“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me!” she cried.
“It’s not my decision! If I had a choice, I would stay here and be with you!” he angrily shouted back.
“I don’t believe you! I never should have been your friend!” She stormed away, angry. Before he could go after her, his father called to him and he had to go. As twelve years old, Jake and Karen had no control over their lives.
Six years later…
The wheels of the plane hitting the runway jolted Jake awake. For a moment, he thinks he’s still dreaming that same old dream he’s had for the past six years of coming back to America to find his friend. But, the captain’s announcement, “Welcome to Los Angeles,” made him realize that it wasn’t a dream. He was on his way to find his friend. He wondered if she had forgotten about him. After all, it had been six years since they had last seen or spoken to each other. Now he was returning to America, determined to restart their friendship.
The plane landed and Jake was determined to find his friend again. As he was walking to the bus, a young lady, about his age, bumped into him as she raced past. Jake turned towards the bus again and stepped on something that appeared to be a wallet.
He thought it was the girl’s wallet so Jake yelled after her, “Hey, wait!! You dropped something!!
But she was already gone. He opened it to find an ID or perhaps an address, but all he found was a school logo. All he knew from their brief encounter was that she had long light brown hair and she had brown eyes that mesmerized him. Suddenly, he felt as if he already had a connection with this girl that he had just run into. But he shook the feeling off, knowing that his heart only belonged to his childhood friend and first love, Karen.
The bus arrived and he got on. He looked out at the scenery and felt a sense of calmness, a sense that he belonged here. Two hours passed and he finally arrived at his apartment. Knowing he had to get food sooner or later, he went to get some food. Jake smiled as he saw nothing had really changed. His favorite place to eat called, Trix Cafe, was still there and he went inside. He ordered his favorite food still: a triple stacked burger with fries and a large coke. Satisfied, he decided to go to the beach for some fresh air. When he arrived, he was surprised to see so many people there even though it was late at night. He walked to his secret place on the rocks. It was where he could be alone and no one had ever found out. But it was also the last place where he and Karen had met. When he got there, he was shocked. The girl with the mesmerizing brown eyes and long flowing brown hair was sitting there like an angel and light only shined upon her.
The girl, turning around when she heard footsteps, said, “Thought you would never come. Took you awhile.”
Heonly stared at her.
Jake finally managed to utter, “what?”
Standing up, the girl walked towards me and never straying her eyes off of me, said, “Did you already forget me? I'm hurt...I never forgot you.”
He could only stare at her as she walked towards him.
Sensing he wasn't going to talk anytime soon, she continued, “Since the day you left, I kept on going back to the airport everyday...hoping you would come back. My family said I was in denial but I never gave up. When I bumped into you today, I smiled. You have no idea how happy I was to see you. You still look the same, a handsome guy.”
He then slowly walked towards her...
Jake whispered, “Karen? Is that really you?”
Karen replied, smiling, “I'm glad you still remember me. I was afraid...”
She broke their gaze and turned around.
Karen shyly said, “It's weird. I kept on having this feeling after you left. We were young then so I didn't think anything of it. But that feeling never went away....did you feel the same way?”
Jake, smiling, replied, ““You have no idea.”
Jake and Karen embrace and kiss. Both thought that all those cliches about the first kiss would happen, but there were no fireworks, no bells ringing, no birds singing, just the waves splashing over their feet as they stood at the edge of the water. They both pulled away from the kiss and looked at each other, both muttered, “Huh!”