Chapter 1: They Meet
It was a warm spring day; I had just got done with a water fight with a few of the neighborhood kids. I was worn out from running up and down the street chasing and being chased with water guns, but for some reason I wasn't ready to go inside yet. It might have been I just wanted to dry off outside, but whatever the reason, I'm glad I stayed.
"You know girls like it when you wear pink," I said half joking to Chris one of the neighborhood kids. "Really?" he replied anxiously. "What other colors do they like?" I quickly looked down to notice I was wearing mostly blue. "Blue dude, they go crazy over blue," I said while trying not to laugh. "Wow you must be a chick magnet huh?" he said all excited like. "Haha, I wouldn't say that, but I'm okay with the ladies. You know what else they like, is when you can sing!" I told him, half wondering why I was talking to a seven year old about girls. "Oh wow, well I can do that!" he exclaimed as he blurted out something that sounded like a whale giving birth. But then I saw her.
Her eyes were this light, light blue color; they looked like the sky on a cloudless day. Her hair was a light brown color, and it was as silky smooth as velvet. And her body, well her body look like God took his time with each and every inch of it, and any other girl would die to look like her. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Nope she was real. I looked over to Chris and asked, " Hey what do you think of that girl over there?" "Ummmmm that's my sister dude." he responded quickly. "Are you kidding me?" I replied. "Nope, why you wanna kiss her or something?" he asked. "That's not the only thing I wanna do to her." I mumbled under my breath. "Huh?" Chris responded. "Nothing, nothing at all." I said with a smile on my face.
As she got closer and closer I tried hard not to stare, but I hadn't seen anything that beautiful in my life so I couldn't take my eyes off her. I watched every graceful step as if it was choreographed. Then she stopped about 3 feet away from me, and started to speak. "Chris, mom wants you home for dinner." she said in a soft sweet voice. "Awwwwww do I have to? I'm having fun with Josh!" Chris replied. "Josh? Who's Josh?" she asked. "That'd be me." I chimed in. " "Aha, I'm Jessica nice to meet you" she said."The pleasure's all mine." I said with a grin on my face. "Josh said he wants to kiss you." Chris said. I instantly turned a bright shade of red. "I think we better go Chris." She said with a little giggle. "Alrighty I'll see you guys later then." I replied still red. "See ya" they both answered as they walked away. It wasn't quite that way I wanted to meet her, but it could've been worse.
Chapter 2: Missing
It had been a long day and I was dead tired. It was one of those days where when your head hits the pillow you're just out cold. I had just gotten all settled and was about to shut my eyes when I heard a noise. I startled me a little bit but I didn't think too much of it. So I started to shut my eyes again when I heard the noise again, but only this time it was louder. At this point I was just frustrated, so I just took my pillow and covered my head with it. So I tried to close my eyes again, but the noise just got louder and louder. I couldn't stand it anymore, I had to investigate. I got out of bed and looked out my window. I stood there for a while, shocked at what I saw. Then after a while, I decided I had to go out there. So I got some clothes on and headed outside.
"Jessica, what's going on?" I asked as I stepped out of my house and headed towards her. "Oh good Josh you're here. You're coming with me." she said as she grabbed my arm. "Ummmmm ok then, as long as you tell me what we are doing." I responded. "Chris is missing." she said in a worried voice. "And you're gonna help me find him." "Anything you say cutie." I answered. "What was that?" she quickly responded. "Nothing." I said with a smirk on my face. "Mmhmm sure, anyways you have any clue where he would be? He seemed pretty angry when he ran away." she said. "I think I might know," I said. "But you're not gonna like it." "Try me." she answered. "Well, see I told him about this place I go when I need time alone, and he seemed interested, probably a little too much so. But the bad news is it's like 1/2 a mile away." I told her. "You really think he could have wondered off that far?" she asked. "Only one way to find out." I responded.
