“And then there was Mitch Donahugh, Matthew Davidson, Paul Rudd, but-”

“Not the actor.” I finished off with Lou. “You know, you always say that.”

“Well, some people tend to think it was the actor.” Lou shrugged her shoulders.

“I think you wish it was the actor.”

“Oh how well you know me, Tyler.” She winked “But all I’m trying to say is that all my other relationships have failed. Then came in Mike Hill and he just fit so perfectly. He’s the longest relationship I’ve ever had.” Not due to a lack of trying, I assure you. “I just can’t wait for our wedding.” She let out a sigh that stabbed me in the heart. Mike Hill had been something else. I definitely didn’t approve of him, I just couldn’t get rid of him like all the other boyfriends. None of the other tactics worked on this dude. I had even Google searched how to make someone see all the faults in someone. That didn’t work either. Nothing worked on this devil of a man.

I didn’t know how she hadn’t seen this months ago, but Mike was the most self-centered man on the face of the planet. After being engaged for three months already he hadn’t taken part in any of the activities that go along with being married. He just gave Lou a list of things to do and went to play church ball with his buddies.

“I can’t wait for your wedding either, Lou. It’s going to be a good day for you.” But a bad one for me.

“Good? It’ll be a magical day!” She swooned and plopped down on the couch in her apartment. “Speaking of magical, how did your date last night go?”

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. “It was fine. She was nice enough. But we only went on one date, so I don’t really have a concrete opinion about her.” Yes I did. Mindy was by far the most annoying person I had ever been set up with. She was the picture perfect idea of a dumb blonde. She would agree with everything I said and didn’t have a single thought running around in her brain box.

“Mike says Mindy is really sweet. I hope you two get along. Maybe she can be your plus one to the wedding in two weeks?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

Yeah right, I thought. “Maybe. We’ll see.” Is what I said.

“When is your next date with her?” Lou laid down across the couch, placing her head in my lap. I ran my fingers through her auburn hair.

“I don’t know. I didn’t set up a second date.”

“Give me your phone. You are going on another date with her.” I gave her my phone, even though I didn’t want to go out with Mindy again. “OHH! Mike and I are going out tomorrow. Maybe we can make it a double date!” She dropped my phone on her stomach and whipped out hers from thin air. She pressed a couple of buttons then pressed the phone to her ear. I kept playing with her hair. As if going on a double date with the love of my life wasn’t an awful thing. Well it wouldn’t be such an awful thing if Lou was the one I was going on a date with and not Mindy.

“Hey, love! I have a question for you. Can we double tomorrow? Yeah, I was thinking Tyler and Mindy could come. Yes! He says she was really nice and he liked her. He just thinks that a second date would help him get to know her better. No, I didn’t ask him if he thought she was hot. Oh, alright. See you later than.” She made a kissing noise that rubbed me the wrong way then she said goodbye and hung up. “We will be doubling tomorrow.”

She pulled my phone back up and texted Mindy about the double date. I was certain Mindy would agree to this date. She could have a serious commitment and agree, because she agreed to everything I said.

“Mindy says she can’t wait.”

“Great.” I was not particularly looking forward to this date.

***

“Mindy, this is my friend and Mike’s fiancée Louisa Markson.” Mindy clung to my arm as in introduced Lou to her.

“Hi, I’ve heard so much about you from Mike. I feel like we already know each other like sisters.” Sisters that didn’t hug apparently. She wouldn’t let go of my arm for anything. Even as we sat down in our booth. I became certain that she would still cling to me once we got our food.

“Mindy, do you know where Mike is? I know you work together so maybe you know?” Lou said looking over my shoulder to the main entrance.

“He left right before I did. I’m not sure where he could be.” She tilted her head like she was trying to think. I was sure her head was just filled with fluff.

“Weird. Maybe I should call him.” She pulled out her phone and dialed Mike. But just moments after she pressed it to her ear she pulled it way to look at it. Like she was checking to see if it was the right number. “That’s weird. His phone must be dead or something. It went straight to voicemail.”

I had my thoughts on why it went to voicemail, but I had absolutely no proof, so I just apologized to her and kept it at that. I was certain Mike was the biggest cheater around. I could never find proof for it though, so it had always stayed a thought. Although, they were getting married in two weeks, so maybe he ought to tell her so that when he slips up it doesn’t come as such a surprise to her.

Nah.

“He’ll be here soon. Don’t worry Lou Hun.” Mindy said, then she laid her head on my shoulder, like she wanted to run it in Lou’s face that she had someone and Lou didn’t. I wanted to push her off, but I let her stay since I assumed that would be rather rude.

They waitress came over and asked if we were ready to order. I told him we were still waiting for someone. And he left without even asking if we wanted drinks while we waited. Rude.

“Sorry I’m so late.” Mike suddenly appeared at the table and Mindy pulled herself from my arm. She moved her hair over her shoulder and leaned her elbow on the table as Mike slipped into the bench. I looked to Lou to see if she had caught that, but she was too excited to see Mile finally show up.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you had some pressing business.”

“Yeah, a client called and yelled at me for a good two hours. At one point I just turned the phone on speaker and made food while listening to them complain.” He went on for a good ten minutes about his complaining customer. Every word that came out of his mouth made me want to climb across the table and punch out his teeth. He was so self-centered and Lou wouldn’t see it.

The waitress came back and cut off Mike’s story. I could have kissed her. Both women had been so enthralled in Mike’s story that I could have told them about plans to bomb the president and they wouldn’t have heard. But the waitress made him stop and made the girls focus on their menu.

“I’ll have chicken alfredo with a side of steamed broccoli.” I said handing her my menu.

“That sounds really good. I’ll have the same thing.” Cooed Mindy. Again, does she have anything going on in her head?

“I’ll have-”

“I’ll have your shrimp linguini.” Mike cut Lou off making my blood boil.

“And I’ll have lasagna.” She said like Mike hadn’t just cut her off. Or like it was something she was used too. The little-

“Can you believe her?” Mike said pulling the attention back to himself. “She could clearly see that I was in the middle of something, but she decides that it was the perfect time to come over and take our orders? She couldn’t wait twenty seconds for me to finish?” If I was a swearer I would be calling him a whole bunch of names I wouldn’t even dare to think right now.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean to interrupt you, honey. She already showed up once to ask what we wanted. And she was just doing her job.”

