Page 42

Jesse

It had taken so much willpower to keep the details of the trip a surprise, but now, after a few weeks of making fewer purchases and taking extra shifts on Jesse’s side and street dancing on Jamie’s, they had scrimped up enough money to make it happen.

Of course the trip wasn’t anything fancy; there was only so much they could earn with the jobs they had, and even if they could have earned a great deal of money, they would have put most of it into rent and bills and Jesse’s medical debt.

But there wasn’t anything wrong with taking a simple weekend trip, and when Jesse was old and on his death bed in seventy years, what was he going to wish?

That he’d wasted more of his life slaving away in a drive-thru window in exchange for a few more measly bucks?

Or that he’d taken the time to enjoy his life and the people he cared about, whenever he’d had the chance for it?

Rent would always be due. Bills would always need paying. Debt would always creep back in. But a weekend trip with Jamie? That was way more important.

They had also asked Dr. Alevera if it was okay for Jamie to go on such a trip. At first, she didn’t seem particularly delighted about the idea, given that he still didn’t remember more than his name, but then, she had smiled and told them to enjoy their time.

The approval had left them both buzzing with anticipation.

And they really and truly needed this break from every day life.

Ever since the incident in Austin’s kitchen, something had just…

felt a little off. As much as Jamie had once been what Austin used to call an ‘oversharer,’ it had gotten pretty hard to try and get him to open up about his most inner thoughts.

Not as difficult as trying to get a picture of Bigfoot, but still.

Talkative or not, Jamie at least seemed to be back to his usual bright and endearing wide-eyes self, as the two stepped off the Greyhound bus after a lengthy two-hour Friday drive and stretched their legs.

He took an eager look around, but here at the station, the view contained only a few nice shops and houses, interspersed with trees.

The real reason they were here wouldn’t be evident right away.

“So… what’s in this town, then?” Jamie asked, casting a curious look down the street as Jesse pulled up the map on his phone. “Does it have a waterpark?”

“We’re not going to need one,” Jesse told him with a smirk. “They’ve got something better.”

This only seemed to pique Jamie’s curiosity more, but Jesse was determined not to spoil the surprise. He just typed the hotel address into his phone, shrugged his backpack more securely on his shoulders, and let the GPS lead them down the street.

It would be nice if they could take a taxi of course, just like it would have been nice to rent a car and drive down themselves, instead of take the bus, but that was the thing about scrimping and saving.

Sometimes you had to skip out on the smaller expenses in order to afford the bigger ones, like two nights in a hotel.

And speaking of the hotel, it would have been nice if they could have stayed at one of the very nice and posh-looking resorts they passed on their walk; luxurious getaways with large and beautiful rooms, glorious views, on-property spas and restaurants, and all the amenities you could want.

But places like that could cost hundreds of dollars a night, so instead Jesse had to be content bringing Jamie to a much cheaper hotel—or, rather, a motel —a bit further on.

The room was small, but clean; just a simple queen-size bed, a small table with two chairs, and a TV on the dresser. Nothing special, but somehow, as Jesse watched Jamie take a look around, his piercing blue eyes wide and awed, he felt like he’d brought him to some kind of palace.

“People just keep a building full of rooms like this, to rent out to travelers whenever they want one?”

“Uh, yeah,” Jesse chuckled. “I guess ‘hotels’ haven’t come up in conversation yet. ”

“No, but it’s very nice.”

“The trip will get a lot nicer, I promise.” Jesse dumped his backpack by the dresser, tucking his room key into his wallet and sticking it into his back pocket as he tried (and failed) to stop grinning like a lovestruck fool. “How about we go for a walk?”

“But we just walked all the way here from the station.”

“Yeah, but there’s something I want to show you.”

Jamie immediately caught some of Jesse’s enthusiasm, a wide smile forming on his face, and now free of their baggage, the two left the motel once more.

Jesse pulled up the map on his phone again to navigate.

It was definitely the height of the tourist season.

Although the streets couldn’t be called ‘busy,’ not by Carson City standards, there were still a lot of people around.