We had been walking for a little while before either of us said a word. "Are we almost there?" Jessica asked impatiently. "Actually we're only about half way." I responded. "Oh ok," she said. "What is this place we're going to anyways?" "Well like I said it's the place I go when I need to get away, it's the little creek out in almost the middle of nowhere." I told her. "You think he'll be safe there?" she asked. "I don't know," I said. "I've only been there during the day, I have no clue what things get like there during the night." "Then we better keep moving!" she said.
We were about 4/5 of the way there when Jessica stopped. "Did you hear something?" she asked. "No why?" I asked. "Cause I'm positive I just heard something that sounded like an animal." she replied. "You sure it wasn't just the wind?" I said. "I know what I heard Josh." she fired back. "Okay, Okay, I'll try and listen for it next time." I said. After that we kept walking for a while until Jessica stopped again, but this time I heard the noise too. "You heard it that time didn't you?" she asked. "Yeah, I did." I said. "What do you think it is?" she asked. "I'm not sure, but I think it's better if we don't find out." I told her. Just then the noise got louder, and in result I found Jessica with her face buried in my chest and her arms wrapped around me. I can't even begin to describe how this made me feel. It was one of those moments where you wish you could freeze time and just have that moment last forever. But as much as I enjoyed it, I knew we had to keep moving. So I rubbed my hand on her back and told her we would be ok, then put my arm around her as we walked the rest of the way.
We had finally reached the clearing where the creek was. I told Jessica we would cover more ground if we split up to look for him. And even being as petrified as she was, she agreed. "If for any reason at all you need me, just yell my name and I'll come running ok?" I told her confidently. "Okay." she said in a faint voice. So we walked in different directions yelling out for Chris to come out of where he was. I walked around yelling at the top of my lungs for what seemed like an hour only hearing a few sounds which turned out to be mice and birds. When just then I spotted something. It was a huge tube that looked like it poured water into the creek, although there was no water coming out from it. I knew this was our best shot. I walked up slowly to the entrance and looked inside. And sure enough, there was Chris sitting there.
"Chris, you ok?" I asked. "Josh, what are you doing here?" he asked confused. "Oh you know, I just needed some time away from everything." I said hoping he would but it. "My mom sent you didn't she?" He said in an upset tone. "No, actually I came out her by myself, I was worried about you man. This isn't the safest place to be this late at night." I explained. "I don't care. Nobody cares about me." he said. "That's not true Chris; you think I would be here if I didn't care about you?" I asked. "Well no, but my mom hates me, and my sister is always being a jerk to me, and..." I stopped him midsentence. "Woah there hold up. First off I'm almost positive your mom doesn't hate you, and all siblings are like that. Don't you ever see my brother treating me like a jerk? It's just the way siblings are." I told him. "Well I guess your right about my sister, but my mom, she just gives me all these chores and I'm just sick of um." he said angrily. "Chris man, we all have work to do, if no one did work, how would anything get done? Just think about how much your mom does for you. She makes meals for you, she does your laundry for you, and she cleans up messes you make. Least you can do is help her out a little bit." I explained. "Well I just feel like she gives me too much work, I feel like I never have free time." he said calming down a little. "I'll tell you what, I bet if you sat down with your mom and explained all this too her, she would understand and work with you on this. That sound fair?" I asked. "Yeah I guess so. Man I really screwed up today, I bet my parents are worried." he said. "Yeah well we better get you back so they can stop worrying." I said. "Sounds good." he replied.
