"I just love you too much to lose you to anyone," He announced, a bit shyly. "That's why I'm so paranoid."

I smiled at him, blushing a little and replying, "You're not gonna lose me to anyone. Nathan's my stepbrother. Okay, I'll be honest and say that he is very attractive, but I have you. I don't think an attractive guy would get in the way of our relationship. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been dating for this long."

He let out a laugh and began smiling a little bit. He rubbed the top of my head like a little kid and sighed. I continued, "Since when did we become so cheesy?"

He chuckled again, still holding onto my hand tightly.

"I'm sorry," He apologized. "You know how I get."

"I know." I answered, rhetorically.

Jackson glanced out of the front door window, looking up at what I thought was towards the direction of Nate's room.

He narrowed his eyes a little, asking, "What is he doing anyway?"

I looked at the same direction as him, shrugging, "No idea. I haven't been in the kid's room ever since he moved here. He tends to stay in his room for the longest time."

"Is he a weirdo or something?"

I glared at him, a little offended by the answer. He looked at me and jumped a bit, chuckling, "Sorry. Just asking."

"I don't think so," I replied, shrugging. "He's actually a really nice guy. You should really get to know him. He might be a lot better than what you think."

"And what am I thinking?"

Glaring again, I replied, "Negative things, that's what I know. And he's actually a really nice and decent guy. You may see him as weird, or depressed, or even rude, but he is the exact opposite. He's actually a really good person."

As I was looking up, I saw Jackson shooting another glance at me, so I turned to his direction and we met eyes. And his eyes went back to a serious look again.

Ugh.

I wanted to hit myself on the forehead.

How did I forget to not comment on Nate?

I giggled a little, bringing both of my hands up to pinch his cheeks, "Stop being so serious."

He grabbed both of them, hitting me on the face with one of my hands. As we held hands again, I shook them around and smiled, "Alright. I'll get going. I'll talk to you tomorrow then?"

"I'll call."

Oh, I know he'll call.

I nodded my head as he leaned in to give me a kiss on the lips.

After a few seconds, his lips began kissing mine harder, leaning in closer and moving his lips up and down. I only placed my hands on his upper arm, a little struck on why he was forcefully kissing me.

I opened my eyes, choking on my words a bit and then pushed him off. He still held onto my face as I placed my palm on his chest, breathing heavily. He had a puzzled look on his face, narrowing his eyes and just stared at me.

Jackson and I have made out before, but not in the front of my house with Mom home, stepdad home and the stepbrother home.

And the vibe he was giving me was very forceful, which I was a bit afraid.

"I'm sleepy," I said, making an excuse. "Talk to you tomorrow."

He let go of my face, descending his arms down and placing them on the steering wheel. He nodded and grinned, "Yeah. I'll call."

I scratched my head awkwardly, opening the car door then getting out. Before closing the door, I heard Jackson say, "I lo... you."

I bent down, poking my head in, questioning, "Hmmm?"

He grinned and repeated clearer, "I love you..."

My heart skipped a beat once and I smiled at him, "Love you too."

His smile was reassuring so I stood back up straightly and completely closed the door. I shifted my bag over my shoulders, waiting for him to back out of the driveway.

His car began reversing onto the road again and before he drove off, he gave me another wave. I waved at him, happily, as he drove off until his car disappeared onto another road. I sighed to myself, touching my lips a little, trying to shake off how forceful that kiss was.

As I turned around, Nate caught my attention as he was standing at his window, looking down at me.

Our eyes locked with each other so I smiled and waved at him. He held onto his window curtains, just smirking at me.

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head, as he closed his curtain windows again.

Even though he was a good guy.

He did come across as weird sometimes.

Just like Jackson said.

But I didn't wanna hear anyone insult him. He was too good of a person to be insulted by anyone.

I sighed to myself as I walked up to the front door, putting the keys into unlock them. When I opened the door, I could smell the aroma of Maria's cooking and just gazed my nose into smelling it.

"Janie, is that you?" I heard Mom exclaim from another room, at a far distance.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed in reply. "Where are you?"

"In the dining room!"

I walked over to the dining room, seeing Mom with a bunch of documents on the dining table, so I sat diagonally across from her, trying not to ruin her pile.

"What's all of this?"

"I have to send all of these documents by tonight so all the confirmations at the hotel can be all set."

