Read Being Jolene for Free Online

if it was how shy she got when she realized that it was me and not Caleb. I was a stranger but at that moment I really wished I wasn’t.”
    Clara whistled and smacked me on the shoulder. “You got it bad.”
    She was right and I didn’t even know what I had yet.
    Clara gave me a hug and wished me luck. I would need it.
    ***
    I pulled up to Jolene’s cabin a little early. The beginning of summer brought later sunsets but it could still be cold up here, the peaks of the mountains lingering with snow from the winter.
    I didn’t even have time to turn off the truck and my passenger door was being opened and Jolene jumped in. I guess I wasn’t going to do the gentlemanly thing and grab the door for her. Maybe this made it less like a date and more like hanging out. I was starting to have second thoughts about this whole date thing because what if she thought it was too much, going too far beyond friends.
    God, this girl made me feel like I was sixteen again. Except, in many ways, I never went through this when I was sixteen. It was like I was doing everything in reverse. At sixteen, I had everything set out for me and yet look how well that worked out. Newsflash, it didn’t. Not in certain areas. Now wasn’t the time for thinking about the past. It was time to finally think about the future.
    “Where to friend?” Jolene asked me.
    Friend? Yep, nerves were running high right now. Must. Act. Smooth.
    I gave a smile. “It’s a surprise.”
    She snorted, literally snorted and said, “Yeah, heard that one before.”
    My grip on the wheel tightened as I try to keep my cool and composed face on, when really I was freaking out like I was taking a girl on my first date when I was sixteen.
    “How many dates have you had in the wilderness?” I asked, acting smug.
    “More than you would think actually.”
    Shit.
    I kept driving down the road because I really didn’t know what to say to that. I found the small dirt road and turned down it, the ride immediately becoming bumpier. As the gentleman that I was, I was trying as hard as possible to not look over at Jolene because you know, bumps and all.
    We drove in silence for the next five minutes. I had asked a co-worker if I could use the corner of his parent’s land. He was cool with it and I continued on the road, past the trees and finally to the little meadow that was shadowed by the hills that boarded one side of the valley.
    I broke my own rule to glance over to Jolene to see her eyes strayed out the side of the truck, taking everything in. It didn’t take much to figure out that she was girl who took everything in. There were people in this world that saw life with blinders on and in a small range of grays, whites and blacks and then there were people who saw the world in widescreen and every color ever created. Life overwhelmed them and these types of people tried to take everything in. I couldn’t help but think Jolene was one of those people. She saw the world in Technicolor, but I think she limited herself. I didn’t know if she actually realized it, if maybe the roadblocks she put up limited her ability to truly live the life she craved. She craved to see beyond the roadblocks, I knew it, felt it in my bones.
    I put the truck in park and rather than walking around and opening the door for her, since I considered that too much of a date, I just got of the truck and started grabbing the supplies.
    “So what’s the plan?” she said as she walked over to me.
    “Dinner and movie. Figured I would go classic for the first date.”
    Her head swung towards mine, an eyebrow raised. I took in her appearance fully for the first time tonight. She would be hard to crack but I was up for the challenge. She was dressed causally, with jeans, brown boots and a long sleeve shirt that had a bunch of different colors of red and some weird swirly pattern on it. Her dark mahogany hair was down to mid waist in soft curls. She was gorgeous, hands down.
    “Dinner and a movie? Out