What happened to forever?

Chapter One

The familiar scent of salt and Palm trees filled my nose as I breathed in the Florida air. It felt so good to be back home. I hadn't realized how much I missed it. I looked over at Blake. We had been dating for nine months and I still couldn't get over........no. I promised myself I wouldn't think about him, I promised. But the memories come rushing back again.

~~~~flashback-age 15~~~~

"Hey" a hushed whisper came from the back of the room. I decided to ignore it.

"Hey, Jess" I turned around. The source of the whisper was a boy named Jared. He was really annoying. Kind of the class clown, but he was a flirt, too. He mostly kept to himself and his group.

"What do you want Jared?"

"Will you go out with me?"

"Excuse me?" um, what was he talking about? Had I heard him correctly?

"Will. you. go. out. with. me?" He said in slow syllables.

"Um, no.." He turned to his friends and they laughed . What was that all about?

"Hey Kriss," It was Jared again, and this time he was talking to my best friend, Kriss.

"So, will you go out with me?"

"No, moron, I would never go out with you." Man, I should have said it like she said it. But then, she always had more sass than me. He turned to his friends again and laughed. I rolled my eyes. Boys like him shouldn't be liked by any girl. They just weren't worth the trouble. They were all immature and childish. Who would ever like a guy like that?

~~~~~END OF FLASHBACK~~~~~

"Jess," It was Blake, pulling me out of my first memory of Jared.

"Yeah, Blake?"

"Michael says we're almost there."

"Okay"

Michael was my 19 year old brother who was driving us down to Florida for the summer. He has reddish brown hair and green-blue eyes that changed with his mood. He got the beautiful side of the genes. I got stuck with regular brown hair. But I really couldn't complain because my eyes were pretty, being dark green, like moss. My skin is tan from living in Florida for most of my life. Florida... This is where Jared is. I mentally sigh in pain. Time didn't heal my wounds. It just made them deeper and more intense. What was I going to do when I saw him again? The car slowed to a stop.

I jumped out of the car and took in my childhood home. The white columns and rocking chairs brought back so many memories I didn't want to remember. I looked left and saw the swaying palm tree next to my house. I sighed and started walking towards it.

"You okay?" Blake jogged towards me. I walked up to him and hugged him, mostly to distract him from looking at the tree.

"Why don't you go meet my mom?" He started walking towards the car to get the bags.

"I love you, Jess." He softly yelled out behind the trunk. I smiled sadly. If only....

~~~~~Flashback-age 15~~~~~

"Come on, hurry up!" He yelled-whispered at me with my hand in his as we ran down my driveway.

"Shhh!" I was laughing though. If my mother found out I was out this late at night she would kill me and him at once. Hey at least we'd die together.

We stopped at the Palm tree next to my house.

"Forever, Chambers?"

"Forever, Hamilton." I smiled up at him.

"Well, let's make it permanent then." He takes out his pocketknife and starts carving something into the tree.

"What are you doing Jared?" I laughed

" Turn around Jess" He turned me around and put my hands over my eyes. I laughed.

A few minutes later, he told me to opened my eyes. I gasped.

"We are now permanent, Chambers"

On the Palm tree, he put Jared Hamilton + Jess Chambers in a heart.

"Forever, Chambers?"

"Forever, Hamilton."

~~~~~end of flashback~~~~~

Jess, is that you?" When I hear this voice, Palm trees and broken promises are long forgotten.

"Mom?" Inside my heart is breaking. She looks even worse than before. I swell up with hatred towards my father. How could he do this to the only person who's ever taken care of us?

I run towards my mother, and hug her as gently as possible but with so much love in my heart. I feel a rush of guilt as I remember leaving with dad. The worst part is that I knew, but I didn't stop him from taking us to Minnesota. Truth is, I couldn't look at anything without it reminding me of Jared. So I left.