“Don’t give me that. She could have waited a few moments to do her job.” All the bleepedy bleep bleeps. What did Lou see in this devil spawn? Why couldn’t she see me as more than a friend? Why didn’t she chose me over Mike?

“I’m going to go to the bathroom.” Mike got up and stalked off.

“Me too.” Mindy said, as she got up and walked after him.

“Mike is in a foul mood tonight.” Lou said taking a sip of her water.

“You said it. I wonder if it has to do with that complaining customer.” I rolled my eyes. It was probably because he had to come on this date instead of staying with his secret lover.

“Maybe.” Lou looked a little sad.

“Hey, It’s not too late to settle for me.” I said it as a joke, but I really meant it.

She laughed and grabbed my hand. “If I wasn’t so in love with Mike I would probably have to keep our promise. You would be second best.” She winked at me. It was like happiness handed to me with a slap in the face. I was only second best.

The rest of the meal went about the same as the first little bit. It took all the power in me not to take my knife and throw it at Mike’s head. Or to hand my fork over to Mindy and tell her to do it. Because she would agree since she had no thoughts jumping in her head.

“Tonight was great, love, but I have to get going.” Mike said as he kissed Lou. “I just got a text and I need to go work it out. See you later. You too Mindy.” Then he looked at me. “Tyler.”

“Mike.” Then he was off.

“Tyler, will you take me home?” Mindy said into my ear. It gave me the wrong kind of shivers.

“Of course, Mindy. Are you going to be okay?” I asked as I leaned towards Lou.

“Yeah, you can go and take Mindy home.” Then we all left. The drive to Mindy’s apartment was a long one. Not because she lived far away, but because she insisted on either holding my hand or placing her hand on my leg the whole way. When she finally got out of the car I raced home, hoping to get rid of her ghost. Why did I agree to date her again?

***

The wedding day was fast approaching and I was still dating Mindy. I know you are probably asking what’s wrong with me. Well, let me tell you. When I next saw Lou after our double date she told me how much she didn’t like Mindy. I don’t know what exactly took over me, but I told her I really liked Mindy. I think I thought that maybe she was jealous of Mindy. Although I’m still not sure if it was because Mindy obviously liked Mike or if it was because she was dating me.

Of course it was because Mindy liked Mike. I must have been smoking something.

I walked into Lou’s apartment and saw her sitting on the couch biting her fingernails. She only did that when she was deep in thought on something that bothered her.

“Lou, are you alright?” I walked to her and knelt down before her.

She looked me in the eyes. “I don’t think I can marry Mike.”

That took me a second to process. “What? Why not?”

“I think I might have feelings for someone else. And I think he might be cheating on me.” Well, I could have told you that. “And I think Mindy is cheating on you.”

“Nah, she’s too stupid to do that.”

“I knew you didn’t like her!”

“Not even a little bit.” She punched my shoulder. “Why do you think she’s cheating on me?”

“Because I think Mike and she are together on the side.”

Oh, well that would make sense. “Do you want me to find out? I’m sure Mindy would tell me.”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to know, but I want to know so that I can make a decision about this wedding in three days.”

“I’ll call her real fast.” I dialed her number, and placed the call on speaker. “Hey, Mindy. I have a quick question for you.”

“Alright, I am always at your service Tyler Lockhart.” I made a face at Lou then went back to the call.

“Who is Mike’s girlfriend?”

“Allie Appleton.” She said it like there was a big duh in the sentence.

I looked into Lou’s eyes and saw that they were dry. I thought for sure she would be crying. “Thanks Mindy. Oh and btw I’m breaking up with you. Have a great life.” Then I hung up. I am so mean.

“He is cheating on me…” I pulled her into a hug. Even though I wanted to shout to the heavens that I knew it.

“Hey, but now you can see if you really do have feelings for this new guy. Just make the call and break up with Mike and then call the new guy and see if he wants to go out. I’m sure he’ll be the luckiest guy in the world.” She nodded her head against his chest and pulled away to get out her phone.

“Hey, Mike. I’m going to break up with you.”

“What?” I could hear him shouting on the other side.

“I know you’re cheating on me, and I can’t be with a person who isn’t totally on my side. Who isn’t totally in love with me?”

“You know about that?” Really? He wasn’t even going to fight it? At least he had the decency to be honest about it.

“Well, I do now. Goodbye Mike.” Then she hung up. “That was the cleanest breakup I’ve ever had.”

“Do you want me to go get ice cream or something?”

Lou nodded her head. “Mint cookies and cream.” I pulled her into my arms and placed a kiss on her temple.

“Anything for you. But you have to promise you’ll call that guy you might have feelings for and see if he wants to go out with you while I’m gone.”

“I promise.” She said with a sweet smile. I wanted to kiss her so badly.

“I’ll be back in just a second.” The moment the door closed behind me my phone started ringing. I looked at it to see that Lou was calling me. I just left. Why didn’t she just open up the door and tell me whatever it was she needed? I walked back in and saw Lou standing there in front of the door. “What?”

“I’m on the phone.” She mouthed at me. “You better answer that.”

I rolled my eyes. Maybe she didn’t know I was the one she was calling.

“Hello?” I asked answering my phone.

“Hey, it’s Lou.”

“I know. I have caller ID.”

“I was wondering if you’d like to go out some time.” What? “You see I just found out my fiancé was cheating on me and I feel like I’ve been cheating on him since I’ve been sort of in love with you for years.”

I dropped my phone.

“What?”

“I know it’s kind of sudden and everything,” she said as she hung up and placed her phone in her pocket, “but I have been in love with you since we were teenagers and made that silly promise to get married by 35 if we weren’t already.”

“What?” Why was that all I could say?

“I know, you’re probably confused as to why I wanted to marry Mike anyway. I actually agreed to marry him to make you finally confess your feelings. But you never did and I couldn’t go through with the wedding if I was in love with you. It was kind of a relief that I could put out breakup on Mike for cheating on me. Now he has to pay all the cancelation fees and everything.” She laughed at herself, but behind the laugh there was uncertainty in her eyes.

“Anyway. If you’re totally uncomfortable-” I was definitely not uncomfortable. I cut her off with the kiss I had been wanting to plant on her since we made that stupid promise.

