I kissed him back without thinking twice. He pulled me closer sending ripples across the cold water and I hooked my hand behind his neck.

The fact that we were standing in the middle of a lake during winter had completley vanished. All that was there, was Jake and me and nothing else.

My mind was absolutley numb. Not from the cold but from the kiss. His cold hands cupped my cheeks and I ran my hands through his damp black hair. No Alec, no Michella nothing about how much I hate him or what a big asshole he is.It was only the two of us.

He pulled me closer one hand on my waist and the other at back of my head. Despite the cold, his hands were warm and sent tingles up my back.

He smelt like honeydew mixed with lemon and alcohol. All traces of that disgusting deodrant had vanished but the smell of alcohol lingered slightly. But the honeydew smell... That smelt like the old Jake I knew.

We pulled back due to the lack of oxygen. I was breathing heavily but I couldnt take my eyes of him.

His eyes were green. Dark green. In the moonlight you could see the tiny specs of gold and without thinking about it I crashed my lips against his again.

I dont know what made me do it. But at that moment I absolutely had to.

His lips were soft against mine. Not rough but gentle. So unlike the Jake I knew who was rash and always had to be the one to prove a point. I pulled him closer trying to close the non existent gap between us which made Jake lost his balance and we both tumbled down hitting the icy cold water.

At first I was to foggy to realize what was happening but then the cold hit me and I surfaced sputtering choking on the water. Someone grabbed me from behind and hoisted me to the dock and the cold winter air hit me and I started shivering.

Jake sat next to me completley pale and his nose was red. I tried not to focus on the fact that his lips were swollen because Im pretty sure mine were too.

"W-www-We s-ss-should really ggg-get g-g-going." My teeth were chattering non stop and I was shaking worse than a leaf.

He nods and gets up shivering just about as much as me. I mean who can blame us? It is the middle of December and we had just gone for a midnight swim.

"Hhh- here." he says handing me his jacket which was on the dock when the two of us were in the lake which meant that it was perfectly dry.

"Bbbb-but y-you'll freeze." I say.

He rolls his eyes and stands up.

"I h-hhave an extra t-shirt in the car cc- can you ff-for once just accept tt-tthe f-ff-fact Im bbb-being nice?"He shivers.

Jake being nice. Jake not being nice. I mean it would honestly kill him NOT to send mixed signals.

'Oh Clara I hate you and you are annoying.'

'Oh Clara here take my jacket never mind the fact that I'll freeze my ass of as long as you're not sick. '

Do you get what Im saying?

I take the jacket from him and put it around me. It has the typical smell of Jake: honeydew.

How come I never noticed?

Our process of walking to the car is slow because everytime Jake sneezed I would offer the jacket back feeling incredibley guilty if he got sick because of me.

He would roll his eyes and then stutter out to keep walking. When we finally reach the parking lot we literally run to his car as fast as our frozen legs would carry us.

He turns the heater on in full blast and we sit there in silence with no noise but our teeth chattering.

I don't know how long we sat like that but my damp hair slowly started to dry.

"Are you okay?" Jake asks. Most of the color has returned to his face and his hair has started to dry and his teeth has stopped chattering but his sneezing hasn't.

I manage to nod my teeth still chattering.

"Yeah I-Im f- Achoo." I sneeze.

He laughs.

"You sneeze like a girl." he says.

"Oh sorry if you didn't notice it earlier Henderson I am a girl." I retort before sneezing again.

"Crap I have to get my car." I say.

Im about to exit the car as I prepare myself to face the cold again Jake grabs my wrist and pulls me back in.

"Don't, you will get sick." He says and on cue I sneeze.

"We will get the car tomorrow on our way to school."Jake says,"Oka- Achoo."

I laugh.

"You sneeze like a little girl." I say.

"Yeah yeah whatever." He says rolling his eyes but he has a slight smile on his lips as he starts the car.

__________________

The entire car ride back was a game. Talk about just about everything except the kiss. You lost a point everytime you even tried to go near it with a ten foot long barge pole.

Well let me tell you the two of us were pro's we talked about the randomest things.

