Hi everyone (I know I should be working on my other story, The Truth, but I kind of took a break and had a hard time picking it back up!) You know the drill, I own nothing, it all belongs to L.J. Smith. Any character that seems like someone else's character or an actual person is coincidental. I hope you enjoy and please review!

The Wish

Chapter 1

"Jenny! Are you ready yet? What's taking so long?" Dee called from downstairs. Jenny was almost ready. She finished curling her hair and applied some lip gloss. She looked in the mirror and was pleased with what she saw. Her long golden hair was down in large curls. She put brown eyeliner and black mascara with pale gold eye shadow around her pine needle eyes. Her cheeks were naturally a pretty shade of pink and her eye brows two decisive brush strokes.

Jenny ran to the closet and threw on a pair of skinny jeans and a flowy tank top and grabbed her black ballet flats. Jenny ran down the stairs and pulled her flats on before grabbing her purse which was sitting on the bottom step. Dee handed her a cardigan and Jenny pulled it on, noticing her friend was smiling at her. "What's so funny?" Dee laughed, "You weren't really taking long, but I figured out how to make you hurry it up." Jenny lightly punched Dee's arm, "Lately you've been taking longer to get ready than me." Dee smiled a real smile and almost blushed. "I really like him Jenny. And judging by how nice you look tonight I'm guessing you are starting to really like Steven." Jenny smiled back at her friend and nodded. Jenny looked Dee over and saw she was wearing a nice pair of skinny jeans and flats as well and a very new looking top that accentuated Dee's curves.

A horn honked outside and the girls exchanged excited glances and headed out to the driveway. Dee sat in the front next to Peter, a fellow personal trainer that worked at the same gym as Dee. He was very handsome, tall and well built. Summer liked to tease Peter about taking steroids, but they all knew he didn't. He had black hair, brown eyes, and eye lashes so dark it almost looked like he wore eye liner. He craved danger in the same way Dee always had, but he was very level headed and responsible. Dee and Peter balanced each other out in a way that was almost too perfect.

Jenny got in the back seat next to Steven. He handed Jenny a lily and lightly kissed her cheek. "You look amazing." He said, "You look nice too. And thank you, for the flower." Jenny said smiling. It was true, he did look nice. He had brown hair that reminded Jenny of Tom's, no matter how messy it was it always looked stylish. He had hazel eyes and a tan complexion. Audrey had told Jenny many times that she thought Steven could be an Abercrombie model, and Jenny had to agree. He was wearing a worn brown leather jacket with a white tee shirt and plain jeans. If any one else were dressed the way he was they would look underdressed for the restaurant they were headed too, but Steven could make anything look good.

They pulled out of Jenny and Dee's driveway and headed towards La Fleur. The new French restaurant in town. Jenny was looking at the lily sitting on her lap and noticed she was wearing Julian's ring on her left hand ring finger. Discreetly, she pulled it off and put it on her right hand. She didn't want to explain to Steven about why she was wearing it on that hand. Any time she took off the ring, even for a second, Jenny felt naked. It had become a part of her after Julian's death. A reminder that she is her only master and of the sacrifice Julian made so she could live her life. Any time Jenny felt like lying in bed all day or passing up a chance to do something knew, she thought of that sacrifice and got up and did it for Julian. She tried to dream of Julian, but dreams are so unpredictable it only happened every so often, but thankfully, when she did dream of him they were always full of light and happiness.

"Jenny?" Jenny looked at Steven and realized he had been talking to her. "I said we're here." He said smiling at her. Jenny got out of the car and they headed inside the restaurant. Jenny quickly realized she didn't need to worry about Steven being underdressed, because all four of them were. Not a person could be seen wearing jeans. All the men were in crisp suits and the women all looked incredibly elegant. "Umm-" Jenny started but Steven didn't seem bothered. He walked up the waitress, "Reservation for Steven James." The hostess looked all four of them over with a forced polite smile and seated them in the very back corner of the restaurant, a table conveniently hidden by anyone at the front entrance.

Peter looked as uncomfortable as Jenny felt, but Steven and Dee didn't act as though they noticed or cared about the dress code. They quietly looked over their menu's and Jenny realized she didn't recognize anything other than caviar as it was all in French. "Need help?" Steven asked. "I have no idea what any of this says." Jenny said trying not to giggle at Dee who was squinting her eyes as though she could understand French if she squinted hard enough. Steven was going on, "What sounds good? Steak, chicken, soup?" Peter took away Dee's menu, "Your going to pop a blood vessel if you keep doing that. Steven, you wanna order us some kind of chicken?" Dee was just smiling and nodded in agreement. "I think chicken sounds good too." Jenny said. They were all smiling at each other, trying not to laugh. They ordered their meals and a bottle of wine.