I nodded as Maria came into the dining room from the kitchen, along with a bowl of pasta in her hands. She placed it down, in front of Mom off to the side, and stood back with her hands linked together in the front.

"Miss Janie. Would you like anything?"

I shook my head at her to say no and let her go along, and she went back into the kitchen to clean up. I rested my palm against my chin, watching Mom sign her papers.

"Where's Michael?" I began asking.

"Oh, he's already sleeping."

Glancing at the clock, I replied, "It's only ten thirty. Why'd he go to bed so early?"

"Don't forget, he drove for twenty hours straight without switching with me."

I smirked, nodding in agreement. I stretched my neck towards Mom's paper, seeing her sign her documents her very squiggly signature.

Mom always had a signature that was weirder than other people's. It was literally "S. Anderson" in the most wiggly and squiggly form ever. I was the only one who could copy it line for line because she had be practice it in case something went wrong.

Other than that, it was only me who could copy her impossible signature.

"Why must your signature be so difficult?" I asked her, rhetorically.

She chuckled a bit, without looking up, replying, "How many times have I answered this?"

When she began speaking, we both said in unison, "I am the owner of one of the largest hotels there are in California. People can forge my signature in a heartbeat."

But I said my sentence in more of a mocking tone.

She always used this answer every time I asked this rhetorical question, so I have always remembered it. I just enjoyed annoying her from time to time.

Seriously, Mother? I was the only person who can forge your signature in this lifetime.

I rolled my eyes, standing up, waving at her, "Alright. I am heading to bed. I am absolutely beat. I need to sleep in my own bed after having sleeping complications the past three nights."

Mom finally looked up, taking her glasses off, replying, "Take a look at Nate's pictures if you haven't seen them. They're amazing."

Narrowing my eyes, I asked, "Pictures?"

"Hmm," She replied, nodding, "He already developed them. Absolute gorgeous pictures. I'm glad you were able to save his camera before it fell off the waterfall, otherwise those pictures would've gone to waste."

Man, that kid was fast.

"He already developed them?"

Mom nodded, "For the hundredth time, yes. They're in the living room, if you wanna see it."

Puckering my lips, I nodded, answering, "Alright. Nighty night."

I waved at her as she bent her head back down to her documents, so I went towards the living room. As I arrived to the living room, the lights were brightly lit up and saw a bunch of photographs scattered along the table.

Sitting down on the couch, I aligned them to face towards me, studying each and every one of the pictures.

I was still a bit surprised that he went to develop them so fast.

Scattering through the pictures, there was a single picture of every step we took while walking throughout Yellowstone National Park. Starting from the entrance, the view from the campsite, the view from the forest when we went hiking, the view of the water before getting in the canoe, even pictures from when we were stuck in the forest.

What was wandering around my mind was why he didn't take pictures of me?

Like, he developed the pictures that had Mom and Michael in them, but he didn't develop any pictures that had me.

There were a bunch of pictures of them on the day I didn't go with them; but on the day I did go with them, there were still no pictures of me.

Unless I looked really bad in the pictures.

But then again, he didn't take any pictures of me.

Well, I saw a picture of me getting onto the canoe but that was basically it.

Other than that.

His pictures were amazing like Mom said.

The view, the lighting, the scenery and the entire photograph was absolutely gorgeous.

Taking a wild guess, Mom will probably just put it in a huge scrapbook to look back on.

I sighed, standing up, then turning around to head towards the stairs to get to my room. But a picture on the fireplace stand caught my attention.

Narrowing my eyes, I went closer to it, seeing a picture of Nate and I framed, standing on top of the fireplace.

We were standing so awkwardly with me shooting up a peace finger, and smiling so shyly around each other. Nate had his arms linked to the back of him, just grinning without showing any of his teeth, looking so lifeless. I scratched my head, laughing, "Worst... Picture... Ever..."

I turned off the lights in the living room and quickly headed towards the stairs. As I reached the top of the stairs, Nate's door was closed as always so I walked passed his room, but somehow I wasn't able to have my foot reach my own door.

I stood in between Nate's door and my door, crossing my arms, looking around.

What was I doing?

I felt the need to compliment his pictures.

But it could wait until tomorrow.

But I felt like I wanted to talk to him.

See his face, or something.

After that very silent and long one and a half day car ride back home, I hadn't even talked to him.

And I felt the need to at least say a few words to him.

Not knowing what to do, I quickly pulled out a receipt that was in my purse along with a pen.

