counting the steps

**17 year old karris had never knew any love other than her life long boyfriend daniel whom she had claimed to love since her seventh grade year. the two were inseparable from eachother; that is until the beginning of senior year when his parents break the news they are moving. not out of town, out of the country. she never believes she'll be able to make it a day let alone a full year without him by her side but with the help of her and and his friends she'll soon discover nothing's impossible especially when she begins to notice things or PEOPLE that have been unseen all this time. with a new eye, karris& heart will lead her out on a rollercoaster of fun sadness and love all over again.-- romance c:*********

"I'll miss you so so much, please call me everyday Skype anything I don't want this to end it can't end you're my everything..." the words leave my lips repeatedly between soft kisses and sobs. Daniel, sweet Daniel kisses my eyes and wipes my tears, his own looking as if they might overflow as we part ways for the last time this year. "next summer baby, im coming home. we'll be together then, we'll move in and be happy i'll talk to you every night. we are going to make this..and remember - " "Danny,sweetheart we need to hurry they're about to close the gates" Jill says impatiently taping her foot on the ground, nothing she did today no matter how blatantly rude she was would distract me from the single most heart wrenching thing to ever happen in my life. I would be Alone for the first time away from my soul mate the one I base all life off of for my senior year. it was going to be terrible. "karris, baby remember ; I love you more than anything. ill see you soon" he lightly kisses my lips then my forehead before letting his arms drop from my waist. it felt as if I slipped out of reality's grasp and I would be left to rot in the empty void that now sat in my heart where he always was. 'get ahold of your self karris just a year.. you're not breaking up you'll talk every night, promise.' I took a deep breath and released it slowly causing my breath to hiccup through my tears. "I love you too Danny" I say softly as he picks up his bags "I know sweetheart, remember three days..then I'll call.the UK is pretty far and I'll need to get some form of schedule then we can work out our calling. three days baby three that's it. deep breathes. now, I've got to go. don't say anything, I love you. love you always." he draped the last bag over his shoulder, kissed my cheek then my forehead and lastly barely even my lips before disappearing from my line of vision. 1..2..3..4... "goodbye Daniel" I whisper before turning like a robot to leave that section. all I had to do was make it to the cafe where Ali, Sky, Luna , her boyfriend Samuel or well Sam and Preston all sat to give me and Daniel our last moments in peace but even the mere hindered yards seemed like a maze filled with obstacles to block your path and make you stumble. tears filled my eyes blinding my vision causing me to bump into random strangers with smiles on their faces as they arrived home from their vacations over the summer.23..24..25..26..27.. two weeks entirely left until senior year began. tears leak down my face surely making more mascara lines down my cheeks and causing my nose to glow a deep shade of red. for a moment I had to stop, take a deep breathe wipe my eyes and collect what was left of myself. three days..three days. some how or another, through the crowd I could see my friends sitting at a table in the cafe twirling their straws in their drinks, absent mindedly eating their fries and not talking much. this was clearly affecting everyone, including Ali who always had something to say was for once silent. the fact that we were all friends and that we could all feel the same pain, even though theirs would not be nearly as extreme as my own, was helpful. we would make it, together. sixth grade was the biggest year of my life, I met four new friends and two burning enemies. little did I know the very next year my enemy would be the one I now claim to love. momma always said there was a thin line between love and hate. the one who was the most hurt other than me was bound to be Preston, Danny's one and one best friend that he'd known since he was in fourth grade when Preston first moved in next door to him. they were destined to be friends from the beginning. I usually never talked to Preston we had hung out a few times when Daniel was around but we never actually made any attempt to become friends. he was the exact opposite of Daniel in all honesty, he spoke what ever he felt even if it came across rude he didn't try to protect anyone's feelings, he was great at working with his hands and helped his dad build cars as a hobby. he was your definition of a bad boy, with his dark brown hair that was grown out a little bit and piercingly dark brown eyes that always had a deep thought in them. and a tattoo on the inside of his arm running down his nicely toned bicep saying forget me not in a very simple text and rather small. he was in the least to say, good looking. every girl has had at least one faint attraction to this Guy sometime in their life except me. I've always had Daniel with his blonde hair cut short but nice and blue eyes that hid nothing and didn't hold a secret in the world. his soft gentle hands and sculpted body ,a reward from the rigorous workouts in soccer no doubt, with his tanned face that had a clear complexion and not a freckle in sight. his pink baby lips that always formed a smile, where as Preston's seemed to always carry that of a seductive pout to them. standing there now, wiping the tears from my eyes I wondered, would me and Preston be friends or act like we didn't exist anymore? I hoped he wouldn't just not talk to me at all, but he might not. fresh tears sprung like a leak and I did a quick swipe before rushing the last little distance into the area and to the table where my friends sat. 119..120...the girls took one look at me and stood on their feet Quickly to usher me into a hug. we stood holding each other like a support for what seemed like forever. when they finally released their grasp and wiped the tears off my face as Daniel just had not to long ago I noticed while in our hug either Preston or Sam had drug a chair to the table so I took a seat next to Preston and glanced around at my friends. their eyes immediately retreated to their food and off of me. I must've looked like a train wreck because they and strangers kept glancing over to watch me as if was going to have another melt down. each sniffle and their eyes would shoot up and their hand clutch a napkin, they were good..no great best friends but this was starting to freak me out. "guys" they all jumped including Preston who had been silent except for occasional glances and the sound of his drink slurping up the straw. "yeah? what is it karris?" they all said in their own way "do you think that maybe when y'all get done we can head home?" I asked quietly my throat raw from crying so long and hard "oh, yeah! im stuffed I think we're all good. time to go." everyone stood except me to leave grabbing their stuff and Preston laid some cash on the table for a tip. "lets go" Preston said motioning towards the exit. everyone followed, ran more like it. what were they so jumpy about? Preston slowed down his pace and waited for me to reach him before draping his arm across my shoulder and leaning since he was much taller to whisper in my ear "I'll miss him too" with a voice that could only be understood as grief. the pain in his voice brought fresh tears that stung my eyes and the back of my throat "I know." I replied simply trying to refrain from crumbling in on myself "just one year" I breathed slowly. 266..267..268. my feet hit the outside concrete of the air port. 268 steps, thousands of miles and a year between me and my soul mate.