We headed out of the tube and just as we stepped out, Jessica was standing right there. Chris ran up to her and gave her a big hug. "How long have you been standing there?" I asked. "Long enough." she said with a smile on her face. "I'm starving," Chris said. "I'm gonna run ahead of you guys." "Okay well just stay in our sights." I responded. Then he took off as Jessica and I started walking slowly behind him. "You know, you handled that way better than I ever could of." Jessica said. "Exactly how much of that did you hear?" I asked. "Ummmmm well pretty much all of it." she answered with a giggle. "Actually to be honest I never left you, I followed you the whole time cause I was to afraid to be alone." "Awwwwww well you should've just said something instead of being all stalker like." I said while laughing a little. "What if I would've said something I didn't want you to hear?" I exclaimed. "Oooooo like what?" Jessica asked with a huge grin on her face. "Ummmmm never mind." I replied starting to turn a little red. "Oh no you didn't; you better tell me now!" she said with an even bigger grin on her face. "Nope sorry." I told her. And at that moment, I don't know exactly what came over me, but I reached out and took her hand into mine. And we just stopped and looked at each other for what seemed like days, until Chris yelled, "Hey common you guys, you're taking forever!" And of course that ruined the mood, but the smiles on both of our faces stayed there the rest of the night as we walked hand in hand back home. As we got back to the house both of their parents we're waiting right at the door. "Aha, now we know what took you two so long." their mom said with a smirk on her face. "Yeah, yeah, yeah make a whole big scene for all the neighbors to hear." Jessica said. "I think I better head home, I don't even think my parent knew I left." I said. "I talk with you tomorrow Jessica okay?" "Alight, night Joshy." she said with almost a squeak. "Night" I replied. As I walked away I watched her every moment I could until she went inside the house, not wanting to lose sight of her until the last second. The walk home barely even fazed me, and when I got home I didn't even realize my parents talking to me. I just nodded my head and went up to my room laid on my bed and smiled for what seemed like forever until I feel asleep.
Chapter 3: The Pool
I woke up the next morning hoping all that had happened wasn't a dream. It wasn't until my mom asking me what happened last night that I knew it wasn't. After I knew, I rushed through getting ready and hurried outside more excited than I had ever been for anything in my life. When I got outside, I found that I was the first one outside. So I decided to shoot baskets for a while. Because of the mood I was in, I was hitting everything I shot. Then out of nowhere, I felt something cover my eyes. "Guess who." a familiar voice said. "Ummmmm Dane Cook?" I said with a laugh. "Oh so that's who I sound like to you?" Jessica asked while removing her hands from my eyes. "Maybe, whatcha gonna do about it?" I said teasingly. "Oh I've got a few ideas," Jessica said with a grin appearing on her face. "Like this". She quickly wrapped her arms around me and pulled me over into the grass, where she then proceeded to tackle me. "How's that for you?" she asked while lying on top of me pinning me to the ground. I just smiled and looked deeply into her eyes, and at that moment she started to lean her head slowly towards mine, but before we made contact we heard, "Ewwwww I don't need to see that." Right on cue, there was Chris standing right over us. "What do you want Chris?" Jessica asked in a frustrated tone. "Mom wants to know if you're going to the pool with us." Chris said. "I thought I told you already, I'm gonna stay here today!" she replied. "Mom says you can bring Josh." Chris said back. "Oh, well in that case, I'm so going. That is if you're up for it Joshy." she said eagerly. "Sounds awesome just let me go grab my stuff." I said. "I'll meet you guys back at your house." "Okies." Jessica squealed.
I rushed back to my house, grabbed my stuffed and ran to their house excited for what lied ahead. The car ride to the pool was annoying considering I had to listen to Chris' horrific singing the whole way there. I jumped out of the car once we got there, half excited to be there, half wanting to get away from the singing. We then split up to go to our respective changing rooms. Me and Chris headed out of the changing room and looked for Jessica and their mom, but didn't see them so we decided to wait for them to come out. When they finally did, I was stunned. Jessica was wearing a rose red two piece, which just totally brought out every good trait about her. I quickly ran over to her and used my towel to cover her up jokingly saying, "This is way too revealing. You're gonna have way too many guys all over you." She giggled and responded; "Only one guy I want all over me here." "Oh is it that guy right there?" I said as I pointed to an extremely hairy old man. "Cause I mean I was checking him out too so I wouldn't be surprised." "Wow you're a mind reader!" she said as she gave me a soft shove.