I placed the small piece of paper on my left hand, flipping it to the blank side, and wrote in big letters with my right hand, "Nice pictures. But I still wanna know what is the answer."

I placed the pen back into my purse, going towards Nate's door and bent down to slide my little note down into the bottom crack of it and it completely went it.

I guess that's a small way of communication.

Standing back up again, I prepared myself to go back towards my room and get a good night's sleep.

But turning around, I let out a huge gasp as I saw Nate standing right in front of me.

"What are you doing?" I suddenly heard his voice from behind me, so I gasped very loudly and quickly turned around, seeing him stand there in his pajamas.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, very suddenly.

I began giggling, narrowing my eyes and scratching my head, not knowing what to answer.

He must've wondered what note I slipped into his door.

Or he must've been wondering why I am even in front of his room.

I clenched my teeth together, trying to smile at him, but he just stood there with a puzzled look on his face and crossing his arms. After a moment, he chuckled a bit, he walked passed me, brushing his shoulders against mine and leaned against his door.

"So, what are we doing?" He continued asking. "We suddenly doing the secret note thing now?"

"It's not particularly a secret," I replied, running my hand through my hair. "You'll see once you get in there."

He grinned in response, still arms crossed and nodding. I awkwardly stood there, playing around with my hands, wanting to ask him other things but couldn't think of anything to say to him.

I wanted to talk to him.

Like, really badly.

But why didn't I know what to say?

All I could do was just say good night to him. That was the only way I didn't have to look like an idiot.

"Well," I began, sighing. "Good night then. See ya tomorrow."

He raised his left eyebrow at me, still crossing his arms. I waved at him once, walking towards my door to leave but he made me stop at my tracks by saying, "Janie."

"Hmm?" I answered, turning around, a bit excited that he actually called my name.

He raised his right hand to scratch his chin a little, giving me a small grin. He too, wandered his eyes around like I did, probably trying to find something to say as well.

"Did you have fun today?" He finally asked, after a few seconds of being silent.

"Huh?"

He repeated his question, going slower, "Did... You... Have... Fun... Today?"

"With Jackson?"

"Do you have another boyfriend?"

I glared at him, puckering my lips at him, sighing, "Yes, I had fun. What about you? I heard you went to go develop pictures today."

"Not exactly went, but yes, I developed them today."

He always seemed to answer questions the long way.

In which, I never really understood his answers.

"Do you ever answer questions normally?"

Shrugging, he replied, "Do I look normal to you?"

I snickered, crossing my arms. "Well... I think the answer is in the question."

I fidgeted around with my fingers a little before continuing, "But... I liked your pictures."

"Thanks."

I smirked at him, releasing my arms to the side. After a few seconds of being silent, I let out a sigh and waved at him, "Well... Good night."

I started walking again, until I heard, "I liked yours too."

His sentence made me stop again, so I turned around, questioning, "Say what?"

He shot a smile at me, crossing his arms and repeated, "Your pictures weren't that bad. Actually kept some of them."

I pressed my lips against each other to control my smiling of his compliment, but then to mend it, I only concluded by saying, "Good night."

I started walking towards my room as he made me stop at my tracks again, saying, "I should be the one saying good night to you."

I turned around again, getting really annoyed by all of his sentences because they were all so complicated and had to be analyzed. Narrowing my eyes, I answered, "What does that mean?"

"I may not be going to bed."

"Well, I am." I answered, puzzled. "That's why I'm saying good night to you."

He nodding, giving me a smirk then headed towards his room.

Before he went in, I stopped him, "What do you mean you're not going to bed?"

He smirked again, pushing his door open, "Aren't you the one that asked me if I answer questions normally?"

I groaned at him, going up to him and leaning against the wall in front of him, "Seriously! You're frustrating me with all the complicated answers. What the heck are you trying to say?"

He laughed, showing all of his teeth and held on the doorknob, "Sweet dreams."

With that, he went into his room and shut the door very lightly, with me still standing there. I puckered my lips, shaking my head and turned around to go back into my own room.

Entering my room, I locked the door, placed my purse on my desk and sprinted towards my bed, immediately collapsing onto my pillow.

"Finally in heaven," I said in relief to myself.

I flipped my body over, looking up at the ceiling and trying to think positive situations about Jackson.

What just happened with Jackson and I?

It seemed like he was on and off with being frustrated with me.

Then he forcefully kissed me, which has never happened before.

