“I’m sorry Emma, I never wanted to have to do this to you babe, but I really love Kandy. I wish I could make you understand.” Josh explained with a choked up tone to his voice.

“I just don’t understand what happened to us. We were doing great, and then that bitch Kandy stepped in the picture, what does she have to do with anything? I’m the one who loves you!” I was so shocked and embarrassed that I wished my life would just end there.

“I don’t know Emma, we acted on instinct and then we discovered that we loved each other. I wish I could make things right. I mean, I know we’ve been together for so long, but you’re the one who introduced us.”

“So that’s it. My best friend, of five years, split my boyfriend, of two years, and I up. She’s my best friend why?” I slammed down the phone in a fit of rage and disgust.

I threw my phone into the corner of the room and prayed that it would break into a million pieces as it bounced off the wall and dropped down onto the soft, light pink carpet below. I flopped onto my nicely made bed and pressed one of my pink lace pillows against my warm, tear streaked face. I looked over the top of the pillow to see the state of my phone. I had no such luck in destroying it, it was still in one piece and even began to ring once it was lying on its side a few feet away from arms reach. I didn’t pick it up, I had no desire to talk to anyone. All I wanted to do was fall asleep and never wake up again.

“Emma, the phone is for you, hun. It’s Kandice, she says it’s urgent.” My mom’s voice was slightly muffled from the distance between the two of us.

“Tell her I’m sleeping or not home.” I pulled the pillow tightly over my face.

“Emma, I will not lie to her. Pick up the phone this instant. I have a meeting to get to. There is lasagna in the oven for when you get hungry. Now pick up that phone” I forced myself up and grabbed a hold of my phone that was lying on the floor.

“Hi Kandy, you need something?” I was being very rude to her, but I wasn’t in a good mood. I heard the phone click and then the front door lock.

“Umm, I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I know you talked to Josh. I wish I could fix this.” Kandy tried to sound sincere, but I knew that she was with Josh and that they were having a good time. I had heard her voice in the background when I was talking to Josh. I decided not to answer her immediately.

“Hand the phone to Josh for a second.”

“Josh isn’t here.” I could hear the change in her voice that I always heard when she was trying to lie. What a little bitch.

“I can hear his voice, dumbass, don’t try that on me.”

“Fine. Whatever. Here.”

“Yeah?” He sounded like he had just been interrupted from something important.

“What do you two think you are trying to pull on me? You don’t have to sneak around and pretend that you’re as miserable as I am and that you’re not together having a good time. I’m not stupid. Have fun and stop calling here. It makes me feel worse knowing that you are lying to me. Don’t call back. EVER!” I hung up on him again.

I crept down the stairs in hope of not waking my baby brother, Tyler, who was sleeping in the room beside mine. I walked over to the stove that was located near the bottom of the staircase and removed the lasagna from inside. I cut myself a large piece and put it on a plate. I quickly ate it at the kitchen table and put my plate in the sink.

I grabbed my hoodie, my keys and left the house. I began to walk down my street and toward the local ice cream shop. I scrimmaged around in my pocket for any pocket change I may have. I found a $1.50 by the time I got there. I figured it would buy me a chocolate milkshake. I walked up to the counter and began to read the menu on the wall behind the counter. After I had decided on a small chocolate milkshake and a vanilla ice cream cone I looked off to my side, and who should be sitting there? Josh and Kandy were sharing a chocolate sundae and talking.

I decided to try and figure out what they were talking about, but it wasn’t easy, because they were whispering and too far away from me.

“Did you…. way she took it? She was… I really didn’t care… about…. her” Josh was gazing at Kandy.

“I’ve decided…. choose… you.” Kandy smirked and blushed at Josh.

“Did you… ever do any… together?”

“What… mean? Like… sex?”

“Well… yeah.”

“….I would never...”

“Ohh… good!”

How could he? He’s lying to her about our relationship. Why doesn’t he just deny it ever happened? Tears started to well up in my eyes.

“Hi Emma, what would you like today? … Is everything okay?” Mr. Marlee asked me from behind the counter.

Josh and Kandice looked over at the mention of my mine and they both got a horrified and embarrassed look on their faces when they noticed me. I immediately decided to leave.

I ran out of the store bawling my eyes out. I couldn’t believe that they would do such a thing to me. I ran home as quickly as I could. I ran through the door and heard Tyler crying upstairs.

