Never Forget

Chapter 12 (Krista)

The ice cream shop was right across the street from the park along with a pizza parlor a sushi resturaunt. We walked inside and it was cold and the building smelled sweet. There weren't a lot of people there. I was at the counter trying to decide whether I wanted a cone or a cup when familiar faces walked in. There was about 8 or 9 of them. All of them I recognized from church. Among the faces were Tori, Brian, and Shawn.

"Hey girl!" Tori said.
"Hey!"
"I didn't think I was gonna see you again so soon."
"Oh yeah...it was a last minute thing."
"Omg. We have to talk about something."
Tori dragged me to a little table with two chairs around it away from everyone else.
"So...are you and Joshy dating?" Tori asked and looked at me intently. I chuckled. "No. We're just friends"
"He's a great guy. You should at least think about it."
"I just met him on Thursday. I don't want to rush into anything."
"I see. I thought you guys have known each other for years."
"Why'd you think that?" I ask.
"Well you guys just seem so comfortable around each other."
"Ohhhhh okay. I get it."
"Yeah. Let's move over to everyone else."

We went over to the rest of the group. They pushed some tables together so we could all fit. Tori went to get herself some ice cream. She got strawberry shortcake flavor. As soon as she sat down one of the guys said "Tori, aren't you lactose intolerant?"
"Yeah."
"Then why-"
"Listen Gary, I'll live my life and you live yours"
Everyone burst into laughter.

The rest of the evening was spent laughing and sharing stories of our childhood. I even told a story about how I fell on top of my crush while doing a stunt during cheerlading practice. "You crushed your crush" this one guy named Dylan said. Everyone laughed.
"It's not funny! It was so embarrassing." I said.
When it was time to leave they put together a bunch of money to leave in the tip jar, it was over $100. It seemed a bit strange to me. "We always leave a big tip for two reasons: to be a blessing in someone else's life and so that we are more than welcome to come back here." J explained to me. "Ohhhh that makes sense."

We all went out to the park but after a few minutes people started to head home. The sun was saetting and the only people that were left were me, J, Tori, Chris (Tori's brother) and Brian. The boys were hanging out and talking about random boy things while Tori and I got to know each other better.

"I used to live in New York before my family moved to Rosewood. I was only 5 years old when I moved but I go back up to visit my aunts and my cousins pretty often." Tori told me. "Oh wow. Would you ever move back up there?" I asked.
"Heck no. It's dirty, loud, and there's way too many people. I couldn't do it. Chris wants to move back up there though after he finishes college."
"I see." We walked to the side of the park where the play ground was. The sun had down completely so the only lights were the street lights around the park. "Yeah. I'm gonna head home in a bit. Give me your number so I can text you." She says. I put my number in her phone and she put her number in mines. "Chris! Brian! Let's go!" She hollered at the boys who were messing around by the swings. They said bye to J and went with Tori.

J was siting on one of the swings. I walked over and sat on the one next to him. "Hey" I said. "Hey" He replied.
"Today was a lot of fun. Thank you for taking me."
"You're very welcome."
"You're friends are so funny."
"Yeah they're....something." He chuckled. "Did you see when Chris shoved those straws up his nose so he'd look like a walrus?"
"Yeah. It was so funny." I said smiling at the memory.
"Ummm Krista?"
"Yes J?"
"I know we just met but I just wanted to say that you're so amazing and smart and beautiful and I'm so glad that we met."
"Aww I'm glad we met too J. This is a start of a great friendship. You and Tori and everyone else are so different from the other friends I've had. I'm glad that you guys have made me apart of your little family."
J smiled his beautiful smile. Then he checked his phone. "It's getting late. We should probably get going."

We walked to the car and he took me back to my apartment.