Jane hurried to class, sliding into her seat just before the bell. She looked over at Camilla and made an expression of relief. She'd been in the bathroom texting with Charlie, and concern for the time had gone right out the window until the warning bell had jolted her back to the present.

Camilla, instead of making a similar face back, just looked concerned, and Jane realized that she'd probably been sliding into her seat quite a bit lately. They were both college prep and way advanced, and by senior year that pretty much guaranteed that they had every class together.

Jane pulled out her notebook and tried to concentrate on Ms. Berryman's lecture, but it was difficult. She listened as hard as she could so she could suss out the salient points and write them down, but Ms. Berryman's droning monotone made that an almost insurmountable challenge. 

To be fair, though, Jane found everything she did on the west side of the Hudson very difficult, not to mention pointless and boring. Whenever she had a few spare moments in her head, her thoughts went immediately to Charlie and what he might be doing at that particular time. 

Their time at the beginning had turned out to be the exception, rather than the rule, and Jane and Charlie found it really hard to find time together. His shooting schedule was completely without rhyme or reason, and sometimes he didn't know he'd be free until the actual day, which made planning things tricky. Jane, of course, was trying to keep up the facade of normalcy in Redmond, and there were only so many nights she could say she was at the library, or studying with Camilla. Throw in the fact that they couldn't go anywhere in the city where they might be photographed and their options were very limited. Half the time their plans had to be scrapped, very last minute, due to bad weather, and they ended up more often than not just riding around in the car and talking.

This was fine with Jane, but Charlie felt very confined, and frequently grew frustrated and upset. Jane tried to tell him that she really didn't mind, and all she wanted was to spend time with him, but he'd just stay quiet and look out the window for a while, though he always thawed and apologized after a bit.

What he wasn't telling Jane was that being in such a confined space with her made him crazy horny, and it was getting harder and harder to deal with these feelings. He didn't want her to feel any pressure from him, but it felt strange to him to be in a car with a female and not do anything with her or to her. It also felt strange that the female in question didn't want to help him out. He frequently had his arm around her shoulder and found himself starting to pull her head down to his lap. He'd cover his actions by simply scooting her closer to kiss her temple.

As Ms. Berryman went on about the rise of the middle class after World War II, Jane found her concentration drifting. Her college apps were sent in, with all test scores applied, so Jane had lately begun to realize that, short of flat out failing classes or being expelled, nothing she did at school really mattered any more. She began doodling in the margin of her notebook, but realized after a few minutes that Camilla was watching her, and she sat up and started writing on the lines again.

Camilla found her after the bell, just as Jane was putting her things in her locker. Jane swallowed her annoyance. She was waiting for a text from Charlie, hopefully saying that he was free this evening. 

She closed her locker and smiled at her friend. "Hey there," she said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"That's what I want to know," Camilla said with a frown. "No no, don't give me that look, I know you know what I'm talking about, Jane Bennett Carroway," she said.

"Aw, Camilla, not the full-name game," Jane begged. "I'm so not in the mood for this right now."

Camilla shifted her books. "Fine. Just tell me what the fuck's going on and I'll stop." 

Jane didn't say anything, but simply continued putting her things away, quickly going over things in her head to make sure she didn't leave something she'd need over the weekend.

"Jane." Camilla barred her way when she shut her locker and tried to walk away. "Hey, Jane! Remember me? Your best friend?" Camilla waved her hand in Jane's face. "Grew up together? Got barfing sick on grape soda when we were eleven?"

Jane sighed and looked at her friend. "You're right, and I'm sorry. I've just been really busy." At Camilla's look, Jane quickly filled in, "Applying for this scholarship."

Camilla's face immediately melted into kind understanding. "Why didn't you tell me? You know I'll help you, any way I can, right?"

"Oh, I know," Jane replied. "I was just nervous. It's a really competitive scholarship, and my chances are, like, less than zero, you know?"

"Come on," Camilla said encouragingly, putting a comforting arm around Jane's shoulder. "You're the girl who got perfect scores on two of the three parts of the SAT, don't talk that way." She got thoughtful. "What's the scholarship? I've never heard of one with such a late deadline."

"It's through my dad's law firm," Jane said. "It's new, they just started it this year. It's a no-strings cash one." Those were the best kind, and therefore the most sought-after.

"Oh." Camilla was quiet again. "It's through your dad's law firm, but it's really competitive?"

"Yeah, it's open to any senior who's, um, even thinking of pre-law," Jane said in a rush.

"You're thinking of pre-law?" Camilla asked in surprise. 

Fuuuck.

They were outside the school by now, walking together, which they actually hadn't done in ages. 

"Well, I'm saying I am, if you know what I mean," Jane said conspiratorially.  Jesus, she was going to have to write this shit down so she could keep her lies straight.

"Hey, want to grab a coffee and a scone?" Camilla asked happily. A car went by and its occupant honked at her. She waved back.

Jane looked at her friend. She hadn't heard from Charlie, so chances were that he couldn't get together anyway. She smiled. "Sure, Cam, my treat, okay?"

So the girls went to the coffee shop and spent a happy hour gossiping and laughing. And as a reward for doing right by her friend, her phone dinged with a text from Charlie as she was walking home.

"I'm free! And, and, AND...I'm free tomorrow, too!"

"What? How did that happen???"

"Unfortunately (for production, fortunately pour moi :) the building next to where we were going to shoot tomorrow was demolished today, and there was some kind of leak or something. We can't get in until Sunday!!!"

"Wooot!!" 

"Of course, we are now officially four days over on the schedule, but, oh, wait, that's good for me, too, since I get four more days with you :)"

By now, Jane was in her house, and she lay down on her bed to think. First, was Charlie's admission of the fact that he was free tomorrow too an invitation for her to spend the night in the city with him? And second, this was the first time either one of them had mentioned the fact that he was due to wrap up shooting a few days before Christmas. Was he hinting that they'd soon be wrapped up, too?

She needed to think, but she needed to reply to him and head into Manhattan, too.

"Janey-Bird? You there??" Lately, he'd begun calling her this, though only in texts, and it made Jane feel like she could fly if she tried.

"Yeah! Just working out logistics" she said truthfully.

"What logistics? Get your arse over here, pls!! xxx"

"I thought girls had 'bums'?"

"Bum, then. Just come!"

Jane took a deep breath.

"Do you want me to spend the night there? In the city, I mean?"

She waited, then sent, him some question marks.

"Is that something you want to do?" he finally texted back.

"If you want."

"No, that's not fair. I asked what you wanted?"

"I think it would be really nice to spend the night in the same bed and be close, but I don't know if I'm ready for any kind of *activities*..."

"*ACTIVITIES*???? I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW *ACTIVITIES* WERE AN OPTION!!!!"

"Charlie Michael McAllister is a wanker."

"Okay, I'm sorry, but that was fucking funny...anyway, in all seriousness, it would be lovely to sleep next to you, to see what you look like and everything, honestly. And it would be so convenient if you didn't have to go back and forth tonight, too."

"Okay, then, I'll pack my jammies and be there in a couple of hours. A SLEEPOVER, how fun!"

"See you soon. xxxxx"

Jane took a quick shower, and threw some things into her overnight bag, taking care to pack nice but not suggestive pajamas, and clean things for tomorrow.

She ran into her mother downstairs and told her she was sleeping over at Camilla's. She knew that Camilla was going to Princeton to visit her cousin this weekend, so she felt pretty safe.

"Okay, Jane, have fun," her mom said, kissing her daughter as she hugged her. Jane realized that being "a good girl" her whole life was paying off big-time now. No one suspected her of subterfuge, ever. 

While she was on the train she got a text from Charlie telling her to just come straight to his hotel, which was conveniently right on Times Square.

Jane felt very cosmopolitan just waltzing through the lobby and taking the elevator up to the thirty-fifth floor. No one questioned her right to be there or what she was doing or anything. Why would they? 

When Charlie opened the door she dropped her bag and flung her arms around his neck. He hugged her back, hard, putting his nose deep in her neck and sniffing appreciatively.

"God, I've missed you," he murmured. "Haven't seen you all week, you know?"

"I know," she responded breathlessly.

He grabbed her bag and set it down next to the bed. Then he turned to her, as she was exploring the room and enjoying the view. 

"I, um, wanted to talk to you about, uh--" he stopped, hands on her shoulders.

"What?" she asked, turning around.

"That?" He gestured toward the bed.

"Oh, I usually sleep on that side when I'm with Camilla," she said pointing to the right side.

Charlie burst out laughing.

"What?" she asked indignantly.

"I wasn't asking which side you preferred," he said, chuckling. "I meant--"

"Oh." She turned to face him, and he could feel the tension in her shoulders.

"No, don't do that, please," he said, rubbing her shoulders, trying to relax them.

"What I wanted to say," he continued gently, lifting her hair over her shoulder, "is that you'll never, ever, have to do anything there--" and he gestured again to the bed, "that you don't want to do. Ever. Okay?" 

Jane rolled her eyes in embarrassment and looked at the ground, but Charlie tipped her chin up so he could look into her eyes.

"I mean, we've only ever kissed, you know? And barely that," he went on. "We'd be skipping some very important steps if we jumped right into, um, activities," he concluded with a little grin.

"Are you saying you don't want--me--like that?" Jane asked carefully, unable to meet his gaze.

"What? Christ in a sidecar no!" Charlie responded, this time making Jane laugh. "I just don't want you to feel pressure from me."

"So, then, if I wanted to explore some of those steps you were talking about, you'd be okay with that?" And again, Jane couldn't look at him as she asked.

Charlie smiled and leaned in to kiss her temple. "Abso-fucking-lutely. And when you want to stop, all you have to say is 'stop'. Okay?"

Jane nodded, her hair slipping forward again. She sighed, a huge sigh of relief, which Charlie heard. "Good," she said softly. 

She let go of Charlie and walked to the bathroom, but she turned around in the doorway. 

"Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

He smiled at her. "Of course."