The Model Project

Chapter 3

L.J watched as Shane and Aaron sat on the floor in front of the couch, head to head in a racing game, neither of them letting the other have an easy time. She picked up her soda and chugged half of it, washing down the big bite of her cheeseburger she took just before. She crumpled up the yellow paper that was wrapped around the burger earlier but was now lying on the coffee table amidst the mountain of wrappers. A sigh left her mouth as L.J fell back onto the couch, into the crook of Cameron's arm around her shoulders. She rests her head close to his neck and closes her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes again, she felt her stomach craving sugar and she looked at Aaron and Shane on the floor in front of them, grabbing their attention. They paused the game and turned around slightly to look at her and Cam. Shane gave her a weird look when he saw how she was lying on Cam's shoulder, but L.J ignored it only wanting something sugary to eat.

"You guys! I want something sweet" She says, and Aaron's eyes widened at that statement of hers.

"Dude, you literally just ate three large Bic Mac meals, and you still have space in that stomach!?" Aaron said incredulously.

"I think you're forgetting my friend, that Lara-Jean doesn't have a stomach…but a black hole" Shane teased her, and she playfully hit him in the shoulder.

"I do not!" She yells, and they all start laughing at her. "I just have a very big appetite" L.J shrinks deeper into the couch as she tried to escape their teasing laughs.

"We know you do, L.J. I mean we've seen you eat twenty hot dogs in under three minutes" Cam laughed through his words, not able to keep it in.

"Yeah well, she still has a hot body though" Cam says wrapping his arms around her body, teasingly kissing her neck. L.J laughed out loud, trying to get his hands off her, but Cam wouldn't budge.

"Guys help me!" L.J yells, looking at Shane and Aaron to help her get away from Cam, but all they do is give each other one look, and then join in on Cam's tickling session. Tears of laughter rolled down L.J's cheeks as she gasped for breath with six pairs of hands on her sides, digging into the sensitive nerves. Her stomach was aching, and her cheeks were flushed, when she finally got them to stop.

"Ok, Ok, Ok! I give up, you guys win!" They slowly let go of her and she gets up, entering the kitchen grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. She rested against the counter top and took a few sips of water, as Aaron joined her in the kitchen.

"Hey girly" He says, and she laughs, nearly choking on her water.

"Dude, don't call me that" Aaron lightly shoves her with his shoulder, and L.J playfully shoves him back.

"So, what's up?" She asks, and he looks at her with a serious look, but Aaron shook his head and looked down at the floor.

"Nothing just wanted to stretch my legs a little bit" L.J didn't believe what he said, but she let it go not wanting to push Aaron on the subject. She knew he would tell her when he's ready and she would make sure that she would be there for him. She owes these guys so much for what they have been through and done for her. All L.J did was nod and then Cam walked into the kitchen with a smirk on his face. He leaned his hands on the counter his arms on each side of L.J's body.

"So when can I take you out?" Cam has been teasing L.J with flirty remarks and s****l jokes since she they were sixteen. She knew that it meant nothing, and he was only doing it to irritate the living s**t out of her, but she always found a way to turn him down.

"How about I take you out" She emphasized on 'you' and Cam raised an eyebrow at her statement seductively, leaning in a little bit closer.

"With my fist" L.J said, and Aaron burst out laughing at the scenario that unfolded in front of him.

"Ouch, Walker. You hurt me so much sometimes" Cam says to L.J and he feigns hurt for about 0.2 seconds before he's back at it again with the flirting.

"But don't worry I like it rough" L.J and Aaron both groan at what he says, and Cam raises his hands in the air.

"What? There's nothing wrong with a little whips and chains" He jokes and L.J couldn't help but laugh, as she pictured Cam with a whip in his hand.

"Yeah, sure, you maniac" Aaron replies, slapping Cam on the shoulder as he leaves the kitchen.

L.J was about to leave as well when Cam snatches her arm and spins her around drawing her into his chest and dipping her low. He looks into her eyes, and they quickly flicker down to her mouth. She followed his eyes as they returned back up to hers, and L.J felt her breath hitch slightly. She has never been this close to Cam or any other boy for that matter. There was one time though when she kissed someone for the first time in high school.

Cam, Aaron and Shane all forced L.J to go to a party in Miami one late starry night. The boys all told their parents they would be sleeping over at L.J's and since her parents were going to be late. L.J didn't really want to go out that night since she and mother had a pretty rough fight with each other about how L.J doesn't want to follow in her mother's footsteps of being a doctor. She was bummed out and liked the idea of having her friends with her, but she didn’t like the idea of going out and having sweaty underage drunk kids bumping into her all night. They kept bugging her about it most of the night and put her through a guilt trip that she couldn't handle at that moment and she gave in to their request. They snuck out of her house making sure they made it seem like their parents were asleep and all the lights in the houses were off. They called a cab and drove all the way to one the biggest night clubs in Miami. When they got there she wasn't even sure if they would get in, but with Cam's charm, Shane's persuasion skills, and Aaron's good wording they bribed the bouncer to let them. It also helped that Shane knew the guy from his dad's security company. They just got inside and there were girls already flirting with the guys, not caring that they were making total fools of themselves. L.J left them to get what they came here for and went to the bar getting a drink. She sat there with her beer bottle in hand and stared down at it, wishing all her problems would just fill it up so that she could throw it into the ocean. She suddenly saw someone sit down next to her, putting their hand on the table close to hers. As she looked up she saw that the guy was staring at her with kind eyes. He was what you would call the 'nerdy' type, but L.J pictured him without the glasses and a slightly better haircut and she kind of liked what she saw.

"Why do you look so down? You're in a night club, aren't people supposed to have fun here?" He asks, and she shakes her head.

