Jake

Chapter 2

The next day, I got up and dressed early. I put on a solid bright blue shirt, black skirt, and black sandals. This was too dressy for me, so I changed. This time, I put on a green t-shirt that read "Save the Plant!" on it with blue jeans and green converse. I didn't want to be underdressed, so I changed a third time. The third time, I wore a red shirt that had sequined stripes, my black skinny jeans, and my red converse. I kept changing, because I was so nervous and wanted to look my best, but I stopped changing after the third time.

At 1:00, his mother's car drove up to my house. I got in to find him sitting next to me in the back.

"You look great, Ashley," he greeted me with a smile.

"Thank you, you do too!" I said, returning a smile.

We went to a restaurant and got burgers. After we ate, his mom dropped us off at the bowling alley. It was a little crowded, but there was room for us in the second lane. He picked a blue ball and I picked a red one to match my shirt. His was heavier than mine, because he was stronger than me. My username was Ash and his was J-man.

He went first and got a strike on his first turn. I went next and got a gutter ball. On my next turn, he showed me how to bowl better by putting his hand on top of mine on the bowling ball. He put his other hand on my shoulder. I was very comfortable in this position, but sadly, it didn't last forever. I tried again, and this time I did a lot better! I got my first spare! On my last turn, I got a strike! He gave me a big hug to celebrate! We stood there for a while with his arms around my waist and mine on his shoulders, holding tight. I felt so safe right there in his arms. I never wanted him to let go. Our final scores were:

Ash: 10

J-man: 20

His mother took me home, but while we were in his mom's car, he sent me a text message.

HIM: Do you want to be my girlfriend?

ME: Sure.

HIM: Cool. J

ME: I have to go. L

HIM: Bye, girlfriend. J

ME: Bye, boyfriend. J

Then his mother stopped by my house and I went in satisfied.

For the next few weeks, everything thing was great. It wasn't until February that everything went downhill.

I never liked cold weather; I love warm weather in the summer. As soon as the weather get cold, everything got bad.

One Monday, I went to school in tears, because my grandfather died. He was my last living grandparent and my aunt, uncle, and cousins were in another state. This left me with just my parents.

I got to skip school the next day to go to the funeral. I was very sad. I invited Jake to come for comfort. When I saw my grandfather's body, I couldn't take seeing him like that. I wanted him to be sleeping and wake up. I kept hoping this wasn't true. I tried to tell myself it was all a dream, but I knew it wasn't; everything was too realistic.

When I started crying, Jake took me somewhere alone to talk to me.

He looked at me with sad eyes and said, "I don't like seeing you so sad. It's all going to be okay."

In tears, I replied, "It's not going to be okay! My grandpa died and now it's just me and my parents! My grandpa and I were so close!" I regretted what I said as soon as I said that. I was just so upset, I didn't think about what I said before I said it.

"It's going to be alright, you have me, right?" As he said that, he pulled me in a long, tight, hug. He gently kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear, "I'm here for you, just like you're here for me."