“Oh,” She said once I pulled away.

“I have been in love with you just as long. We went almost fifteen years without confessing this to each other. What is our problem?”

“I don’t know. I guess I was just worried you wouldn’t return my feelings.”

“I tried to sabotage all of your relationships so that you would finally notice me. But every time I got one guy to leave you had another one pop up.”

“I dated so much so that I could make you jealous.” She laughed again, but this time it was real. “Look at the two of us. We are both ridiculous.” I kissed her again. I poured all the love I had inside of me into that kiss. Her arms came up over my shoulders and her fingers buried into my hair. I pulled her closer to me and kissed her senseless.

“Maybe you don’t have to lose money on that wedding.” An idea had hatched.

“What do you mean?”

“Marry me.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I would be the luckiest woman in the world to marry you Tyler Lockhart.”

I dropped the love potion into Aiden’s cocoa before taking it out to him. Aiden Carpenter was my best friend. He also happened to be someone I loved without regret. He just didn’t love me back. I was hoping that this love potion would at least put the thought into his mind. That maybe if he kissed me he would realize that we were meant for each other.

“Here you go Aiden.” I sat next to him on the couch and handed him the mug.

“Thanks Allie.” He took it from me and went back to the Hockey game. I felt the nerves rise inside me. I almost let my leg shake, but then I told myself that he would think it was strange that I was getting anxious over a sport I cared little about. “Is this cinnamon?”

“What?” Aiden’s question pulled me from my reverie.

“Is the cocoa cinnamon?”

What? I hadn’t put any cinnamon in it… OH! The love potion was probably flavored. “Yeah,” I said in response.

“It’s really good. Thanks.” He put his arm on the back of the couch behind me. His arm brushed my hair as it fell and it sent chills down my spine. I was almost tempted to put my head on his shoulder, but I stopped myself, as it would’ve been hard to drink my cocoa.

“Oh! That was a faulty call! Stupid ref!” I shook my head. It was obvious that the call should have gone to the opposing team, but our team go put into the naughty box.

“I thought you weren’t a fan of Hockey.” Aiden gave me a smirk.

“Just because I’m not really a huge fan, doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on.” I sassed back.

He squeezed my shoulders and took a final sip from his cocoa. The love potion should be taking affect any second now. At least that’s what I had learned in school, when we had learned to make it. They had to completely finish the drink then it would take about 5 minutes for it to take effect. Of course I had never before actually used one, I just knew how to make it.

The end of the Period came round and Aiden still hadn’t done anything to show that the potion had set it. The closest it came to was his arm was still around my shoulder. That is until he had to get up to pee.

I sat on the couch brewing over why it hadn’t worked. I know I hadn’t put a lot in there, but it was enough to have some sort of effect. Maybe I needed to give him some more? It should have been enough to make him impulsive and curious. Why wasn’t he kissing me already? I beat my fingers on my knee in a staccato rhythm. What was taking Aiden so long to develop fake feelings for me? And why was he still in the bathroom? Intermission was over and the puck was about to drop.

“Aiden, the game’s back on!” I shouted down the hall.

“K, one sec.” I barely heard the response, but he was out of the bathroom in no time.

“What took you so long?”

“Talking to myself.” He sat down next to me again, but this time he was further away. This stupid Love Potion wasn’t working. I was doing the exact opposite of what I wanted it to do. He was keeping away from me. This is not how I expected this to go.

“You were talking to yourself?” I tried to keep my voice light, but wasn’t sure I was doing so hot.

“Yeah, you know how you do that sometimes? You make a script for a future conversation, or you say what you should have in another.”

“Oh, yeah. I do that all the time.” We fell back into silence and watched the game. My mind whirled. Why wasn’t this potion working? I’m pretty sure I made it right. I gasped and got a strange look from Aiden. “I just remembered something.” I shrugged off his curiosity and went back to the game. What if I hadn’t made the potion right? I wracked my brain for signs that I missed something. But then it occurred to me. It wouldn’t have turned the light pink it was if all the ingredients weren’t there.

So I hadn’t messed up on it. Maybe I had only put enough in his drink to just add thoughts and not recklessness. I just wanted him to kiss me! I had been waiting years for his lips to find a home on mine. If he would just kiss me then he would realize that we are meant to be. He would kiss me tonight and call back tomorrow to apologize, but he would realize that he liked me and wanted to be with me. That’s the way it had to go or else I would be doomed to a life of misery.

Once third period ended Aiden stood suddenly. “I had fun tonight, but I work early tomorrow so I’ve got to get going. Bye.” Then he practically bolted to the door and to his apartment just across the hall.

“Bye!” I barely managed to get out before the door shut behind him. I sighed and fell to my side on the couch as the after game talking went on. Our team had lost by mere seconds. The two teams had been tied 2, 2 but with 30 seconds left to the game to opposing team scored making them the winners when the buzzer went off.

I lost too, boys. You’re not alone.

***

I waited a week before I gave Aiden some more love potion. I gave him only like a drop more than I did last time. This time I put it into the frosting for Cinnamon Rolls. I didn’t like frosting on my Cinnamon Rolls so he would never guess.

“Ready for Monty Python and the Holy Grail?” Aiden shouted as he entered my apartment. He was lucky I lived on my own, because I wasn’t sure any roommate could handle his bad habits.

“Sure, I’m in the kitchen frosting some Cinnamon Rolls if you want one.”

His face came suddenly around the corner. “Of course I want one. Your Cinnamon Rolls are my favorite thing in the entire world.” I had only made enough frosting to frost two or three Cinnamon rolls so that he would eat them all tonight while we watched this movie I knew nothing about.

I handed Aiden a Cinnamon Roll and watched him take a piece off and pop it in his mouth. “Wanna lick the bowl?” I asked casually as I frosted the last Cinnamon roll.

“You know it.” He took the bowl from my hand and shoved the spoon into his mouth. He moaned in pleasure. Apparently I made good frosting. I smiled at him and picked up the plate of rolls.