I groaned to myself, placing a pillow over my head, not wanting to remember anything that happened between us for today.

He seemed so different.

Nate on the other hand, was being so complicated.

Making me analyze all of his answers.

Every question that I ask him, does not come with any answer.

And it can get annoying.

Just then, my phone began ringing my favorite song, so as the pillow was on my head, I aggressively searched for my phone through my purse without looking.

I felt the vibration at my hands, grabbing it out from the purse and sliding to answer, without knowing who it was.

"Hello?"

"You sound like a zombie."

Oh.

It was Britney.

"Oh, hey. I miss you too." I said, sarcastically, taking the pillow off my head and sitting up.

"So why do you sound like you're gonna die?"

I got up from the bed, phone in hand, and headed towards my bathroom, answering, "Well, it's not the most pleasant when you have sleeping difficulties three nights in a row, and when you expect home to come back to your bed, you have to go pick out a present for your boyfriend's dad."

Britney chuckled a bit, replying, "That's rough."

"You're telling me?"

"So how was your trip anyways?" She asked.

Taking my contacts off and immediately thinking about Nate, I said in a sarcastic tone, "Oh fun. If you count almost losing your life, getting stuck in the forest for a night, encountering a bear and twisting your ankle fun."

"Whoa. Seriously?"

"Would I lie?"

She laughed again and sighed, "Ugh. I wish I could be there. I'm sorry I'm stuck here for the entire summer."

I placed my glasses onto my face and looking in the mirror to check the mess of my hair. "It's fine. You know? It'd be nice if you came back. I have to update you about Nate."

"Oooooooooh," She replied, very curious. "More stepbro updates. I likey."

"Heh," I chuckled. "Much has happened in the past three days. But I'll wait til' we talk on webcam or something."

"Wow. Can't wait."

I began brushing my teeth, as I placed Britney on speaker, putting the phone nearby the speakers that plays music when I take a shower.

"So," She continued. "What are you planning to do for your birthday? Since I'm not gonna be here."

"Most likely dinner with the fam. What else would I do?"

"I bet Jackson is going to do something romantic."

"Romantic... Romantic as in buying me a dozen of roses. A box of chocolate and a huge teddy bear?"

"Well, duh. Why do you not sound happy saying that?"

I frowned, thinking about the incident with Jackson earlier, sighing to myself.

"I don't know," I replied. "It was odd today. He just seems different."

"He's sweet." Britney reassured. "What kind of guy buys a girl a rose for every anniversary they have on Valentine's day? Umm, a guy like Jackson."

"So I basically know what he's going to buy for our sixth anniversary. A bouquet of six roses. It's the same routine."

"What do you want? He's so sweet. It's hard to find a guy like that."

"I know," I said, sighing in frustration. "I just..."

I stopped at my tracks a little, probably going to regret what I was going to say next so I only covered up with, "I know he'll do something special."

"Definitely. And send me a picture of Nathan too. I wanna see how this guy looks."

"Okay. I will." I said, silently.



After I finished talking to Britney, I went back to collapse into my bed in my comfortable pajamas to do some more deep thinking about everything.

I was so glad volleyball was starting in just a few weeks, so I could get my head off of everything that was going on.

But the problem is.

I didn't even know what was going on with my life?

Why did I feel so... Weird about myself?

After a few minutes of relaxing, I heard a strange rumbling sound from outside of my house, from the side of my window. I pulled the pillow off of my face, trying to make out what the sound was, and it was coming from outside, at my window.

I got up, heading towards the window, opening the curtains to see what was going on.

What I saw was Nate.

I narrowed my eyes to see if it was actually him, and it was.

It was his figure.

It was his blonde hair.

It was his clothing.

The lights from the side of my house really helped me see clearly; I saw that he was holding his camera and he was leaving the house, disappearing into the darkness.

But he was leaving the house.

Was he sneaking out?

Did his Dad know about this?

What was he doing?

I leaned against the window, asking myself what he could possibly be doing at eleven at night.

With his camera.

What pictures could he get with that?

I grinned to myself, with a questioning vibe.

I wasn't trying to accuse of him of him leaving or anything like that; I was more on the side of wondering where he was going.

Because it would be nice if I could go with him.





As I was walking down the stairs, scratching the remaining crust off my eyes, I yawned all the way down.

But then as I reached at the first step on the bottom of the stairs, I was stopped by the "Happy Birthday" poster that was taped smack dab to the floor, and began smiling to myself.

