Jenny and I sat down at the top of the jungle gym that evening. The sun had just set but the air was still warm. Hector hadn't lied when he talked about the jungle gym being high up. I refused to look down as we lay on our backs, staring up at the sky. It was beautiful. For a moment, I almost forgot about what had happened here, years ago.

"This is your first time at the park right?" Jenny asked. I nodded, tilting my head as I tried to take everything in. She nodded, "I used to come here all the time. The guys and I used to make teasing girls a sport."

I chuckled. I could imagine Jenny when she was younger, wild dark hair and wild dark eyes doing mischievous things. I turned to my side so that I could look at her, resting my head on my arm. She remained on her back but her eyes met mine and she smiled at me. 

"How come I'm your first female friend?" I asked. The question hadn't come from no where; I had thought about it from time to time. It was just odd to me that Jenny was a cheerleader dating a football player and she didn't have any female friends. Apart from me, of course.

She chuckled, like she expected the question and slid her hand into our box of Oreos. She opened one and licked the center  before popping it into her mouth.

"I have a sister," she told me. My eyes widened a fraction. I didn't know that. She nodded at my reaction, still chewing as she continued. "We were pretty close when we were younger. We both couldn't stand our parents constantly breathing down our necks but it was worse for her. She's the older one. She was expected to be the perfect one."

I could relate with that. My dad was always pressuring me to be perfect back home. Being here freed me. I felt bad that Jenny's sister faced those problems in my happy place; that she couldn't see the beauty of the people here and the beauty of the town because of her parents.

"Her name is Elizabeth. Lizzy. She ran away from home when I was in 5th grade. She didn't want to have to come out to my parents because they had this idea that she would grow up and have babies with some boy from Harvard or something," she sighed, her voice quivering as she spoke. "She left a note but she should have just announced it to the town with the way my mom spread the news around. For a while people used to refer to her as 'Lizzy the Lezbo chick'. It sucked."

I had never met Jenny's mom. Or dad. I had never really thought of Jenny having a family. All I could imagine was her sitting in our dining room for dinner, laughing at my mother's jokes and acting like she was part of the family. Honestly, to me, she was. I slid my hand into hers, squeezing it to encourage her to talk to me.

"Christina and her friends made it seem like being a lesbian was contagious," she laughed, bitterly, "They never used to talk to me because they thought I would make a move on them or something. It was pathetic. Gosh, I was pathetic!"

"Why does it seem like people worship Christina?" I asked, irritated. She shrugged.

"She's a good girl," Jenny shrugged, "With her own degree of bitchiness. People are into that sort of stuff I guess."

I rolled my eyes and finally got an Oreo, sliding most of it into my mouth before I finally bit into it. Jenny brushed her hair out of her eyes and stretched like a cat, also turning to her side. "So what happened?" I asked.

"I started hanging out with the boys," she shrugged, "And I let Christina believe what she wanted to believe when I got tired of trying to please her. Now, they kiss my ass and try to joke about the past."

"Girls are assholes," I muttered.

"Jokes on them," she winked at me, "I actually do like girls. I don't think anyone will ever find out though because I'm probably marrying Uriah."

I snorted. It was so funny how she could make me so happy when I was at my lowest. It was also so funny that she could trust me with this secret of hers already. I was honoured and I vowed to never break her trust.

I almost told her about what had happened to me, I felt like I owed it to her, but she continued talking. "I'm really grateful to have you in my life. I know I have Jaden and Uriah but I always felt like something was missing before you came around," she admitted, lifting one shoulder lightly. She flicked her hair behind her ear and laughed. "Thank you, Maddie."

"I just moved here, I didn't do much," I chuckled.

She shook her head at me. "You actually did do a lot. When Christina talked to you, about Jaden being a bad influence, I was sure I lost you."

The night air grew colder, cold enough that if I focused enough, I could see my own breath. My first encounter with Christina played in my head; her sweet smile, the thickness in the air around her, the way she could torment these people I was growing to love. Maybe she did deserve to be pushed off this jungle gym.

"You haven't lost me," I assured her, "And I know it seems like a big promise to make but I mean it when I say you will never lose me."