“Let’s get the show on.” I said and he mumbled an agreement, following close behind me. I set the plate on the table and sat down while Aiden put the movie in the player. I watched his movements and how he would twitch the spoon in his mouth so he could see better. I smiled to myself. He was so handsome with his brilliant green eyes and his wavy brown hair. He had broad shoulders that felt so good when I leaned against them. But what felt the best is when he would pull me into his chest and tackle me with a hug. My heart would soar right out of me and I would land in heaven.

“What you smiling at?” I snapped back. I really needed to stop doing that.

“I’m just excited for the movie.”

“You should be. This is one of the greatest movies known to mankind. I just can’t believe we’ve been best friends for as long as we’ve been alive and you haven’t watched it.”

“I’ve always meant to, I just haven’t gotten around to it.” I shrugged my shoulders.

Then the movie started and we settled in. I couldn’t stop commenting on how horrible it was. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was the worst movie in the whole world. Nothing about it was even remotely interesting. “Really? That guy would be so dead it’s pathetic. None of this makes sense.”

“This is one of the best scenes. ‘It’s just a flesh wound’! I mean, it’s brilliant.” Aiden shifted in his seat placing one knee on the couch between us. “How are you not thoroughly enjoying this?”

“Because it sucks. There is nothing funny about this. In order for this to be funny I would need to be slap happy at three in the morning. It’s not even worth it.”

“Well that’s when the movie is at its best,” he consented, “but this whole script is brilliant even without being slap happy.”

I, too, shifted on the couch. I turned and faced him fully, tucking my legs under me in criss-cross-applesauce. “No, it really isn’t. It is ridiculous and annoying.”

“You’re ridiculous and annoying.”

“I made you Cinnamon rolls, young man. The least you can do is narrow it down to just annoying.”

He seemed to weigh what I said. “Fine,” he gave in. “You’re annoying.”

“You’re annoying-er.” I stuck my tongue out at him.

We continued talking for the rest of the movie. I barely watched it at all. He did however make me stop talking so I could watch The Nights who say Nee. It was just as strange and awful as the rest of the movie. After the scene was over we went back to talking about – okay, our conversation had strayed big time so beware – Harry Potter and how Hermione and Ron ended up together.

“They just seem like such and odd couple to me. I really think Hermione should have ended up with Fred like J.K. originally planned.” He said

“They would have killed each other. No. Ron and Hermione are perfect for each other. They even each other out and make a great team.”

“You don’t think it seemed forced and random?”

“No. They were best friends, it was going to happen sooner or later.” The moment it was out of my mouth I wished it back. Aiden paled a little and I tried to make up for it. “Either that or she would end up with Harry. Now that would have been a forced relationship.” I pretended not to know about my slip up and Aiden’s color seemed to come back to his face.

“That would have been forced. I can see where you’re coming from, but I still think it was a bit odd.” Was he still talking about Ron and Hermione or was he now talking about us? Maybe I was looking too deep into this.

“I don’t think it was odd at all. They were totally meant for each other.” I was definitely talking about us, but made it sound like Ron and Hermione.

Aiden started to lean in a little to me. My heart started to attack my chest in a panicked rhythm. Aiden might actually kiss me! Maybe the Potion had worked this time?

“You have cinnamon on your cheek.” My hand came to my face in a snap and I wiped frantically.

“Did I get it?”

Aiden was just smiling at me. A small chuckle escaped him and I felt my cheeks heat. “It’s on the other cheek.” He said as he placed his hand on my cheek and rubbed at the cinnamon with his thumb. “There.” He said without taking his hand off me.

I hesitantly looked into his green eyes. He looked like he was hesitating and fighting himself all at the same time. Then he suddenly jerked away and stood up abruptly. He jarred the table when he stood and the plate flew into the air. I tried to catch it before I could hit the floor, but I was too slow. It fell and shattered.

Aiden apologized and moved to the floor to help me pick up the bigger pieces. I reached for one piece only to get stabbed with another. I pulled back my hand and winced in pain. My palm was bleeding.

“Oh! Allie, I am so sorry.” He helped me around the broken plate and into the kitchen. I reached for a paper towel and got it wet. “Where do you keep your band aids? I’ll go get you one.” I pressed the towel to my hand.

“They’re in the medicine cabinet right there.” He walked to the cabinet that I pointed too and opened it up. He looked through the products, and became very still. “Can you not find them?” He pulled his hand away from the cupboard and started at it in shock. “Is there a spider or something?” Then it hit me. I kept the rest of the love potion in that cupboard. Shoot dang.

“Why do you have love potion, Allie?” He finally turned towards me.

I licked my lips. This is when I wish I had roommates to blame it on. “My sister gave it to me for Christmas last year. It’s probably bad by now and should be thrown out.” I hoped he would believe the lie.

“Have you been putting love potion in my food when I come over?” So he didn’t believe the lie. “The cocoa you made a few days ago. That wasn’t cinnamon was it? And the cinnamon rolls? You have been putting it into my food. Why would you do that?”

“Aiden,” I said once I plucked up enough courage.

He held up his hand. “You know what, I don’t care. That was wrong of you.” Then he marched out of my apartment.

“It’s not like it actually worked!” I shouted after him, but the door had closed and he was gone.

I leaned my head against the door in disgust with myself. Now my best friend in the whole world hated me and I would probably never get him to realize that it was purely – the door swung open suddenly. I freaked and began to fall backwards. I landed on the floor and Aiden had his arms around me as if trying to save me, but he just landed on top of me.

We looked at each other for a few seconds. “Thanks,” I said trying not to sound angry.

“Shut up, it’s my turn to talk.” It may be his turn to talk, but apparently it wasn’t his turn to get off of me. “You don’t think your stupid potion worked? Well it did. It has taken everything in my power to not just take you into my arms and kiss you so senseless you wouldn’t be able to tell me where you were standing.” My heart pounded and I held back a shout. That’s what I wanted you to do! “When we were watching the hockey game I just wanted to take your hand in mine and to beg you to be my girlfriend instead of just my friend.” That was the point. “I had to put distance between us in order to keep my witts about me. I was in so much pain.”

“I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.” Tears trailed down into my hair.

“I’m pretty sure that the only reason I didn’t just grab you and make out with you, is because I’ve trained myself not to.”

“What?”

He drew closer and his nose brushed mine, making me gasp. Shivers over took my body and goose bumps erupted all over my skin.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered, his breath brushing against my lips.

