“Why can’t you just let me be!” screamed Megan as she stomped into her bedroom. A soft knock came on her door. “Go away!” she screamed again.
“It's me,” whispered a small and very scared sounding voice. Megan stood up and opened her door. Her best friend J.T. was standing outside her door. “What’s wrong now?” he asked puzzled.
“The whole high school thing again! I can’t stand it! First he tells me that he will support where ever I want to go next year and when I decide he calls me deceitful for not telling him.” Megan broke down into tears and J.T. guided her to her bed. He hugged her tightly. They sat together for what seemed like hours.
Megan and J.T. had been sworn enemies a year earlier whose lives had been sewn together by a car crash that killed Megan’s sister and J.T.’s brother. Both had been close to their sibling and had become extremely depressed. They had found each other six months earlier and had been inseparable ever since.
Slowly Megan pulled out of J.T.’s embrace and smiled. “I don’t know what I would do without you,” she said tears forming in her eyes again. He smiled softly.
“Want to come eat dinner at my house?” he asked and they both stood up. Megan walked over to her mirror and laughed.
“Sure, your parents won’t mind though?” motioning to her red eyes and running mascara.
“Definitely not. Remember you’ve stayed over at my house before and they’ve seen you in the morning?” J.T. teased. A serious look came over his face and he walked over to her. Gently he wiped the mascara streaks off her cheeks and swept back a strand of hair. She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist again. He looked disappointed but hugged her back tightly.
“Thanks so much for dinner Mrs. Lance,” Megan said courteously.
“No problem dear. You are welcome here anytime, even if you want a girl to talk to,” replied J.T.’s mom. Besides J.T. Mrs. Lance knew more about Megan than her own mom or dad. After her sister’s death both had retracted into their own little worlds and only talked to Megan when they had to. Mrs. Lance was the exact opposite and had become extremely kind and involved in her son’s life. “Johnson Tulfer, you get your hand out of the cookie jar and walk Megan home.” Megan knew J.T. was doing something considered extremely ‘bad’ because his mom rarely called him by his first name.
“I was getting both of us a cookie,” he justified, “Besides we were going to hang out in my room. Megan lives just across the hall and her dad wouldn’t even notice her gone.”
“Alright then, get her home on time.” With that J.T. pulled Megan down the hall to his little bedroom. Megan had always loved J.T.’s room. The walls were dark blue, his bed was covered by a matching duvet cover and had a French memo board on his wall. Megan loved the French memo board the most because she had bought and hung it up for J.T. last week. She smiled as she saw that he had covered it with pictures of the two of them. J.T. stood behind her watching as she relaxed.
“Do you really enjoy my room that much?” asked J.T.
Turning around to face J.T. Megan said, “This is where I have no secrets and I can live in the present. This is where I told you all about everything I miss about L-issy,” Megan’s voice caught on her sister’s name but she continued anyway, “This is where I told you that I found out my parents were getting a divorce and you rocked me in your arms as I cried. I have to secrets here.” J.T. smiled but it seemed distracted. They both sat down on his rug. One of the other things Megan loved about his room was that he was raised by his mom so he never left things laying around on the floor. They both ate their cookies and talked for a while until Mrs. Lance knocked on J.T.’s door telling him that it was time for Megan to go home.
The next day Megan saw J.T. at school and again he seemed distracted and when she hugged him good morning he looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to. The same pattern occurred every day. On Friday Megan asked, “Is something wrong J.T.?”
“No, well uh,” he left off awkwardly. Megan raised an eyebrow at him and motioned for him to continue. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Do you want to go out to dinner tonight instead of at one of our apartments?”
Megan smiled, “Of course.” Still smiling she hugged him and walked off to first period. J.T. stood in the hallway watching her walk away. Watching the way her long brown hair swayed slightly with each step she took. Closing his eyes he could see her beautiful blue eyes rimmed by her thick eye lashes which greatly contrasted his brown eyes. Still smiling he walked to his first class wondering if she was thinking about him too.
Megan had been thinking about him. She was thinking about how nice his hugs felt and all the times he had held her hand or sat with her as she told him about her family and cried. She then started thinking about the all the fun times they had shared, from splashing in the wave pool at Water World to the snowball fight they had had when they had gone with their class to Steamboat for a weekend of skiing and relaxing. Megan wondered if maybe they had more than just a friendship.
After school Megan went home and got ready. Carefully she curled her hair into perfect ringlets and put on her favorite little black dress. She did her make-up and was slipping into a pair of high heels when she heard a knock on her apartment door. As Megan walked to the door her heart skipped a beat. She opened the door to J.T. looking as formal as she did. They both smiled at each other. “Come in, I’ll be right back. I have to grab my purse and a jacket.” They both walked to her room. Megan grabbed her purse and jacket. J.T. walked over and helped her slide into her jacket. Suddenly she was aware of everything about him. He smelled like soap and his mom’s spices. She looked up at him and he looked down on her. Even though she was in heels his head was four inches higher than hers. As she smiled he bent down and kissed her.