From how cold it was, to how stupid I thought the winterball thing was and how ridiculous it was that i got nominated.

There were spans of awkward silence and tension was clear in the air. I mean lets face it.

The two of us have no idea what the hell happened in that lake. I dont know about him but I have no idea of what exactly me and Jake are doing.

We are fake dating. What the hell is fake dating we havent been on an actual date and our conversations mainly are about the most randomest things or who can come up with the best insults to throw at eachother.

Plus I like Alec. I mean I have been in love with him since I was a kid. Right? So where the hell does Jake come in the picture?

Once we finally reach the house he parks the car in the garage and we both rush in. The house is so warm i almost sink to my knees.

It was warm in the car but the house is like freaking heaven. I am about to go to my room and change and take the hottest shower possible when i crash into someone and fall on the floor.

Seriously I have got to stop falling on the freaking floor.

I look up and see Alec looking down at me.

"Oh my god I was so worried about you." He pulled me into a tight hug and I prayed I wasnt blushing.

He smelt like mint. Jake smelt like lemons. I wonder if he would kiss me like-

HOLY CRAP CLARA STOP RIGHT THERE.

"Where were you and you are soaking wet." He says and I sneeze on cue.

"And you are sick." he says,"Shit we need to get you out of those clothes."

Okay that is not how I imagined he would be saying those words. Jake sneezed interupting any of my thoughts.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Alec shouts at Jake who has taken off his soaking wet shirt and is putting on another one.

I know Im staring like a groupie at his shirtless chest but Jake is glaring at Alec and doesn't notice.

"A number of things." Jake says putting on the dry shirt much to my disappointment.

Crap Clara you are way too far gone.

"You took her out and I dont know what you did but you made her soaking wet and now she is sick."Alec says,"Do you even care about other people."

"If you havent noticed I am wet too and it was her genius idea to push me in the lake in in the middle of December." He says.

"Well you had it coming." Alec says,"And I hope she dumped your sorry ass in the process."

"Well she didn't." Jake says,"At least Im not a freaking sad excuse for a person who just cant let go of your bitch of a girlfriend."

"Well whatever I dont treat them like crap." Alec says.

"Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me." Jake retorts,"You are the biggest hypocrite I have seen in my life."

"Yeah well you are a fucking asshole." Alec says.

"Well at least I admit it." Jake replies.

Alec steps forward and Jake smirks as if daring him to come closer. My memory breifly flickers to fourteen year old Jake and his kickboxing skills that could make burly guys of seventeen backaway. If this gets nasty Alec will not have a pretty face anymore.

"Great guys. Good to let it out by Ashley will hardly be happy when she has to clean blood of the floor that is going to be left behind after I murder you guys if you dont shut up." I say.

Jake rolls his eyes and Alec continues to glare at Jake but then backs off.

"I'm sorry" Alec says.

"Well Im not." Jake says climbing up the stairs to go up to his room but turns at the last moment,"Oh! it was nice kissing you in the lake Wilson you have developed better skills since last time."

_________________________

Jake did it purposely to annoy the hell out of Alec and trust me it worked.

"You kissed him?" He says.

"Yes I did. He is my boyfriend remember." I say.

Saying the word boyfriend sounds so alien to me. We had been doing it for the past couple of weeks but it never seemed so real until now.

It never seemed so scary.

The kiss made this all to real.It was so different from the last time when we were surrounded by people and pressurized into it.

This time there was no one. No Alec no Natalie no one and no compulsion to do it. He never did have to kiss me and I never did either.

You know what my life would be way less complicated if I had just drowned in the lake.

I mean come on I'm pretty sure this fake dating thing was fooling no one. All we did was argue. Thats about it.

But Alec was buying it, I think and he was the only one who needed too.

"Right." Alec says.

I roll my eyes when suddenly I remember something.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Jeremy's house." I ask remembering the text.

"Oh yeah..." He says suddenly becoming nervous,"Uumm I just came home to check you know if you were uhh fine."

Do not blush. Do not blush.