I began walking towards the living room, scratching my head in the process, wondering what they were up to today.

As I entered the living room, I smiled as the singing began.

"Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you..."

I saw Jackson, holding a cake, Mom and Michael besides him singing and Nate way off onto the side holding a different camera this time.

"Happy birthday dear Janie... Happy birthday to youuuuuuu...."

Mom, Michael and Jackson clapped their hands, as Jackson held the cake towards me. Seeing all six candles lit up, I closed my eyes to make my wish.

Since I already had everything, I only wanted to make one wish.

One wish.

I wish I could be closer to Nathan and get to know him a lot more than this.

With that, I opened my eyes, blowing all six candles for it to put out the small fire.

I caught a glimpse of Nate, taking a picture with his very small camera, then we met eyes, grinning at each other.

I looked at Jackson, smiling at him, as he said, "Bought the cake myself."

I didn't know what to do, so I only gave him a peck on his cheek. He smiled, very happily, as Nate continued taking pictures very silently.

Jackson bought the cake.

Everything he does.

He buys everything.



"I hope you like my gift," Michael joked. "It was the only thing I could think of, with having a girly stepdaughter like you."

I cracked up, as I looked down at the ten gift cards of a variety of clothing stores in the mall that he bought for me.

It ranged from American Eagle up until Forever 21.

And I loved it.

New wardrobe, here I come.

"Good thing Jackson here has a car," I laughed, glancing at Jackson. "I have someone to drive me to the mall everyday now."

He pouted his mouth, leaning against the arms of the sofa, acting like he was too tired to drive me to the mall every single day.

"Thank you, Michael." I said, while slightly hitting Jackson's arms as Mom came to sit next to me on the other side of him, handing me a huge envelope.

"This is my present. You better like it, because it came from the bottom of my heart."

"That sounds frightening, Mother."

"Just open it."

I smirked, while opening the envelope very smoothly, trying not to rip it too much.

I reached into the envelope, feeling something that was book like, and pulled out a paper book. And the first page was labeled...

California Driving Manual.

"California... Driving... Manual..." I said out loud, very slowly.

She nodded excitedly, as I gulped in my own breath, exhaling very loudly.

"Oh, that's not it," Mom continued. "I even signed you up for driver's education class, because... You need to drive."

"Mother! I don't even want a car. Why would you think I want to learn how to drive."

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, shaking my body around, "It's final. You have to drive in this lifetime honey. You can't be Mrs. Princess your entire life and have everyone in your life be your chauffeur."

I pouted my mouth and whined, "It's my birthday. At least give me a gift I can enjoy my day with."

She pulled my head down to lay on her shoulders, comforting, "Oh oh oh, sweetie. I know you're excited."

Okay.

Plain sarcasm.

I wasn't like other teenagers.

I never wanted to drive.

Nor, have I ever thought about going to classes to learn how to drive.

I wanted to wait until eighteen to get a regular license so I could blow off another year about driving.

"You're lucky it's my birthday," I threatened. "Otherwise, you would've got a package of complaints for the day today."

She pushed me out of the way and stood up, going to sit at the same sofa as Michael.

I placed the driver's manual down at the glass table in front of me, leaning against the sofa.

Jackson started, "Well. Since Samantha's gift was from the bottom of her heart..."

He reached at the side of the sofa, pulling out his gift.

He handed me a very large heart and when I grabbed it, I recognized it was a red pillow. I flipped it over, seeing the words "Janie and Jackson, Forever and Always"

"My gift is my heart." He completed.

Everyone except for Nate had huge smiles on their faces.

Especially Maria.

She was using her hand as a fan to give herself air.

I blushed because that comment was one of the sweetest, and cheesiest lines I've ever heard from him.

I grinned as he reached to the side of the couch, handing me a bouquet of roses, just like I had imagined.

I grabbed the bottom, rolling my eyes towards him, "Let me guess? Seventeen roses?"

"Well," He shrugged. "You're seventeen, right?"

"Have all the roses in the house died already?" Mom asked, sarcastically.

I laughed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

Maria, Michael, Mom and Jackson had given me their gift in that particular order, and I saw Jackson looking up at Nate, who was standing by the fireplace.

"Does the stepbro have a gift for the stepsis?" Jackson asked, very suddenly.

Nate wandered his eyes around at everyone, just holding onto his camera, not saying anything.

"I'm just wondering," Jackson continued. "You guys are considered siblings. I mean, you should have at least a card..."

