Her golden hair was blowing in the wind, her tan skin glowing in the sun, her blue eyes sparkling brighter than any stars I’d ever seen. BEEP BEEP BEEP. Suddenly, I woke up from the dream I’ve had a million times, but it didn’t bother me. I was about to see her again. After three long weeks without the one person who made my world spin, I was about to see Allie again.

“Will, you’ve got to start getting ready now or you’re going to be late for school!” Mom yelled from the kitchen. I sluggishly rolled out of my bed onto the cold, hardwood floor. I put on my Red Sox sweatshirt, the one I always wore, knowing Allie would make fun of me for wearing it again. I finished getting dressed, brushed my teeth, and got into my silver Toyota Camry.

As I backed into my parking spot while listening to Sidekick by Walk the Moon, I saw Allie and immediately I thought of that night. The party in 8th grade during the game of spin the bottle when we shared our first and only kiss. I got out of my car still in a trance, I started walking towards her but stopped when I saw Kyle, the captain of my soccer team. He got out of his cherry red Mustang and walked with his egotistical swagger over to Allie. Allie and he had been “talking” over the summer and she had told me all about how she was “obsessed with him because he was so cute” even though she knew he didn’t have any intention of dating her. I hated him and his stupid dirty blonde hair. Finally, she stopped chatting with him and noticed me.

“Will!” she yelled across the parking lot. She sprinted over and embraced me saying “I missed you, William.”
“You know I hate it when you call me that,” I responded.

As we pulled away from each other, I stared into her sapphire eyes and all of a sudden I couldn’t think. I barely heard what she was saying to me. The very sight of her consumed my thoughts.

“Did you hear me?” she inquired.
“Um,” I stuttered as I came back to reality. “Sorry you were saying something about the summer,” I said, trying to act normally.

“I was just asking you how the last few weeks were for you without me,” Allie grinned. I laughed.
“It was horrible,” I said sarcastically. “Nah, I’m just kidding. It was kind of boring though. I brought my little sister to camp every day and went to the gym. Oh yeah, I also went to the beach with Jake. How was New Hampshire?” I opened the door to East Belmont High for the both of us.

“It was fun. I tanned on the beach mostly,” she told me as I glanced at her golden skin. “Kyle was there,” she said in a guilty kind of way.

“Ok. That’s fine,” I told her while trying to hide my dislike for him.
“Well, I know you don’t like him. You know that you’re my best friend,” those words hurt like a bullet through my heart, “and I want you to be happy for me.”
I started to get a little defensive. “You’re right, I don’t like him at all,” I wasn’t hiding my disapproval anymore. “I don’t think he’s right for you.”

“Then who is the ‘right’ guy for me Will?” she said in an exasperated tone. As we reached her locker, we both stopped walking and looked at each other. “First bell is going to ring in a minute and we both need to get our books. I don’t want to be late for class on the first day of senior year.” I could tell that she was upset with me and I wanted to say something but I couldn’t find the words. I just sulked to my locker, picked up my books, and got to homeroom moments before the second bell.

“That had to have been the longest first day I have ever had,” I complained to Jake.
“Allie?” he asked but I could tell that he already knew the answer. I nodded my head and sighed. “Look man,” Jake said as he looked me in the eyes, “as your best friend I have to be the one to tell you that she’s not the only girl out there. As much as you hate him, she’s into Kyle and you can’t do anything but wait or get over her.” Even though it upset me, I knew Jake was right.

