One.

I watched the flickering candle intently, feeding the letter little by little into the flame. The smoke swirled in the air, undisturbed by the lack of wind.  Blinking hard, I shoved the entire paper into the glass jar that held the candle and let it turn to ash before my eyes. I let my palms rest on my knees, closing my eyes and breathing in slowly.

“Al?”

I jumped slightly, my eyes flying open. I squinted up into the sun, shading my face with my hand. ‘Of course,’ I thought, rolling my eyes at the sight of the dark-haired boy standing in front of me. “What do you want, Jack?”

He sat down beside me, sighing, and bumped his shoulder against mine. “I can’t stop by to see my best friend every now and then?”

“If every now and then meant more than once every what, four months has it been this time? If you came and saw me more than once every four months, I wouldn’t be asking, best friend,” I muttered bitterly, raking my fingertips through the knotted ends of my thick black hair. I turned away from him, biting my lip and avoiding eye contact at all costs.

“Come on, Allie-cat,” he pleaded, tugging on a strand of my hair. “What are you even doing out here?”

I shook my head at him, gathering the candle and matches. “Nothing,” I mumbled, blushing. I tucked the candle under my arm as I opened the door leading to my bedroom. “How did you get up here?”

Jack flashed a smile in my direction. “You forget how much your mother loves me, Al. Her ‘no boys’ rule has never applied to me.” He took the candle out from under my arm, tucking it in the drawer in my nightstand. “See? I still know where you keep your candles. It couldn’t have been four months since I was here last,” he teased, laying on his stomach on my bed.

I finally allowed myself to take a peek at him, only to catch him staring at me. Our eyes locked, and I couldn’t tear my gaze away.

“Stop. Just stop it.”

His mouth dropped open, then snapped shut. “Allison,” he began.

“Save it, Jack. I don’t care how much my mother loves you, and if you still remember where I keep my candles. I don’t care how long you think it’s been since you came over last. You can’t just keep walking out of my life whenever a pretty girl walks into yours and expect me to be waiting for you when you come back. It’s not fair.” I took a deep breath, blinking back tears. “I think you should go home, Jack.”

He pushed himself off the bed, crossing the room and stopping in front of me. He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and smiled sadly down at me. “Okay, Allie-cat, but I’ll be back. You’re my best friend.” He squeezed me into a quick hug before releasing me and disappearing into the hallway and down the stairs.

As soon as I heard the front door close, I felt my resolve crumble and tears spilled down my cheeks. I sank into the chair behind me, turning to my desk and slowly opening the drawer on the left side of it, rummaging to find what was buried underneath the pens and pencils.

Reviews

[janiksxxl]

Very good. Believable happening. Keep writing; you have all my attention. Again, nothing to say, except I somehow was thinking it's nighttime after 1st paragraph. Fail :D I already have some ideas what is she doing with paper and candles, but lets see where future takes this story.

[MrsHardin12]

I am already in love with Jack, he has charm. I would keep reading if I picked this book up - can't wait to read more! The nicknames makes it more personal.

[TheJordBaker]

I like this, a very promising start with great potential for you. Keep going :)

[Mason Lipman]

I really enjoyed this and can't wait to read more. So far it has me hooked :) You used excellent vocabulary and you have such wonderful flow.

[Lena Rossmore]

There are some beautiful moments in this and I think you used first person very well! It makes me want to know what is buried underneath the pens and pencils!