Close to the Heart

As I tossed and turned throughout the rest of the day, I felt myself finally feel heavy and I fell asleep. Instead of my usual nightmare, I dreamt of something unusual, and very different. I had a long, vivid dream of my future. That future in which it seemed like I spent with it with Nate.

I opened my eyes and saw the sun seeping in through the windows. I recalled my dream and a tiny smile crept on my face. I yawned and sat up in bed, immediately I started laughing. Why would I dream of being with Nate when his extremely good looking band mate, and my on and off friend was lying right in front of me? Not to mention it’s been past five hours and I had to kiss him. Or just hug him, either would make my day.

I threw off the covers and walked over towards Shane’s bed. I had to admit, I could watch him sleep all day and I would be happy. There was something strange about him that made me want to skip around telling everyone how much I really liked him. I was even going to admit that to Barron finally…maybe.

I gazed down at Shane’s face. He looked absolutely adorable in the mornings. His hair was messy and for once he didn’t look as if he desperately needed a haircut. I will admit I miss his shorter hair back when we were all each other secretly wanted. I placed my hand on his cheek and caressed it. Shane twitched and his eyes fluttered open.

“Morning Bells,” he said with a smile on his face. I smiled down at him. “Sleep well?”

“Uh, somewhat,” I said. “I had a nightmare I was married to Nate and he basically controlled my life.” Shane laughed as he sat up in bed. “Well it’s not that funny. He made me cook him breakfast. You wouldn’t make me cook you breakfast, will you?”

“You didn’t even cook me dinner,” Shane said, “Why would I expect breakfast?” I let out a small chuckle as I shrugged my shoulders. “What time is it anyways?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “Eightish.”

“I don’t have a class until ten,” Shane said. “Want to go out for breakfast?” I furrowed my eyebrows and stared at Shane. “No?”

“There’s no breakfast place around here,” I said. “I only know of that pizza shack.”

“Well, I don’t have to teach class today,” Shane said.

“Yeah, but you should,” I replied. I looked over and took a peak at where my dad slept. His bed was empty which meant he most likely saw that I spent the night there. “I don’t want you to get in trouble by my dad.” Shane waved his hand.

“It’s his fault he has such a cute daughter,” Shane said with a Cheshire cat grin. “By the way, this dream you were having, why did you keep puckering out your lips for? Don’t tell me you wanted Natey to kiss you?”

“How would you know I was puckering my lips?” I asked curiously. “Unless you were…”

“I got up a few times,” Shane said. “I wanted to make sure you were sleeping well.” That was either the creepiest or sweetest comment anyone has ever said to me. Either way, I still wanted to press my lips against any part of his face.

“Thank you,” I said. “That was…nice of you?” Shane smiled while he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah, well you can’t tell anyone,” he said.

“Or what?” I asked.

“Can’t tell you,” Shane said kicking the covers off and sitting next to me. “But promise me something.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t make any plans for lunch,” Shane said. “Since we can’t have breakfast together, I want to talk during lunch.”

“You want to talk?” I asked with my right eyebrow gracefully raised. “That’s so boring, we’re talking now. Plus we can eat breakfast outside on a bench or something.”

“Well since you gave me the idea,” Shane said standing up, “We can go eat breakfast on a picnic table. Now go change out of those short clothes and meet me here in twenty minutes.” I looked up at Shane with my mouth slightly opened.

“Twenty minutes is nowhere near enough time,” I said.

“Just change out of your clothes,” Shane said tugging on my arm. “Take a shower later.”

“No,” I said standing up, “That’s gross.”

“Okay,” Shane said reaching for my hands and holding them in his. “Why don’t we stick to my original plan. Go back to sleep, take a shower and hopefully you’ll be all done by 12.”

“I’m already up,” I said extremely cheerfully which made Shane smile. “Plus I have to bug you while you teach.”

“Ugh, I got to face that girl,” Shane said running his thumb up and down on my palm. “Can I just not teach today? You can be my distraction. We can steal your dad’s jeep again, doesn’t that sound like fun? Isn’t there a lake around here somewhere?”

“Shane, the camp has a lake.”

“I know that, but a different one,” Shane said dropping my hands and wrapping his arms around my waist. “Come on. Let’s get out and escape for the day.”

“You do know camp ends next week,” I said placing my arms around Shane. “We can escape then.”

“But you said you’re leaving,” Shane said. “You can’t leave. Let me join you.”

“I said I might leave,” I said pulling Shane closer to me so we were embracing each other. “But you have your band to worry about. You can’t drop that to live with me wherever I end up.”

“Then come with us,” Shane said. “Natey and Jason would love it. And you can cook us breakfast.” I scoffed into Shane’s chest while he lightly chuckled.

“I’m not going to make you breakfast,” I said into Shane’s chest.

“What was that?” he asked. “You’re going to make me breakfast?” I pulled slightly away from Shane and looked up at him.

“Nope,” I said. “So I think I’m going to go back to sleep. I’m still pretty tired.”

“What am I going to be doing for two hours?” Shane asked pouting. I simply shrugged my shoulders and removed Shane’s hands from my waist.

