Chapter Two

"Mr. Know-It-All; think you know it all but you don't know a thing at all. Ain't it something y'all when somebody tells you something about you; think that they know you more than you do. So you take it down like another pill to swallow. Mr.Bring-Me-Down, well you like to bring me down, don't cha? But I ain't laying down. Baby I ain't   going down. Can't nobody tell me how it's going to be, nobody can make a fool out of me. Baby, you should know that I lead not follow." - Kelly Clarkson

Individual #1, That first hour biology class was probably the highlight of my freshman year. Two of our guy friends, you, and I were probably the funniest group ever. Remember the "spider-killer?" It makes me laugh even now. I've never seen a high school boy so afraid of spiders. You were there for me a lot that year; it was a horrible, horrible year. Two break-ups, a boy giving me mixed signals (who continues to give me mixed signals to this day!), and a friendship ending in a less than civil way. I'll be honest, it sucked. But you helped me through it. God bless you for that. It was so much to handle. Shoot, when my locker was next to my ex-boyfriends; I gave you my combination and you went to my locker for me. Then when I met someone new, you went to the movies with me to see the dumbest action movie ever. We couldn't even see the subtitles, so we had to stand up any time that any of the foreign people talked. Dakota Fanning regrets that one, FOR SURE. Summary of freshman year; you were always there for me. No matter what happens or how angry either of us gets at the other, I will always think of you as a true best friend because of that year.

Individual #2, I don't remember when we started being friends instead of enemies. I've tried really really hard to remember, but I can't. I just remember we started hanging out more often. We became best friends, even at the age of eight. We would sit on the two slides that were attached at recess and talk to each other, most days. I remember one rainy day, I came over to your house with some jelly beans. I thought they were the greatest thing, because my dad had showed me this "game" where you could tell someone they were eating one flavor and actually they were eating something horrible. Cool, right? Anyways, you just burst out of no where and told me: "You know, when people ask me who I like, I tell them you." Oookay, honestly I had a blonde moment when you told me that. I truly thought you would say "you" back to them when they asked and not my name. But eventually it clicked; you liked me. And I liked you. But I was eight. I had no clue how to tell you that back. In fact, I'm pretty sure I never told you that I felt the same way back until years later.

Individual #3, In 9th grade, you also sat next to me in history. We talked a little, I think. Nothing serious. I still remember getting the impression that you felt you were above us all. Sophomore year, I was around you more. You were still dating my friend, so you were accepted into our group. We became better friends and hung out with just our group of friends. I don't remember there being any real problems, that year. I kind of did my own thing, back then.

Individual #4, I don't think we hung out much after that. Like I know we did sometimes and I know we texted on occasion. I just don't remember any real "hanging out" being done right after that initial sleepover. Junior year, I know we hung out sometimes. It was usually with a mutual friend, though. Towards the end of junior year, we started to talk more, I think. And I know that this summer we started to hang out more often. We had some adventures, didn't we?

Individual #5, On June 29th, 2008 I woke up like it was any other day. You had finally gotten a phone on your 14th birthday, so we had been texting. You told me that that day was the other girl's birthday and you were going to her party but maybe we'd meet up afterwards. I'm not going to lie, I was hurt by this. I thought that meant that you were going to pick her. I remember staring out the window, at one point, and thinking about how crazy I was about you. It may sound creepy, but I'd swear I was already falling in love with you. And you were going to pick her. My day went on as usual after that. I was hanging out with two of my guy friends later that night, when they began to ask me some strange questions about you. Like how I would feel if you asked me out, what would I say, and how much I liked you. I wanted you to ask me out; I liked you so much. But the thought of it made me nervous. I should have taken their questions as a sign, but I thought nothing of it at the time. It was close enough to the Fourth of July that people were lighting off small stuff. I was still with my two friends at a house down the street, just setting stuff off, when you showed up wearing that lopsided smile that I had grown to adore. That's when it hit me. You were there to ask me out. I don't know why the thought didn't occur to me earlier. I think I was just wrapped up in the fact that you went to her party and that must have meant you didn't like me. As soon as you showed up, I freaked out and ran down the street to my house. I was THAT nervous. Lucky for me, you followed close behind and came up to the door after I had went inside. I walked back outside and greeted you. I didn't even get a "hey" back, I just got "Uh, Jordan, would you, um, want to go to a movie sometime?" I couldn't even look at you, I was so shy and excited. I tossed out a "sure" and ran back inside, explaining that I needed my shoes. That was it. That was the start of us. And, come to find out, while you were at the other girls party, you showed them my picture and talked about how you were going to ask me out later. I was worried for nothing.