She smiled at me, genuinely, and pulled me into a tight hug that I savoured every moment of. "I know we practically just met," she whispered into my hair, "But I think you're my best friend."

And I knew that it was the same for me, as unbelievable as it seemed. Jenny and Addison were nothing alike. Jenny was wild where Addison was perfect, quiet where Addison was always looking for attention. They were polar opposites. And I knew that was exactly what I needed.

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I shifted in my bed, phone in hand as I went through my messages. I had a few from Steven, Jenny and Uriah, but none from Jaden. I sighed, twisting uncomfortably. Had Hector somehow told Jaden that I knew? Was that why he was avoiding me? I swallowed the pit in my throat and sat up. That was when my phone rang.

I answered as soon as I saw that it was Jaden.

"Hey Maddie," he said. His breath was heavy, as though he had been running. I noted that he didn't sound upset. So why had he ignored my last text?

"Hey," I said, slightly pissed off.

He paused, probably analyzing the tone of my voice before he decided to speak again.

"Mind opening your window?"

My eyes wide, I rushed to my bedroom window and opened the curtain. Sure enough, there he was, perched on the tree that led to my room. That explained the heavy breathing. Hoping my mom was knocked out on sleeping pills, I opened the window. He slid into the room, all silent and agile, like a cat.

Before I could say anything about anything, he rushed towards me and pulled me into a long, tight hug. I immediately melted into it, all my complaints and questions momentarily forgotten. He smelled like the ocean and wind and soap. I didn't want to let him go. But then he pulled away from the hug and his eyes brushed over everything in my room. My bed with the pink beddings, my white desk, the pictures of my friends in New York on the bulletin board on the wall by my bed. I started to feel self conscious about the fact that my room wasn't as decorated as his.

"Cute," he said, genuinely. I smiled, watching him as he walked around. He was in my room. This beautiful boy was in my room. He sat on my bed, bounced on it a bit, before he ran a hand through his hair. I took note of that fact that it wasn't tied now. It looked different. It looked....nice.
He patted the space next to him. "Come on."

I walked towards him, not afraid that he would hurt me or have an outburst. I didn't know why I had made such a big deal out of the entire situation. This was Jaden. The one I knew wouldn't hurt anyone. I knew that we'd have to talk about what had happened someday, but today wasn't the day. We had other things to talk about.

"I missed you today," I said, sitting next to him.

"I missed you more," he told me, "You have no idea how draining the city is."

I liked the way the conversation was going. Now I could ask him properly why he'd gone without making it seem like I had wondered for most of the day. "What did you go there for?" I asked innocently.

He hesitated before he answered. "My mom has this function thing that her company hosts every year. We went into town to order tuxes."

I knew that wasn't the actual reason, but he was lucky he had an alibi. I pursed my lips, glad that it was slightly dark so he couldn't see my expression. "Oh," I said, "Sounds fun."

"Yeah..." He drifted off. I wished I could see him clearly, so that I could read his facial expression, and the moment was lost when he spoke again. "I actually wanted to ask you....if you'd be my plus one. I've never had one and mom would be so happy. I know finding a dress would be ha-"

"Jaden, I'm an Upper East side girl," I told him. I decided to let the lie slide. We had time to break the ice. I chuckled, "Of course I have a dress."

"Well my mom's not gonna be too happy about that," he admitted, "She wanted to take you, Jenny and your mum dress shopping in the city. She usually goes with Jenny but she said it would be fun to go with you too."

A day out with my mum, my crush's mum and my best friend? Shopping? There was no way I'd miss out.

"I'll go with them," I told him, "I'll get my nails done. It's been a while."

He gagged audibly. I raised an eyebrow, knowing he couldn't see me.
"What was that for?"

"You sounded so much like a girl just there," he said. I rolled my eyes, chuckling as I nudged his shoulder. He grabbed my hand mid-nudge and pulled me towards him, only stopping when his back was on the bed and I was on top of him. After some awkward shifting, I was lying on top of him, my cheeks inflamed as his hands went around my waist.

I buried my face into his neck, enjoying the feel of his hands on me as he rubbed my back.

"I really missed you Maddie," he whispered. I didn't say anything. I was too caught up in the moment. His movements were slow and gentle.

And I instantly knew that this was my Jaden. Slow and gentle.

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