“Victoria is that you?” My stepfather, Tom, called from his study.

“Tom, it’s only me, Emma. Mum went back to work. I think she had a meeting.” I called back to him as I removed my sweater and tried to wipe the tears from my eyes.

“Can you go check on Tyler? He’s been crying since you left.”

“Sure.”

I went upstairs and walked into Tyler’s room. Someone had put him on Matt’s bed and not in the crib. How strange.

I picked up Tyler from Matt’s bed and began to walk around the small room with him in my arms. Tyler lay his head on my shoulder and faced away from me as I began to stroke his black mat of hair. He really was a cute kid when you got down to it. He turned his head and looked at me. I looked into his blue eyes. I always wanted his eyes instead of my dull brown ones. Tyler’s eyes reminded me of the blue sky that went on forever and full of secrets. He slowly began to close his eyes and fell asleep. I carefully placed him in his crib. I crept out of the bedroom and headed down to Tom’s study.

“Hey, do you know where Matt is?” I asked him.

“No clue.” He answered after an extended silence.

“What was so important that you couldn’t check on Tyler?”

“Might lose an important customer.”

“And maybe a baby” I mumbled.

“What’s that?” He questioned.

“Oh nothing.”

Just then the phone rang. Tom leaned over and picked it up.

“Umm let me go check if she is here.” He told the person on the other line.

“I think it’s Josh. Are you here?” He winked.

“No. Tell him you haven’t seen me around in a while and I don’t appear to be here right now.” I replied.

“Okay.” He returned the phone to his ear. “I’m sorry I can’t seem to find her. She left about twenty minutes ago and I haven’t seen her since.” He nodded at the person on the other end and then hung-up.

“Thanks so much.” I said and left the room. I hated the fact that my mom left my dad when Matt and I were little and then brought in a replacement that she pretended to be my father. He did spend too much time in front of his computer and not enough with us, but he could be cool when he wanted to. He would lie for us and try to get us out of all kinds of bad situations. He was usually the best person at talking to my mom, so I often told him things and asked him to tell my mom.

I headed back up to my bedroom, flopped on my bed and looked up at my calendar.

I got up and sat at my desk, took out my diary and began to write.

I stopped there, because I heard the door slam downstairs. It must have been Matt because mom would never do anything that could wake up Tyler. I went down the stairs where I saw my twin, Matt, flopped on the couch. He looked angry but as soon as he saw he me a smile appeared on his face.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you happy to see me.” I mentioned.

“Well I have some great news for you! Jay knows you’re single and wants to ask you out.” He smirked as I froze at his words.

“Jay wants to date me? You’re joking! He’s only the hottest guy in the city.” Then I stopped. “Wait, how did he know I was single?”

“I told him, stupid!”

“When?”

“In English class today.”

“How did you know? You don‘t even go to my school!”

“It’s only the talk of the town that your boyfriend left you for your best friend!”

“What?” I thought I could cry.

Just then the phone rang and my brother rushed over to pick it up while yelling,

“Tom, I think it’s for me, so I’ll get it!” Matt picked it up and I heard him say

“Oh hey, I was hoping you would call! …Yeah she’s right here. I think she really wants to talk to you. Ok… yeah… here she is” He covered the mouthpiece of the phone and said to me, “It’s Jay and he really wants to talk to you.” He forced the phone into my hand.

I took the phone from my brother as he lay back on the couch and put in up to my ear. “Hello?”

Jay answered me, “Hey Em! I was hoping to get you home. I called earlier and your dad said he hadn’t seen you around.”

“That was you who called?” I asked, shocked. I look over at Matt who was watching me and twirling his shaggy bleached blonde hair around his right index finger.

“Yeah, like 20 minutes ago.”

“Oh… I was actually standing beside him, I thought you were Josh.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear about him. What a prick! Well just forget him. Maybe I can help you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Would you go out with me?”

“Ummm… sure… why not?”

“Are you busy now?”

“Now?” I looked at the clock on the wall beside me and saw that is was 11:14pm. “Are you crazy? It’s 11:14pm!”

“No, I just really want to see you!”

“Well I guess I could sneak out for ten minutes. Can you come to my place and I’ll meet you at the door in ten minutes. Just don’t knock.”

“Sounds great. I’ll see you then?”

