Alone In The Dark

Chapter 10: My Cliché Happy Ending

Skylar and I have been dating for seven months now and have taken things slowly ever since our first date and kiss. Jasmine has also discovered love, this time not some crazy guy, but a really nice guy who's absolutely perfect for her. He transferred to our school this semester, his name is Caleb Kingston. We are planning our first double date for the upcoming Saturday and I hope all goes well. Things have been going great so far and I pray to keep it that way. Taylor and Amanda flew down during the long June holidays to visit us and they spent an entire three weeks here, it was so nice seeing them again and catching up. I introduced them to Skylar and they were happy to see me happy and jubilant again. My dad got a great job offer for some rich businessman who is making my dad his personal accountant and the best thing about it is that he just works mornings and earns more money than he's been getting by doing double shifts, so I get to spend more time with him and see him more. Believe it or not my dad has also found love. He reconnected with his old high school friend, Alana Montgomery, and they started to date. It's weird dating and at the same time your dad is dating too. I don't hold any 'you can't replace my mom' grudges against her, she's a very friendly and sweet person with a loving nature and I'm happy to see my dad with a smile on his face again. School has been better than I had anticipated at the beginning of the year. Who knew that paying attention in class would actually be benefitting? I yanked my poor grades of the last year out of their grave and brought them to A's again. I discovered that I enjoyed the feeling of accomplishing something and since I liked the feeling I strived to accomplish more, which in turn helped me out in school. Students were not as cutthroat as last year, perhaps only the eighth graders were. I guess it's how we feel we mark a spot and burn a name for ourselves when entering high school - a 'Make it or Break it' year if you will. After eighth grade, you don't really bother as much, because labels don't matter as long as you are true to who you are and surrounded by those you care about and who care about you.

Jasmine and Caleb only recently started their relationship. I could tell he liked her, but I wanted him to tell her and he asked her out this week. When he came to the school we became friends with him instantly because he was interested in the same things as us, he has a fun personality - but is a very shy guy, and it took him three whole months to work up the nerve to tell Jasmine how he felt. Now that he has told her I suggested that we all go to the arcade on Saturday to prevent them from having an awkward first date. It's Friday evening now and I am picking out an outfit to wear for bowling and since its winter and I want it to be warm. I took out a dark purple coat, a dark grey polar neck, black stockings, dark grey leg warmers, ankle boots and a beanie. Once I had compiled my outfit I took a warm relaxing shower and went to go sleep. When I woke up I took a quick two-minute shower and got dressed in my pre-selected outfit. I made me cereal before I left and got Skylar at the bus stop. I hugged him and slapped a warm kiss on his frozen cheek when I saw him in his jeans, hoodie, and sneakers and we waited for the bus to pass by. He gave the best hugs and I always felt dismayed slightly when they ended. Jasmine and Caleb were already on the bus since the bus stops in their roads first. When the bus pulled up Skylar and I climbed in and we saw Jasmine and Caleb in the back of the bus. They kept open the two seats beside them for us. After a long trip to the arcade, the bus came to a stop at the bus stop directly opposite the arcade. We left the bus and headed for the ultimate gaming experience. We bumped into several of kids at our school there and we were polite, we smiled and waved. We played all the games at the arcade, from air hockey to a dance game, it was so much fun. After three hours of non-stop gaming, we went to the mall across the street for lunch. So far things were going great for Jasmine and Caleb; they looked like they were having a stupendous time; Skylar and I enjoyed the day as well. Overall I think my plan worked. I managed to give them the first date while avoiding the awkward silence that often happens on first dates - much like Jasmine helped with mine and Sky's first date. When we departed from the mall, we took the bus again as we loved seeing the city in all aspects through the dirty bus windows, it added a whole new character and atmosphere to each place we drove past. Seeing kids playing and laughing, seeing old couples walking hand in hand, seeing business people in their suits rushing from point A to B and just seeing everyone and everything in their daily lives is so mesmerizing. I leaned my head against Skylar's shoulder and stared mesmerized by what lied beyond that dirty bus window. Eventually, the bus reached my drop off destination and I had fallen asleep on Skylar's shoulder, he tapped me lightly on my shoulder and said, "Christina, you can wake up now, we're at our bus stop." I opened my eyes still groggy from sleep but smiling stupidly over the word 'our' and stretched before standing to leave the bus. Skylar smiled at me and guided my sleepy body to the pavement and when I felt the cold winter's breeze my nerves woke up and I shuddered. Skylar laughed and said, "Well good morning to you, my dear." I rolled my eyes and smiled, "You know if I didn't love you so much I'd hit you and your sarcasm," I replied. He chuckled and joked, "Someone's pleasant when they wake up." I tittered and playfully punched his arm. He walked me home with his arm snugly wrapped around me to shield out the cold and I unlocked the door, turned to smile at him and said, "Well, goodnight Sky." "Goodnight Christina." He replied while smiling and gave me a goodnight kiss on my frosty cheek before giving me a sweet one on my ice-bitten lips. I locked the door behind me and smiled, dazed by his kiss my cheek and lips warmed up. I went to take a hot shower to warm up my shaken nerves and made dinner for my dad before going to bed.

Ever since that Saturday things thrived from then on, with Jasmine's and Caleb's relationship, mine and Skylar's relationship, mine and Jasmine's friendship, my dad's relationship with Alana and school as well. Thinking back over everything that happened in the past year, I would never, ever have expected things to become this wonderful in my life again. I kept praying it would, but always expected the worse. It just goes to show how great God is, He won't put obstacles in our way that we can't somehow overcome. I tripped over my obstacle and fell flat on my face, but God gave me a fresh start and showed me what I overlooked- the people around me who loved me for who I am, was and shall be despite all my choices in life. We should never give up faith because faith will never give up on us.