We found a spot to set all our stuff, and once we got all settled Chris made a run for the pool with his mom following slowly behind him. Which left me and Jessica to ourselves. I wasn't quite ready to get into the pool myself so I sprawled out on my towel hoping to soak in some rays. I assumed Jessica was gonna do the same then I heard, "Hey Joshy can you do me a favor?" "Anything you want beautiful." I responded. "Awwwwww, well then could you come over here and rub some lotion on me?" she asked. This brought a huge smile to my face. The thought of my hands on her silky smooth skin just made me all warm inside. "Of course." I replied. So I slid over to her, took the lotion and spread it on my hands. Then I started rubbing it on her shoulder and worked my way down, going slowly as if I was handling a baby. Her skin was even softer then I had imagined. I almost felt like pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. After I was done I asked, "Anything else you need?" "Ummmmm actually I'm kinda hungry, mind getting me something?" she asked. I'm on it" I replied as I quickly jumped up and started heading towards the food stand.
When I got there the line was pretty long, but I knew Jessica wouldn't mind so I didn't sweat it. But some of the people started taking forever and I was getting on my last nerve. So I finally got up to the cashier and said, "Hey can I get a piece of pizza please?" "Ummmmm we just ran out sorry." the cashier replied. "Ummmmm ok how about a burger then?" I asked. 'Out of those too sorry." he said. "Okay, well is there anyone you're NOT out of?" I replied frustrated. "Yeah we have some nachos." he answered. "Okay that's fine." I said. I threw down the money and took the food and headed back to where Jessica was.
As I approached our site, I saw someone I didn't recognize walking up towards Jessica. This made me speed up my walking. Then I saw him lay down on my towel, which really set me off so I started moving as fast as I could without running so I didn't get yelled at for running. When I finally got there I heard the guy saying, "Hey baby what's your name?" "Get away from me!" Jessica yelled. "Don't be like that baby, I just wanna get to know ya." he said. Then I stepped in and said, "Hey she said leave!" "Don't try and be a hero dude, I'm talking with her so I suggest you leave." he said. "She's with me dude so I suggest YOU leave." I said with my temper rising. "Oh you gonna do something about it?" he asked. "Josh don't do something stupid, let's just go. Jessica said in a worried tone. "Not unless you make something of this and don't walk away." I told him. Then we walked up and got into my face and said, "Whatcha gonna do punk?" "Josh NO!" Jessica screamed. "Look I don't want a problem." I said. "Well you got one now." he said as he shoved me. And this was what I had been waiting for; he instigated the fight, so I took the initiative. I grabbed him and tackled him. We then rolled towards the pool as people stood and watched. We stopped rolling about 5 feet away from the pool and I pushed him up and stood up. He got to his feet and charged me. Anticipating his move, I dodged out of the way and BAM, he went flying into the water. Once the lifeguards heard the noise the rushed to see what happened, and after hearing multiple stories from witnesses, the other guy was kicked out.
After everything had been solved, Jessica walked up to me. And out of nowhere she punched me in the side saying, "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" I stood there clutching my side. "I'm really sorry that happened I just couldn't stand seeing him...." she stopped me in midsentence. She wrapped her arms around me saying, "That was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. I've never had anyone stand up for me like that." I then took her by the hand and said, "Come with me, I've got something to show you." Then I lead her into the water and said to her, "Do you trust me?" "With my life." she responded. I then wrapped my arms around her, and took us both underwater. And without hesitation I pulled her close and kissed her. It was like all time stopped. It was like one of those moments in movies, where everything seems perfect. And it was, it felt like nothing could ever harm either of us ever. But after a while we needed air so we came to the surface. I just looked at Jessica right into the eyes and said, "So I was thinking if you weren't planning on asking out that old hairy guy, that you would wanna be with me?"No doubt in my mind Joshy, I'm all yours!" she said with a gigantic smile on her face. Then I hugged her and tackled her into the water.
