Hello everyone, I'm back with another story! Anyway, before I start, I just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ganon lover, hope you have a great one and I hope you like this new story!

I combed my dark long hair once again and put what seemed like the hundredth bobby pin in it. I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror, satisfied with my appearance. Now I looked presentable, maybe he would be impressed.

Leaving the house, I jogged over to the woods and sat down on the grass. A smile crept up on my lips as I thought about him.

"What are you smiling about?" A voice asked me. I didn't even need to look at him to know who it was.

"None of your business Jake," I said playfully.

"Oh really?" He raised an eyebrow. "Keeping secrets from your best friend, Nal?" He pretended to look hurt.

I responded by rolling my eyes.

"Fine, then someone isn't getting this." He held up a small box.

I tilted my head. "What is that?"

He smiled deviously. "Tell me what you're hiding from me."

"Jake!" I got up and chased him for the box. After a while, he stopped and started panting.

"Okay okay! You win!" He put his arms up in surrender and laughed.

I smiled in victory.

"Here." He handed me the box. "Happy birthday."

"Oh my God! I thought you forgot!"

"Yeah, sorry I'm a few days late, I wanted to make you think I forgot and then bam! I surprise you with a gift."

"Jake!" I slapped his arm playfully.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Just open it."

I lifted the lid off the box and saw a gold necklace that had my name on it.

"Wow, Jake, it's so beautiful." I was speechless.

"I'm glad you like it. I wanted to give you something nice and I made sure that the necklace represented you. That's why it has your name on it, Naliana."

"Jake, this is real gold, it must have cost so much..."

"No worries, you're my best friend. It's worth it."

I smiled meekly. "Thank you so much Jake..." I pulled him into a hug.

He chuckled. "No problem, I hope you're happy with it."

"Oh, I definitely am! This made my day!" I took the necklace and gently placed it across my neck.

"It looks great on you. It really suits you," he told me.

"I love it so much. Thank you!" I smiled.

He grinned. "Hold on, I'll be right back."

With that, he left and I waited for him. I was so happy inside. That was so sweet! Maybe... No, not possible. I couldn't think this way, I didn't want to get my hopes up. But... maybe he liked me back. Jake spent all that money on me and he always treated me so nicely, plus he could be really protective over me at times. Maybe he did like me back. And then he would tell me, and we would be a couple, and then we would have our first date and our first kiss, and maybe even- Then I reminded myself to stop! I shouldn't have been getting so ahead of myself. He would never have liked me back anyway. But I was too happy to think about that. I told myself that I was going to wear this necklace everyday and I planned to keep that promise.

I still remembered that first day we met, when we were sixteen years old.

I was stressed out, I just wanted to relax. I ran deep into the woods, and sat down at my spot. I looked out at the lake and all the trees ahead. It was such a nice view. I stayed there for a while and just thought about my life. I was deep into thought and didn't notice any footsteps behind me.

"Excuse me," I heard a voice say. I jumped up, startled, and saw a boy who looked to be my age. He had brown eyes and dirty blond hair, and he was very tall.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" The boy said with a tinge of guilt in his voice.

"It's okay, I'm fine," I answered.

"My name's Jake." He reached out a hand to me. "Pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Naliana, but you can call me Nal." I shook his hand.

"So what are you doing here all by yourself?" he asked me.

"Well, I like to come here to get away from life and relax. Sometimes I just need to cool down, so I come here and stay for a while. It's just so peaceful, I hear the birds chirp and the water flow, and it makes me feel better."

"Wow, I'm sorry for bothering you. Would you like me to leave?"

"Oh no, it's okay. Some company would be nice actually. Come sit down."

Jake smiled and sat down beside me, then we began to converse.

Ever since then, we had always been meeting up at that exact spot and talking to each other. Over time, we became best friends and we gained trust. We could tell each other anything, expect, well there were two secrets I couldn't tell him. One of them was that I love him.

"Back," I heard him say, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Okay," I said. Jake seemed to be thinking deeply about something.

"You know there's something that really bothers me..." he started, it looked like he finally just blurted out what he had been thinking.

"What?"

"Okay, so yesterday I bumped into someone, his name's Gerald."

"Okay, and?"

"I just really hate him."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Well, I used to know him before, when we were younger. He was the school bully, beat people up all the time, really mean to everyone. He always had problems, you know. Gerald had these random times where he would go in a rage if the smallest thing went wrong. He expects everyone to praise him as if he's some sort of god and if even one thing didn't go his way, he'd start screaming and taking out his anger on other people. He considered everyone to be his little punch bags, when he got angry, he'd let out his frustration by beating them. No one ever told on him, because he was too intimidating, they were scared of what he would do to them if they ratted him out."

"Oh...that's horrible...what's his name again? Gerald?"

"Yeah. Gerald Brightblade."