“Definitely! Bye. I look forward to it.”

“Bye, same here!” he said as he hung up,

“So I see you accepted his offer? Awesome! And he’s headed over here?” My brother smiled at me from across the living room as he lay on the couch with his feet hanging over the edge.

“Yeah. He’s really excited. I never knew he even realized I existed.” I exclaimed.

“Of course he did. He’s always had a thing for you. I just never told you.”

“This is really going to make Josh and Kandy so jealous. And it‘s so weird that I‘m dating my brother‘s best friend and a long time friend of the family.”

“Is that the only reason you are dating him?”

“No, I’ve always liked Jay.” I looked up at the clock and noticed that eight minutes had already passed. “Damn, I’d better head outside.” I grabbed a sweater and headed for the door. I slowly turned the knob to be sure that Tom didn’t hear me and I slipped out the door. I saw Jay coming down the street and I headed toward him.

Jay looked up, smiled at me and began to walk faster toward me.

“Hey gorgeous! I’m so glad you decided to go out with me. I think we’ll make a great couple. I was glad to hear that you were single, but I am sorry about that jerk Josh. Anyone who would dump you to go with Kandy is crazy. I’ve been waiting two years for this.” He leaned in a kissed me on the cheek.

“Well, that is a long time to wait. I’m surprised you even bothered. You could have had anyone but you waited for me. How romantic!” I replied, blushing.

“Of course I did. I’m crazy about you and I have been for a very long time.” He grabbed me and we began to walk down me street. I told him all about what I had heard Josh and Kandy talking about in the restaurant. Jay was appalled and about ready to knock Josh out, but I made him promise not to. Just as we were turning onto a near by street I saw my mother’s car headed down my street, I began to panic and let go of Jay’s hand.

“What’s wrong?” he asked me in a surprised tone.

“I saw my mom’s car. She’s going to be furious when she sees that I am out past my curfew. I’ve gotta go!” I broke away from him and ran as fast I could toward my grey stone house.

I scaled the area below my window and decided that I could climb the white, wooden lattice up to my bedroom window. I carefully placed my right foot in one of the bottom holes and hoisted myself up with my arms. I slowly climbed the rest of the way up to the window. When I entered my room I decided to change into my pink pajamas with the work ‘Sexy’ written on the front in a very artistic fashion. I could hear my mother yelling at my brother about my whereabouts and Matt denied knowing anything about where I was. I emerged from my room, slowly headed down the stairs and decided to pretend that I had been sleeping.

“Hi mom. Can you please keep it down?” I acted.

“You were asleep?” My mom looked shocked.

“Yeah, I had a bad day and am very tired. And can you please make Tyler shut-up? He’s driving me crazy!” I turned and headed back to my room. I flopped onto my messy pink covers and tried to fall asleep.

Just then, I heard something outside my bedroom window. I threw open my curtains and pulled open the window. I stuck my head out and looked down. I saw a head of blonde hair and then Jay looked up at me.

“Hey Em, I just wanted to say goodnight.” he whispered as he continued to climb up the lattice.

“Are you crazy?” I whispered back.

Jay finished climbing the rest of the way up and was now face to face with me. “Yes Em, I’m crazy. Crazy in love with you.” He planted a light kiss on my lips and I blushed. “Goodnight Emma Lampton and I love you.” He began to climb back down the lattice.

“I love you too Jayson Peterson.” I called out my window.

Jay looked up at me and smiled, “By the way, I love your pajamas.” he winked and I just laughed.

“Thanks.” I called back, “Good night.”

“Good night.” he waved and left.

I closed the window, crawled back into my bed and fell asleep.

*

“Good morning sleepy head, mom told me to wake you up.” Matt sat down on my bed beside where I was still lying with my eyes closed.

“Huh, what time is it?” I mumbled. I was looking in his direction, but my eyes remained closed.

“It’s eight!”

“But it’s Saturday, what difference does it make if I wake up?”

“Well there is someone waiting for you downstairs.”

“Who?”

“You’ll have to go and see.” He got off my bed and headed back downstairs. I grabbed my blue t-shirt with the word ’Pr1nc3ss’ printed in pink on the front, my favourite blue stretch jeans, my pink bra, a pair of blue socks with black cats printed on them and my pink panties that said ’hot’ in red with flames on the front. I quickly got dressed and made myself look presentable by quickly combing my hair and applying some mascara. I headed downstairs to the living room. As I descended the stairs I froze. Josh and Kandy had been holding hands, but they quickly let go when they saw me.

