CHAPTER 4

He put the car on drive and his friends followed behind.

"I think we're going to stop at the sign."

"Okay."

When we got there, I saw the Hollywood sign up in the grassy hills. The one I've seen many times in pictures, but never in person.

"Wow. It looks better than in pictures," I said taking a picture with my phone.

"Obviously," James said and everyone laughed.

I stuck my tongue out at James and he only laughed more. I rolled my eyes playfully and took more pictures. I even got one with all the guys when we asked a random person to take our picture.

"We should take you to downtown LA," Carlos said.

I looked to James.

"Yeah James, take me to LA." I said looking towards him.

"Can I hear a please?" James asked.

"Please?"

He smiled and nodded.

We walked back to the car. The guys got in their car and I got in James'. He started the car and drove to LA.

"When we're in LA, I doubt we're going to go to any other place," James said breaking up the silence.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because LA is LA. There's lots to do and time will fly by quickly, trust me."

"Hold on," I said.

My phone was vibrating. I was getting a call from Daniel.

"Hey Dan," I said.

"Hey how are you?" he asked through the phone.

"I'm good. I'm finally touring Cali," I said and he laughed.

"That's great! Are you having fun?" he asked.

"Definitely," I answered. "I got you something," he mentioned. I was interested in what it was.

"What did you get me?" I asked curiously.

"You'll have to wait and see," he teased.

"Daniel," I whined.

"Sorry Tats."

"Fine. When I get you something I'm not going to tell you what it is."

"Okay, then we'll be even," he said and I knew he was smiling at the other end. "So where are you right now?" he asked.

"Well we're going to LA right now," I told him.

"Who's we?" he asked curiously.

"James. You know, the guy I always talked about?" I said making sure I didn't sound like I was with some random guy and was cheating on him.

"Oh yeah!" -He seemed to remember- "Aw, you're with your best friend."

"Yeah, after like eight years."

"That's a long time. I'm glad you're having fun. Hey, I got to go. I'll talk to you later, love you," he said.

"Alright bye."

I hung up.

"You were saying?" I asked.

"Yeah basically LA has a lot of fun things to do and time will fly by quickly."

"Cool. I guess we'll continue sight seeing tomorrow then," I said.

He laughed softly and we continued driving to LA.

James Point of View

~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~

Every time I see her, I just fall in love with her. She takes my breath away. The way her hair sways from left to right when she walks. Her cute laugh that never changed ever since we were little. Her warm smile that brought joy to my day.

But I hate it how she has a boyfriend when I knew her longer. Liked her longer. Loved her longer. I'm the only one who knows her personally. But now there's this new guy named Daniel? Who the hell was he? Every time she mentioned him, I got furious inside. I don't like this guy. She's never told me about him. Of course I don't blame her. We kind of grew apart ever since I moved to California. But it aggravates me. It pisses me off.

It was one of those normal Fridays where we went to each other's houses. She was eleven and I was twelve. We went to go watch a movie just the two of us and we sat next to each other. I told her I'd pay for everything.

"But James," she would complain.

I only shushed her up. We shared the popcorn and soda. I realized I was feeling nervous for some reason around her. Of course I always felt like this, but it wasn't as bad as this.

My palms were getting sweaty and I was scared she might notice something. My back was burning up and my hands were becoming shaky. Good thing I didn't drop the popcorn or the soda on our way to our seats.

In the theatre, sitting next to each other, I placed the soda in the cup holder and I held the popcorn. At occasional times, we would reach in at the same time and our hands would touch. I felt a strange rush run through my body making me even shakier than before.

She would say sorry and take her hand back out waiting her turn. She even laughed her cute laugh I always thought was adorable.

Then when we walked around Town Square at night, the Christmas lights glistened against her face and she looked like an angel. A beautiful girl whom I was with. That was the day I knew I liked her. Of course I liked her before, but that was the very day that I knew she was the one for me. It was only a matter of time when I found out that I was leaving a year later.

I parked the car and got out to meet up with the guys. She followed behind us.

