Almost

Chapter 1

Jake and I have known each other since we were four. Since then, we've been best friends. Other than Leila. I've known her since fifth grade. We used to hate each other, but for some odd reason, we're suddenly best friends. I think at first it was because I was really popular but now we've grown close.

Because my house is so close to the bus stop me and Leila go to, she comes over almost every day after school. Today was a really bad day for her, so she came over and burst into tears.
"I, I just don't ... understand," she said through gulps of air. I couldn't really qunderstand her, but I think Jonathan, her boyfriend for eight months now, broke up with her.
"Shhh," I cooed, "calm down."
"He, he dumped me... f-for, Caroline Sams! That b-bitch!"
"Hey, it's not her fault, Jon's the one who dumped you, remember?" Leila looked up at me with her sad blue eyes. She was so pretty. Her blue eyes and blonde hair glistened when she was happy, but they seemed to take on dull shades when she was sad. That's why I especially love cheering her up. "There's a party tomorrow that I think he's going to. You wanna go?"
"Um...ok. But I'm gonna look really lame at the party when he's with his girlfriend and I'm with you. No offense Ang."
"Hey," I said, "none taken. How about I get you a date?"
"With who?" Leila questioned.
"Does it matter at this point?" I replied.

.............................................................

It's the night of the party, and me, Leila and Jake are all hanging out at my house. I love my friends to death.
Me and Leila are in the bathroom doing each other's hair, while Jake is in my room on his phone. I'm curling Lelia's beautiful hair when Jake knocks on the door. "Can I come in?"
"Sure!" He opens the door, and steps on the curling iron's wire, sending it flying into my left shoulder. "Ow!" I scream in pain.
"Oh my God, are you okay? Here I'll go get a bandaid and some antibacterial... um... whatever!" Leila whips her hair around, brushing it against my burn which makes it hurt even more.
"Omg Ang," she notices the burn mark, "are you okay? What happened?"
"Curling iron burnt me," I say, careful not to place the blame on Jake.
He rushes back into the room with a whole case of medical stuff. We all go sit on my huge bed, while Jake doctors the burn. I catch him looking at me with such sincerity more than once, and I turn away. I knew when we were in sixth grade he had a little crush on me, but that was a long time ago. I think we've both moved on by now.

Once everybody's okay and my burn is covered in a bandaid, me and Leila get dressed. She's wearing a tight little baby blue and tan Aztec printed dress with tan pumps and gold jewelry. I put on a short black lace dress and black pumps with silver jewelry. We look in the mirror together and silently approve each others outfits.
Because we were getting dressed, we made Jake go into my living room. Me and Leila stumble down the stairs in our impossible-to-walk-in outfits and see Jake talking to my mom. He turns around and spots us walking towards the door. "Are you guys ready to go?" He says impatiently.
"Almost," I say. " We still have to wait for Leila's date."
"Oh yeah!" You never told me who it was!" Leila realizes.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's one of the guys in our church's youth group. He's super nice. Maybe you guys can actually have a real relationship after tonight!"
"Is he hot?" Before I could answer Leila's question, the doorbell rings. I get up to get it, and it's Leila's date, Mitchell. I think by the look on her face, the answer to her question was a definite yes. We all walk out, get in my car, and drive to the party.

When we arrive, we can hear the music from inside the huge house from across the street.
"All ready?" I ask. Everyone nods their heads, and Mitchell and Leila glance at each other. We walk into the party, and its like a jungle. Groups of people swarm in every space available in the house. A yellow DO NOT ENTER tape is strung across the stairs, but it's broken. I turn around to talk to Leila, but she and Mitchell are gone. Jake is still standing next to me, so I decide to start up a conversation.
We talk and have fun for hours, until the party's nearly over. Then we decide to go find Leila and Mitchell. We look all over the place and finally find them making out in a corner. I tap Leila on the shoulder and her lips separate from Mitchell's. She has the most dreamy look on her face, but I pull her away from Mitchell and he follows. We drive to Mitchell's house, and before he gets out of the car, he pecks Leila on the lips. I look at Jake and stick my tongue out and he laughs.
"What?" questions Leila.
"Nothing," me and Jake answer in unison.

Seeing her and Mitchell together makes me really happy for her, but it also makes me start to feel like I want that in my life, too.