I saw Jay sitting across from them wearing a navy blue sweater with ‘Quiksilver’ in red on the front and a pair of baggy blue jeans. He appeared to have been talking to Josh and he didn’t look too happy.

“Hi Jay. Are you ready for our date?” I walked toward him and brushed his gorgeous, long curly natural blonde hair out of his face.

“Of course I am babe.” He stood and smirked at Josh.

“Okay let’s go.” I headed for the door with Jay following close behind me.

“Em, don’t do this. Em?” Josh called as he got up off the couch behind me, but I just ignored him.

I grabbed my purse off the coat hook and my cell phone off the table beside the door. We headed out the door and toward a near by bus stop.

“What are Kandy and Josh doing at your place?” Jay asked as he took a hold of my hand.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t expect them to be the-” Just then my cell phone began to ring. I stopped dead in my tracks and fished it out of my purse.

“Just let me get this.” I flipped my phone open and answered it,

“Hello?”

“Hi Em!” Josh’s voice sounded disappointed and distant from the other side of my cell phone.

“Hi Josh and Bye Josh.” I quickly hung up my phone.

“That was Josh, but I don’t want to talk to him. The only person that matters to me right now is you.” I grabbed his hand and gave him a tug to indicate that he keep moving.

“Why is he even bothering with you?” Jay looked me in the eye as we headed down the street.

“I don’t know. I should have indicated that I wasn’t interested to him back there.”

“Unless he’s too slow to pick that up!”

“That’s a possibility, but could we not talk about them right now? I only want to focus on us!”

“Sure, okay… I love you Emma!” He stopped and then leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips.

I looked up at him in shock and then I smiled, “I love you too Jay!”

He grabbed my hand and we began to walk back toward the bus stop. I felt so secure as if I didn’t have to worry about anything. We talked about how we had always liked each other and all the wonderful things we could do together. We talked about go horse back riding, to a drive-in movie, dinner and lots of other romantic and fun things.

After about fifteen minutes we arrived at the bus stop. He waited only five minutes for our bus and Jay insisted on paying my $1.50 to get on. The bus was packed so we pushed ourselves to the back of the bus, trying to do as little damage to the rest of the passengers as possible. There was only one seat available between an elderly lady and a large man who looked like he could have belonged to Hell’s Angels.

Jay offered me the seat, I sat down and he stood holding onto the shiny yet dirty looking pole that was located directly in front of me. “ So darling, where would you like to go? A movie? Lunch? Anywhere, it’s on me!”

I thought for a couple of minutes, “How about High Park?”

“A park?”

“Yeah, it’s always so pretty there, especially this time of year. The flowers start to come out in spring and the birds love to sing.”

“Well, I left the choice up to you, so if that’s where you’d like to go then I guess that’s where we are headed.” He smiled at me and I smiled back.

“You know, I love being here with you. I never imagined I get to date you!”

“And I never imagined I’d get to date you either. I’m glad I got up the courage to ask you out.”

“I am too” I blushed. He really was the hottest guy in the city.

He stared into my eyes until I got nervous and turned away. I began to look out the window at all the passing cars, which made me daze and zone out a little, which I was famous for. I loved watching the cars pass and the people walk, it was a favourite past time for me. I began to think about lots of things.

Just then I snapped out of it and realized that I was still on the bus with Jay standing in front of me. He appeared to be keeping track of where we were going. I touched his hand that he was holding the pole with. He turned to be startled, “I really do love you Jay. You’ve always been there for me and my family. You were there when my mom left my dad, when Tom moved in and when baby Tyler came along. I wish I could repay for everything. We were there in all the difficult times. I owe you the world.”

He smiled at me, “You owe me nothing Emma, I was there because I care about you and your family. You guys mean everything to me. You are the family I never had and I appreciate that. I know that you and I have never really become close and talk a lot but we were always there for each other when we needed it. Actually, I thought you wouldn’t go with me, because I assumed that you would think of me as more of a brother then anything else.”

“I never really thought about how I viewed you. You were just kinda there. You weren’t really anyone I would go out of my way to see on a regular basis, because I didn’t really think you were interested in me. I just thought you viewed me as family or your little sister, but I always liked you.”

