Chapter 1

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*Two Months Ago*

The warm, early summer sun hit my face as I laughed at my boyfriend and his older brother. Devan grinned as he plunged into the pool, splashing the cold water all over me.

It was June 24th, a very important day for Devan and I. This day marked our six month anniversary since Christmas, and my family's first summer barbecue. My family, the Key family, and even the Blanchard family was here.

It's funny the way you can make friends when your longtime best friend moves away and your other one becomes your boyfriend. Eva and I have become surprisingly close and when I really sat down to get to know her, she wasn't as bad as I once thought she was. We went to each other for everything now and I was actually the one that begged my mom to invite her family.

Now, I quickly swam over to Eva and jumped on her back, begging Collins to save me from Devan. She giggled and attempted to run away, which only resulted in her going super slow. I screeched when I felt Devan grab onto my ankle, making Eva jump and slip, falling into the water and dropping me.

Under the water, Devan's arms snaked around my waist and pulled me up. Once I could actually hear what was going on around me, Devan's victorious yell echoed in my ears. I laughed and squirmed out of his grip.

"Order up!" I heard my dad yell over our screaming.

I looked around at my friends and grinned at them, saying, "Last one out is a rotten egg!"

Suddenly, the whole pool was in motion as everyone rushed to get out. I somehow made it to the stairs, Collins scrambled up the ladder, Devan was pushing himself out of the water, but Eva was stuck treading water in the middle of the pool, not knowing where to go.

I turned around and saw her, floating there with a confused look on her face and laughed, "Oh, Eva!"

She smiled and giggled at me, swimming towards the stairs and stepping out.

The next day, Devan and I were sitting on his bed and binge-watching Netflix while the cooling rain poured from the sky. I sighed as the credits rolled on the season finale of The Flash.

"They can't end it like that..." I complained sleepily.

Devan chuckled and kissed the top of my head. I smiled and looked up at him, watching the expression on his face lose his smile but gain a great measure of love.

I giggled and said, "I don't even know what to do now. I'm empty inside and there's no more life in me."

Devan laughed and asked, "Wait! If there's no life in you are you dead?"

I smiled and closed my eyes, pretending to take my last breath.

"Noooooo!" He shouted above me. "The love of my life is dead, what will I ever do? Maybe true love's kiss will bring her back!"

All of a sudden, there were tiny kisses all over my face and giggles pouring from my mouth. There were the sounds of his cries of destress filling the room and he hugged me close to him, begging me to live again.

When I convinced him that I was still among the living, we smiled at each other and sighed.

"Let's go do something." Devan said, jumping off the bed and looking at me.

I groaned and complained, "Why do we have to? I'm dying from that last episode!"

Devan leaned over me and said, "We could go on a date."

"Is that an invitation or a proposition?" I asked with a smile.

He chuckled and replied, "Well it was supposed to be an invitation but maybe you didn't get it."

Scoffing, I commented, "That was not an invitation. You're going to have to try a lot harder than that to impress me, buster."

He laughed, stepped back, and asked grandly, "Elaina Morgan, would do me the great honor of going on a date with me?"

A giggle escaped my mouth and I nodded my head. Devan took my hand and dragged me down the stairs and out the door into the pouring rain. I squealed when I felt the cold drops hitting my skin but turned to my boyfriend. He was watching me with a huge grin on his face. He stepped closer to me and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me against him. We slowly swayed to the music of the rain hitting the ground and the thunder over our heads.

"I love you, Lanie." He whispered into my ear.

I smiled and whispered back, "I love you too, Devan."

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