Forever.

Chapter 1: I Don't Know

"Claire, you should see this." Jake says as his deep voice echoes off the walls.

"See what?" I ask as I come in to the living room from the kitchen.

"Braden was on ESPN earlier, I thought you would want to see him." Jake says.

My chest tightens and I stop in my tracks. "I don't want to see him." I say as I walk towards the stairs.

"It's been a year and a half since he left. It's summer break in a few days, you'll be moving to California and you'll see him in a little bit and everything will be all good." Jake says.

"I didn't get in to UCLA, he basically shut me out, and my life has been a crap hole ever since. So excuse me for not wanting to go back down that road that can only lead to bad things." I say without turning to face Jake.

Oh, and yes. You heard me right. Braden did basically shut me out. At first, we kept in touch pretty well. We talked to each other every weekend, and texted each other all the time. But, after about a month or two we started talking less and less. I felt bad and tried to reach out to him but he never replied or answered me. I kept on trying to reach him but he never answered.

He doesn't know I didn't get into UCLA. When I found out I didn't get in, my whole life crumbled because I had no purpose. It took me forever to get over the fact that Braden doesn't care about me, or the relationship we had. And maybe I'm still not over it, but I am not going down that road again.

"You didn't get in to UCLA?" He asks.

"Yeah." I say. "Not like he cares."

"I know you think he doesn't care, but you should really watch the interview because it will change your mind." He says.

"And how will it do that?" I ask as I turn around.

"Because it's about you." He says.

I pause for a moment. "Put it on." I say. I go stand behind the couch and wait for what I'm about to see.

There's only one word for what I see.

Wow.

Braden comes and sits down behind a table with a microphone on it. He really buffed up. His arms are a lot more muscular, and so is everything else. My eyes are drawn to his blue ones that I fell in love with a long time ago.

"So Braden, it says here that you've moved a lot." A reporter out of the view of the camera says.

"Not really, I was born in North Carolina, moved to Colorado, then moved back to North Carolina." He says. Wow, his voice is deeper. He looks different. His face is more chiseled and skinny, but the rest of him is super buff. I wouldn't recognize him if I saw him on the street.

"It also says here that, oh my! You were in a car accident? Has that affected your basketball career in any way?" The same reporter asks. My chest tightens, this isn't going to go well.

"No, it has not." He says blankly.

"What damage was done to you as a result?" The reporter asks.

"Mild concussion." He states.

"Doesn't sound too bad." The reporter says.

"Wait! It says here that someone, Claire Foster, was involved in the crash. Who is she? Is she still involved with you?" A new reporter asks. Braden's body tenses up and he looks mad.

"I don't want to talk about this." Braden says.

"Was taking the offer to play for UCLA an easy decision?" A new, female, reporter asks.