Jay blushes and looked out the window, “Okay, we should get off at thus next stop.”

I turned around to pull the bell. When I turned back around he grabbed my hand and playfully pulled me up out of my seat. We walked to the back doors of the bus. He got off the bus first and then helped me down. When he lowered me out I was standing right in front of him as the bus sped off behind us.

Our faces were almost touching. It was the perfect moment, so I leaned in close and kissed him hard on the lips. For a couple of minutes I felt like I was in heaven. He kissed me back and it was the most warm and passionate kiss I have ever experienced. He wrapped his gorgeous tan arms around my waist and I took his head in my hands. It was as if we had forgotten we were standing on a sidewalk and had traveled to somewhere where only the two of us existed, nothing else seemed to matter anymore. The kiss I shared with Jay Peterson was much better than any I had experienced with Josh.

After who knows how long our lips become separated, but it felt unnatural for them to do so. It was then that I remembered I was in public and had been headed to the park. He took my hands in his hands and smiled at me, “Are you ready to carry on?”

I blushed, “I’m ready if you’re ready!”

Jay took my hand and we headed toward the large, flower-infested park.
We walked down a long gray concrete sidewalk just holding hands in silence and looking at all the gorgeous plants. It was strange how whenever there was silence between Josh and I it always felt awkward, but with Jay it just felt natural. After walking past about two dozen houses we finally reached the park entrance.

We walked up a short strip of road inside the park and found ourselves on one end of the parking lot and staring at the restaurant. It had a wooden deck with about a dozen tables located outside of it as well as an indoor eating facility. It was a very adorable restaurant, but there were lots of people eating there today.

Jay saw me gapping at the number of people dining outside on the porch which was my favourite place to eat. He turned to me and smiled, “We could always have a small intimate lunch with the ducks.”

“I like that idea. It sounds very romantic.” I smiled.

“Then we’ve decided. Watch out ducks, here we come.” We both headed off toward the restaurant. We walked hand in hand through the large parking lot, up the wooden staircase and past three adorable dogs tied up by their leashes. We walked through the doors and lined up behind a half a dozen people.

“What would you like to eat?” Jay asked me as he let go of my hand to pull out his wallet from his pant’s pocket.

I looked down at the large black wallet he held in his right hand, “You don’t have to pay for me.”

“Of course I do. I insist.”

“Well in that case I would like a bottle of water, an egg salad sandwich and a strawberry fruit cup with whipped cream.”

“Wow, I really do love a girl with an appetite.” Jay moved up to the counter and looked up at the guy behind the register.

“Yes, can I help you?” The guy was very skinny and looked like he had been working behind that register for way to long, because he looked extremely bored.

“Yes, well I would like an egg salad sandwich, ham and cheese sandwich, a water, an ice tea, and two strawberry fruit cups with whipped cream.” Jay told the kid as he took out a twenty and ten dollar bill.

“That will be twenty-two, sixty-seven.” The kid took the thirty dollars from my boyfriend’s hand, punched in the amount and the till opened. He put the two bills in the register and got the change that he owed Jay. “And your change is seven dollars and thirty-three cents.” He dropped the five dollar bill and the coins into the palm of Jays hand.

“Thank-you” Jay exclaimed as he picked up the old green tray, that contained all of their items, off of the counter. “Lets go find somewhere to eat.”

“Do we need the tray?” I asked.

He took his food off the tray and handed me my sandwich and water, but kept my fruit cup. “You’re right, we don’t need the tray.”

He stepped in front of me and headed out the door. I followed Jay across the deck and down the stairs on the other side. Once at the bottom of the steps he stopped and waited for me to get beside him.

“So where to?” He smiled and looked at me walking slowly beside him.

“I don’t care, surprise me.” I smiled back.

Jay looked around, “hmm… under that maple tree over there looks nice.” Jay gestured to a spot to our right.

“Perfect”, I replied as we headed toward the tree with our lunch.

“Hold on a second”, he gestured for me to stop just as I was preparing to sit on the grass. Jay pulled his navy blue sweater over his head revealing a red ‘Billabong’ t-shirt and lay it on the grass under the tree. “Now you may sit.”

I smiled and sat on his sweater, “Aren’t you cold?”

“Just a little but it’s a small price to pay for your comfort.” he placed his food in front of himself and handed me my fruit cup.