It still felt weird to drink in public to Jenny. She was 22, almost 23, but she still felt like she was breaking a rule. She had yet to drink any kind of alcohol at her parents house, it just felt awkward. She thought back to her 21st birthday when she allowed her college roommate, Cassy, to take her to a club for the first time. Jenny drank a little too much and woke up on her bathroom floor with one shoe on. She never found the other shoe and had a hangover for two whole days as well as no memory from that night. That was the first and last time Jenny would have more than two drinks at a time.

The food came and smelt amazing. "I have no idea what this is but it is so good." Jenny said between bites. She heard grunts of agreement from the other three sitting at their table. The rest of their double date was rather bland. No one had any deeper conversations than small talk, but every time Jenny would glance at Steven he was smiling at her. She would smile back automatically but was a little disappointed that any time she attempted conversation with Steven he wouldn't give any more than one word answers.

After dinner they headed out to the boardwalk by the ocean to take a stroll. The sky was clear giving them a good view of the setting sun and music could be heard down the beach giving the evening a romantic, magical feeling. Dee and Peter had walked a head of Steven and Jenny, walking at a faster pace. Jenny guessed it was automatic from their martial arts and running backgrounds.

Steven took Jenny's hand as they walked and Jenny smiled at him. He smiled back but didn't say anything for what felt like forever. "So, Jenny, tell me more about yourself."

Jenny laughed, "What do you want to know? You know the basic stuff from work."

"Its hard to talk at the hospital. It seems like us nurses do more work than the doctors." He gave her a joking smile. "How about we talk about our pasts. When was your last relationship?"

Jenny took a deep breath and sighed. This was usually the time when any date she had became uninterested in her. "Well, my last serious relationship lasted until I turned 18. We were together since kindergarten and just kind of grew apart. He went to college across the country for football and I wanted to stay here with my friends and family." She glanced at Steven to see his reaction but he just smiled and said, "Go on."

"I dated off and on through college, but never found anyone I really liked, you know?"

Steven stopped walking and turned towards Jenny. "I know. I never had a serious relationship because I could never find the right person. Until now." Jenny was frozen. This was only their fourth date and they hadn't even kissed yet. Steven was obviously having the same thought as he leaned in to kiss her. Jenny watched his face get closer and then suddenly pulled back. Steven looked hurt for a moment and then nodded. He let go of her hands and they just stood like that for a moment. Why did I pull away? I should say something. Anything. Any time now Jenny. "Uh…" Jenny said stupidly. She felt terrible for rejecting him like that but he had freaked her out with the serious relationship talk.

Steven slowly turned and started walking down the boardwalk towards the car. Not looking at his hurt expression woke Jenny up. "Steven, wait-I'm sorry!" She called after him but he just kept walking. Jenny sighed and walked over to a bench facing the ocean. She sat down and pulled out her cell phone. Steven is waiting at the car. I totally blew it. She texted Dee. Jenny closed her phone and dropped it back in her purse and looked out over the ocean.

Why do I always mess things up with guys? I didn't compare Steven to Julian or Tom like I used to with other guys so that was good, but I still pulled away from him. Jenny was trying to figure out where she had messed up. Her life was good. She had amazing friends and a great family, but she always felt like something was missing. Jenny had thought that it was Tom breaking up with her for football for a long time until she realized it was for the best. The really did just grow apart. There were no hard feelings between them and they would always care about one another, but they wanted different things now.

Jenny had gone to UCLA and became a nurse. She graduated about six months ago and had worked since then almost 10 hour days, but she loved it. Her friends had spread out but were still incredibly close. Summer was an elementary school teacher at their old school and was engaged to Zach, who had a photography studio in town. Dee became a personal trainer at the local gym and taught Kung Fu on the weekends. They had bought a house together about three months ago. Audrey and Michael were also engaged and lived in LA. Michael was an aspiring author and was currently working on getting his masters degree in psychology. Audrey had become an interior decorator and had taken any internship she could get at any notable fashion magazines editing office. They were all doing great and living their lives happily and to the fullest.

So why do I feel like something is missing? She thought to herself again. She knew the answer. She always had, but she was always too afraid to admit it to herself. She wanted to know what things could have been like 'if'. What if Julian had come and just asked her? What if Julian had waited until Jenny was 18 and Tom had broken up with her? What if he came back to her right now? Or what if she had the chance to do every thing over again? I'll never know. What if it feels like something is missing my entire life? Jenny was almost ashamed of herself for feeling sorry for herself.

Jenny looked up at the night sky and saw a single star, twinkling so innocently at her. She smiled. What if, right? Jenny whispered to the star the nursery rhyme that almost every child knows. "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight." I wish I could have one more chance… She laughed to herself for being so childish.

Jenny turned when she heard Dee's voice. She came over and put an arm around Jenny's shoulders. "Lets get home tiger." Jenny smiled at her friend and let Dee and Peter lead her to the car. She gave once last glance up at the little star in the sky, but couldn't see it anymore.

A/N: So what did you think? Please let me know!