The lunch with my parents went amazingly well. Bradin was as polite as I had ever seen him and made a very nice impression on my parents. I could nearly see my mom asking when we would be marrying; they were beyond impressed. I had to pry him away from my adoring parents.

"All right, how about a surfing lesson from the best?" he asked me once we left my house.

"No matter what you say, you're not going to be able to convince me to surf," I answered.

"I'll treat ya to dinner afterwards," he offered with a grin.

"That would mean spending all day with you, something that is against the non-friend rules." I shrugged, "I've gotta go in an hour or so."

"Come on, let's head to the beach and maybe my prowess will convince you," Bradin laughed.

"Why not. I've been curious to see if ol' farm boy can really surf as well as you've said you could," I replied with a grin. A wet Bradin makes for happy Jessica any day!

So we went to the beach and I stood near the shore as Bradin showed off. He had gotten better since the last time I saw him. After a few rounds of Bradin wiping out, he waded back to me.

"Farm boy's not so bad after all, is he?" Bradin chuckled.

"You can surf," I nodded in agreement, "But I'm still not gonna."

"Aw, but you look like you're boiling out here, all dry." His eyes had acquired a mischievous glint to it that I wasn't exactly sure I liked. "Water is good for you." Before I could answer, Bradin had taken hold of my arm and had nudged me into the waves.

"You just ruined my pants!" I gaped. I regained my balance and took hold of the arm he still had on mine and yanked him in with me. I proceeded to dunk his head under water. Ten minutes later, I walked back onto the sand completely drenched. "You suck, you know that don't you?" I shook my head jokingly. "If I freeze to death out here, it's all your fault."

"Yeah, I'll take full responsibility if you freeze in this chilly +25 weather," Bradin laughed.

"Well, Mr. Westerly, school's in less than a week so after I dry off I have to go get school crap," I informed him, "Until we meet again."

"Wait, I haven't gotten my supplies yet either, would you mind if I tagged along?" Bradin suggested.

"If you want," I answered. He really wanted to hang out a lot with me!

As we walked back to my house so I could change, I teased, "You know, you don't have to suck up so much."

"I'm not sucking up," he protested.

I smiled and told him, "Okay, my parents went out so you won't be bombarded. I'll just take a second." I gave him one last look over my shoulder before running upstairs to change.

When I returned downstairs, I found Bradin glancing at some pictures of me that were lying out.

"Ahhh don't look at those! I look like a freak!" I laughed, pulling him away.

"Awww," he smiled, "How old were you in those?"

"Those ones…I think I was about 12," I answered, trying madly to get him to stop looking at my horrid photos. That was my worst year, it was the peak of my weight problem and I had an awful bob hairstyle, which amplified my chubbiness.

"You looked so little," he commented.

"Right, let's stop staring at my awkward years," I muttered. "Or I'll leave you behind to venture into school shopping alone." Bradin feigned fear and laughed, following me outside.

By the time we were done choosing a random assortment of supplies for the coming year, we were nearing dinnertime.

"Come on, let me buy you dinner," Bradin cocked his head to the side.

"…Eh," I hesitated.

"Or maybe you could over to my place. I don't think you've actually formally met my Aunt Ava, or my brother Derrick." Bradin suggested.

"Will your Aunt mind?" I asked.

"Are you kidding? It feels like every day there are more mouths to feed. She'll be glad to have you." Bradin answered, "Please?"

"Sure," I smiled.

The last time I had visited his house, I had left quickly so it didn't really count. This time around, Bradin showed me around and I saw the variety of people he was referring to- the house was buzzing with activity.

Derrick was adorable and he had his own girlfriend, a girl named Martha. His Aunt Ava was really nice; I could see the resemblance between her and Bradin's mother. I also encountered the two voices I had heard conversing with Bradin that time near the house. The Aussie was Jay and the other one was Johnny.

"You two seemed to have worked out your problems," Jay raised his eyebrows.

"That we have," Bradin nodded. He looked at me. "We're very good non-friends now, aren't we?"

"The best of the kind," I agreed.

His entire family was warm and open. They were doing a good job of moving on with their lives and taking care of each other. IT made me realize how selfish and bitchy I had been to complain so much about moving with my parents. Here was this group who had just recently lost key loved ones and were forced to adapt to a major alteration in their lives and they were so happy and grateful for all that they had. These people were pretty amazing!

After dinner, Bradin and I spent a little while more together before I really had to go. He insisted on walking me home, gentleman that he was.

"This was a lot of fun," I told him as we neared my house.

"Yeah." He smiled. "Listen, Jess, I think we have to come to terms with what happened eventually. Denial is just a temporary fix. I think you're a great person and I don't want to do anything ass-like again. So I have to just say once more how very sorry I am for not remembering you from Kansas. I can't believe I would forget you. And with Sara… I shouldn't have done what I did. I can't even have points for a good motive there because that whole time, I really was just trying to get back at her. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know." I looked down. "It's not entirely your fault that you couldn't remember me. Back at Kansas, I wasn't exactly talkative. I was pretty much a shy loner. I shouldn't have blown up at you for that. The Sara thing on the other hand, you were an ass. But you admitted it, so it's all good. You're a guy who is crazy about a pretty girl…naturally you acted like a cave man. But that's in the past now, Bradin."

"I was pretty crazy over her. We just broke up but for a long while before, I'd been contemplating about how to end it." Bradin corrected. "So, can we move on and away?"

"All is forgiven," I nodded.

"No more anger and hostility?" Bradin queried.

"For the time being," I laughed. "You don't seem to be a complete dick."

"So can I see you tomorrow?" He asked.

"I really want to review more of my notes before school," I answered.

"Then we can review together, Lord knows it could help me out," Bradin smiled.

"We're in different grades," I reminded him.

"Two years, what difference can it make?" Bradin grinned with a shrug.

"Actually one; in Kansas I was in a special program which is more advanced than the high school program here which means I can just skip grade 10. Found out today." I told him.

"You're kidding? That's great!" he exclaimed. "Then I can just help you out in preparing for grade 10, it works out."

"Seeing as though your enthusiasm levels are running so high, sure. But we actually have to study." I said teasingly.

Bradin laughed and said he'd be by around four tomorrow and gave me a kiss on the cheek before leaving. He watched me enter my house and I felt completely happy as I gave him one last wave.