Yay! Only two weeks to update this chapter. I'm getting better at it! I hope there are at least SOME readers out there. If you're one of the few who has enjoyed this story, know that I am NOT giving up on this story! I know it takes me a while to get an update, but hey, wouldn't you rather have quality over quantity?

Enjoy...this chapter is wonderful :)

Chapter 21

Before I could process what was happening, the photo changed again. The next was of my mother and brother standing over my bed, Jacob's arm around our mother. My mother's eyes were watery and slightly red; she had likely been crying for quite some time. I looked at each of my three friends, though none of them appeared the slightest bit surprised. They were all in on it.

The photos told a story; there were visits from doctors sprinkled between shots of me sleeping, my friends & family watching over me, and various medical devices, such as the clear IV bag of liquid that hung from a metal hook over my bed. It was a little stunning; I'd never expected anyone to take a sickness this seriously. The music playing was an excerpt from an ancient song from 2011; its name was "A Thousand Years", and was by an artist who was moderately famous at the time named Christina Perri, according to the title slide for my section of the slideshow. I had never heard it before, but it was a beautiful, sad song. The lyrics were all about how she'd loved someone for a thousand years and how she'd love them for a thousand more…really quite beautiful. It was the last two photos that really struck me as incredible. The second-to last was a shot of Henry sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands wrapped around my right hand. The focus was on him and our hands, with a profile of my face in foreground blurred out. The final photo came as the song was fading away as the singer spoke I have died every day, waiting for you…darling don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years, and I'll love you for a thousand years… to music; the screen was overtaken by an image of Henry kissing my forehead, his eyes closed, while my eyes and mouth were partially open. My eyes weren't focused on anything in particular, and my mouth was as though I were taking a breath. So it was Henry who was holding my hand that time when I woke up.

I slowly turned my head around to the rest of the students, searching the sea of mostly unfamiliar faces for a familiar face. I found him off to the left, towards the back of the group. He was looking right at me. I smiled softly, mouthing thank you to him. He smiled back and nodded. Turning back to the screen, I found that it had gone dark. The principal, a tall, harsh-looking woman, stood with her hands folded behind her back.

"Students, congratulations on another year well done. Please try to stay out of trouble this summer, and I will see you in September. Now…get out of here! You're on summer break!" she said, smiling at the last few words. As she motioned to leave, a song from the 1970s entitled 'School's Out' began to blare over the speakers. In a giant rush, everyone began yelling and hooting with joy as we all hurried to leave the school. Not wanting to lose my cousin in the crowd, I held onto Ally's arm. After a moment, I felt Jenna's hand on my shoulder so we wouldn't get separated. We followed the throng of kids out of the school, eager to start our summer.

"I can't believe they had a whole section of the slideshow dedicated to me," I told my friends as we sat around a small table, enjoying frozen yogurt from the only place to get frozen yogurt in all of Terra Nova. Jenna and May sat on opposite sides of the table, and had come to a silent mutual agreement to ignore each other for my sake. Ally and I sat opposite of each other, so one of us sat between both Jenna and May.

"I think it was very kind of them," Ally said.

"I hope there wasn't anyone else from school who was sick…that would look really bad if they made a big deal about one person but not another, you know?" Jenna added.

"Yeah," I murmured in agreement.

"What have you guys got planned for this summer?" I asked after a while of silence.

"I'm working at the day camp for kids that's being held at the learning center. They needed some staff to help out, and I'm getting paid for it." May said.

"I think I'm going to learn how to kick box. Ryan told me that one of his friends is teaching a summer class." Ally reported. Jenna shrugged.

"Honestly, probably nothing. I might work on my soccer a little." She told us.

"What about you, Adriana?" May asked. I shrugged as well.

"I have to decide what to do for my summer internship…and once I decide, I'm probably going to be busy with that." I replied.

"What d'you want to do?" Jenna asked.