I gasped. "You couldn't possibly be talking about the Gerald Brightblade, right?! Jake, if you think he's bad, you're crazy!"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's what's annoying me. Everyone thinks he's such a great person."

"Well, yeah...I mean, he gives so much money to charities, he's helped countless people and-"

"He doesn't want to do all that stuff. He's just trying to get a good reputation, and he's acting like a good person. I don't know why, I guess he just wanted more people to respect him."

"Oh...but how do you know he didn't actually change for real now?"

"He acted the same way as he was before when I saw him yesterday. He's still the same."

"Well...why didn't anyone tell someone about him after they parted ways? You know, like after they finished school, couldn't they have told on him?"

"Nope, in high school he became the popular guy, and all of those people he used to beat became his lackeys. They were stupid, like everyone else, thinking that it doesn't matter if he's violent and evil, he's popular, so it's okay."

"That's...wow..."

"I know." Jake flipped his long bangs off his face. "I just feel like I'm the only one who sees what he's doing..."

"Aw, Jake, you're not the only one. I'm sure you're right."

"Thanks, but it just annoys me how everyone thinks that he's a great person who does so many good deeds and stuff."

"Just don't think about it. It's not going to change anything if you mope around all day."

"You're right." Jake smiled. "So guess what."

"What?" I asked.

"I got a girlfriend."

I froze in place as the words sunk in. My heart felt like a mirror that just shattered into a hundred pieces. I decided to find out more, even thought I knew I wouldn't like the answer.

"W-who?" I tried to ask casually.

"Okay, so there's this girl I've had my eye on lately, her name's Amelia. She's my new girlfriend."

"Oh."

I wanted to burst out into tears, but I couldn't in front of him. I bit on my lip and tried to keep myself from crying.

"I really like her Nal! She's so great, smart, funny, pretty- no, beautiful! And she's very sweet! I asked her out yesterday and she said yes! How lucky am I?" When I didn't answer, he just chose to continue. "And I plan to take her out to dinner one evening, I'm gonna make her feel like the best girl ever. And I'm planning to kiss her that night, what do you think? Is that a good idea?"

I couldn't handle hearing him talk about her anymore. "Jake, I-I have to go," I said, trying really hard to sound normal.

"Oh, this early? Okay, fine. I'll see you later!"

"Bye Jake." My voice cracked, but I don't think he heard, he was too obsessed with that Amelia girl to care. I ran off in tears. I couldn't breathe normally, I was taking quick quivering breaths. And I couldn't stop crying. I ran into my house and went upstairs right away, then I slammed the door and collapsed on my bed.

An hour later, tissues were everywhere, and I was still a mess. What was I thinking? How could I ever have thought that he even liked me that way? Obviously I couldn't win against a girl like Amelia. Why would he have liked me anyway? I'm not special. He was out of my league. There was no way I could have ever been with someone that good. He never did love me.

I loved him, but he would only be happy with someone else. He'd never like me back. I'd loved him for so many years and I would have done anything for him. It was one sided though. I hated myself. With all those negative thoughts, I just felt worse. I clutched the necklace that Jake gave me and started crying again because of it.

I was no match for him, and I could never be with Jake. All of a sudden, the tissues that I was using turned into jewels.

Not again... that was my strange abnormal power. Sometimes when I touched something, it would turn into a jewel. It was out of control and I hated it, whenever I was angry or sad, it just happened and I couldn't explain it. I wished I could control my power, I'd tried to before, but it never worked. It just happened when my emotions over took me, like this time.

A few days later, I was still depressed and heart broken. My mother called me and told me to meet her in her room for a family meeting. I was in my parents' bedroom.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Naliana, you're 23 years old and you're still not married. This is a problem," My mother said.

"I want to find the guy that I love, it takes time, you know..." I had trouble saying that without my voice cracking. I lost the guy I love. I didn't even know what to do anymore. I didn't want to fall in love with another guy and I still loved Jake.

"We can't keep waiting. We told you that we would let you go on your own until your 23rd birthday. But now that you're this old, we have to come in and take control. We have no choice."

"What are you saying, Mother?"

"We've set up an arranged marriage for you." My mother nodded at Father.

"I don't want an arranged marriage. I want to find love on my own."

"We gave you all the time in the world to do that. But it's not working. Naliana, we're getting you married to this guy whether you like it or not."

I wanted to protest, because I wanted Jake. But I knew I couldn't have him, so why did I still have hope inside me? It wasn't going to work with Jake, and I needed to get that into my head.

"I'm not going to marry whoever it is."

"Naliana, please don't be difficult."

"Who is this guy?" I asked.

Mother looked at Father and then at me, before she answered the question.

"Gerald Brightblade."

Not the happiest start, but don't worry, things will get better. And if you're wondering how to say Naliana's name, it's pronounced "Na-lee-anna". Anyway, please leave a review and tell me what you think!