Families climbing out of their minivans to stop at a local ice-cream shop, young would-be explorers checking their cameras as they made their way to one of the nearby hiking trails, couples strolling hand in hand to enjoy the fine weather…

Jesse wanted that for himself, no matter what everyone else thought.

Taking in a deep breath, he reached for Jamie’s hand.

Their fingers intertwined so easily, the warmth of Jamie’s skin outdoing even the high summer sun.

How Jesse had lived so long without this simple pleasure was beyond his comprehension, and he didn’t care one bit about the few prying stares they got from judgmental eyes.

With Jamie here by his side, he felt completely invincible.

Eventually, they reached the end of a street and rounded the corner of one last resort.

Lake Tahoe lay at their feet.

Jamie let out a gasp of wonder. He stared ahead at the crystal blue waters as they lapped gently upon the golden lakeside beach, distant sounds of laughing children splashing through the water drifting over to them.

His eyes sparkled brightly as they reflected the beams that rippled playfully on the lake, and a gentle smile appeared on his lips at the soft summer breeze that blew through his white hair.

The heavy scent of pine mixed with the fresh cool air off the lake.

Across the water, the distant hills rose against the sky, prettier than any photograph could capture.

And high overhead, the clouds rolled on, adding some interest to the otherwise bright blue sky.

“You’re right,” Jamie breathed out in awe. “This is far better than a waterpark.”

Jesse couldn’t help but grin. “My family used to come down to this lake to go camping, when I was a kid. It’s been years since the last time I saw it. But it’s ten times prettier now, I think. Thanks to you brightening up the view.”

Jamie let out a light laugh, his cheeks tinting as he turned his gaze to Jesse. The love reflected in his eyes was almost too much to bear. It made Jesse weak, to see a look like that.

Very weak.

It was cheesy to still think about ‘butterflies in his stomach,’ but Jesse had no better way to describe the rush of emotion he felt, as his lips met Jamie’s in a tender, lingering kiss.

The butterflies only grew stronger when Jamie let out a slight giggle, clearly just as smitten as Jesse was.

And then they began to walk, hand in hand, down the beach.

“So tonight,” Jesse said, “we could get some dinner in one of these little restaurants around here—a real restaurant, not chains or fast food—and get settled in at the motel. And then, tomorrow, we’ll have the whole day to spend at the lake.

Relaxing, building sand-castles, maybe take a nature hike, and swimming of course .

And then we could let Sunday be a lazy morning, until we take the bus back home in the afternoon. What do you think?”

“This is perfect!” Jamie beamed.

And his smile put even Lake Tahoe to shame.

They walked along the beach until they came to a local restaurant, and stopped there for dinner as planned.

Then they went back into the main part of town and did a bit of window shopping along the downtown avenue, before stopping at an ice cream parlor to get a bit of dessert.

Jamie noted that the trip so far was reminding him of the day he’d tried out for his dance crew, particularly because, in his words, ‘we did a lot of walking and stopped for ice cream that day, too, only now it’s actually warm enough for it.

’ At that point, Jesse confessed to him that he’d dragged him around town that day on purpose, to tire him out so he could see if his hair changed when he slept.

He’d almost been afraid that Jamie would be upset about it, but he just laughed.

They ate their cones together in a nearby park, talking about nothing important and just letting themselves be and breathe .

After the stress of the past several months—Jesse’s trip to the hospital, Jamie’s plaguing nightmares, the fears over whether or not they could be together, the uncertainty that surrounded Jamie’s true nature even still—it felt so good to get away from it all.

The tension Jesse had felt in his shoulders all through these past months was melting away, and he could tell with each smile and laugh that Jamie felt the same.

The little lakeside town was the perfect place for simply wandering around, full of picturesque sights all of its own and dotted with several large ponds and pools and little rivers, as if the lake weren’t pretty enough and needed a little more ornamentation.

Jamie stopped to admire each one; seemingly enchanted to find so much water all in one place.

“This is what, the fifth one?” Jamie exclaimed, excitedly pulling Jesse off the sidewalk and across a small field. He came to a stop and stared at a particularly large pond, maybe twenty feet across, that rippled serenely near an empty playground.