"I don't have a clue. I feel like it's too huge of a commitment to decide what I want to do with my life when I'm only fifteen. I mean, obviously I have to start thinking about what I want to do, but once I choose a career, I'm stuck with it." I replied. May shook her head.

"If whatever you choose doesn't work, you can change it. Like, I was studying to become one of Terra Nova's geologists, because I'd always thought that was so interesting. That is, until I actually started taking the classes, and I found it incredibly boring. So I did an introductory internship for a few weeks at the clinic and fell in love with the medical field. I'm studying to become a nurse." May told me.

"And you can basically do anything you want. It's not like they have a set number of jobs; you to choose whatever you want…look at me, for example: I want to coach the soccer team, so I'm taking some sports medicine classes, some psychology classes, and leadership classes. For my internship, I work with younger kids on the elementary school's team and I do a lot of volunteering." Jenna added. I scooped up a spoonful of light pink strawberry fro-yo and let it melt in my mouth as I considered everything my friends had told me.

"I'm not going to worry about it until after my birthday. I know it doesn't really matter this early on, so I'm not gonna stress over it."

"You're birthday is a month away, Adriana…it's smack in the middle of the summer." May said flatly. I shrugged.

"Oh well," I murmured. May shrugged and we continued to eat our fro-yo in silence.

"Adriana, this is Heather…Heather, this is my niece, Adriana. She's Lucille's daughter." My uncle said, introducing me to his fiancée as we stood inside their home with Ally, Jacob, May, Jenna, and Henry. We had all just arrived and had gone through introductions, apart from Ally, who'd met her future stepmother when I was ill. My uncle's fiancée was very tall, slender, and, essentially, flawless. Her skin was fair and looked as smooth as a baby's bottom, having obviously been impeccably cared for. Her wavy strawberry-blonde hair fell to mid-bicep, and looked very nice alongside her misty blue-green eyes.

"I've heard many fine things about you, Adriana," her voice was soft, yet strong at the same time. I could tell from the strength in her voice that she had seen some pretty tough things during her lifetime.

"I'm glad you're coming into our family," I replied. It felt slightly clichéd and not genuine to say such things when I'd barely met her, but I was trying to be polite, and she seemed nice enough.

"We're glad to see you're feeling better," my uncle interjected, "but let's get to work."

"Right," Heather said. "Can you nice young men please start out by carrying those heavier boxes? Max will help, but they're kind of heavy boxes, mind you." she spoke to Henry and Jacob, pointing to large clear boxes filled with spoons, knives, forks, plates, bowls, cups, and glasses encased in layers of bubble wrap. The guys nodded and set to work. Heather turned to us.

"While they're doing that, I would like if you ladies could help me with carrying over decorations. They're all out in the backyard." She told us. We followed Heather to the back door.

Outside in the backyard, there was a neat pile of wooden torches lying in the grass alongside circular glass containers. Each torch was about two feet tall, and had flat, wide bottom. The containers were about two feet in diameter, and about eight inches tall.

"The torches are going be lit and sitting on each glass tank. The tanks are going to be full of water and will have small fish in them, and together, the whole thing will be a centerpiece on each table." Heather told us. "Be careful with the tanks…they were pretty expensive!" she added jokingly. We all got to work, carrying two or three tanks at a time to the wedding hall, which was (thankfully) only a few blocks away from my uncle's house. We worked hard, and ended up moving everything for the wedding to the hall, even what my uncle and Heather hadn't planned on having us move on that occasion. To say that our help was appreciated was an understatement.

"One-fifty-seven and a half. All day today, I've only gained four and a half pounds." I said quietly, meeting my cousin's eyes. We were each lying in our own beds, the room dark around us apart from an abundance of moonlight streaming in the window. It was nearly 10:30 at night, and we had only just gone into our room for the night. The evening was warm and muggy, both of us wearing shorts with our blankets on the floor. My cousin had her hair pulled up in topknot

"That's been fifteen pounds you've gained back in two days," my cousin murmured in response.

"Almost half of what I lost," I replied.

