• I slowly pushed my foot of the mulch covered ground so the swing would move just a little bit. I gripped the chain with one hand so hard that it left an impression on my hand. My phone vibrated in the open palm of my other hand.
    “Hey Olivia. Where r u?” the text message from Jake popped up on the screen. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach when I saw who it was.
    I smiled as I typed back, “@ the park. Y?”
    “You’d better get out of there. It’s gonna rain soon.” The words shined. I looked up at the darkening sky and as if on cue, it started to pour! I got up and ran to the gazebo, but by the time I got there, I was already drenched. I sat down on the wooden floor and began to shiver. My phone vibrated next to me. It read, “Is your eyeliner running?”
    My hand flew to my eyes to be covered in what was thick eyeliner but was now a runny mess. I smirked as I typed into my phone, “How did you know?”
    “Because I can c u” he typed back. My head snapped up and I saw him at the swings. I got up and walked to him while wiping away the rest of my eyeliner.
    “Hey”, I said shakily as we sat down on the swings.
    “Hi”, Jake said. He smiled at me and my heart just about stopped. I would have just loved to reach up and move his long blonde bangs out of his eyes just as much as I would have loved for him to move my blood red hair from my eyes. But that was just my imagination running wild again. I really wish it would stop doing that.
    “What are you doing here?” I ask Jake, “You’re going to get sick.”
    “Oh and your not?” Jake joked. “I just, like, had to ask you something.”
    I began to feel light headed. Was this is? Was he going to ask me to be more than friends? I nodded my head for him to continue, considering I couldn’t speak.
    “I kind of want to ask Sarah to be my girlfriend again. Do you think I’m crazy doing that?”
    My heart dropped 1000 floors and landed on 1000 knives to rip it apart. I had to look down so he wouldn’t see the tears in my eyes. “Olivia?” Jake said after a few moments.
    “I…” I said then broke off. Sarah? His ex- girlfriend? Was he insane? She was a walking STD! She cheated on him with some jock, and then broke his heart by calling him a “Stupid emo boy”! And he still wants to be with her?! After another moment of collecting myself, I plastered the biggest, fake smile on and said, “That’s great! Fantastic! Does she want to get back together with you?”
    “That’s the best part! She said she was sorry for everything and won’t do it again. She said that I was the most respectful boyfriend she ever had and she wants me back!” I knew He was the most respectable boyfriend. The most respectable and honest person in the world! And I wanted that so badly!
    “That’s great, Jake”, I said with fake enthusiasm, “I should probably go home before I get the flue or something.” And with that I got up and walked away without waiting for a goodbye.
    Only when I was out of ear shot I broke down and started sobbing. The rain mixed with the tears running down my cheeks. I sank to my knees. What does he see in her? We were so alike in almost every way!
    “Olivia?” Jake’s voice sounded worried.
    I froze like a deer caught in the headlights. Then, with those deer instincts, I bolted. I ran and ran till I was hyperventilating. I collapsed on the hard sidewalk and let the rain pour on my while I caught my breath. I counted the forks of lightning that flashed in the sky. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. After seven I got up and made my way back home.
    I arrived home around seven thirty. Mom rushed and got a towel to wrap around me. “Are you Okay? What kept you so long? It’s storming out!”
    “I tried to stay in the gazebo till the storm blew over but then decided to go on ahead home when it started lightning”, I lied easily, “I’m really tired. I think I’m going to take a shower, eat, and go to bed.”
    I did just that, too. I took a long shower that was so hot it left my back red. I put on my softest, comfiest, pajamas on, grabbed a grilled cheese sandwich that mom made, and thanked her. Then I went to bed. I was almost asleep when my phone buzzed. I picked it up and saw that I had 8 text messages, all from Jake.
    “Olivia what happened? Are u Okay? Why did u run away from me?” “Olivia why did you run from me? You’ve never run from me before!” “What happened to you Olivia?” “Olivia please talk to me” “Tell me what’s wrong” “Olivia text me back!” “If u have a problem then u can tell me” “Tell me what’s wrong!?”
    I turned my phone off and went to sleep.
    I skipped school the next day and told my mom that I must have caught the flu from being out in the rain. I stayed in bed constantly wiping my eyes and blowing my nose. Thankfully, because it made my eyes and nose swollen and red, it really looked like I was sick. I was also lucky enough to convince mom that I was still sick on Tuesday, but that was as far as I could go. I had to go back to school on Wednesday.
