If We Jump

Stephen and I had finally kissed. Since that night, we kissed a few more times, but nothing more. And to make things better, we were in Arizona for the next two days. Fantastic. They had today off and tomorrow is their ‘hometown show’. Stephen and I were walking around town, hand in hand, with Josh and Brian trailing along with us. We walked to some of the places we used to hang out and they showed me where they used to go when they were kids. I missed my home, but Arizona really was beautiful. The warm summer sun was shining down on us. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Soon we found ourselves at our park. Our tree was still here. It was the place we used to go to hang out after school. We decided to do the same today. The four of us laid down in the grass.

Brian and Josh made a game out of telling me embarrassing stories about Stephen when he was younger. So far I had learned that his mom used to make him and john take baths together and that he wanted to be a t-rex when he grew up. Obviously, it didn’t work out. Brian opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off. Someone came walking towards us yelling “Stephen! Stephen Gomez!” I automatically assumed it was a fan of some sort. I was wrong.

Stephen stood and his face lit up. He ran over to the girl and hugged her. Josh and Brian shot each other a look and then looked at me but were otherwise silent. She was super skinny with big boobs and short blonde hair that reached her shoulders. She looked a year or two older than me but I had never seen her before. Stephen looked back at me and pulled her towards us. “Jamie, this is my friend Dakotah. Dakotah, this is Jamie, my uh... ex-girlfriend” he introduced us awkwardly. She smirked a little, like she was trying to hold back a laugh, and said hello.

Stephen practically ignored me the rest of the day. Mostly he just talked to Jamie the whole way back to the bus. She was all over him. Every time he said something remotely funny, she’d laugh and touch his arm. She swung her hips when she walked and stood too close to him. Both Josh and Brian were awkwardly silent the walk back.

When we were home, he said goodbye to Jamie and she kissed him on the cheek. We had a while left in the day but the band was going to visit with their families for a while before returning to the bus. Jess, Stephen, and John left for home first. I was packing up my things so I could bring my clothes home and get fresh ones while I was there. Josh walked in to get something from his bunk before he left and I took my chance while he was here.

“Hey josh?” I asked him. I was a bit nervous as to what he would say. “Yeah Dakotah, what’s up?” he smiled.

“Can I ask you something?” I bit my lip. “Is it about Jamie and Stephen?” he sighed. Of course he knew.

“Um yeah, I was just wondering… what happened with them?” he sat down on the edge of his bunk and patted the space next to him for me to sit down. He took a deep breath before he spoke. I was beginning to worry that maybe what they had never actually ended.

“Jamie and Stephen met when he was a sophomore and she was a senior. She graduated before you moved here.” He explained. “Well Stephen had a little crush on her for a while and as soon as she found out she practically jumped on it because he was in a band. They were inseparable for a while, kind of like how you and Stephen are now, and everyone thought they were the perfect couple. But she cheated on him… a lot.” He told me. I hated people who did that. “Stephen thought he was in love with her, but he wasn’t really and he knows that now, but when he found out she cheated he kind of gave up. They were together for like 8 months or something like that but it took him almost a full year to get over her. And that’s where you come in” he sighed.

“What do you mean ‘where I come in’?” I wondered. He just laughed and patted my shoulder. “You’ll figure it out.” He said and got up to leave. I finished packing all my stuff and Brian offered to drive me home since my car wasn’t here. I agreed, remembering how Stephen had picked me up and driven me to the studio where the bus awaited the day the tour had started.

It’s not that I didn’t like my family; I just hated how strict my mom was about everything. She never wanted me to go out with my friends or do pretty much anything teenagers do. I was just waiting for the lecture about unprotected sex and the consequences or drugs that was awaiting me when I walked in the door. I wanted to see my brother though. I missed him a lot on the tour and although we weren’t the closest siblings, we got along pretty well.

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The visit with my mom and brother was awkward to say the least. We hadn’t left off on the best foot considering how against me leaving she was. My brother and I talked for a little while though, which was good. And now I’m driving myself back to the recording studio where the bus was. It was really late once I got there, around 2 a.m., and everyone was back except for John. It didn’t really matter though since we weren’t traveling anywhere new tonight. I threw my duffel bag of clothes into my bunk and sat next to Stephen on the couch. He rested his head down on my shoulder and yawned.

“Tired?” I laughed. He was usually the one who was up the latest and here he was, exhausted and as adorable as ever. “Yes.” He answered, closing his eyes. I ruffled his hair with my fingers, knowing that would wake him up. He hated when his hair got messed up. He groaned and shook his head so his hair would fall back into place. “Come lay down with me?” he asked, standing up and taking both of my hands in his to help me up. I nodded and followed him to his mattress. He let me get in first so I was closer to the wall than to the door like always. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I had my head on his chest until he tilted my chin up to kiss me. I let him the first time but I pulled away before he could do it again.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Nothing” was all I said. I put my head back on his chest and closed my eyes. I failed miserably at trying to sleep. It was at least an hour later but I still felt Stephen’s fingers running through my hair.

“Are you awake?” I whispered. “Yes” he said, giving me a small laugh. “Can I ask you something weird?”

“Anything” he promised. We had always been the type of people to trust each other with everything no matter what but I didn’t want him to think I was the jealous type. I had to be careful but honestly I was insanely jealous of Jamie. She is everything I’m not and most importantly, she had Stephen’s heart.

“Do you still have feelings for Jamie?” I said, taking a deep breathe. He shifted his body slightly and I moved, afraid I made him uncomfortable. I sat up to see his face through the darkness.

“Jealous?” he smiled with his eyebrows raised. I rolled my eyes and laid down once more. Ignoring his question, I said goodnight. “You are, aren’t you?” he laughed. He wasn’t going to let this go. I rolled away from him so I was facing the wall. He laughed to himself and soon took on the role as the big spoon.

After a few moments he said, “You’re cute when you’re jealous” and buried his face in my hair. I groaned and pulled the blanket up over my head.