“Go fix your hair or something,” I said as I walked back towards my bed and sat on it. “Can you shut the curtains please? Thanks.”

“Hey Bella,” Shane said as he sat at the end of my bed. I put my legs under the covers and looked over at Shane.

“Hm?” Shane leaned over and smiled at me. “What?” He inched closer, and just as his lips brushed against mine, I shifted my head slightly. “Ew, morning breath.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Shane said as I cocked my head and turned to face him with a small grin on my face.

“What?” I asked.

“Morning breath?”

“Come on Shaney,” I said placing my hand on his shoulder. “You wouldn’t want to kiss a girl with morning breath either.”

“I don’t care,” Shane said. I continued to stare at him and he kept running his hand on my blanket. “What? I don’t care. Do you know how long it’s been since I kissed you? Too long, and you’re worried about morning breath.” I bit the inside of my cheeks softly so a laugh wouldn’t escape my mouth.

“You’re a big baby sometimes,” I said leaning forward and pressing my lips against Shane’s cheek. “And you need to shave.” I ran a finger along Shane’s cheek where stubble was starting to form.

“Anything else?” he asked sarcastically.

“Yeah, stop wearing those tight white jeans,” I said. “You’re at a camp with a lot of underage teenage girls. They will have their sick fantasies of you.” Shane cracked a smile.

“Are you sure about the teenage girls?” he asked. “Or is that your way of asking me to wear them for you?”

“No, please don’t,” I said. “I’m being serious. You need to find a new pair of lucky jeans.” Shane continued to smirk at me as he stood up and looked down at me.

“Well,” Shane said, “Stop wearing those short shorts. There are a lot of underage boys here that are fantasizing about you.”

“Yeah, not going to happen,” I replied. “Now can you shut the darn curtains and leave?”

“Okay, okay,” Shane said putting his hands up in his defense. “I’ll go shower up. See you later cranky pants.” I sighed loudly as Shane left the bedroom area to go into the bathroom. He left the curtains opened which infuriated me; but being the lazy person I was I left them open and shut my eyes.

I felt myself slowly drifting off into a peaceful slumber, until I heard someone screaming out lyrics. Of course it had to be Shane singing in the shower. My eyes popped open as I listened carefully to what he was singing. He was singing the bloody alphabet, who does that?

“Shut up Shane!” I yelled out. I knew he most likely didn’t hear me since he stopped with the alphabet and went on singing another children’s song. I threw the covers off of me and decided to leave the cabin. I was not going to get any sleep with Shane and his unnecessary childish tunes.

I walked quickly out of the cabin and went into mine. When I opened the door, I noticed someone sleeping on my bed. I sighed loudly and decided to go on the couch. It turned out to be a better idea than the floor. As I got into a good position, I shut my eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

>>>

“Mitchie!” I said waving my hand in the air like a lunatic. I noticed Mitchie looked over at me and her eyes nearly popped out of her sockets. She quickly turned away and walked away from where I was currently sitting. “Um, what did I do?” Barron laughed at my shocked expression.

“You didn’t do anything,” he said. “She just thinks you hate her.”

“But I don’t,” I said folding my arms and leaning forward on the picnic table we were sitting at. “Why would she think that?”

“Shane hates her,” Barron said, “So you hate her. Everyone has heard that you two are getting a little friendly.” Barron elbowed me in my ribs as I stared at him.

“Shut up,” I said, “That’s not true.”

“Oh yeah?” Barron asked. “Then if you don’t like him why are we sitting here waiting for him to show up?” I shrugged my shoulders. “If he doesn’t show up and you’re crush Papa Bar is here for you.”

“He’s going to show up,” I said. “And even if he doesn’t, I won’t care.”

“You could have at least said that to my face,” Barron said. Barron sighed loudly and took a look at his invisible watch. “How long have we been sitting here?”

“You could leave if you want,” I said as I placed my head on the table. “It’s a nice day anyways.” I felt Barron’s hands run up and down my back. “Stop Barron.” He kept running his hands up and down my back, and finally he did something unexpected. He kissed the back of my neck. “Barron!” I shot up and glared at Barron who was still sitting to my left with a smirk on his face.

“That wasn’t me,” Barron said. I turned around and saw Shane. Figures. “Anyways, I’ll see you lovebirds later.” Barron shot a wink at me as he walked away from us.

“Sorry about the long wait,” Shane said. “Anyways, come on.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. “I want to show you something.”

“I’m starved though,” I complained as Shane pulled me through the camp. We passed a lot of the campers and received unusual stares from each person.

“That’s your fault,” Shane said as he looked back at me. “Now come on.” Shane brought me to a pat of the camp I’ve only been to only once. It was a secluded area surrounded by trees, a view of the lake and a single bench.

“I told Barron to keep you busy while I set up for this,” Shane said. He pointed over towards a blanket that was lying on the ground. On top of the stripped blanket was a small picnic basket.

“Well you’re cool,” I said as I walked over to the blanket and sat on it. “What do you have to eat?” Shane smiled as he sat down parallel to me.

