He's fourteen, and at the awkward stage between childhood and teenagerdom. Mark just calls it puberty, but Mark is also a jerk—along with being his stepbrother—so Jayden doesn't really listen to him anyway.

Will—his best friend— is still as wild as ever, but he's apparently befriended new girl named Lucy Hart, so at least he has someone else to hang around now. They still hang out and, ultimately, end up fighting, and it's cool. Lucy's actually pretty okay too, and so she spends time with them sometimes.

Actually, more like all the time. In the two weeks that the blonde has been in town, she and Will have become practically inseparable. It's kind of weird, and he thinks it might have been a little more on Will's part, but it's also none of his business. Lucy is definitely kind of cute, and most of the pubescent male population of their town thinks so, Jayden included.

It's a nice, sunny Saturday afternoon in July, and they're out going for ice cream because apparently Will promised Lucy. Jayden just wanted to get away from Max and his tyrannical older brother's antagonistic ways for the day, and ice cream with two of his best friends seemed like a great excuse.

So, Will is dragging Lucy through the streets and Jayden is tailing them when he sees her. She's let her hair grow longer, and now it's pulled back into a braid. She's wearing a sundress again—purple and flowery, this time—and is staring inside one of the bakery's windows.

He hasn't seen her since summer started a couple weeks ago.

He slows to a stop a few feet from her, but she doesn't seem to notice. "Faith?"

"Jayden," she exclaims in surprise, bright dark chocolate eyes wide, clutching a fist to her chest, "you scared me!"

He tries to grin. "Uh, sorry. You…seemed a little distracted."

Her face goes almost as red as her hair, which he thinks is strange, because he's never seen Faith Madison blush before. His heart kick-starts and decides to beat about ten times faster than normal. "Um, I was, you see—they have the best strawberry cake and..." she trails off lamely, twiddling her fingers and not meeting his eyes.

Cute, he thinks before he can stop himself.

This is not the Faith he is used to—she's usually kicking all the guys' butts in softball, or kickball, and dodgeball, or being tomboyish in general. She's quiet and strong like the calm before the storm, but loud and brash like a lightning strike when the time called for it. That was the Faith he knew, not this quiet, shy, stammering, teenage girl daydreaming about sweets in front of cake shops.

"You wanted a piece, right?" he asks, and when she nods hesitantly, he pulls open the door.

The bell overhead jingles merrily, and she looks at him questioningly. Jayden shrugs and pulls out his wallet. "I was gonna get ice cream with Will and Lucy, but they'll probably be fine on their own. Lucy will keep him from destroying anything, and I was kinda in the mood for a cinnamon roll or something instead."

That's a lie—it's ninety-seven degrees out, and he's pretty sure his shirt is sticking to his back by this point, but the bakery has air conditioning. The shy smile on Faith's face might also make it worth his while. Ice cream can wait.

Faith shakes her head slightly. "Y—you don't have to pay for it, I do have some money with me."

He shoots her a lazy grin as they walk up the counter and—ah, just feel that blast of cool air. "Nah, it's cool. Besides, it wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to let a girl pay when I already offered."

Her smile is sweeter than any of the sugary desserts any shop in the world.