He was probably in Natalie's house before this checking up on her. So no need to get all excited.

I sigh as I enter my room.

"Thank you." I say and Im about to shut my door but before I can I heard him say,

"Oh and Clara its good to know you can put Natalie in her place once in a while. She does need it."

I whipped around not believing what I had just heard but by that time Alec had already turned around and gone up the stairs.

"Its good to know that too." I whisper with a small smile and shut my door.

____________________________

For the first time in many days I wake up after a good long sleep. I wake up right on time it was 7:00 and I had never felt so refreshed in my life. That was until I remembered it was only a Tuesday.

Kill me NOW.

I finish having a nice long bath. I have a cold and a slight cough but its nothing too serious.All the years of me being clumsy and tripping over stuff had made me hardened. My supposed sprained ankle barely hurt. It was weird but I barely fell sick. I mean right now I should have been dying of hypothermia or something but I was fairly OK. I didnt have a temperature either. But actually I give credit to Alec's chicken soup which he made yesterday.

I seriously hope Jake is all right. I will honestly feel like crap and incredibley guilty if he was sick.

My mind again wanders to the kiss but last night I had reached to the conclusion that I wasnt going to bring it up unless he did.

I stand there after I get dressed in tights and sneakers. I wear a pretty simple tshirt on top and put my favourite strawberry chapstick. It was a classic Clara Wilson look with my hair all over the place which tskes me a good 5 minutes to wrestle in a ponytail.

I am forgetting something I think absent mindedly looking at the cordless phone in my room. In the end I simply shake my head and go to the kitchen.

Jake is not in the kitchen yet which is why its sparkling and Alec is studying for a biology test. He looks super cute with his messy blonde hair all over his eyes and the peanut butter that is right over his lips making a half mustache from the sandwich he just ate.

"I hate Biology." He says as he hands me a sandwich.

I take a bite and sit on the chair near the kitchen counter and am going to respond to him but I am interrupted.

"I for one quite like biology."Jake announces and I turn around all to eagerly to see him.

For heavens sake Clara stop acting like a lost puppy.

But in my defense Jake Henderson looks really really hot. I dont know if its because of our kiss last night.

But today Jake didnt have his usual greek god charm but he looked really tired. Which made him look better.

His hair was extremely messy sticking out in every possible way and his green eyes were slightly dull and he looked like he would rather sleep. His nose is red and incredibley cute which made a bit guilty because I was the reason he had a cold.

I dont why but he looked much better like this. He looked much more attainable. He didnt look like he had just stepped out from some fairytale book but he looked like a normal guy. A really cute normal guy.

"I would say take a picture it lasts longer but we both know you already have." Jake says when Im caught staring at him.

"You wish." I say rolling my eyes.

Alec groans in disgust and Jake smirks and picks a sandwich from the counter and starts nibbling on it.

Jake picks a spot right next to me and sits and I can smell that typical smell a bit of honeydew mixed with lemons again. Im dragged back to kiss in the lake.

I had always been a fairly good girl. except for a few things here and there and that was mostly during my camp with Jake.

He always did bring out another side in me. But before he was much ruder.Much meaner much more indifferent.

He had changed. Definitely. At times the old Jake was back. I was relieved when he made those really rude ignorant comments because I could hold up on my own against him.

But the new Jake scared me. It scared me shitless because he was kind and considerate and I had know idea how to react to that.

Fourteen year old Jake Henderson had taken away my first kiss all because of a bet. So whatever happened in the summer camp the crazy wild things I did were all assosciated with him and I hated him for doing that to me.

Thats why for the last four years I barely even thought about him but now he is back again turning my life upside down.

"Hello Earth to Clara." Alec says waving his hands in front of my face snapping me out from my thoughts of Jake.

I smile. While Jake crashed through my life like a wrecking ball I could always depend on Alec.

Despite the fact that he never saw the fact that just how infatuated I was with him. But he was a constant point in my life.

I cannot call him my best friend but he has been someone who has been here for me from the very start. He was one of the only ones really.

"Sorry." I say sheepishly,"Day dreaming again."