“Please.” Then his mouth was on mine and I was overcome with the perfectness of the situation. This felt right. This was how it was supposed to be.

“I love you so much, and that is not your stupid love potion talking. I promise.” Aiden whispered as he pulled away.

Every part of my being was smiling. I don’t think any of the stars were shining as brightly as I was. “I love you more, Aiden Carpenter.”

Charlotte Dubois elegantly strode into the ball room, making heads turn in her direction to admire her. Charlotte was the belle of the ball. The one that all the girls were jealous over and all the gentleman fawned over. It was exactly how she liked it.

“Miss Dubois!” I young man said as he came up to her side.

“Why, Mr. Henderson. How are you?”

“I’m quite alright. Can I trust you had a pleasant journey?”

“Quite uneventful.” Which wasn’t at all true, but she wasn’t going to tell anything to the host’s son. “What a lovely ball your mama has put on. I’m sure she put more time into it than she ought, didn’t she?”

Mr. Henderson laughed. “Why, yes she did. How’d you guess?” She threw him a saucy grin.

“Well, I must be making my rounds. I have plenty of friends I need to catch up with.”

“Of course. Might I ask if your first set has been claimed?”

“It certainly has not.”

“Would you do me the honor of accepting my hand for the first set then?”

She pushed his shoulder flirtatiously. “You silly rascal, of course I will.”

“Then I will see you in a few moments.” He bowed at the waist while she curtsied prettily, then they parted ways.

Mr. Jacob Henderson really was a handsome devil and Charlotte had always been rather fond of him. Never in a romantic way, but in a friendly, almost brotherly sort of way.

“Charlotte!” Clara Parker came rushing to her side. The two girls were as thick as thieves. There was only one thing Clara didn’t know about Charlotte, but no one really knew.

“Clara! I have so much to tell you.” They clasped hands and moved to the side of the large room so that they could talk in a more private setting. “Ever since you went with your mama and daddy up north for the holiday I have been a wreck. It’s been so hard not having a friend close by that understands me.”

“I know how you feel. It was everything in my power not to beg my daddy to let me borrow the carriage and come and steal you away into the night so that we might talk. We can never be so separated again!” They embraced in the way that only best friends can.

“I must tell you of my brother.”

A sigh escaped Clara before she could cover it up. “How is Mr. Dubois doing? I hear he is quite the hero.”

“You know you can call him Johnny.” Charlotte smiled at her friend.

“I know, I just… I don’t want everyone thinking…”

“Thinking that you like him?” Charlotte teased her friend.

“Yes, that. I don’t want word getting back to him on the front. It might only make him lose focus. I don’t want that to happen. He needs to come back a war hero, not a victim.”

Johnny Dubois was a Second Lieutenant for Major Edward F. Bagley of the 15th Infantry for the Confederate States of America. That was something Charlotte’s whole family was infinitely proud of.

“No one is going to tell him until he decides to confess to someone how much he likes you.”

Clara looked down at her slippers, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. “He doesn’t even know I exist. And if he does, I’m just ‘Charlotte’s friend’. He’s never once called me by my name.”

“That’s just it. He talked about you in his letter home this week.” Her face popped up and her eyes widened. “He said how something reminded him of ‘that Clara girl and her sparkling personality’.”

Clara smiled and a squeal passed through her lips.  “He knows I exist!” She twirled in her spot.

“Miss Dubois, Miss Parker.” Mr. Henderson came up to gather Charlotte for their dance. It was after the first set that she would have to do her job.

Just before she got into the carriage to go to the ball a letter arrived for her. It had been from the President, Mr. Jefferson Davis himself. She had been working with him for as long as this war had been going on. In the letter the President had told her of a gentleman that would be attending the same ball. This gentleman was a spy for the Union and had been trading military secrets with to them. She had been assigned to take him out.

“Are you ready Miss Dubois?”

She smiled prettily at him. “Yes, indeed I am.” She placed her hand in his and he walked her to the floor. Clara was soon taken by her partner and then the dancing began. It was a quick country dance, as most first dances were, so Charlotte didn’t talk much with Mr. Henderson. That was alright with her. She needed to figure out what she was to do about Mr. Edgar Calhoun.

The dance ended, but her opportunity was ripe as Mr. Henderson wanted her to meet his old school friend. Mr. Calhoun bowed deeply over her hand as they were introduced. He wasn’t an overly pleasant gentleman. He was rough and cold. No wonder he could hold up his façade of being loyal to the Confederacy.

“I wish to take a turn through the gardens.” He said after only moments of meeting Charlotte. He took off without a backwards glance.

Charlotte tugged on the end of her gloves, making sure they were pulled up to their proper length. “He is quite a pleasant fellow. Wonder what bit him in the rear.” Her mother would have been disgusted with that phrase, but there was nothing better she could think of to say.

“He is not the most happy of persons.”

“I believe you are doing it a bit brown, Mr. Henderson. He seems altogether grouchy.”

“He didn’t used to be.” After a few more minutes of talking both the Gentleman and the lady excused themselves.

Charlotte walked to the balcony doors. She made an effort to make her exit look as unimportant as possible. She didn’t want anyone accidentally following her. She walked down the stairs and started to take a turn about the garden.

“Mr. Calhoun! Why, how nice it is too see you again.” He feigned polite interest and went to continue his walk. “Do you mind if I join you. I so love to see the gardens.”

“If you must.” It looked as if he was barely restraining from rolling his eyes, but he held out his arm for her to take.

She gladly accepted as it brought her closer to his knife. “Look at this lovely Hyacinth. I always have told my mama that a good batch of Hyacinths makes a garden complete, don’t you agree?” He gave a grunt in reply, which Charlotte took to mean “No.”

She didn’t want to waste much more time with him. The longer she was gone the guiltier she would look. She steeled herself for what she was about to do. Then in a practiced, quick movement she pulled the knife from the man’s jacket and stabbed it downwards into his sternum. It was such a stab so that she wouldn’t get any blood on her dress or gloves. The man was dead before he even had an opportunity to register what had just become of him.

She let him fall to the ground. She looked around to make sure no one had seen what she had done. She took a few steps back and let a shrill scream pierce the air.

Weston Cook walked besides one of the sweetest girls he had ever met. She was average in looks, but her personality made up for that, for sure. Alice Staci was a one of a kind, energetic, goofball. One of those people that you wanted to be around all the time.