"I think your food baby is shrinking," Ally replied with a stifled giggle. I smiled in the darkness, glad to have my best friend here with me.

"That's welcome news," I murmured.

"Yeah…um, I'm really tired; I think I'm gonna go to sleep." My cousin told me after a few moments of silence.

"Me too," I replied.

"Goodnight,"

"Night," I rolled over onto my stomach and propped up my arm on my pillow for my head to rest on, the way I preferred to sleep. I didn't fall asleep for nearly an hour after, but when I finally fell into a slumber, I was greeted by sweet dreams.

"Your dress is so pretty!" Jenna told me, admiring the dress I'd chosen to wear to my uncle's wedding. The ceremony was at four, and it was now three-thirty. Jenna, Ally, May and I had all converged my home to get ready for the wedding. We'd spent nearly three hours getting ready between the four of us, chatting and laughing as we went along. Even May and Jenna managed to speak a few kind words to each other. At the moment, we were drooling over each other's outfit of choice for the wedding after getting dressed. May wore a vintage-inspired strapless green dress with a high-low hemline and low nude wedges, her hair straightened for the special occasion. The green complimented her red hair well. Ally wore a shimmery, dark-purple strapless gown that showed off just enough of her purple-polished toenails and brown peep-toe pumps, her hair curled into a half up-do. She was dressed the most exquisitely of us all, being her dad's wedding day, with a diamond necklace and earrings my mother loaned to her. Jenna had dressed in a just-above-the-knee floral dress with one shoulder and wedges with her hair straight to show off her new blunt bangs. I wore a strapless maxi dress that had an upward-pointing chevron pattern of navy, ivory, mustard, dark orange, and dark red, my hair in 'beachy' waves. In the days since coming out of my sickness, I'd managed to gain back all 31 pounds, though a few weeks of solid workouts would be needed to tone my curves.

"We look awesome," Ally proclaimed, adjusting the bodice of her dress in our bedroom mirror.

"We do," I reiterated.

"We should probably leave now," Jenna said from her seat on the end of Ally's bed, her legs crossed. "your dad said photos were at three-forty-five, and it'll take us at least fifteen minutes to walk there with our shoes on."

"Good point," May replied, standing up from her spot in a chair we'd brought into the bedroom from the dining table. "We should leave now."

"I agree," I murmured. We made our way into the living area, where Jacob was sitting on one of the couches, reading on his Plex. He had dressed in dark slacks, dark shoes, a white button-down shirt, and a dark tie. He had clearly been ready for quite some time and was evidently bored.

"Jesus, took you guys long enough," her muttered as we entered the room.

"Oh shut up, Jacob. If you were a girl, you'd have taken just as long as we did." I retorted. He snorted in amusement, like what I'd said was preposterous.

"Whatever," he said, going back to his reading.

"Well, whaddaya think? Do you like my bridesmaid ensemble? Heather picked out the exact same thing for all of us." my mother's voice came from the door of her bedroom. We all turned to see her dressed in a muted red, orange, green, blue, and purple dress that came to an inch or two above the ground, showing off simple closed-toe brown heels. Her hair was smooth and straight, a sleeker look than her normal wavy curls. With her heels, she was only two or three inches shorter than I was. She looked so gorgeous, but in an understated way, as not to overshadow the bride. Heather had done well in choosing the dresses to go along with the whole tropical theme they'd decided on.

"You look beautiful, mom," I told her.

"You really do, Lucille," May agreed. My mother held her hand to her heart.

"Thank you. I was a little worried about the dress, because I know brides are notorious for making the bridesmaids look like jackasses so they won't upstage the bride." She said, giggling. We all laughed along for a moment before my mother looked at the door.

"We'd better get going then," she murmured. "Jacob, let's go!" My brother slunk out of his room wearing a different tie. This one was red.

"Jesus, what took you so long to get ready?" I said in mockery. He rolled his eyes.

"Stop being such a prick," he snapped.

