Just One Summer

Chapter One

Emma and I raced down the empty grey corridor of the school, laughing our heads off as we reached the exit. My car wasn't parked too far from doors, so we easily jumped in and started the engine. The exit doors busted open as we pulled out of the parking lot, Mr. Jackson emerged, holding a bright purple balloon in his left hand. Emma threw her head against the back of the seat, erupting with laughter. I blew Mr. Jackson a kiss as we passed him on our way out. He just smiled and flipped us off in return.

Mr. Jackson was the coolest teacher at our small-town high school, only five years older than the seniors, making him six years older than me and my best friend Emma. The three of us had gotten pretty close this last year, mine and Emma's junior year, and we decided the last day of school would be a good time to fill his classroom with balloons. Just a harmless practical joke for our own amusement.

Once I pulled onto the highway, I turned to Emma's flushed face. She had started to develop a little crush on Mr. Jackson, or as we called him, Joseph. "Emma, you got it bad." I said, giggling at how my words made her squirm in her seat.

"Trust me, I know. You don't have to remind me." She said, sinking into her seat. We had spent many nights talking about her "forbidden love." Typical teacher can't date a student rules applied to Emma's situation. Her crush would extend to her telling me all the ways he makes her heart beat faster, how he looks, the way he speaks, until it got to the point where she could breathe again, and remember who he was, and who she was.

I guess you could say I had my own interests as well. At least Emma would say so. Like Emma's crush, my infatuation was with someone I couldn't have either. 

We met online. I know, creepy. I didn't know him at all when we first started talking and no, I haven't seen his face. But he's not an old perv or anything. He's actually the best person I've ever met. Besides Emma of course.

We met on Instagram. Our meme accounts crossed paths when we followed each other for material. @caspsfacts started messaging my account, @krisspymemelord (I know don't judge), shortly after we followed each other. It started off simple and innocent, I swear, we just sent each other memes we thought the other would like. Sometimes asking how our day was going or what we were up to. I learned his name was Caspian, and I offered my name as well, Kriss. We talked about where we were from, him in Utah while I live in Nevada, and we talked about a few of our favorite hobbies. Caspian, or Cas as I liked to call him, played basketball and loved to party. Not for the girls, he would say, but for the freeing feeling it gave him. He found the fact that I loved practical jokes hard to believe, saying I was too sweet for things like that. His opinion vastly changed once we became closer friends. We both loved traveling, him because his uncle takes him on a cross country trip every two years, and me because I've never left Nevada, and the idea of seeing the world drawled me in.

We became casual friends, a few phone calls here and there when we were bored, inside jokes were formed off the thousands of memes passed between us. Our friendship was light and just fun. I looked forward to our conversations because he always managed to put a smile on my face. I never thought that it was weird that I was talking to some random guy on the internet, Caspian just made me feel comfortable. I wasn't worried about who he might actually be. We weren't all that close, but I still considered him a good friend.

But our relationship changed one night about six months into us talking. It was about three in the morning, the part of the night where I would lay on my bed, begging myself to finally go to sleep, and I got a message from Caspian.

caspsfacts:

Hey, you still up? I kinda need someone to talk to

krisspymemelord: