- I went back to the very beginning to introduce each character with their last names. (Jesse Ashford, Kendall Nguyen, and Quinn Dauer).

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"My aim in life has always been to hold my own with whatever's going. Not against: with." - Robert Frost

Memory Lane: Chapter Ten

For the remainder of the week, Jesse seemed to trust that I really did memorize the path after walking with him twice. His truck rolled right past the Stallard's every morning. I didn't mind, though. Trying to keep up with his long stride was hard enough the first two days.

After our pop quiz on Tuesday, I rushed to the bathroom to check the status of my legs. To my horror, they were not the right color. Since my surgery, my legs have slowly faded from a hideous crimson red to a more tolerable pink. After trying to keep up with Jesse, however, they snapped back to a darkish red color.

Worry wormed its way into my head the entire day. As soon as school let out, I was talking to Aunt June about setting up an appointment with my doctor. While panic filled my brain, Aunt June remained calm and reminded me that I have a check-in next week. With her soothing words of reassurance that I would be okay to wait, I finally agreed. I've been lathering on my medical lotion at least four times a day and the irritation has since slipped away.

I'm glad that Jesse has left me on my own the rest of the week for more than just the discomfort on my legs. I know he barely held back his own slew of questions when I had to stop on the bench. The curiosity in his gaze signified a line of questioning more than small-talk would approve. If I plan on keeping quiet about things, I'd rather limit his chances to ask.

On Tuesday, right on cue, Jesse's old red truck lurched to life at 7 o'clock. From my window seat, with my mom's poetry journal open in my lap, I watched his truck switch from first to second gear and drive down the small, neighborhood road. Same time as last week.

It wouldn't grip my attention so much if Allen and the girls hadn't consistently mentioned how little Jesse goes out anymore. And when I brought it up, none of them seemed to know where it was that Jesse was going. I shouldn't be as curious as I am, but something about Jesse and the guarded look in his eye has officially caught my attention.

Tonight, as I've learned is typical from the past three Saturday's I've lived in Bennington, there's another party. This one is being held by Freckle-Freddie and I was filled with gratitude when he approached me on his own to send word of the invite. It made me feel like I'm finally becoming one of the many kids that live in Bennington rather than Allen's little cousin. (Which still makes me roll my eyes as I am really only five days younger).

"You three ready to go?" Allen asks, loudly knocking on the door to my room where Quinn, Kendall, and myself reside with clothes, makeup, and sleeping bags thrown all around the floor.

Kendall and Quinn drove over earlier today with a suitcase filled with various outfits for the three of us to try on in preparation for the party and with overnight items so that they can stay the night. They hadn't announced their arrival with a text or a call, but that didn't matter when the doorbell rang. Rather than panic that Kendall and Quinn were at the door, my face broke out into a huge smile that they expected to get ready with me. As if I've been one of their friends since the beginning. The thought made my chest warm and my smile hasn't slipped away since.

"Allen!" Kendall snaps, rushing to the door to push it back shut when he attempts to open it. "There are ladies changing in here! I know you aren't used to a girl living with you, but you're supposed to wait for a girl to let you in before entering her room."

"Jesus- you three have been getting ready for half of the night!" Allen groans on the other side of the door. "I thought we agreed to leave at nine?"

"We did."

Allen is silent for a beat on the other side. "It's 8:53."

"Exactly."

"So... you're ready?"

"Allen, we've been together for nearly a year. When have I ever been ready early?"

From my spot sitting at the window seat, I can still hear him mutter out a jumble of annoyed words and let out a frustrated grunt from the other side of the door.

"Okay. Fine. I'll be waiting downstairs whenever the Princesses are ready."

Kendall looks at me and Quinn and mimes a puppet with her hand as Allen talks, rolling her eyes. Quinn and I quickly cover our mouths with our hands as we try to conceal our giggles, failing miserably. Allen sends one final knock on his side of the door to signify his annoyance, but it only makes all three of us burst into more laughter.

"I call being Cinderella!" Quinn says, pulling her hair into a bun as she stares into the mirror. Then, she lets her long hair fall back down with a laugh. "I could never run around in a ball gown like she did, though."

"Who would you choose to be, Laura?" Kendall asks, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

I purse my lips. "I don't know. Are there any princesses with hazel eyes? I can only picture them all with blue eyes."

"Belle had hazel eyes. She was the only one, actually," Quinn says.

"Yeah, you know you do resemble Belle!" Kendall agrees, smiling widely at me. "Your hair is a little lighter, but I'd say she's your Disney princess match."

"Does that mean I'm going to marry a Beast...?"

They both laugh and shake their heads.

"What about you, Kendall? Who's your Disney princess match?"

She glances at me, a small frown etching onto her face. "They don't have any Vietnamese-American Disney Princesses."