"Stop being so rude to your sister," my mother ordered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw May smirking with amusement. My mother turned on her heel and marched to the door, a gaggle of well-dressed teenagers following her.

In the street, we found it nearly impossible to walk. Jacob, being the chivalrous boyfriend he was, carried May. After about thirty yards, I gave up and pulled my own shoes (ivory colored wedges) off my feet and walked through the gravel. It wasn't terribly uncomfortable underfoot; the small rock pebbles were mostly round, rather than sharp and dangerous. Both my cousin, mother, and Jenna followed suit. It took the entire fifteen minutes to walk to the hall, and we arrived right at 3:45.

My uncle and Heather had arranged it so that guests would come by before the ceremony for photos. Max and Heather want to have perfect photos of all their guests to keep in their wedding album, my mother had told me. A small area had been set up outside the wedding hall where the ceremony and reception would be taking place, the backdrop of the guests' photos being flowers and plant life.

"Okay, now, squish together like you actually like each other!" the photographer instructed us when our turn came after waiting in line for about ten minutes, an edge of sarcasm to his voice. Jacob and May had their arms around the other's waist, while Jenna, Ally, my mother and I put our arms around each other's shoulders.

"One…two…three…smile!" the photographer clicked a couple shots and handed us a print out of them from a small machine sitting on the table alongside his computer.

"Thanks," my mother told him, storing the photos in her small purse. We made our way inside and were greeted by butlers holding trays of sparkling cider for guests. We each took one of the slim clear glasses to be polite.

"To Uncle Max and Heather," I said, holding my glass up for a toast. My family and friends held their glasses to mine in toast. We followed the signs into the ceremony room, and found our places in the first row of seats, seeing as we were family (May was basically family already, and Jenna had came alone, so she sat beside me). My mother left to be in place for the bridal party procession, Ally following after her. The room was circular and had ceiling-to-floor windows all the way around. It was on the second floor of the building with a beautiful view of the whole colony bathed in a warm, late-afternoon glow. We were some of the last people to arrive. There had to have been at least two-hundred guests, which was a significant percentage of the colony. Even the hard-ass Commander Nathaniel Taylor was in attendance, seated in the last row alongside Lieutenant Washington. Both were dressed for the occasion. In the very back of the room, partially obscured behind a tall fern in the shadows, a tuxedo-wearing man with blonde hair and blue eyes stood to enjoy the ceremony. He was behind the fern to stay hidden, though he should've been up at the altar as the best man. It was unfortunate that he was unable to take part in his BIL's wedding, but it was necessary to maintain order. My uncle stood at the altar, his back turned away from the aisle so he wouldn't see Heather until she was standing right next to him.

A soft jazz piece began to play as the bridal party began to file down the aisle in twos: one bridesmaid and one groomsmen. My mother came first, alongside a man the same height as her. As they reached the end of the aisle, the split to their respective sides. I noticed as the bridal party split off to each side, the height of the groomsmen and bridesmaids increased. They were organized by height, sloping up in a visual line. When the last pair had split apart at the aisle, there was a moment of anticipation for the bride to appear. Instead of the bride appearing, it was Ally who made the final walk down the aisle. When she came to her father, she hugged him and kissed his cheek before standing to the left of my mother, who was the closest maid to the altar. It was a nice contrast to see Ally's solid-colored dress next to the mish-mash of colors in the bridesmaids' dresses. There was an absence of music for a moment, and then the traditional wedding march began to play.

Everyone stood for Heather as she entered through double doors. She wore a strapless, ivory-colored lace mermaid dress. She walked in alone, and stood at the end of the aisle for a moment before proceeding down the aisle at an appropriately slow pace. When she reached the end of the aisle, she handed her bouquet to Ally, and took my uncle's hand. They turned to face each other, holding both of each other's hands.

"Dearly beloveds, we are gathered here on this beautiful evening to join in the celebration of the marriage of Heather Vivienne Trevll and Maximum Eric Harris…" I tuned out a little, distracted by the dotted tiles on the ceiling and bored by the same old wedding words you heard at every wedding.