Chapter 4: First Date
It had been a week since I started dating the most amazing girl I had ever met, and I loved every moment of it. The late night chats over the phone, the time we spent together, it was all more than anyone could ever ask for. So that night I had something really special planned for us. I had a friend who owed me a favor, who had reservations at this brand new restaurant that was opening up. He couldn't make them so have told me that I could have them. So I planned to take Jessica then after we could do whatever we felt like. Jessica didn't like surprises, but I wanted this to be special. "Joshy, you know you want to tell me where we are going tonight," she said as she leaned up against me and ran he hand across my face. "Sorry hun, but you're just gonna have to wait and see. I said with a grin on my face. "Awwwwww you're no fun." she replied. "Just don't be saying that after tonight." I told her. "We'll see. She said. "I hope you have some nice clothes picked out for tonight." I said. "You're really gonna make me dress up for this?" she asked. "Yup, you can suck it up for one night." I said as I rubbed her back with my hand. "Okay fine, but I have nothing picked out so I better run home to find something." she replied. "Alright don't take too long hun." I told her. "I'll be ready at 6, come and get me then." she said as she headed home.
I had never been one for tuxes or suits, but this was a big event, so I figured I could deal with it. So I pulled my suit that I hadn't used in years out from my closet, and tried it on. Somehow it still fit. I made sure there were no wrinkles, and then checked the clock. 5:50, I had to pick Jessica up at 6, so I rushed to get the rest of the way ready, and then headed out the door. When I got up to the door I knocked. Chris answered the door. "Ooooooo someone's looking sexy." he said. "Ummmmm thanks...." I replied. "Is Jessica ready?" "Ummmmm I'll go find out, you can sit on the couch while you wait if you want." he said. "Sounds good." I told him. I sat down and waited hoping she would be ready soon. After about 5 minutes I heard a voice say, "Okay I'm ready." So I got up and turned around and just froze. There stood Jessica in this stunning dress. It was a white dress, with black dots all over it, and with a pink bow across the waist. "How do I look?" she asked as she did a little twirl. "Perfect." I told her with a giant smile on my face. "Hehe, you're looking pretty dapper yourself there babe." she responded. "Thanks hun. Now let's go, we don't want to be late!" I said.
The car ride was pretty quick since the restaurant was only about 5 minutes from my house. As well pulled up we saw tons on people lined up at the entrance. "What's going on here?" Jessica asked. "Well since we're here I guess I can tell you. I have reservations at this new restaurant that's opening up here." I explained. "Oh my god seriously Joshy?" she asked. "Yep, I'm just that amazing." I said. "That you are," she replied. "Now let's go eat I'm starving." I helped her out of the car and took her hand as we walked up to the line and joined it. Just then the manager came out and gave a speech about the restaurant and how he hoped they would be successful, then he proceeded to let people in. It took us about 15 minutes to finally get to the front of the line. "Name please," the man asked. "The reservations are for Craig Thompson." I responded. "Is Craig present?" he asked. "No, he couldn't make it. That's why we are here." I explained. "Well see sir, I can't do anything without him being here. It's our policy." He said. "Can't I just call him?" I asked. "Sorry, without him being here we can't do anything." He explained. "Wow this is ridiculous!" I exclaimed. "Come on Joshy, let's just go." Jessica said. "Alright fine, but don't ever expect to get our service here ever!" I said.
We walked back to the car and just sat there for a while. "I'm sorry that didn't work out hun." I said with a sigh. "It's okay Joshy, all I really wanted was to spend time with you." She replied. "Well, tonight isn't over. So, I'm going to make it up to you!" I said. "Awwwwww Joshy, you don't have to." She replied. "Nope, I'm going to, you have no say in it." I said with a smile on my face. "Okay then." She said. I started the car up and drive to a familiar spot. It was this small burger joint that I usually went to when I went out for a meal. "What is this place?" Jessica asked. "You've never been here?" I asked shocked. "Nope don't think so." She responded. "Oh well you're in for a real treat." I explained. I lead her inside and we both ordered then sat down. "This place has the best burgers in town no question." I told her. "No way, nothing beats Red Robin burgers." She said. "That's what you think, but see these burger, they'll put that to the test!" I told her. "We'll see." She replied. Just then our burgers were delivered by a waitress who tried to start a conversation with me. "My name is Candy, and if YOU need anything, anything at all, let me know." She said. "If I need anything, I can get it myself. Thanks though." I responded. Then she walked away disgusted. "How do you do it?" Jessica asked. "Do what?" I replied. "That girl, she was gorgeous, and she was totally into you. How can you just completely ignore her?" She asked. "Well for one, who wants a girl who works in a burger joint? And most importantly, I've got the most beautiful girl here sitting right in front of me, what more do I need?" I said with a smile on my face. "Although free burgers would be nice." I said jokingly. Jessica just sat there, with her face all red and a giant smile on her face. "Okay now you get to try these burgers." I said. She took a huge bite, chewed it for a while, swallowed, and sat there for a moment. "So what's the verdict?" I asked. "These burgers….these burgers are 10 times better then Red Robin." She said with a grin. "Told ya so." I responded.
