A Walk to Remember - By Nicholas Sparks Page 0,45

wasn’t simply because he thought I was irresponsible, or that I used to hide behind the trees and call him names, or even that I was a member of the Carter family.

“Why?” I asked.

“For the same reason that I do,” she said. She didn’t elaborate any further, and I knew right then that she was holding something back, something that she couldn’t tell me, something that made her sad as well. But it wasn’t until later that I learned her secret.

Being in love with a girl like Jamie Sullivan was without a doubt the strangest thing I’d ever been through. Not only was she a girl that I’d never thought about before this year— even though we’d grown up together—but there was something different in the whole way my feelings for her had unfolded. This wasn’t like being with Angela, whom I’d kissed the first time I was ever alone with her. I still hadn’t kissed Jamie. I hadn’t even hugged her or taken her to Cecil’s Diner or even to a movie. I hadn’t done any of the things that I normally did with girls, yet somehow I’d fallen in love.

The problem was, I still didn’t know how she felt about me.

Oh sure, there were some indications, and I hadn’t missed them. The Bible was, of course, the biggie, but there was also the way she’d looked at me when she’d closed the door on Christmas Eve, and she’d let me hold her hand on the ride home from the orphanage. To my way of thinking there was definitely something there—I just wasn’t exactly sure of how to take the next step.

When I’d finally taken her home after Christmas dinner, I’d asked if it would be okay if I came by from time to time, and she’d said it would be fine. That’s exactly how she’d said it, too—“That would be fine.” I didn’t take the lack of enthusiasm personally—Jamie had a tendency to talk like an adult, and I think that’s why she got along with older people so well.

The following day I walked to her house, and the first thing I noticed was that Hegbert’s car wasn’t in the driveway. When she answered the door, I knew enough not to ask her if I could come in.

“Hello, Landon,” she said as she always did, as if it were a surprise to see me. Again her hair was down, and I took this as a positive sign.

“Hey, Jamie,” I said casually.

She motioned to the chairs. “My father’s not home, but we can sit on the porch if you’d like. . . .”

Don’t even ask me how it happened, because I still can’t explain it. One second I was standing there in front of her, expecting to walk to the side of the porch, and in the next second I wasn’t. Instead of moving toward the chairs, I took a step closer to her and found myself reaching for her hand. I took it in mine and looked right at her, moving just a little closer. She didn’t exactly step back, but her eyes widened just a little, and for a tiny, flickering moment I thought I’d done the wrong thing and debated going any further. I paused and smiled, sort of tilting my head to the side, and the next thing I saw was that she’d closed her eyes and was tilting her head, too, and that our faces were moving closer together.

It wasn’t that long, and it certainly wasn’t the kind of kiss you see in movies these days, but it was wonderful in its own way, and all I can remember about the moment is that when our lips first touched, I knew the memory would last forever.

Chapter 11

“You’re the first boy I’ve ever kissed,” she said to me.

It was a few days before the new year, and Jamie and I were standing at the Iron Steamer Pier in Pine Knoll Shores. To get there, we’d had to cross the bridge that spans the Intracoastal Waterway and drive a little way down the island. Nowadays the place has some of the most expensive beachfront property in the entire state, but back then it was mainly sand dunes nestled against the Maritime National Forest.

“I figured I might have been,” I said.

“Why?” she asked innocently. “Did I do it wrong?” She didn’t look like she’d be too upset if I’d said yes, but it wouldn’t have been the truth.

“You’re a great kisser,” I said, giving her hand a