"Wes?" He snapped to attention. "Are you even listening to me?"

"No... Sorry. I spaced off. I was thinking about how wonderful you are if that makes the situation any better."

​"It doesn't, no. But you can answer my question. That'll remedy the situation."

"What was the question?" He asked sheepishly.

​"I was wondering what your favorite type of weather was?"

​

​"I don't know, I've never really thought about it. Why do you ask?"

​"It says a lot about your personality. My favorite is the rain. It's so chaotic but peaceful. You know what I mean?"

"Not really no..." he shook his head.

​"Good! That means I can explain it to you!" Her eyes lit up and her hands gestured wildly as she explained the merits of story weather. "We should test what your favorite weather is. It'll be a good personal journey for you and it will make us better friends. This is so exciting!"

"Can't wait to start." He smiled down at her perfectly round face and flushed cheeks. He seriously couldn’t wait for this to start.

As the months went on he experienced snow, snow, and more snow. That was all the winter months were going to bring him in Montana and he knew that. But every month he and Alice still went out and spent a day just experiencing the different types of weather winter had to offer.

He definitely didn’t like wind. Especially cold wind. And snow was fine as long as it was a slow consistent pouring of flakes. Growing up in Montana taught Weston that cold was a thing, that didn’t mean he had to like it any, and he didn’t. Cold and cloudy was the worst. Wait, take that back, cold and windy was the worst.

Before winter was over Weston and Alice fell in love with each other. And just a few days after Christmas they became engaged. Weston had never been happier. Could Alice be his weather? He loved her like she loved rain storms. He knew they could “weather” any “storm” together. (Weston also thought he was the funniest thing to come to the earth since Betty White.)

During their first rain experience Alice suddenly toppled over in pain.

“Alice! Are you alright?” She had been fine seconds ago, she was just about to jump in a puddle.

“My side…” She managed to get out through the pain.

Weston scooped her up and carried her petite figure to his car. He gently set her inside and buckled her into the seat. “I’m going to take you to the hospital and call your parents.” He closed the door and started dialing the moment it was shut.

“Well, hello Weston.”

“I’m taking Alice to the hospital.” He climbed into his truck and started up the engine. “Can you meet us there? She’s toppled over in pain, something about her side. It looks like she is clutching at her liver.”

“Oh, no. They did warn us. We’ll be there. Don’t worry.” They hung up and Weston wondered about the they Mrs. Staci had mentioned. And about the warning. He would have to ask when Alice was safe in the hospital and the doctor was doing his thing.

He drove as quickly as he dared and made it to the hospital without causing an accident or getting pulled over. He deserved a gold star. He carried his sweet Alice into the hospital. She moaned in pain the whole way.

“Wes, I love you.”

“I love you, too, Alice. Now just stay quiet until the doctor asks whats going on.” He kissed her forehead and breathed in her sweet scent. “Mrs. Staci, has she been checked in?”

“They should take her back right now.” Suddenly a gurney came speeding towards them.

“Is that Alice Staci?” The nurse asked in his gruff voice.

“Yes, sir.”

“Will you please set her down? We’ll take her back now.”

Weston set his beloved on the gurney and stroked her hair. “I’ll come in and see you as soon as I’m able to, my sweet.” Then they rushed off with her crying and shaking figure.

“Wes, there’s something we need to tell you. We’re kind of surprised that Alice hasn’t done it herself, but now is definitely the time.” Mr. Staci took him to one of the waiting chairs and they sat. “Alice has cancer.”

Weston felt his eyes widen. “That’s why she’s in pain then?”

“She had a benign tumor on her liver. They took it out just in case it decided to become a problem. The doctor at the time told us that it shouldn’t ever be a problem again. About a year ago her doctor told her that it was growing again, it was too small to see if it was going to be a big deal, she was supposed to go in for a six month check up to make sure everything was alright, but she never made the appointment. This is confirmation that it’s going to be a problem.”

“Steven Staci?” A voice shouted from a door.

“Yes?” Weston felt his heart beat like the hooves of a wild horse; uneven and quick.

“I hate to deliver this news, but your daughter has what we think is stage 4 cancer. We will have to run more tests to get concrete information, but that’s what we believe it is based on her symptoms and her past history. If you would like to go see her you can.” The three of them followed the doctor to Alice’s room.

She was sound asleep on the bed. Her parents went to her side immediately, Weston however stayed in the door way staring at his future bride. Stage four cancer. The sound of it ricocheted through his head, giving him a headache. His Alice was dying, and she had never told him.

Alice stayed in the hospital for a month. Her cancer was confirmed and her treatments started. Weston didn’t think they did anything for her. If anything he thought they were making things worse. She was hardly awake enough to have a conversation. But even when she was asleep her face was twisted in pain and he wished he could take it all from her.

One night Weston was sitting with his Fiancée, just holding her limp hand in his and reading a book to her. It was a Jane Austen novel, just too possibly bring her a little joy in her hour of need. Suddenly her hand tightened its grip and he looked from the book to Alice’s blue eyes.

“Weston, I love you more than anything. I’m sorry we won’t be able to find your favorite weather.” She tried laughing, but failed in the seriousness of the situation.

“Don’t say things like that. You’ll be out of here in no time and we can get back to our weather hunting.” He kissed her hand. “I love you more than you can understand. You have to make it out of here.”

“I will, just not in the way you want me to.” Weston went to argue but she cut him off. “I know I’m dying. I know this is my time. I can feel my spirit longing to go home. I’ve been holding on for you, but I don’t think that I can keep it up any longer.” Tears were pouring down both of their faces. “Wes, when I pass I want you to go out and find love like we have. I will always love you, but we can’t be together. So I want you to take the ring and go find someone who can love you for time and all eternity.” She easily pulled the ring off her thin fingers and placed it in his hand.

“I don’t want to make this promise.” He cried. “I don’t know if I can ever love someone as much as I love you.”

“You will. Make the promise.”

Weston took a deep breath and looked into Alice’s pain filled eyes. “I promise.” Alice smiled.

It wasn’t long after that encounter that Alice Emery Staci passed away. The whole family was devastated at the loss of someone so sweet. Weston was devastated more than the rest. He would never find peace after this. He fought that cancer with her, but only he came out a survivor. How could he live without her?