"What should I get Daniel?" she said walking in between Carlos and Logan.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Logan asked.

"Yeah," Tati said.

"You should get him like a sweatshirt," Carlos suggested.

"What would be nice," she said.

We continued walking on the busy sidewalk of LA. I stayed behind them walking with Kendall just thinking about how beautiful Tati is. But I could never tell her I liked her. She has her boyfriend back in New York. It's things like this that bother me. If I had stayed, I'm pretty sure one year later I would have told her I liked her. But I like my life right now and I'm proud with what I am doing.

"James," -Logan called, snapping me out of my thoughts- "I think everyone is getting together and hosting a party at your house if that's alright," he said.

"A party for what?" I asked forgetting that my birthday was in three days.

"For your twenty second birthday," he said.

"Oh yeah, is everyone invited?" I asked and he nodded.

This party already seemed like it was going to be a blast.

"Wait you're having a party?" Tatiana asked.

"Yeah, you guys are invited," I told her.

"Well then I need to get something for you," she said smiling at me.

She was now walking next to me and our arms were nearly touching.

"You don't have to. The best gift you gave was coming here."

"No. But I want to," she said as she looked into my eyes.

I looked at her and smiled. We were quiet for a few, but then I looked away and kept walking.

"Alright," I gave up and we walked into the first store.

"James. You're not leaving my side." She grabbed my hand and pulled me with her. She was still the same Tatiana I always knew, but some things did change.

Tatiana's Point of View

~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~

I was shopping for Daniel's sweatshirt. I wanted James' opinion on the stuff I picked out because he was my friend. The only one whom I knew longer that was currently with me. I wanted to get Daniel something good, something that would surprise him.

"Do you think he'll like this?" I asked him, but he seemed the least interested.

"Yeah," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm a guy. Trust me he'll like it."

I purchased the grey sweater with Los Angeles in black letters on the front.

"Come on, let's do something else other than walking around in LA." James said.

"What do you want to do?" I asked.

"I have an idea."

I wanted to know his idea, but I didn't ask him. He held my hand taking me back to the car.

"Where are we going?" I thought LA is LA," I said laughing.

He started laughing. "It is, but you can come when ever you need to. Just get in the car," he said unlocking the car doors.

We got in his car and turned the radio on. I blasted the music and we both laughed and sang. Of course he had a better voice than me- he always had. But I loved listening to him sing. He sounded like a sweet angel.

"What about your friends?" I yelled over the music.

"I texted them. They're cool about it," he yelled back.

We sung songs for what seemed like hours. Ultimately, he rolled the windows up and put the AC on. After a while of just driving, I shivered, but I didn't want him to turn the AC off.

"Here," he said reaching in the back seat and handing me his sweater.

"Thanks."

I placed it on top of me like a blanket, which had a faint smell of his cologne. I took a small nap and when I woke up the sun was setting.

"I stopped to get some McDonalds," he said.

"Oh awesome. Thanks," I told him.

I had no idea where we were.

"Where exactly are you taking me?" I asked eating the French fries.

"Somewhere," he said smiling.

"James, come on. Tell me," I pleaded and he only shook his head.

"Did you have a nice nap?" he asked.

"Way to change the subject, but my nap was good," I told him.

"We're almost there," he said as he continued driving.

I looked at the signs, but I still had no idea where we were. I decided to take another nap instead and when I woke up, the car had stopped on a cliff. I looked around. The sun was barely over the horizon and the sky was getting dark. It appeared to be that we were on some sort of a mountain. I looked out the window and saw the city down below. It looked beautiful.

"What city is it?" I asked.

"San Francisco," he said opening the door and getting out.

There were few people around, but they were beginning to leave.

"This is beautiful," I got out of the car and joined him by his side. "So this was where you were taking me," I said and he nodded his head.

"We're going to look at the stars tonight."

My eyes widened with delight and I smiled remembering that it was one of the things we've always wanted to do ever since we were small.

"So we're going to wait until the stars come out?" I asked excitedly.

