Chapter 1: The Secret

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Emma's POV

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I was in bed but not asleep, watching the hands of my clock reach for midnight. I knew he'd be here soon.

Tonight. You're telling him how you feel tonight.

A telltale knock rattled against my bedroom window, and I pushed it open. 

"You made it after all." I smiled.

And there he was... The person I'd been in love with since before I even knew what love truly was.
I couldn't tell you the moment I first fell in love with Mason Jennings.

He was just always there... the quiet boy next door who taught me how to cartwheel when I was ten. Who held me all night as I wept when my mother died on a cold autumn day. The truth was, I had always loved him. I just never had the courage to tell him.

Until tonight.

What I didn't know then... was that he wasn't the only one I fell in love with that year.

My First Two Loves 

"Welcome home." Mason greeted.

"Mason Jennings. Punctual as always." I said.

"I haven't seen you all summer, I didn't want to waste another minute." He stated, smiling.

There it was. That smile again. The one I'd been dreaming about for three whole months.

I should tell him...

The words caught in my throat and a silence settled into he room. Had he noticed? 

Quick! Don't be awkward!

"Have you been working out? I asked, trying not to be awkward.

"Like I have a choice. Coach would kill me if I showed up to practice out of shape." He said.

"I don't think you're in any trouble of that." 

"So... how was Wyoming? I'm impressed you lasted all summer in a tiny cabin without killing your sister. You... didn't kill her right?" He asked, nervously.

"Believe me, there were some close calls. I had to take a lot of walks whenever I felt cabin fever setting in. And with no WiFi and two bars of cell service on a good day... thank God for books" I said.

"You're going to make me feel like a dumb jack. I didn't crack a book open all summer." He said jokingly.

"Mason, you could never be a... I mean, I..." I stuttered.

He was so close on my bed, I could feel the warmth of his hip against mine.

I need to tell him! Why is this so hard?

More weird silence. Luckily, Mason filled it.

"There were so many nights when I tried to call you and couldn't get through." 

"It killed me not talking to you... or trying to talk and getting cut off every five seconds when my phone decided to drop the call." I said sadly.

"With you gone, it was like I was missing my own voice sometimes... Remember that summer where we kept finishing each others sentences, and your mom started calling me The Echo?" He asks.

"I remember." I said smiling.

"So much happened this summer. I feel like we could talk all week, and I'd only get to the greatest hits. And there's one thing I've been dying to tell you in particular, but... before anything else, there's something I brought you. Call it a present." He said, reaching to his pocket and revealed a small red box tied up with a neat bow.

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