I secretly pinched his back and it made him jump a bit. I tried my best to glare at him without anyone noticing, but he reached his right hand to grab my hand that was pinching him.

I let go of him, giggling at everyone.

"Nate's pictures can always make up for any present," I confessed. "They're amazing."

Now it was Jackson who was glaring at me.

We made eye contact with each other, with a pretty negative vibe, but that was a really rude comment.

I crossed my arms, leaning against the couch as Jackson did the same. Nate only stood there, very still, even trying to back away from us.

Well...

Ever get the definition to awkward?

This was it.



After sending Jackson off from my house, I started walking towards the front door, where I was stopped by Mom leaning against the door.

"Janie," She called.

"Yes?"

"Don't forget to put away birthday cards in the back. I heard it's gonna rain tonight. They're still on the table."

I grinned, narrowing my eyes, "Kay Mom. I'll do it now."

"Alright," She concluded, as she closed the door on me.

I headed towards the side of my house, in order to get into the backyard, glancing at the time to see that it was already ten at night.

Jackson and Nate did not quite hit it off.

It wasn't the fact that Nate was barely around the entire day.

It was the fact that Jackson seemed to dislike Nate.

A lot.

And he showed it.

A lot.

But I had no idea what to do.

I couldn't even complain that Nate didn't even give me a gift.

It is my birthday.

And I am a part of his family.

Walking with my arms crossed, I noticed that the light in my room was still turned on, but then I was startled by what I saw on the roof.

Or who.

Nate.

Sitting on the roof.

"Oh my god!" I shrieked, losing feeling in my arms a bit.

I looked up again, narrowing my eyes to only see him cracking up.

"What are you doing up there?" I began asking, "Or better yet, how did you even get up there?"

"Well, your house is pretty big." He answered, turning his head both sides.

Well, my house was big.

But the part of the roof he was sitting on was pretty small.

I glared at him, pouting my mouth and he confessed, "The roof is right next to the window. It's easy to get on here without falling."

I nodded, understanding and only smiled at him.

It was silent for a few seconds until he started again.

"Do you wanna come up?"

"Huh?"

He nudged his head a little, repeating, "Do you wanna come up?"

"How?" I replied. "Climb up their with my invisible Spiderman powers?"

I saw him smirk as he flipped open a square part of the roof, then throwing down a long piece of rope, as I saw it was actually a ladder.

My eyes widened in complete surprise, completely blown away by how he connected it together.

I tugged onto the rope twice, reassuring how strong it was.

"Do I climb?"

"Do you see another way?" He asked, sarcastically.

I pouted my mouth, releasing my arms by my side. "Is this all the thumps I hear all the time?"

"Part of it."

I nodded, beginning to place my foot on the first "step" of the rope ladder. I grabbed the upper parts with my right hand, beginning to climb up.

As I made my way, I realized that it was actually very strong, so I continued climbing up very confident that it wasn't going to rip on me.

When I reached the top, Nate reached his hand out to me, so I grabbed it and he helped me get up. I pulled myself up to make my weight lighter and I sat down, right after I got on the roof.

"Whoa," I started, looking up at the sky and seeing all the neighbor's roof. "This is a nice view."

"You should see when the sun sets. Gorgeous view." He replied, while sitting down right next to me. I cringed a little as our arms were right against each other.

I took a glance of his window to see how easy it was to walk from his room to get up to this roof and I also see why he would want to be here often.

I smiled, "You really have a passion for photography, huh."

He began pouting his mouth so I started glaring, continuing, "If you give me a cruel or mean sarcastic answer, I will seriously... Jump down, or something. But I will not talk to you again."

He smiled, replying, "Photography's my number one. It's the only thing I have to make my life complete."

Complete?

What did he mean by that?

He jumped a bit, starting, "Oh. Before I forget."

He reached under his jacket, pulling out a medium sized white envelope and handing it to me. I grabbed it, seeing the front written in black ink, saying, "Janie".

"Happy birthday."

I flipped it to the other side, beginning to open it, predicting that it was a regular birthday card.

When I pulled it out, it was a small booklet that had a picture of a bear mascot holding up the peace sign.

When I began opening it, he grabbed my hand, closing the book, coughing, "Look at it when you're alone. It's kind of embarrassing."

"How?"

He shrugged, "You probably know by know that I can't really communicate without being weird or something."

"And how is that embarrassing?"