"Not all the time" She replies taking a sip off the bitter-sweet liquid.

"Well, I don't think a pretty girl like you should feel that way" He says and sticks out his hand for her to take.

"Wow ok. What's your name anyway?" She asks and takes his hand, not knowing where he was going to take her. He leads her to the dance floor and started moving along to the heavy beat of the loud music. He wrapped his arms around her and L.J laughed when he dipped her, holding her tight against his body, pulling the most ridiculous facial expression she has ever seen.

"Sam" He tells her his name and then starts to dance with her until their feet hurt.

"You are an amazing dancer!" He says and L.J laughs at him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Not really, but I will take the compliment and pretend like I am, thank you very much" She curtsied, and he chuckled. They were off of the dance floor now, just sitting at a table and talking having some drinks. He told her about his family, and his friends, and L.J felt like she has known him more a longer time than just about three hours. He looked at her with a sweet smile on his face and he leaned in closer to her, his eyes flicking to her lips. A lot of worries was rushing through L.J's head, not sure if she should do this since this was her first kiss, and she didn't know if she would be any good, but she shut her eyes and went for it anyway. It was slow, and soft and she could smell his musky cologne that was making her mind foggy. She wanted the kiss to last longer, but unfortunately the pack of wild wolves she calls her friends, came running towards them, grabbing her by the arms and dragging her away from the Sam. They pulled her towards the door, dodging people dancing, and waiters balancing fancy champagne glasses on black trays. She looks back and sees Sam trying to catch up to them, but suddenly her view was blocked by three buff guys running after them with angered expressions. When they got outside Cam got the attention of a very sleepy cab driver to open the doors for them, and everyone dove into the car. L.J fell onto the guys laps and looked out the window as the guys were close on their heels, the one grabbing onto the handle and opening the door to the backseat.

"Drive!" Cam yells to the driver and he steps down on the gas pedal, making the car jerk forward, L.J nearly falling to the floor. Shane grabbed the open door and shut it, looking out the back window making sure they weren't being followed. L.J looked to Cameron with an angry expression, and he lifted his hands in surrender.

"What?" He asks as if he was innocent, but L.J knew by this time, he never was.

"What did you do?" She scolded him, and a small smile started creeping its way onto his face.

"I just made a new…friend, that's all" He says and L.J groaned as she knew what he meant.

"You made out with his girlfriend, didn't you?!" She yelled at him, and he slightly winced as she punched him in the arm. Aaron and Shane started laughing and L.J looked at them with a shocked face.

"You guys find this funny?"

"You had to be there, Cam was really grovelling with this girl" Shane said, and Aaron started clutching his stomach because of the pain from laughter.

"I was not!" Cam tried to defend himself, but Aaron and Shane just laughed even harder.

"She was way out of Cameron's league" Aaron said and L.J gave a small chuckle. She found that hard to believe since Cam was a total playboy, and very charming with girls.

"Shut up, guys!" Cam yelled and sulked the whole way back to the house. When they got there, L.J couldn't help but think back to her first kiss and Sam. She was zoning out and the guys were looking at her with skeptical faces.

"So, you kissed someone hey" Aaron said and Shane and Cam started making kissing noises.

"Yeah, it was nothing though" She says, and they all stop.

"Hey, it was your first kiss, right?" Shane asks suddenly seeming really sincere.

"Yeah" L.J said after a while of silence.

"Well, don't feel ashamed, we all had it once" Shane said and scooted closer to her on the couch putting an arm around her shoulders.

"How was it?" Cam asks, and she rolls her eyes.

"Of course, you would ask that" She teased, and he smirked at her.

"I don’t know, it was… a kiss" She said, not knowing how it should have felt in the first place.

"Well describe it to us, and we can help you" Cam said and she groaned.

"Don't you guys think this is a little too weird?" They shook their heads and smiled at her.

"Well, ok then. It was soft and slow, and it felt…ok, I guess" She says and Cam nods in thought.

"Did he wrap his arms around you?"

"No…he didn't do anything really" Shane looks to Cam and they share a knowing look.

"Did it make you feel dizzy or make your stomach feel fluttery?" She c****d an eyebrow at those questions from Shane, but she answered them anyway.

"No, nothing at all"

"Yeah, he didn't do it right" Cam said.

"Well his cologne did make my head feel foggy" She says, and Cam shakes his head.

"That happens to every girl, it doesn't really change the fact that this guy didn't kiss you right" He says and L.J felt a little sad at that statement.

"So, my first kiss was a massive mistake, what did you guys do that wasn't worth it?" She asks giving a tight laugh at the end. She didn't want them to think she was pathetic or a loser.

"Hey, I know that face, stop feeling like that!" Aaron says and moves closer to her, hugging her.

"I'm sorry, I just kind of feel bummed because my first kiss wasn't like I pictured it" Is all she says as she gets up.

"Would you guys mind sleeping in the living room by yourselves tonight?" She says wanting to be alone for a while. They all nod and get up each one hugging her before she retreats back upstairs to her bedroom, closing the door and falling into bed, sleeping away the nightmare that was her first kiss.

She looked at Cam as he was inching closer to her face, but suddenly stopped and looked at her eyes again, and smiled. He leaned up, his lips landing on her forehead, placing a soft kiss there. He pulls her back up and stood there with his hands in his pockets looking like nothing just happened.

"That was just a joke" He says, and she nods skeptically. She thought the boys seemed a bit different tonight but didn't ask mention about it. She went back to the living room watching how the boys played games, and now and then joined in on the fun, beating their high scores with ease, much to their dismay. It got late after a few hours and the boys decided to go home, leaving L.J alone in the silence of the empty house. She watched some T.V and eventually fell asleep, letting the tiredness seep in and take over her body, dragging her down to a deep sleep.