Even If

Chapter One

"In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  Luke 15:10

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"Excuse me, miss."

The sound of the voice, so sudden, completely out of nowhere sent a jolt through my entire being. The bags I was currently unloading from the butt end of my old Jeep fell to the ground, a spark shot through my veins as a gentle finger rapped cautiously against my sweat-slickened shoulder.

"I don't know if you will be of much help, but I'm looking for a girl. Your height, your hair color, a bit of a maniac if you asked me. Although, I believe her brains make up for it. Any clue where she might be?"

A smirk twitched at the corners of my lips. I spun on my heel, effortlessly, dramatically, with a boisterous grin, taking in the prim and entirely too proper voice of my best friend. His thin accent that almost sounded fake. That cocky grin that I loved and completely despised all in one sitting was present upon his flawless lips as it always was. Beauty marks rested upon his skin, dotted like the stars in the sky without any plausible purpose but to make him more and more beautiful. Hence the name. His untamable brown curls fell into his doe eyes that sparkled with every bit of excitement swirling inside. He was already draped beneath the school uniform, khakis and a button up with a unique crest just above the left side of his chest, although he had blamelessly shed that wretched blazer due to the predictable, sweltering heat of the summer.

"Glenn Anderson, I ought to have known it to be you. I would be careful with those compliments before a girl begins to fall for you, you old fool." The urge to squeal with excitement was all too overwhelming that I barely managed a straight face as I went along with his little act. We both busted up as soon as our eyes met, his chocolate irises upon my own icy gaze. "It's so good to see you."

His arms coiled around me impressively quick, resting upon the small of my back, his face buried into what was left of my curls. It took all of the willpower I held inside to keep my feet planted against the ground rather than hopping up into his arms with my overwhelming sense of elation. I had missed him more than I wished to admit; it had been far too long of a summer for my liking.

We could have stood there, in that exact position, my head pressed into his chest, arms around his back, for hours, but alas, he pulled away, breaking the much needed amount of human contact he was choosing to grace me with.

"I missed you, Rommy." Glenn held me back at arms length and merely took me in with a hint of the past coating those tired eyes of his. The edge of his mouth tilted with laughter at the use of my nickname, the one he had granted me with out freshman year. His fingers toyed with my thick curls, stopping at the tips that were located much closer to my face than they ever had been before. "What happened here?"

I wasn't too shocked by the disappointment to his tone. I had refused to cut my hair other than a quick trim since I was a little girl and the hairdresser at my mother's salon had completely butchered the fancy do I was hoping to sport. Instead of stopping at my chin, she had let out the smallest, most innocent of sneezes with the scissors grasped around my locks and snipped much, much higher than mother had requested. I had looked like a little boy for at least half of that year. Since that traumatizing incident, I had allowed them to grow long and blonde, my absolute favorite aspect from all of my other features.

"It was time for a change." My eyes flickered away from his. He would understand why; he always knew just what it was I was thinking.

If he did catch my hesitation, he never let it show. "Well, I like it. You look much older."