"Just," He started saying, then drifting off. "Just read it when you're alone. I'm good at expressing myself through pictures."

I placed the booklet back in the envelope, placing it besides me. "You made it?"

He slightly nodded, "Sorry if it's not like your boyfriend's romantic roses or imprinted pillow with both of your names, but mine is creative."

I chuckled, "I already know it's the best gift I received today."

"How do you know that?"

I only shrugged without answering, so Nate continued, "A rose and a heart shaped pillow with both of your names imprinted on it. Your guy sounds like the romantic type."

"He is," I replied, very dull and plaintively.

He sighed, "Okay. I'm not an expert about relationships but shouldn't you be happy when you say that?"

I smirked at him, retorting, "Why exactly are you talking a lot now?"

Giving me a shrug, he chuckled, "We're stepsiblings right? I should have some care in the world for you."

I slightly hit his arm, offended by his comment but he only rubbed his arm and laughed.

"Speaking of some care in the world," I began. "Nice way to give me your present at the very last minute."

"It's not midnight yet, so technically it's still your birthday."

"Yes, but I mean... You could've gave it to me in front of everyone else. Jackson has negative thoughts about you now."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he had negative thoughts about me since the beginning."

"Seriously."

"I really don't find that people have to be the first to give presents to be remembered."

"Heh?" I asked, very confused.

"I don't know," He shrugged. "Why is the first person who gives you a present on your birthday... Or any holiday in this matter, so important? Okay, you're the first to give me a present. Thanks for thinking about me."

"Because the first always means that they're thinking about you. They want you to know that you are special to them."

"And what about the last?" He asked, strangely.

I answered, "What about the last?"

"Why shouldn't the last person to give a gift be remembered?"

I stayed very quiet, trying to question where he was going with this, but I had no idea what to say.

Nate continued, "I mean... Isn't the person that you want to spend the rest of your life with, the last person?"

I widened my eyes at him, completely blown away by this odd speech of his.

"Think about it," He continued. "Your boyfriend is the first person to give you something on Valentine's day. Sweet, right? But what about your last admirer? You've got to have at least more than one flower delivery to your house on Valentine's day, so I'm sure the last person has to stand out."

He was actually right.

A geeky dude with the name of Charles sent flowers to my house along with a formula of asking me out.

That was the last piece of bouquets sent to my house, and it was the most interesting one.

"Okay. But what does have to do with you giving my birthday present last?"

"I'm just saying. I just don't always think the first person to give gifts is the most important."

"You know, you have odd analogies sometimes."

"More like most of the times."

I chuckled a bit, shaking my head.

I looked up into the stars, thinking about the next thing I was going to say, but I couldn't control it anymore.

I had to say it.

"I don't think that purchasing stuff is the best way to express your love for someone."

"Huh?" He immediately answered back.

"Oh, you heard me," I assured. "Just paying money for roses that is going to die in the end is not the best way of expressing love for someone."

"And other girls would die in heaven if their boyfriends bought them roses like this for every single event."

"Those other girls should try being in my shoes for a day. Or for a year."

"So what is the best way to express it?" He asked.

"I don't know. Grow a rose. Make chocolate. Stuff a bear, or something. Something that requires more effort than paying twenty dollars for a bouquet of roses that are going to eventually die and order someone to imprint your name on a heart shaped pillow. Just... The effort, to make someone assure that you love them."

I looked away, looking up at the sky, completely relieved that I said all of that to someone.

I know I completely blurted everything out, but it was true.

I closed my eyes, looking back at him, staring at me in complete awe.

"Ugh," I began groaning. "Why did I just tell you that?"

I looked away again, but this time in embarrassment.

If I told Britney, she would reassure me that Jackson was sweet...

Jackson was perfect...

Jackson was the girl everyone wanted...

I just needed someone new to tell.

After a few seconds, I felt his hand on my shoulders, patting them. And I was surprised because he had never comforted me before.

I slowly turned to look at him, locking eyes with each other and he had a very sympathetic look on his face.

He shifted closer to me and sighed, "You can tell me... things. I mean, you can tell me... Anything... if you ever need someone to listen. I will listen."

I smiled at him, tapping his hand that was on my shoulder.

"You know?" I started. "You turned out to be the exact opposite I expected you to be."

"How so?"

"I actually like you. So that means I'm going to make the effort to get to know you better. And as a stepsister, I really don't care if you like it or not."