“On the menu we have,” he said as he opened the basket, “grapes.” I let out a smile laugh as he placed a vine of grapes on the blanket. “We also have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

“Did you make this yourself?” I asked. Shane nodded his head as I let out another laugh.

“But I didn’t put jelly on yours,” Shane said handing me a sandwich. “I cut up some bananas just how you like them.”

“Aw, thank you,” I said taking a small bite of the sandwich. “Wow Shane, you remembered, that’s cute.” I took another bite and quickly swallowed it. “Do you have-” Shane reached into the basket and gave me a bottle of pineapple juice.

“You think I’d forget your disgusting food cravings?” Shane said as I took a long drink from the bottle. “Who eats peanut and banana sandwich with pineapple juice?”

“I do,” I replied as I placed the bottle next to my knee. “And it’s not disgusting. At least I don’t eat gravy with sour skittles.”

“One time,” Shane said. “Are you ever going to stop talking about that? I was 12.” I laughed out loud as I reached for a grape.

“Do you have anything else?” I asked.

“There are cookies,” Shane said, “And one piece of cake I had to beg for. Can you imagine me begging for a piece of cake?”

“I’ve never seen you beg before,” I said finishing up my sandwich and reaching for my drink. “I wish I was there.”

“It wasn’t pretty,” Shane said, “But a piece of cake was a must.”

“It better be good,” I said grabbing a handful of grapes and ripping them off the vine.

“It’s chocolate.” I threw my handful of grapes at Shane. “I’m just kidding. And don’t play with your food.” Shane grabbed all the grapes I threw at him and placed them in his mouth. “So you remember how you turned me down this morning by using a lame excuse?”

“It wasn’t lame,” I said opening the picnic basket. Shane placed his hand on the basket and closed it. “Morning breath is just… ew.”

“Well, its afternoon now,” Shane said. “Are you going to reject me by saying I have grape breath?”

“I could,” I said, “But grapes don’t really have a scent.” Shane leaned over towards me for the second time today, and I avoided him by lying back on the blanket. “When was the last time you looked up at the sky and watched the clouds going by?”

“It’s been a while,” he replied. Shane moved the basket over to our right and he sat next to me looking down.

“Come lie down with me,” I said patting the blanket. Shane listened to me for once and stared up at the sky.

“Are you ever going to let me-”

“What was up with that singing this morning?” I interjected. “It sounded horrible. How did you manage to be famous?”

“I was trying to annoy you,” Shane said. “You know I don’t sound like that.”

“Actually, I have only heard you sing once,” I said, “And that was about a few days ago.”

“I wrote this song recently,” Shane said. “You remember that girl I heard singing? Well this was for her, but I’m changing it. I’m making it for you.”

“Why are you making it for me?” I asked. “You’ve never heard me sing.”

“I know you’re not the singing girl I was looking for,” Shane said. “But I’m not looking for that girl anymore. I am looking for the one girl that I like and wouldn’t mind marrying so she can make me breakfast.”

“Well good luck,” I said as I folded my hands across my stomach and continued staring above.

“I found her anyways,” Shane said. “You're the remedy I'm searchin' hard to find, to fix the puzzle that I see inside. Painting all my dreams, the color of your smile. When I find you it will be alright.”

“You’re so lame,” I said. I leaned closer to Shane and placed my head on his shoulder. “But I’m glad you found your girl.”

“Did you ever find your boy?”

“Who said I was ever looking?” I asked. Shane moved his arm under my neck and pulled me closer to him.

“Want to hear the rest of the song?” he asked.

“What song?” Shane laughed as he kissed the top of my head.

“Never mind,” he said. “Let’s just enjoy the quietness.”

“What quietness?” I asked. “There isn’t any. The birds are chirping, the lake is being loud too and then-” Shane leaned over and pressed his lips against mine. Finally the moment not only was he antsy for, but I was expecting this to happen when we both woke up hours ago.

“You hear that quietness?” Shane whispered. “I don’t hear anything around us when I’m with you. All I hear is my heart beating like crazy and sometimes I hope you don’t hear it.”

“I don’t normally hear it,” I said. “But now that your chest is right there, I can hear your heart beating slightly.”

“I know you’ve probably heard this a lot,” Shane said as he removed my bangs from my forehead, “But only you do that.” I tried not to laugh, but I had to.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said as Shane crashed his head onto my stomach. “I’m sorry, I had to laugh. But thank you Shane. You have really shown me a different side of you and I like this side of you.”

“You don’t think I’m a jerk anymore?” Shane asked.

“Not really,” I said as I touched the side of Shane’s freshly shaven face. “To be honest, I think I’m more of a jerk than you are and I’m somewhat sorry.” Shane laughed as he placed a small kiss on my forehead.

“Forget about it,” Shane said. “So, Isabella, have I swept you off your feet yet?” I shrugged my shoulders, smiling at Shane’s facial expression. “Can you help me then?”

“You’re halfway there,” I said. “What you did today was sweet and from the heart, and things like that make me happy.”

“Yeah?” I nodded my head.

“But you’re still going to have to try harder Shanester,” I said poking him in his chest.