    I put the hood of my purple and black plaid sweatshirt over my head so the shadow completely covered my face and put my music on full blast. I climbed on the bus and sat down heavily. I felt the other side of the seat sink down like someone sat down. That’s odd, I thought, usually there’s enough seats for everyone to have their own seat in the morning. I decided to ignore the person next to me. Until they pulled out one of my ear buds.
    I can tolerate a lot from people, but in the mornings, not so much. Especially if they screw with my music. I shot the idiot one of my famous death glares until I saw it was Jake. Oh s**t, I thought.
    “What, like, happened to you? Why didn’t you ever reply to me?” he said.
    “I was sick”, I tried to keep on that story, “I just didn’t really want you to see me get sick.”
    “Oh”, He said. He sounded almost ashamed, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to be sure that you were Okay. You really had me worried.”
    “I’m sorry”, I said.
    “It’s Okay”, He said, “Just don’t scare me like that.”
    We walked into school together and not two steps in, Sarah ran beside him and draped over him. “Hey baby”, Sarah said in her high pitched voice.
    “Hey Sarah. What are you doing here?” He asked. Sarah was a freshman while Jake and I were 8th graders.
    “What? Can’t I say high to my boyfriend?” she said pouting way too much. She said her goodbyes and left Jake with a long kiss. I nearly gagged but was able to choke it down.
    I went to my locker and found Jake right next to me. “Are you Okay? You seemed kind of, like, weird around Sarah.”
    “Oh I’m fine. We just don’t really like each other”, I answered. Jake's expression was shocked. I really thought that he would have noticed that Sarah and I have had a small rivalry ever since forever. We were just completely different. I was a Goth and she was a prep. I guess that guys don’t notice things.
    “You don’t? I thought you guys were friends”, he said. He was talking about in sixth grade when we were “BFFs”.
    “We were, in sixth grade”, I said then added under my breath, “Till she turned into a slut.”
    “What was that last part?” Jake asked.
    “Nothing”, I said, and then added quietly, “Just that she has every STD under the sun.”
    “There!” Jake exclaimed, “You did it again! What did you say about Sarah?”
    “Nothing”, I closed my locker and started towards class.
    Jake followed and said, “Come on! Tell me!”
    “It’s nothing”, I said, “I’ve got to get to class.”
    “Yeah I do to. See you later”, He said.
    We said our goodbyes and went to our own classes. All through Algebra I drew a picture of Jake and me on the swings, in the rain, holding hands. It was a good sketch and Jake and I actually looked like our real selves. That was the mistake. I walked out of my class without my sketchbook.
    My sketchbook is my life. Without it I die. Especially because it holds every one of my deepest darkest secrets. And just guess who has Algebra after I do. I only realized I didn’t have it when school ended and it wasn’t in the lost and found or Mrs. Koontz's classroom.
    Right after school I went to the park. I sat down in the same swing as the me on the picture did. For a while I thought I was alone, but soon Jake came from behind and leaned on the slide.
    “Hey”, I said.
    “Hi”, Jake said sharply. His bangs covered his eyes, but I could tell he was mad.
    “What’s your problem?” I asked. The next thing I knew, Jake tossed my sketchbook on the ground in front of me. It was opened to the page where I wrote how I thought of Sarah and how I loved Jake; on the other side was the picture of us on the swing set. Instantaneously I was furious. I’ve told Jake and anyone else who asked to see my pictures that I never want anyone to see them, that it was my diary, that if I lost it at any time that they shouldn’t look at it unless they want to die. “You looked in my sketchbook!”
    “Well it was already opened to that page and I saw the picture!” Jake exclaimed. Never, not even once, have I seen Jake angry. To be honest it scared me. “Sarah is not an STD! And she isn’t a slut or anything else you wrote about her!”
    “Oh really”, I spat back, “Right after she cheated on you, she told me that she only got together with you so she could hurt me! Remember that rivalry I mentioned? And then she said that you’re the only one that she never slept with!”
    Jake was quiet; he looked at the ground. I felt the tears of humiliation and frustration silently run down my cheeks. “But if you chose that whore over me, then I swear to God I won’t miss you”, I snapped quietly. I got up to leave but felt Jake’s hand grab mine. He pulled me towards him and kissed me. I got over my shock and melted into the kiss.
    He pulled away and said, “But I would miss you.” And kissed me again