"Max, for the first time, you may kiss your wife," the wedding officiator told my uncle. He turned to Heather, took her face in his hands, and kissed her sweetly. When their kiss ended, they turned to the audience and a roar of cheers and applause. Jacob and I hollered from our seats, clapping and yelling with everyone else.

Everyone was led downstairs to the reception hall, a large (also circular) room with a tall ceiling and an abundance of tropical flowers. Flitting around were bow-tie-wearing waiters toting silver trays of hors d'oeuvres for guests to enjoy. Set around a circular dance floor were circular tables with the familiar glass tank centerpieces. Each table had different fish in their tank and bright tropical flowers in the vases. Large sashes were tied to the back support of each chair, each being a different color from the others at the table. We found a table and took a seat, admiring the décor of the room. Fine china and silverware were arranged alongside crystal glasses and tropical cloth napkins. Adding to the atmosphere, light, beachy music was playing through speakers.

"This is so beautiful," I murmured, thinking out loud more than to my friends and family, who murmured in agreement. A handsome waiter came to our table, offering us roasted tomatoes filled with zift and topped with parmesan cheese and olive oil.

"Should we look for mom?" Jacob asked.

"No, she can find us." I replied. Turning to Jenna, I was surprised to see that she and May were busy chatting.

"Are you happy for your dad?" I said, turning to Ally. She smiled and nodded.

"I'm really happy for both my dad and Heather…she's really nice and smart and mature and honest and…oh, I could go on!" she gushed, blushing a little. I smiled.

"That's great…they seem like they're perfect for each other." I replied. My mother slid into the chair next to Ally, having finally managed to find her way to us.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present to you the new couple, Heather and Max Harris!" an announcer boomed through the speakers before my mother could speak. The doors we'd entered through opened and the newlyweds came marching in, smiling and waving to their friends and family. All the guests erupted into applause and shouts as they made their way to the center of the empty dance floor for their first dance. The lights dimmed, and a spotlight came down on them, following them as they slowly swayed across the wooden floor, deep in marital bliss.

In my hand I held a cherry limeade in a martini glass. A small slice of lime that had had the juices squeezed out of it rested in the bottom of the drink, and crystallized sugar went around the rim of the glass. It was nearly 9:30, five and a half hours after the wedding ceremony. The sun was almost completely down behind the hills, leaving nearly all light to come from the strategically placed lanterns and hanging ceiling lights around the room. Though most people were still in attendance, I was tired and full, and had promised myself one final limeade before I left. Making my way to the table my family and friends had been sitting at, I found myself alone; everyone at the table was either dancing or eating or drinking or talking. Shrugging I slid into my seat and crossed my legs, content with watching everyone all around me. The music had turned to a soft, romantic tune as my uncle (and aunt) took to the floor for a dance. Enjoying the quiet nature of the song, I found myself zoning out and not noticing the approaching figure.

"Hey," he said, a slight caution to his voice as he slid into a chair next to mine. I met his eyes and smiled softly.

"Henry," I murmured. He was dressed in a smart black-tie suit, his blondish-brown hair slightly messy as usual. In his hand was a wine glass full of clear liquid and ice. Water, I presumed.

"Have you been enjoying the party?" he asked, sipping his water. I nodded.

"The music isn't that great for dancing," I replied, giggling. He flashed a brief smile of amusement.

"It's really not," he replied.

"Everything that's happened lately has been crazy," I said, subtly trying to change the subject.

"Um, yeah..." he murmured. "I think we should talk."

"About what?"

"Um, what's happened between us,"

"Do you think now is the best time to talk about something like that?" I questioned. I wasn't opposed to it, but I didn't want Henry to make himself feel worse about where our friendship was.

"Yeah, I do,"

"Okay,"

"Fine," I didn't want to be the one to start the conversation.

