Hold Me Close: A Jemi Story

Chapter 2

     The soft rain hitting against my window woke me up almost instantly. I used to find the rain drops soothing when I was younger. They helped me sleep at night when I was nervous about my first day of school, or a big test. It's not to say I despised the gentle rain drops now, it would be that my appreciation towards them started fading when I grew older and realized that I had a lot of other things to think about and that I had no more time to waste on the simplicity of life. 

     I looked over at my antique clock that hung elegantly against the creme colour of my painted bedroom walls. It was just a mere 6:45 in the morning, and I was already craving Starbucks. 

     I threw the covers off of my body and slid my feet into my pink slippers. I dragged my feet until I reached Selena's room, and made sure I knocked before I entered. 

     "Sel," I whispered, "Are you up?"

     Selena murmured something inaudible. I opened the door slowly, avoiding any creaking it may decide to cause. "Selena!"

     "Ugh!" She moaned, slowly sitting up in her pillow infested bed. "Okay, okay! I'll get ready." 

     "You know, I don't understand why you're so boy crazed; you've got all of those pillows to cuddle with anyway." I winked, watching Selena's face flush a light scarlet. 

     "Get out," she flustered, and I danced back to my room.

     An hour and a half went by before Selena came waltzing through the living room. "I'm ready!" She sang, her dark curls bouncing along with each of her steps. 

     I smiled up at her and stood from the recliner. "Someone's in a seemingly good mood. Why?" 

     "Because I'm getting a free latte today," Selena smirked and lifted both her hands to show no sign of a purse.

     "Oh, you're good." I laughed, following her out the door. "No worries Sel, it's my treat!" 

     I parked the car right outside of the little neighbourhood Starbucks. It was the closest one to our apartment, and it was always our first stop in the morning. As I took the keys out of the ignition, I felt Selena's stare peering right through me. 

     "What?" I looked up at her causiously.

     I felt relieved after I saw her smile. "Demi, please don't get upset with me." 

    I giggled. "Sel, you left your purse and wallet at home just so you wouldn't have to pay for coffee. It's no big deal, we do stuff like that to each other all the time-" 

     "No," Selena paused, looking at me for a minute. "Demi, I set you up on a date. Tonight. With Joe." 

     I groaned. "I didn't think you meant right away!"

     "Please Demi!" Selena begged. "It can be a double date. I'm going out with his brother tonight,    Joe said we would hit it off."

     "I don't have anything to wear, I don't know what I'm going to do with my hair! Where are we going to go? What does he like? What if it doesn't work out?" My mind was flooded with thoughts and expectations and all of the curiosities and possibilities in the world.

     "Relax, D!" I felt Selena's gentle touch on my arm. "That's why it's called 'taking chances.'"

     I looked away from Selena's puppy dog eyes and focused my attention to the window. Splattered with tiny little rain drops, racing down from the top to the bottom, rolling off my car and away. Maybe enjoying the simple things in life couldn't hurt. Maybe it was time to move on and meet someone new; and who knows? We might click. Maybe we could enjoy watching the rain together, in simple and sweet serendipity. 

     "Okay," I sighed, giving her a small smile. "It's time to take a chance."