We finished our burgers and left the restaurant. "So we still have some time left, anything you had in mind that you wanna do?" I asked "Not Really." Jessica responded. "Okay then I know what we're gonna do." I replied. We got into the car and drove to the ice rink. "You're kidding right? Jessica asked. "No I actually wanna try skating in a suit, it sounds like fun!" I said. "No way, I'm not skating in this! No chance!" Jessica proclaimed. "Oh so you're gonna make me do this by myself are you?" I asked. "Yep, I'm just gonna sit here in the car." She said. "Actually I think you're gonna get out, cause it's my car and my rules." I said. "Okay fine I'll go inside, but I'm not skating." She replied. "Okay we'll see about that. We went inside and got skates, I got some for Jessica because I had a hunch she would change her mind when she found out what I had in store. I knew someone that worked at the rink, and I talked him into after awhile, clearing out the rink and having only a few lights on. So I skated around for awhile while I waited for the cue. Then I heard, "Okay that was the last song people, please clear the ice so we can clean it." I waited on the ice to make sure he hadn't forgotten. "Come on Joshy, you heard him that was the last song lets go." Jessica said. "Only if you come out here on the ice real fast." I told her. "Okay fine, if that will make you happy; I'll just step out there." She replied. Then she slowly came on to the ice. I gave a thumbs up signal to my friend, and then the lights dimmed. "What is this?' Jessica asked. "I have no clue," I said with a smirk. Then some soft music started to play. "Oh really, this wasn't set up at all?" she asked. "Nope not at all. But let's take advantage of it." I said with a giant grin on my face. I skated up to her and wrapped my arms around her."I'm gonna fall Joshy, I know I am." She said. "No you won't, I'm right here, I won't let you fall." And with those words, I could just feel a peace come over her. She was just completely relaxed as we slowly skated around the rink. We skated for the longest time until we heard, "Sorry guys you gotta get off the ice now, we need to close up." So we got off the ice, took our skates off, and headed to the car.
When we got back to the car, we just kept staring at each other. Which resulted in us making out for about an hour. After we had finished, we looked at the clock. It was 1:00. "My parents are going to kill me for being out this late." Jessica said. "Yeah, they'll probably think I'm irresponsible or something." I replied. "You know what Joshy, tonight has been perfect, I wish it didn't have to end." Jessica said. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks; it didn't have to. "Maybe it doesn't have to." I responded. "What do you mean?" she asked. "How much trouble would you get into if you never came home?" I asked. "Not much more then I'll be if I came home right now." She responded. "Well then why go home? Might as well make the most of it right?" I asked. "I guess you're right, but what are we gonna do?" she said. I thought for a while, and then I stuck gold. "You'll see." I said. I started the car and drove towards our houses. But that wasn't where I was headed. I headed towards the countryside. I drove until I found the perfect spot. It was a small school in almost the middle of nowhere. Then I stopped and got out of the car. "What are we doing here?" Jessica asked. "Come with me.'" I responded. I took her by the hand and led her to the small field the school probably used for a playground. When we got to the middle of it, I just simply laid down in the grass and motioned to Jessica to join me. She quickly did. "What, are we doing out here Joshy it's freezing." She said. "Here I can fix that." I said as I pulled her up close to me and wrapped her in between me and my coat. She smiled, "This is perfect." "You're perfect." I responded with a smile. "Awwwwww, Joshy I have something to tell you." She said. "What's that hun?" I asked. "I love you." She said without hesitation as she closed her eyes to fall asleep.