My smile falters at her words and the dejection suddenly written in her expression.

"They should work on better representation," Quinn grumbles.

Kendall quickly dismisses her sadness and trades her frown for a genuine smile. "That's okay, though. I don't have to be a Disney princess; I can be my own."

With no more sadness lingering in her expression, I choose to match her mood and slip on a smile. The past few hours have been filled with Mount Anthony gossip, random debates on current pop culture news, and plenty of laughter. I've never clicked with two people so easily. Having Quinn and Kendall in my life has made my transition to Bennington much easier. And when I laugh with them, I completely forget about the heartache of my past. It's still there, a constant ache, but these little moments of relief make it easier.

It reminds me why no one can know about my parents or the crash. Otherwise, I'd lose these moments.

Earlier, while the two of them got ready, I pulled an outfit from my closet and snuck away to the bathroom to change to avoid having to show my legs. They were both in a debate over whether to go with tight or loose tops, so neither noticed me slip away.

By the time I made it back, I was relieved to see that both had chosen tight tops since that's part of the outfit I had snagged and changed into. A tight long-sleeved tee, loose, high waisted jeans, and some sneakers is simple but effective for a high school party. Quinn is still wearing one of her light pink thrifted skirts, pairing it with a skin-tight, white off the shoulder shirt. I don't know many girls that could pull off her style, but she does it with ease and looks beautiful every time.

Kendall is wearing a black crop top with jeans and she looks absolutely gorgeous in such a simple outfit. She doesn't need to pick sparkly tops or find the latest fashion trend to fill her closet: she's so naturally attractive that her looks do everything for her.

The three of us make our way downstairs with one more minute to spare. Allen is sitting on the couch in the living room with both of his parents, knee bobbing up and down and fingers tapping the arm of the couch as he tries to pay attention to their game show on TV.

"Finally," he exasperates when he hears us walk into the room. His eyes land on Kendall and move over her body slowly, and I swear they fill with a hunger that I did not need to see. He quickly adjusts his glasses, scrambles to his feet, and smiles at her. "You look amazing."

"You complain about how long it takes me to get ready, yet you always love the final outcome."

Allen grins and wraps a hand around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "I complain because the three hours it takes you to get ready means three less hours I get to spend with you." Then he gives a sheepish smile, "Then again, that's three more hours I get to play Pokémon."

Kendall, who was smiling affectionately at him, instantly rolls her eyes and lightly shoves him away with an amused scoff. Allen laughs, his hands still on her waist so he easily pulls her back to him.

I appreciate their ease of affection towards one another. Most teenage guys would be embarrassed or too egotistical to show that level of affection to their girlfriend around others.

Case and point, every guy I've been interested in.

I dated two. One when I was fifteen and the other when I was sixteen. Neither relationship lasted more than a couple of months after both guys decided being a decent boyfriend meant losing a portion of their man-card. I never got more than a small hug when in public and certainly no words of affection if anyone was within listening distance. But behind closed doors they didn't mind being all over me- well, as far as kissing goes. I'm not an advocate for excessive PDA, but it would have been nice to have my hand held here and there.

It's a breath of fresh air to see how comfortable Allen is with himself that he's not afraid to show off his adoration of Kendall.

"All three of you look great," Aunt June says, smiling kindly at us from her spot on the couch. I see a reminiscent look in her eye as she lightly pats Uncle Tim's hand. "Feels like yesterday when it was us heading out to a Saturday party, doesn't it?"

Uncle Tim tears his eyes away from the TV just long enough to glance at all of the kids, glance at his wife, and offer her a smile and a nod. Always a man of few- or no- words.

"You four be careful, okay? If you need anything, Tim and I are only a phone call away," Aunt June states sternly.

Allen waves her off, "We'll be fine, mom. Laura and I aren't drinking tonight."

"No?"

"I'm on door duty and Laura offered to drive."

Aunt June's bright blue eyes land on me, quickly filling with understanding and she gives a subtle nod. "What time should I be expecting you all back?"

"That's impossible to guess-" Allen starts, but when he sees her sharp glare he quickly bites his tongue. "I mean, around 12:30?"

She nods, satisfied with that answer. "I'll make a frozen pizza before I go to bed for you all to have when you get back."

"It's not like we're going to have the munchies," Allen laughs.

"I might," Quinn says shamelessly.

Uncle Tim snaps his head over to stare at Quinn with a furrowed brow, either concerned that she's going to smoke or that she feels comfortable enough with him around to admit it.

"You and you," Aunt June says, sending a pointed finger at me and Allen, "had better not. As for Kendall and Quinn, I'm not your mother or aunt so I can't exactly tell you what to do. But, be smart."

Kendall buries her face in her hands, shaking her head. "I'll keep an eye on her, June."

