Chapter 1 – Jill
Graduation Night – 2015
“Oh my God, you look amazing!” Sadie gushes as soon as I enter the room in my midnight blue tight-fitting dress. “That looks incredible on you. All the guys will be lining up, drooling like crazy!”
“Well, we might as well finish high school on a high, shouldn’t we?” I giggle back. “And you in that red dress… you are a bomb shell. Warren is going to lose his mind when he sees you in that.”
“Yeah, and hopefully regret choosing to go to a college on the other side of the country from where I am going to be,” she glowered, still clearly pretty pissed off about the whole thing. Not that I’m going to say anything. I don’t want to get into the middle of a couples’ argument, no way! “At least I have you to get me through. Trying a long-distance relationship would be a million times worse if you weren’t going to be my roommate.”
“Oh, you and I are going to rock college,” I reassure her, knowing if she and Warren can’t weather the distance, at least she will have me to help her pick up the pieces. “It will be the time of our lives.”
Of course me and Sadie are going to the same college, there was never any doubt. Even though she will be studying music and I’ll be taking English, we always knew that we would follow each other anywhere. That’s just what BFFs, best friends forever, do. And we are the literal dictionary definition of that. We have been ever since we were little. Sadie Willis will be in my life forever; I know that much. I don’t know what I would do without her.
We’ve gotten each other through high school, and even managed to graduate with the grades we need to get into college. Now, it was our turn to shine as we trot off to college after the final high school day of our lives.
I am so looking forward to the graduation party tonight. God, I can’t wait. The bonfire party is being held by the richest kid in our class, Danny Miller, at his farm, and is the perfect way for us to round off what is supposed to be “the best time of our lives”. Everyone is going to be there, pretending to be friends, even if they haven’t been throughout high school because we know that we are about to step into the next chapter of our life, and maybe never see each other again.
Impulsively, I pull Sadie in for a hug, and I hold her tight, squealing with delight. So much has happened leading up to this time in our lives and I can’t wait to see what’s next. I love my life and I have a feeling that things can only get better. From here on, the world really is our oyster and I can’t wait to experience being an adult.
A lot of people get eaten alive when they leave home, but not me. I am going to take this world by storm.
“Oh, Warren is calling me.” All anger at him is forgotten as Sadie sees his photograph on her phone screen. “I will just take this and make a plan where to meet him while you finish things here, okay?”
I nod at her and sit exactly where I am as she scoots down the stairs to take the call in the utility room like she always does. I have some time now, a chance to sneak to where Garrett is, like I always do. I feel guilty leaving her room when she doesn’t know, of course I do, but there are some things in life that are just worth the risk…
“Jill.” Garrett’s face lights up the moment he sees me. I see the moment he notices my dress when his eyes light up and I find myself giddy immediately. “Wow, you look incredible.…”
I leap onto his lap and kiss him hard and fast, like we’re tortured lovers who haven’t been able to get our hands on one another for a million years. It really does feel like that sometimes, but I suppose that’s the risk you take when you date someone that you can’t be out in the open with. I can’t let anyone know about us, we have been secretly dating for nearly eight months. And I’ve been in love with him from afar for years even before that. Sadie would kill me if she knew. You just don’t date your best friend’s brother, do you? It’s like an unwritten rule or something…
But Garrett is irresistible and I can’t help myself. I tried in the beginning because I know that this could tear my friendship apart, but I don’t want to be away from him. So, we’ve decided to just keep our dating a secret.