“I know but,” I started to say but Jake cut me off.
“No buts! I’m going to take you to this party that Monica’s having this weekend. It’s a “Back to School” rage kind of thing,” he told me. “I’ll introduce you to some new girls that will help you get over Allie.”
I thought for a minute. “Alright,” I finally agreed. “I’ll go with you”

“Yes!” Jake exclaimed. “I won’t disappoint you, man.”
Jake and I walked up to Monica Blount’s enormous, boisterous mansion. As I opened the door and we stepped in, I saw a sea of upper classmen with red Solo cups in their hands. We went into the kitchen and Jake introduced me to Monica and her friend, Emma. Emma had dark, chocolate brown hair that was cut to her shoulders and muted green eyes. The smell of her cheap perfume burned the inside of my nose. She wore a tight, neon pink tank top that showed off her bikini tan lines, and cutoff shorts that exposed most of her long, thick legs. She was the kind of hot that all guys wanted but she couldn’t compete with Allie’s beauty.
“Hey!” she yelled over the deafening music. “How do you know Jake?”

“We’ve been best friends since the 1st grade,” I responded. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Yeah that’d be great,” she answered. I walked over to the cooler on the deck to get Emma and myself sodas. Outside, I saw Kyle kissing yet another girl that wasn’t Allie. I wasn’t even surprised. I opened the sliding door and was walking back towards Emma when I was stopped by Allie. I was shocked to see her there because Jake told me that she wouldn’t be coming.

“Hey! You didn’t tell me you would be here tonight,” Allie slurred her words together.
“Well, here I am,” I said in a joking way. “I didn’t know you’d be at this party either.”
“Yeah, Kyle told me to come tonight, but when I showed up, he was making out with some other chick,” she sounded very upset. “You were right. He’s not a nice boy.” I wanted to say that I told her so but I just gave her a comforting hug. She looked up at me and we gazed at each other for a moment. She leaned in and her soft, pink lips met mine. I closed my eyes and my heart raced. I felt like I was on top of the world. I pulled back.
“Allie, you’re drunk and I just don’t think that this is the best idea” I told her. She looked upset but I knew that it was the right thing to do. “Why don’t I drive you home?”
She looked at me for a minute and finally replied, “Okay, but don’t tell my mom that we were at this party.”
“I promise.” We drove all the way across town, barely speaking a word.
As she climbed out of my beat up car, she smiled at me with her amazing smile and said, “Thank you, Will. You’re a good guy,” and walked away.

The next week at school was soccer tryouts. It was horrible because I had to listen to Kyle every day. He and Allie had gotten back together which made it even worse. Before practice one day they were fighting in the parking lot so Jake and I went over to see if everything was okay. When I saw Kyle grab Allie’s wrist, I lost it. I punched him square in the face and he fell backwards. I glanced down at my own throbbing and burning hand. I looked up from it to see Kyle’s fist coming straight for me. When it made contact with my nose, I dropped on the pavement. Everything went black.

Allie’s long, wavy hair touched the small of her back and the white tank top that she wore showed her suntanned skin. She took my hand and led me through the tall grass. She looked back at me every once in a while. There were only a few girls who were as incredible as Allie: witty and stunning. We stopped. I had one hand folded in hers and grazed her cheek with the other. As I looked into her wide eyes, I knew that I was seeing at the most beautiful girl I had ever met.

I woke up in the nurse’s office with Allie hovering over me.

“Why would you do that?” Allie questioned angrily.

I held my head as it pounded and slowly sat up. “I don’t know. I just thought that he was getting to aggressive so I tried to stop him.”

“Well, look where it got you.”
“Al, I know it wasn’t my best idea but I didn’t know what else to do,” I started to raise my voice. “I’ve told you countless times that he’s just not a good guy but you won’t listen.”

“I just don’t know what you want from me!” she exclaimed, “Every guy treats me badly and all I wanted was a little attention from somebody.”
“What? Me being here for you isn’t enough?”

“I is but sometimes I feel like you hate me,” she said.

I looked at her, “Allie, I could never hate you. I love you,” I spoke quietly. The words spilled out like I could not control them. Allie looked shocked and didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry Allie. I didn’t,” I began before she kissed me. I was hesitant at first but then it began to feel more natural. It was an explosion of emotions all at once and a tornado of thoughts raced through my mind.
She sat back in her chair and said softly, “I love you too, Will.”