A Friend's Love

Chapter Twenty-Two: Year

*Seven months later*

It's hard to believe that seven months have passed. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

If anyone asked, I would instantly tell them that my sophomore year was the best school year yet. After Alise's brain tumor was amazing cured, Erec was officially out of my life again, and Jake and I made up, everything seemed to just go right. I'm not going to say it was perfect, because who believes in perfect? But... it was perfect enough for me.

Jake and I grew closer with every week that passed by. We went on spur-of-the-moment dates whenever we felt like it, took hundreds of pictures, and surprised each other with strange and random gifts. And the months passed by. The next thing I knew, it was July, school was over, and my summer was already starting.

On June 2nd, Jake called me for our usual goodnight call. But it wasn't our usual conversation. Before I could even say "Hey" he was blurting out a sentence that made me drop my phone.

"Tomorrow's our one-year anniversary."

I stared at my cell phone, which was now on the floor, in shock. And then I scrambled to pick it up, falling off of my bed in the process. Jake must have heard my cry of pain, because as soon as I put the phone up to my ear, I heard him asking over and over again if I was okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine Jake." I assured him. "But tomorrow's really our one-year anniversary?"

"Well, if you don't count our little 'fight' or whatever you wanna call it, and I don't, then yeah, tomorrow's our anniversary! Can you believe it?" Jake said.

He sounded like an excited little girl. I giggled and then when I realized what this meant, I grinned. Our one-year anniversary! How amazing was that?

"Jake! That's... that's amazing!" I squealed, searching for the right word. This was unbelievable. I felt like a love-struck, teenage girl (which.. I guess I was!). How could I not have realized this? Wasn't I supposed to be obsessing over special days and all that stuff? ...oh well!

"I know!" Jake replied. I could practically see him grinning. "So... are you free tomorrow night?"

I checked my iPod quickly, and then replied with a "Yes."

"Well, not any more!" he answered cheerfully. "Because I'm taking you out to dinner! Can I pick you up at seven?"

"Yeah, that sounds perfect." I replied. My cheeks were really starting to hurt from all the grinning I was doing.

We said our goodnights and hung up. I changed into the tank top and pajama pants I slept in and then crawled into bed. For a while, I just laid there, smiling and wondering how my life could have gotten this good. And then I texted Liz, telling her everything. We talked until I fell asleep at midnight. And then, I slept peacefully.

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The next morning, I woke up to a text from Jake.

'Wear a dress. This is a special occasion ;)'

I yawned, blinked away some of my sleepiness, and then replied with a, 'K.' Hey, I was still half-asleep!

Eyes drooping, I trudged to the bathroom to take a shower. I wasn't even paying attention to what I was doing. So that was probably why I was suddenly blasted with ice cold water. My shriek probably woke up the whole town, but I didn't care. I scrambled to fix the water temperature, gritting my teeth as the water hit my back. When I could actually breath again, I let out a deep breath and then let the water run through my hair.