Alec smiled,"Figured."

I smiled back and Jake sneezed loudly making me feel very guilty.

"Are you sure you are well enough to go to school?" I ask.

He rolls his eyes and sneezes again.

"Stop having such a big ego and just go to bed." Alec says,"Or you will make others sick too."

"Im fine." Jake grumbles and puts his almost uneaten sandwich down and gets up.

"Are you coming?" He asks me clearly in a bad mood.

"Huh?" i say still feeling bad that I pushed him in the lake and he got sick.

"Dont you need to pick up your car?" He asks and I give him a dumb look and finally understand what he is talking about.

"Right." I say getting up quickly as Jake rushes out of the door.

"Well I have to go." I say,"Best of luck with the Biology test."

He gives me a big smile,"Thanks, see you in Calculus?"

"Yup." I say,"And then you are stuck with me and Jake in chemistry you are almost 100 percent going to fall sick."

"Well as long as I get babied by you Im fine."he says.

I try not to blush my face off in front of him and quickly go out to see Jake waiting impatiently.

"Will you hurry up?" he snapped at me.

I quickly rushed in knowing he is in a bad mood. The car smelt slightly musty but the car seats were suprisingly dry despite how wet they were yesterday.

It must have been the seat covers .They seemed waterproof.

Jake gunned the car and drove like a maniac as usual but I had gotten more or less used to it. I had stopped imagining my death at least.

"Shit!" I exclaim loudly.

"What happened?" Jake asked looking slightly annoyed.

"I forgot to get my car keys." I say.

This time really it wasnt my fault. Alec's comment had completely thrown me off and I had forgotten my keys.

He simply let out a sigh and said,"I cant drop you home today I have practice."

"Okay." I say.

There is again an awkward silence in the car. Well only in the car in my head on the other hand it was chaos.

Should I ask him about yesterday?

Why isnt he talking about it?

Does he even remember it?

Does he care?

I shake my head. You know what screw it. If he wants to act like a stubborn little kid.

Then I remember something that had been nagging me since yesterday.

"Jake." I say slowly trying to figure out if its an okay time to bring it up.

"What?" He says in a tired tone.

"Yourdadcalledyesterdayandhethoughtiwasyou."I squeak a little to fast in one breath.

"What?" he snarls turning his head from the road.

I shrink back suddenly slightly scared.I quickly shake that off thinking it was ridiculous and repeat it once again but this time slower.

"You're dad called yesterday and thought that I was you." I say calmly.

He applied the brakes all to suddenly and I almost crashed into the windsheild.

"What the hell did he say?" Jake shouted looking slightly panicked and majorly angry.

"N-nothing r-rr-really." I stammer slightly,"I only heard New York and then he put the phone down."

Jake blinked twice and then looked at me with a completely blank expression.

"He didnt say anything else?"Jake said in a low tone.

I shake my head slightly scared. Jake had never had a great relationship with his dad but hadnt expected it to be this bad either.

Jake put his head down on the steering wheel breathing heavily. What the hell was going on?

"Jake are you all right?" I ask slowly.

He doesnt respond.

"Jake ser-"

I was interrupted by Jake who snapped at me,"Clara for fucksake can you please just keep your big mouth shut."

"I'm just trying to help." I snap back,"I dont know what the hell is going with you and your dad -"

"Well nobody ever asks you for your fucking help so just keep your big nose out of this." Jake interupts glaring at me.

I blink twice. Most people in this situation would try to blink back tears but my life being bullied by Natalie being shown down by my sister and being practically abandoned by my parents had hardened me in a way nothing could.

Jake was always like this. He had always been and it was stupid of me to think anything otherwise. So instead of arguing or shouting at him I did exactly what he told me to keep my big nose out of this.

He wanted to be left alone. Fine. thats what he will get.

I open the door and step out of the car. I almost regret it immediately with it being so cold but after yesterdays lake episode it was nothing.

I close the door behiend me and start walking forward. School was only a couple of blocks ahead and if I walked fast I would make it just in time.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jake looks at me in complete shock.