Strange Little Feeling of Joy

This chapter talks about when J.C. and I were finally able to reunite.

A little over a week later--on the night of May 19--I received a text from him asking me if I knew where a certain guy lived in Alto. The guy in question just happened to be my other ex-boyfriend's best friend. I told J.C. how to get to the last place that I had known to be that guy's house, cautioning him that I wasn't entirely sure whether or not he still lived there. His reply was a very urgent, "I need to know where, hun."

 

After I had apologetically told him that I wasn't aware of any other location for the guy, nothing else was said that I can remember. Like every other night before then, I fell asleep praying that she was treating him right and providing him with all of the happiness that he deserved.

 

The next morning, I was lazing around watching TV, and I just happened to glance at the clock and notice that it was 11:30...which was the time at which he had always woken up and started texting me.

 

Oddly enough, my cell phone started ringing shortly after that. As I got up to leave the living room in favor of the kitchen (where my phone was charging on the counter), I realized just what song was blasting from the phone. It was 'Do I,' by Luke Bryan...which was the ringtone that I had designated for J.C.

 

The night before, I had been wondering why he had been so adamant about finding that certain guy's house, but hadn't asked him anything about it. Over the next ten minutes or so, I received my answer. That guy--in addition to being a former schoolmate of mine--just happened to be J.C.'s ex-girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. And she just happened to have cheated on J.C. (this wasn't her first time cheating on him, either) with this guy.

 

Apparently, she had lied and told J.C. that she would be spending the night in Alto with her aunt and had driven his truck...only to wind up leaving it abandoned in the parking lot of a bank in Zavalla (with some form of damage to the front bumper, if I remember correctly) before everything was all said and done.

 

After hearing the story, I offered him my condolences...which I swear were sincere even in spite of the strange little feeling of joy that was bubbling up within my heart. I soon found out that even though it was a rotten situation, I actually did have a reason to feel joyful. J.C., having had all that he could stand of being cheated on by his ex, had decided that he wanted to give things with his other ex--yours truly, of course--another try.

 

We made plans to hang out later that day (he had taken the day off of work). All of the pain that had come along with the events of the past month--hearing the news of the pregnancy, losing him, and doing my best to move on--was completely forgotten...and I was back to walking on clouds.

 

After what seemed like forever, he finally texted me and told me that he was ready. I eagerly jumped into my car and sped off down the road toward his house, my heart almost to the point of bursting from all of the excitement that I was feeling about finally being reunited with the love of my life.

 

I had to fight back tears when I pulled into his driveway and got the first in-person glimpse that I'd had of him in over a month. I had looked at his Facebook pictures countless times , but seeing him in those pictures couldn't hold a candle to actually being in his presence. He was still every bit as beautiful as he had been the last time that we had seen each other face-to-face...and I still loved him just as much as I had then.

 

Shortly after I arrived, we headed off to the lake, accompanied by his sister, Amber, and her husband, Josh (listening to Justin Bieber the way that he had volunteered to do once again). Once we reached the lake and the boat had been successfully placed into the water, I remained in it with Amber and Josh while J.C. took the truck up to the parking lot.

 

As we bounced across the water, he randomly reached back and patted my foot. I reached down and took hold of his hand, feeling my heart skip a beat as I lovingly gazed down at our intertwined fingers and savored the feeling that I had been missing for so long.

 

Eventually, the clouds and thunder that had rolled in prompted us to ditch the lake. Amber and Josh remained in the boat, while J.C. and I went back up to the parking lot to retrieve the truck.

 

Before he pulled out of the space, he turned to face me. Before I knew it, our lips were together in the soft, sweet, perfect sensation that I had found myself dreaming about and yearning for countless times over the month that we had been forced to spend apart. Upon pulling back from the kiss, he made me laugh when he smiled and declared, "So, that's what a kiss feels like!"

 

When we returned to his house, he suggested that instead of driving home, I should just stay over at his house that night. I obliged immediately, of course. The clouds and thunder that had shown up earlier soon gave way to rain; by around 2:00 the next morning, it had evolved into a full-fledged thunderstorm. We were still awake at that time, and he decided that he wanted to go "play in the mud." I said that I did, too, and we ended up riding down a dirt backroad near his house. I remember thinking that the lightning and pouring rain were a beautiful sight...but they were still nowhere near as beautiful as him.

 

Upon returning to his house a short while later, we got tired and settled in to get some sleep. As we lay there in the darkness, the last thing that I remember hearing him say is, "I love you." And with all that I had and all that I was, I responded, "I love you, too."