“Thank-you.” I said as I took my fruit cup from him.

Jay and I began eating our sandwiches as we talked about school, our dreams and our families. I told him all about my views on Tom. I told him how I hated my mom for bringing him in as dad’s replacement and how I still think he’s pretty cool. We talked about hoe we both haven’t seen our fathers in years and how we both miss them very much.

“My mom left my dad for Tom when Matt and I were 12, so I haven’t seen him in four years. I think I’m gonna get a job next year and save up to fly to California, cause I don’t think he’ll leave his wife, Sharon, with their new daughter, Cecilia, to come and visit Matt and I in Toronto.” I explained

“I’m surprised your mom even had Tyler after dealing with twins for years.” he exclaimed.

“Well she was smart to us in different High schools since we spend too much time together at home. But Matt doesn’t want Tyler in his room anymore and I wont let her put him in my room. So she’s gonna have to put his crib in her room from now one, which she doesn’t want to do.”

“Why wont you let him sleep in your room?”

“Cause he’ll keep me up all night and drive me crazy. And I think since he’s there mistake then they should sleep with him, not us.”

“I hate to say it, but I think you’re right.”

We had both finished our sandwiches and I was beginning to eat my fruit cup. Jay didn’t start his instead he sat here watching me for a few minutes. Then Jay began to feel around in his pockets.

“What are you looking for?” I inquired.

“Just something”, he replied, smiling. Then he pulled out a small black ring box and opened it in front of me.

I stopped eating and placed my fruit cup on his sweater beside me. I took the box from his hand and looked inside. There was a white gold heart with the words ‘I Love You’ printed across it.

“What’s this for?” I asked, amazed

“Happy Birthday.” he grinned as he took the necklace from it’s box. Jay stood up and walked behind me. He put the necklace around my neck and clasped it. Then he headed back in front of me and sat down. “Perfect.”

“My birthday?”

“Yeah, it is today, isn’t it?”

“I forgot that today was my birthday.”

Jay smiled.

“You shouldn’t have done this, but since you did, Thanks. It’s beautiful.” I blushed.

Jay smiled, “It was worth every penny.”

I giggled, “Thanks, you’ve made this birthday worth while. By the way, I hate to do this, but since it is my birthday, I’ll have to go home and spend some time with my family. You’re welcome to come. My family knows you and we consider you one of us.”

“I understand and don’t worry. It’s important for you to spend time alone with your family on your birthday.” Jay replied.

“No Jay, don’t worry. I would love it if you would come.”

“In that case, sure. Why not?”

“What time is it?”

Jay lifted his left wrist and looked at his watch. “It’s one-thirty.”

“Can we head back soon? My parents are probably waiting for me.”

“Would you like to leave now?”

“Sure, but we can take our time.”

Jay picked up our garbage and stood. “Do you want this fruit cup?” He gestured to his unopened desert.

“No, I’m good.”

“So much for that!” He headed toward the waste can and threw everything in. I stood up and picked his sweater off the grass. My cell phone began to ring so I reached in my pocket, pulled it out and answered it.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hey Em.” Matt replied.

“What’s up?”

“Are you heading home soon?”

“I was just planning on it.”

“Ok. Did you forget what day it is?”

“Well I had, but I was pleasantly reminded.”

“Ok, well we’re waiting for you.”

“Ok, ciao.”

“bye.”

I hung up and clipped my cell onto me pocket.

“Who was that?” Jay inquired.

“Matt, asking me if I was coming home.”

“Oh. Well let’s go then.” Jay grabbed his sweater out of my hands.

We headed out of the park hand in hand. We walked back to the bus stop discussing the upcoming summer and what we planned on doing. We reached the bus stop and stood waiting by ourselves.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Jay asked.

“I’m not sure, it depends, but I do have a bit of homework to do since tomorrow is Sunday.”

“Well if your not busy, will you give me a call?”

“Of course.” I smiled.

Just then the bus arrived. We got on and this time I paid for both of us. There weren’t very many people on the bus this time. We sat on a couple of seats on the left of the bus by the window.

“Wanna do anything together this summer?” I asked.

“Of course. That goes without mentioning. What do you want to do?” Jay replied with a wink.

I chuckled, “I don’t know and I don’t care. As long as I get to spend time with you.”