Chapter 10

There were only a few weeks of summer left. Jade was going to Koby's house. She wanted to spend as much time with him as possible before she had to go back to school. When she got to his front door she paused when she heard some yelling on the other side of it.

"You can't do this to me!" Koby yelled.

"…for your own good," his mother said.

"At least until we get it straightened out…" his father said.

"No! I can't leave her!" Koby said.

"…you knew we might not stay…"

"It doesn't matter! There's got to be another way…" Koby said.

"It's final," his mother said.

Jade stood there for a moment twisting her hair around in her hand. What was going on in there? Should she knock or should she just leave and come back when the atmosphere was a lot toned down? And yet curiosity made her want to come in. She knocked on the door nervously then rocked back and forth on her feet waiting for him to open the door.

Koby opened the door looking upset and angry.

"Koby…" she began concerned for him.

All of a sudden he pulled to close to him and kissed her hard. She could feel the tension in his body and his lips were urgent and longing for hers. After breaking their kiss he didn't let go, he kept his arms around her and ran his hand up and down her back.

"Koby, what's going on?" she asked hugging him around his waist.

He held her shoulders and looked at her for a moment. Then he closed the front door behind him. "Walk with me." He took her hand and they walked down the sidewalk. "I'm leaving."

Jade stopped walking and looked at him. She felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach. "What?"

"I'm going back to the UK."

"For how long?"

Koby shrugged. "I don't know, a while."

Jade's eyes filled with tears. "You can't leave. Is there any way you can change their minds?"

Koby shook his head. "I've been trying all morning. They won't budge." He sighed. "They're right; we shouldn't have gotten this close. I knew I was leaving…"

Jade put her finger over his lips to stop him. "Don't say that." Her tears started to fall down her cheeks. "I love you Koby," she cried.

He kissed her lips. "I love you too." He held her in his arms and she cried into his shoulder.

She felt like her entire world had come crashing down in that moment. She loved Koby with all her heart. People claimed that at this age, they didn't know what love was. They saw it as an infatuation, puppy love, a simple crush that'll soon pass over. But what she and Koby had was a lot more than that. If he left, she'd lose a part of her. He lifted her chin and wiped her tears away. "Do you think we'll ever see each other again?" she asked

"We will," he said firmly. "I'll come back one day, and I'll never leave you again." They stood there holding each other for a moment. "Come inside, there's something I want you to have."

He led her back to his house and she fought tears the whole way there. They went into his room and she sat on his bed. It mad her sad that she wouldn't be able to come in here anymore to watch him paint or lay on the bed sleeping with him.

He pulled out a painting. It was of him and Jade copied from a picture he'd taken of them weeks ago. "I made this for you a few days ago so you won't forget me."

Jade took the painting and looked at it not knowing what to say. She was overwhelmed with emotion. She put the painting next her before she ended up crying all over it Then she threw her arms around him and kissed his lips. "Koby I love you," she cried. "I could never, ever forget you."

Koby and Jade had spent every moment together until Friday. Both were incredibly sad that they'd be separated but there was nothing they could do about it. They had promised to stay in contact with each other and never forget each other. Koby promised her he'd come back and stay with her.

On Friday Jade was in her room laying on her bed under the cover's crying. There was a knock on the door. "Go away!" she exclaimed.

Jane came in. "Mom said you can't stay in your room moping around for the rest of your life."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Well mom had better accept it because that's what I plan on doing."

Jane sat on Jade's pink spinning chair by her desk. "So."

"So?"

"No advice? You always give me boy advice whenever you have the opportunity."

Jade sighed and sat up. She was wearing green pajamas with frogs all over them, her hair was messy and her eyes were red. "When you meet a boy," she sniffed and wiped her eyes, "and you love him so much that nothing else in the world matter's, you know that everything about him is perfect and what you want, and he has the power to completely change you for the better and turn you into a different person because of it. Then he…all of a sudden has to leave and go away to the other side of the world. You start to question your life and somehow you have to cope with it and…move on." The tears started rolling down her cheeks again.

Jane had never seen her sister this upset before and she actually felt sympathy for her. "Jade…"

"Just leave. There's something I have to do." Once Jane was gone, Jade sat at her desk and took out a piece of her pink stationary paper and her favorite purple pen and poured her heart out.

Dear Koby,

I know you said we'd see each other again, but even if we don't, there's something I want you to know. I love you more than anyone I've ever loved in my life. You mean the world to me. I've loved you ever since that day in your room when you painted that picture of me and told me I was beautiful. It would be pointless to put into words how I feel about you because it wouldn't be enough. With every kiss from you I've fallen more in love and with you leaving it feels like a big piece of me is being ripped away. You've changed me since we've been together. You made me see love for what it is and not some game that should be thrown around and never played with again when it's finished. Don't forget me Koby, I know I won't forget you. You've made this the most amazing summer of my life.

Love,

Jade xoxo

She read it over and over again and felt like there was a knife stabbing through her heart going deeper ever time. She sprayed it with the perfume that he'd personally told her he liked and folded it up planning to give it to him tomorrow before he left.

The next day Jade had just arrived at the airport with Koby. They had been clinging to each other all morning. They knew this would only make it harder to say good bye but they couldn't help themselves.

They went to go load Koby's suitcases onto the plane. "I think we should take this opportunity to run away," Jade said.

"And go where?" Koby asked lifting his heavy suitcase.

She shrugged. "I don't know. We can't go to my house, that'll be the first place they'll look. Maybe we'll go to Dylan's house for a few days until your parents are gone…"

Koby laughed at that then gave her a hug. "You always know how to make me laugh."

Jade kissed his neck and as she did she slipped her note into his backpack.

His plane would be leaving in five minutes so they went to the gate. Once there they hugged each other tightly. Jade started to cry as they hugged, she didn't want to but tears were falling uncontrollably now.

She looked up at him. "I love you Koby."

He wiped her tears away. "I love you too," his voice cracked from the tears welling in his own eyes. "I promise I'll come back to you, and I won't forget you." He leaned down to her and kissed her. "Promise me one thing."

"What?"

"That while I'm gone, you'll be happy and you'll live your life like you normally would without me."

How could she possibly do that? She knew he didn't want her to be sad, but she didn't know if it was possible to be happy without him. "Koby, I don't know…"

He lifted her chin. "Please?"

Jade sighed. "I'll try."

"Flight 29 to England leaves in 2 minutes!" the man on the intercom said.

They gave each other one last passionate kiss. He held her hands for a moment then backed up towards the plane. The further away he moved, she felt like her heart was being ripped up more and more. Finally he let go and there was that one last rip that tore her heart in half. He went up the steps to the plane. She saw him looking at her through a window and she waved. He waved at her then the plane took off and he was gone and he'd taken a huge part of her with him.

Koby looked down at Jade from the plane. She looked so sad and seeing her tears nearly caused him physical pain. The plane took off and he soon lost sight of her. He leaned back in his chair hoping the pilot would have some reason to turn around.

He looked down and noticed a piece of pink paper sticking out of his backpack. He picked it up and noticed it smelled like Jade's perfume. He unfolded it and read it. With every line he read he got more and more choked up. He truly loved her with all of his heart and he vowed that he would return to her someday. He didn't know if when that time came she would have forgotten about him and moved on, but he loved her and he wouldn't stop loving her.