On her funeral day a storm was brewing in the distance. But the moment her casket went into the ground the clouds broke into tears. It wasn’t a thunder storm, just a simple rain storm. One that Alice would have loved. Weston walked out and let the rain pour on his face. He sat there waiting for it to wash him away from the place of his sorrow.

That when it hit him. This was Alice’s favorite weather, because it showed peace in the hectic world. This was Alice talking to him from beyond. This was her way of telling him that she was okay, and better than she had been in a long time.

“I find peace in the rain, Alice. I find peace in the rain.”

The basketball swished perfectly through the hoop as Mia Walker finished up her shooting drills. She ran to the basketball picked it up and started her dribbling drills. She weaved in and out of the little orange cones her coach had set up, dodging them and tapping the basketball to the floor repeatedly. The next set of cones was almost the same drill, only this time they had to spin as the dodged the cones. She sped through this drill since it was her favorite and was among the first to finish the drills.

Her best friend Holly finished moments after her. She came up to her as Mia shot her basketball into the bin. Holly followed and put her arm around Mia’s back. “You were crazy out there, Mia. I almost couldn’t keep up with you. I really think you’ll make captain.”

Mia laughed. “I’m not sure. Rylee is doing really good this year, and so is Jennifer. And I think coach is more likely to give it to a Junior or a Senior over a Sophomore.”

Mia pressed the bar on the drinking fountain and bent down to get a drink of cool, crisp water. She enjoyed the feeling of it running down her dry throat. Holly was dinking at the smaller fountain next to her. They finished and saw a long line forming behind them. The rest of the team must’ve been finishing up their drills.

“I guess that makes sense,” Holly said, continuing the conversation, “but I still think you’ll make Captain.”

Mia shook her head with a slight laugh. “Thanks for being in my corner, Holly.”

“I’m always in your corner.” She bumped her side making Mia stumble slightly.

“Great job today, everybody.” Coach Brown said as she held the clipboard tight to her chest. “I have decided who our Captain for this season is going to be, so gather around.”

A buzz of excitement went up among the girls. The Captain wasn’t usually chosen until the end of their first week of training. It was only Wednesday. She must’ve been very sure.

“Give me a drumroll please.” The whole team started stomping their feet or slapping their thighs. “And the Captain for the this season is… Jennifer Delancey! Congrats Jennifer!” Mia smiled for her teammate and applauded with the rest of the group. Jennifer would be a great Captain.

Jennifer walked up to the front and gave Coach Brown a hug. “Thanks, Coach! This is so exciting. I promise I won’t let you or the team down.”

“We know you will do amazing things.” Then she turned her attention back to the rest of the team. “Now! I’m going to do something a little different this year. Usually I pick the Captain and their Assistant. This year I want Jennifer to pick her assistant” Jennifer’s eyes widened.

“I get to choose?”

“Yes. Choose wisely.” Jennifer started looking around the group. “You don’t have to choose now but I would like a for sure by Friday”

“Actually, Coach, I think I know who I’m going to pick.”

Mia could feel the team tense up as they waited for the announcement. Mia was almost 100% sure that Jennifer would choose Rylee. They were best friends. Rylee was a great player she worked well with everyone on the team, and she didn’t think you couldn’t work as hard if you aren’t a senior like her.

“I want my assistant captain to be Mia Walker!”

Everyone started clapping, including Mia. She didn’t realize that it was her name that was called.

Holly pushed her. “Girl, that was you, get up there!”

“Oh! I’m Mia Walker. Whoa!” She walked through the laughing team and up to Jennifer who pulled her into a hug.

“We are going to do great things you and I.” Jennifer whispered in her ear. Mia could barely hear it with all the chatter from the rest of the team.

“Well here are your Captain and Assistant Captain for the new season!” more cheers went up. “Alright girls, get out of here, I’ll see you tomorrow for more drills.” They started to disperse. A couple of people came up to Jennifer and Mia to congratulate them. It was weird, but also so cool. Mia couldn’t stop smiling.

Holly finally got to Mia’s side and pulled her into a hug. “Congrats! This is so exciting”

“Thanks, I wasn’t expecting it.”

“That was obvious,” Jennifer interrupted, “I think you were the most shocked out of everyone. But I think that’s a good thing. It shows that you’re humble. You don’t know how good you are.”

Mia felt herself blush, “Thanks Jennifer that means a lot.”

“I’ve gotta get going, but I’ll see you tomorrow!” She gave Mia and Holly a high-five and ran off to the locker room.

“We have to party. Friday night. We’ll go bowling or something. On me.” Holly said.

“I’m down!”

Holly pulled her into a hug. “Congrats again I’ve gotta go though. I’m baby sitting in like and hour, so I’ve really got to shower. See you in English tomorrow!” Then she hurried out of the gym.

I think I’m going to go get a treat to celebrate. Mia said to herself as she marched to the vending, her backpack on her shoulder. She pulled out a dollar bill, and watched the vending machine eat it.

She stared at the vending machine trying to decide if she wanted chips or M&M’s. They were both delicious, but she only had the one dollar. She had to choose wisely. She sighed. “I’ll just let the vending machine choose for me.” She hit a couple of random buttons and watched as a candy bar fell. She pulled it out and to her dismay she realized she had never heard of it before.

“An Adventure Bar?” She looked back in the vending machine to see of it was popular. There wasn’t any more in there. “I wonder what it tastes like. I hope it’s good.” She thought to herself.

Just as she was about to rip open the wrapper her phone buzzed. She sighed, and replaced her phone in her pocket with the Adventure Bar.

“Hi, mom.” She answered.

“Dear, I need you to come home quickly today. No dilly-dallying at school, got it?”

Mia wanted to sigh once again, but knew that her mom would be angry and tell her off for having a bad attitude. “Okay mom. I will be home as soon as I can.”

Basketball practice had just finished, so she really should go home. The thing was, she usually stayed after longer to keep shooting hoops.

“I’ll see you soon then.” They hung up.

Mia shoved her phone in her pocket and was once again reminded of the weird Adventure Bar she had gotten. She might as well enjoy it while she walked home.

