A Friend's Love

Chapter Twenty: Free?

We went roller blading.

The first few minutes I was laughing so hard I couldn't stay on my feet, but eventually I got the hang of it. We held hands, which actually made it harder, and talked about random things. I was amazed at how easy it was to just talk. We'd been so mad at each other, and one night had fixed it. And now everything was back to normal. I loved it. I loved him.

We bladed for about two hours and then stopped. I didn't know about Jake, but my feet hurt so bad! Neither of us were hungry enough for a full dinner, so we stopped by the Dollar Store and grabbed some sour gummy worms. And then, we went to the park. He pushed me on the swings, tickling my sides whenever I swung back to him, and then we hung upside down on the jungle gym until we couldn't stand the blood rushing to our heads anymore. Once we finished our worms, I sat on the Merry-Go-Round and screamed my head off while Jake pushed it around faster and faster. Once my head stopped spinning, I ran over to where he was getting a drink from the water fountain and jumped on his back. With water dripping down his shirt, Jake chased me around the park until I gave up and curled into a ball on the ground. He sat beside me and we just looked at the sky, trying to slow our breathing.

It was do peaceful, here with Jake. I felt... free. I literally could have stayed there all night, laying beside Jake and looking up at the stars until I fell asleep. But then my stomach growled. Jake teased me until I reminded him that he had done the same thing. After a few minutes of arguing (I won, of course), we finally got up and walked to the closest restaurant.

It was a Mexican Restaurant. With almost no one there. We got our booth, sat in the same seat (much to the waitress's annoyance. She obviously needed a cigarette break.), and ordered our drinks. I munched on chips and salsa while we flipped through the menu. I was just about to decide on cheese enchiladas when Jake pointed to a picture on my menu.

"You should get that." he said seriously.

He was pointing to the biggest meal on the whole menu. The combo meal. It had everything a Mexican Restaurant could offer. And there was no way I could possibly eat all of that on my own!

"Umm... no." I replied.

"Well, what if we got that, and then ate it together?" he suggested. It was actually a really good idea.

"Okay, but I call dibs on the cheese enchiladas."

"We'll see about that..." he joked. Before I could argue, the waitress came back with our drinks. Jake ordered the combo and I giggled when the waitress looked at us weird. I got that look a lot when I was with Jake.

"You know," I said when she walked away. "I'm starting to get that look a lot. But only when I'm with you..."

He pretended to look confused. "I wonder why that is..."

I shrugged and bit back a grin. "I don't know." I reached for the chips and frowned when I felt an empty basket. When I looked over at Jake, he was whistling and avoiding my eyes.

"Jake?" I asked. "Where are the chips?"

He shrugged his shoulders and looked up at the ceiling, still whistling.

"Jake?" I wrapped my arms around his waist and put my chin on his shoulder. "Where are my chips?" I hissed in his ear.

He flinched and mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?" I asked sweetly.

He gestured for me to come closer, and I put my ear up to his mouth. And then, he bit me. He bit my neck. He. Bit. Me!

I squealed so loud the whole restaurant (which really wasn't a lot of people, but it was still funny) turned to look at us. I smacked Jake's chest over and over until he grabbed my wrists and kissed me lightly. A few people "Aww"ed and I blushed. Others rolled their eyes and muttered things under their breath. Jake stuck his tongue out at them. And I blushed even darker.