"I miss you…er, I miss talking to you and laughing with you and hanging out with you." I was a little surprised by how straight-forward he was right off the bat.

"You…do?"

"We used to talk so much and were in contact so much and it was really fun,"

"I…I…" I was at a loss for words.

"…and I don't want to lose that great relationship we had because of something stupid." That snapped my mind back into reality.

"How can you say that acting homophobic towards one of my friends is something stupid?" he blushed a little.

"Well…I wasn't really…"

"Wasn't really what? Trying to be a homophobe? Pardon my French, but that's a load of shit, Henry."

"I wasn't being a homophobe," he muttered under his breath.

"You sure as hell seem like you were." I snapped back.

"Adriana, I'm not a homophobe,"

"Why should I believe that?"

"It's what I do; it's my way of finding friends. It's a test." He answered. Ah, I forgot all about your sweet little test.

"Don't even try to use your test as an excuse for how you acted, Henry." My voice was ice. "Jenna told me all about your stupid test. Did you really think that acting like a gay-basher in front of the girl you obviously like just to see how mentally tough she can be is a great idea? Oh yeah, she's friends with the heartbroken lonely lesbian girl, so I should act like a total dick to the lesbian to get my crush to be my friend." I finished, mocking his potential thought process. He looked at the floor, clearly feeling ashamed.

"I…I just wanted to see-"

"See what? How I'd react?" I cut in. He shook his head, taking a drink from his glass. I sipped my limeade.

"Then what was it you wanted to see? Me without a shirt?" had the situation been less serious, he would've laughed at the comment. He looked up at me, his grave eyes meeting my own livid ones.

"I wanted to see where your heart lies and how loyal of a person you are." He said, no emotion in his voice.

"What?"

"You seemed too perfect, like your friendliness and coolness was all to hide some sort of defect you wanted nobody to know about. You know how a lot of people at school are? They're fake. Fake as hell. I'm mean for the love of god, they're friends with somebody one moment and talking shit about them the next. I didn't want to be burned by another person like that. I just wanted to find someone wholly real." He told me, sitting up. To my surprise, my eyebrows relaxed. I hadn't realized they'd been tensed up.

"But…but why did you have to attack Jenna?" I asked.

"I was being stupid. I don't know what I was thinking when I said those things. I feel really bad about saying those things. I have since the moment you slapped me. I regret saying those things…a-a lot." He told me. His last words trembled a little. In the dim lighting, I could see that his lower lip was pursed a little, evidence of the trembling words. His eyes were down at the floor,

"I never realized you felt so bad about everything, Henry," I murmured, taking his hand to comfort him. He looked at me.

"I'm really, really sorry, Adriana," he replied, his eyes full of pure anguish. I used a cloth napkin to dab a the forming tears in his eyes.

"It's okay, Henry…I believe you." I murmured, stroking my thumb over the top of the hand he held. He broke his hand away from mine and stood up.

"Hug?" he asked, holding his arms open. I smiled and stood up.

"Hug," I reiterated, going into his embrace. We just stood there for quite some time, silently hugging and listening to the soft music playing. I had to reach my hand up to my eyes the clear away tears more than once. When we finally ended the hug, I held onto his left hand with my right.

"So we're fine now?" he asked. I smiled.

"Better than fine," I told him. At that moment, I realized every emotion I'd ever had towards him. In my head, every interaction, every word, every smile made sense suddenly, and I knew where I was and where my heart was. I couldn't hold back my feelings any longer. I sprung forward and kissed him, quickly wrapping my arms around his neck. After the initial surprise of my kiss, he put his arms around my waist, and held me tight, kissing me sweetly. It was the best kiss ever, and it was perfect, because we now knew that we both had immense feelings for each other. It was perfect.

I'm glad to have finally gotten to this point in the story! (And I'm sure you were too)

Could you do me a favor and give me your thoughts on this chapter (and the story so far)? I really love reading your reviews because they are so wonderful and they really inspire me to do better at my writing!