"And I'll keep an eye on her." Allen says, squeezing Kendall's waist.

Aunt June glances at me with a helpless expression.

I chuckle, "I'll keep an eye on everyone. Thank you, Aunt June."

We all give her hugs and smiles of appreciation, and moments later we all file into her car. I take the driver's seat while the three of them jump in the back with laughter as they call me their Uber driver. The heat in the car causes Allen's glasses to fog up momentarily, so Kendall slides them off of his face to clean them off, putting them back on him along with a small kiss.

"I always feel like such a third wheel," Quinn mumbles.

"I'm here too, you know," I say.

"Yeah, but I don't plan on kissing you. Sorry Laura, I can't be your Beast."

Allen gives us a puzzled expression, but I move past it with a laugh. "I guess that makes us third and fourth wheels, then."

I begin to back out of the driveway and start down the road, past Jesse's house. As we pass his house, a mix somewhere between cottage style and colonial, his garage door begins to open and Jesse emerges. He's illuminated by the light shining in the garage behind him, showing that he's wearing nothing but gray sweatpants, a black t-shirt, and socks as he hauls a trash bag down his driveway. It's definitely cold enough for a sweatshirt, but I don't mind his lack of one. His arm flexes with the weight of the bag as he effortlessly tosses it into the bin sitting at the edge of his driveway where it waits for early morning pickup the next day.

"Slow down," Allen says, grabbing the back of my seat so that he can sit up and put his window down, but the child lock must be on because he tugs on my seat. "Laura, roll down the window!"

"Okay, okay! Quit pulling on my headrest." I snap, sending him a look through the rear view mirror.

I try to roll his window down by pressing the button next to me, scowling when my window starts to descend instead of his, catching Jesse's attention. I quickly ditch my window, still halfway down, and finally find the button for Allen's. I cringe when he yells far too close to my ear, but it takes Jesse's questioning gaze off of me.

"Jesse!"

I stop on the neighborhood road without any worry of another car pulling up behind me. We are only on a small side street and the rest of the neighbors are most likely in for the night. The chilly night air filters in from the open windows and I send an apologetic look to Kendall and Quinn in the backseat who are sans jackets. I wonder how Jesse isn't cold.

"Hey man, you want to come out with us tonight?" Allen asks, half of his body out the window as he yells across the street to Jesse. "Freddie is having a party at his place while his parents are out of town. Should be fun."

Jesse surveys the car for a moment, looking past Allen to Quinn and Kendall who have both sat up and moved so that their heads are visible from the open window. Then his gaze flickers to the front and he looks at me. Without anything but a streetlamp and the little bit of light pooling out from his garage to illuminate his face, his eyes are particularly gray tonight and his tousled hair looks even darker.

"Isn't it your turn to watch the door tonight?" He asks, focusing back on Allen who nods. "In that case, I don't need to be there."

Allen and the girls deflate a little.

Quinn sighs, slumping into her seat. "At least we tried."

"It seemed like he considered it for a split second?" Kendall tries to sound hopeful, but her voice comes out hesitantly and fails to reassure either of them.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure no one does something stupid like drive drunk. I don't want anyone dying on my watch," Allen says to Jesse, instantly regretting it as his whole body flinches.

For a moment I don't understand why Allen would be so uncomfortable with his own words, but then it clicks. Allen is in close proximity to not one, but two people who have lost at least one parent in the last year. To him, mentioning death around just one of us is the ultimate act of sticking his foot in his mouth.

He shouldn't let it bother him. Especially if neither Jesse or myself showed any signs of being offended.

"Eh, I mean- I don't want anyone driving on my watch! Yeah, I'll make sure to snag their keys if they've had a drink." He quickly says in a lame attempt to patch the awkward tension that he created solely by reacting the way he did.

Jesse's eyes flicker to me for a moment before he raises a brow at Allen. "Yet you aren't the designated driver tonight?"

"I asked to drive," I answer in his place.

"There's a surprise."

My lips fall into an annoyed frown. "I'm not in the drinking mood. May as well make that useful and be the designated driver."

"I'd recommend staying away from the glass bottles of grape juice, then."

"Funny. I know what wine is."

"You didn't know what Jungle Juice was," he shrugs. "Just trying to help."

I smile sarcastically. "How thoughtful of you."

"Well, I have to earn it somehow."

My mouth opens partly from wanting to respond and partly in shock before I snap it shut, eyeing him as I fight the random dusting of heat that spreads across my cheeks. I quickly recount my annoyance towards him back on Tuesday for never mentioning our pop quiz and his brief ask for forgiveness.

Jesse's expression almost looks amused as he watches me fumble for a response.

"Have fun tonight." His words are directed more to the others in the car since I remain silent. He waves goodbye to them before turning on his heel and heading back up his driveway.

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