She unwrapped the candy bar as she stepped outside. The cold air bit at her face, but felt good after the hard workout she’d done in basketball practice.

She took a bite of the chocolate candy bar and a mix of flavors invaded her mouth. It was the best candy she had ever tasted.

“Deffs a new favorite.” She shoved the rest into her pocket and started running. She didn’t live to far from the high school. Just around the corner, so it wouldn’t be a long run.

As she was rounding the corner before her house she tripped. But instead of hitting the concrete, she fell right through and landed again on her feet.

“What the?”

Ashley

“Stupid science and your stupid problems that don’t make sense.” Ashley scribbled out her previous answer and started again to find the Molarity of toothpaste. She felt her friend sit down next to her at the lunch table. “Hannah can you help me with problem –” That was not Hannah.

She sat in stunned silence staring at the man that was sitting in Hannah’s spot. His bright green eyes drew her in sending tingles down her spine. His wavy brown hair looked so soft and beautiful, and she wanted to run her fingers through it to see if it felt as nice as it looked. And his face… Hot was the only word that was coming to mind at the moment.

I’m staring.

“Sorry,” Ashley said quickly. “I thought you were my friend.”

He seemed to snap out of a trance too. “No, I’m sorry. I actually thought you were my girlfriend. From behind you look at lot like her.”

Her heart fell. Girlfriend. That sucked. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I get it all the time.”

“Do you really?”

“Yeah.” She wasn’t lying either. With her normal length brown hair and her normal body build and her normal everything, people tended to think she was their girlfriend all the time. “Once this guy came up from behind and tried to kiss my neck, like some vampire heathen.” His eyes went directly to her neck and she felt warmth rush her face. Not he cheeks, her face. “When I turned around the dude almost fainted because I was so not his girlfriend.”

His eyes snapped back to Ashley’s. His perfect green eyes. Why can’t I have green eyes? “That would have been awkward. Glad I didn’t do anything that embarrassing.”

“Me too. It’s kinda awkward.”

They sat for a few seconds in an uncomfortable silence. Kind of looking at each other, but not at the same time. These moments were always the best, and she was always stuck in them. Do I have some sort of curse on me that made me destined to live a life of awkward?

“My name is Tristin, by the way.” He suddenly broke the silent air.

“Mine’s Ashley.”

“Well, I better go find my girlfriend before she thinks I’m cheating on her or something.”

“That would be smart.”

He stood up and grabbed his food. “It was nice to meet you Ashley. Have a good day.”

“You too.” Then he was walking away from her. Dang. That was probably the only time she would ever talk to somebody that hot. She let out a sigh.

“Who was that?”

“My secret boyfriend,” She said as Hannah sat down in Tristin's vacated seat. “You weren’t supposed to know about him yet.”

“Did you look like his girlfriend?”

“Yes,” She rolled her eyes. “You know I’m kinda frustrated over that. Maybe I should dye my hair bright pink so nobody gets me confused with their girlfriend.”

“Especially if they are as hot as that guy was.”

“For real.” She had lost sight of Tristin, but knew she wanted to see him again.

Tristin

Where was she? He had been standing behind a girl in the lunch line and her figure had caught his attention. That probably made him seem shallow and only interested in the closest thing with curves, but he still felt drawn to her and he needed to see her and get to know her.

There she was. She was ignoring her food and pouring over a homework assignment. So she liked to study. That was good. Smart girls were always more attractive. Tristin took a deep breath then pushed his way to her side. He didn’t want someone else to take his spot by her side.

He set his food down and sat in the seat by her side.

“Hannah can you help me with problem –” She stopped when she looked into his eyes.

He stopped too. Her eyes were the color of Root Beer floats. The cream mixing with the soda. They were hypnotizing and he wanted to drink them in completely. He had never been so attracted to a pair of eyes.

Her eyes looked up at his hair so he let his wonder down her. This was for sure the same girl. That skirt wouldn’t look nearly half as good on someone else. Those legs couldn’t be mistaken for someone else’s, even if he had only seen them once before.

He let his eyes wonder back to hers. Wow. He definitely didn’t regret following her from the lunch line. She was worth looking at.

“Sorry,” she said suddenly. “I thought you were my friend.”

His eyes had immediately gone to her mouth when she started talking. She sounded like an angel and her lips looked like they would taste like raspberries, his favorite. But then her words ended and he snapped to the reality that he was supposed to be in.

“No, I’m sorry.” He didn’t want her to feel bad for nothing. But it was good to know that she was as affected by him as he was her. “I actually thought you were my girlfriend. From behind you look at lot like her.” What? Why had that come out of his mouth? He didn’t have a girlfriend.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I get it all the time.” She looked a little bummed.

“Do you really?” Do people really say such lies to this beauty all the time? Because nobody was actually going to just walk up to her and check her out if he was dating someone else. They would never risk that.

“Yeah. Once this guy came up from behind and tried to kiss my neck, like some vampire heathen.” Her neck, he looked at the soft skin and wondered what it would feel like to be a vampire heathen at this moment. Would her skin be as soft as it looked? Snap out of it Tristin! He looked back to her feeling awful for his thoughts… until he saw that she was blushing the most beautiful blush he had ever seen. “When I turned around the dude almost fainted because I was so not his girlfriend.”

He looked away from her blush and back into her Root Beer eyes. “That would have been awkward. Glad I didn’t do anything that embarrassing.” Except this whole thing was embarrassing.

“Me too. It’s kinda awkward.”

He nodded his head, but stayed staring at her beautiful face. It was a quiet few seconds, but he enjoyed her embarrassment. “My name is Tristin, by the way.” He allowed himself to say. If he was going to woo this girl they were going to need to be on a first name basis.

“Mine’s Ashley.” Ashley. That was perfect for her.

“Well, I better go find my girlfriend before she thinks I’m cheating on her or something.” What was he allowing himself to say?

“That would be smart.” Why did her voice sound as smooth and melodic as a violin?

He stood up and grabbed his food. “It was nice to meet you Ashley. Have a good day.”

“You too.” Then he was walking away from her. Walking to the table with his friends, and not a girlfriend. Because he didn’t have one. He let out a frustrated groan, why was it when he encountered an attractive girl he started blabbering random things at her? At least he hadn’t told her that frogs pee on you if they feel you're a threat.