"Yeah."

He walked over to a grassy area and sat down. I sat next to him as we looked far out into the city.

"Do you see the bridge?" he pointed to a figure way out.

"Mhm. It looks really nice," I said.

We were far out from the city. Almost in the countryside of California, but barely out of the city. It was like the suburbs. When I saw the first star I pointed up at it and smiled.

"Look!" I said.

James looked up to find the first star of the night. I laid down so I wouldn't hurt my neck by tilting it up for too long. He then did the same, but turned his body and laid his head on my stomach.

"Is it fine?" he asked.

"Yeah."

I started to play with his hair for some reason. It was like his hair was a magnet that attracted my hand to it. It felt soft and luscious as I ran my fingers through it. He didn't do anything to avoid the touch so I kept my hand there.

The night got darker and the moon came out. It illuminated the ground and I could see James perfect face clearly.

He was now lying right next to me. We were having a sweet best friend moment. I turned my head to face him.

"Thanks," I told him and he turned to face me too.

I saw a gleam in his eyes, which looked pretty. I was falling for James and I couldn't help myself. I know I shouldn't. I have a boyfriend.

"I just remembered this was the one thing we always wanted to do when we were younger."

We had many more things we wanted to do, but this was number one on our list. It was because the thought of simply lying in the grass at night was peaceful and relaxing. We both enjoyed those things growing up together.

I heard the crickets chirping away in the dark while the calm breeze blew softly across my face. The grass beneath me was smooth and cold and the night was quiet and tranquil; just the two of us lying on the smooth grass together.

We smiled at each other for a long time.

Suddenly he gave me a new look. Well I had seen it before from him the time he was fixing my hair, but I didn't want to be wrong. He looked like he wanted to kiss me. And I kind of did too. Just have two people kissing under the stars, why not?

Suddenly our faces were moving in, getting closer and closer, until our lips were centimeters away from each other, but I couldn't kiss him. I remembered I had a boyfriend. I tilted my head back and pulled myself away from him to watch the stars leaving James hanging on to something that could never happen.

I swallowed. What was I doing? I couldn't kiss James. I have a boyfriend. But James is really cute. Yet so is Daniel. And I can't cheat on him. I'm not those type of girls.

"So you're going into your third year of college?" James asked looking back at the stars.

Good thing he said something, because I wasn't sure what I should've said to him.

"Yup. But I have nine more years to go, ten including this one," I told him trying to make what almost happened five seconds ago normal.

"Ten?" he asked surprised.

"I'm studying to be a pediatrician."

"Oh," he said. "Makes sense. So you're going to be working with little kids?"

"Yeah. It seems like a lot of fun though. I mean you're already living your dream," I said and I saw him turn to look at me.

"Yeah. I love it. It's what I've wanted to do my entire life. And I'm blessed to have this job. It's amazing."

We smiled to each other and I laid my head on his arm.

"Here," he said.

He moved his arm out so I could position my head better. I was close to his body and felt so much comfortable. I could almost fall asleep. He secured a grip around me and I felt safe in his arms, like nothing bad could ever happen.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"I think like ten thirty."

"We've seriously been out here for that long?" I asked shocked.

"Yup."

"It looks really pretty. Especially the view."

"Yeah, you tend to love California a little more," he said.

"To be honest, I'm kind of loving Cali more than NY," I admitted and he laughed.

We were facing each other. He looked at me with his hazel eyes and even though it was dark, I could see his gorgeous eyes and smile.

"We should get home," he said getting up.

"Alright."

We got in the car and headed back home. I ended up falling asleep in the passenger seat.

When we entered the house it was around four in the morning.

I wasn't fully awake when James called my name. It sounded so distant, I thought I was dreaming.

I felt James turn the car off and suddenly he was carrying me up the stairs. Soon enough I was lying in my bed. He took off my shoes and put me under the blankets. I wasn't sure if my senses were fully awake, but I'm almost certain I felt James gently tuck my hair behind my ear and kiss me on the cheek.

I fell right asleep after.