Rachel's Point of View

"Adam?" I choked out.

"Rachel?" he asked, "Is that really you?" he asked

"Uh, yeah! Is this really you?" I asked, cupping his face in my hands. "This isn't a dream is it?" I pleaded.

"No, at least I hope not." He said laughing.

"But I thought you were dead!" I squeaked.

"I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed, confused.

"Ok, it's obvious we both have a lot of explaining to do. But right now all I want to do is this." I said hugging him, tears of happiness pouring.

We stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, but I didn't mind. Everybody else had already left, even Kia. Eventually the principal told us to scram, in nicer words of course.

"Ok, school isn't the best place to talk, why don't we go to grab some lunch, and we'll talk then." I suggested.

When we got to the restaurant, it wasn't as packed as I had expected it to be. We sat down at a booth and ordered.

"Ok, please explain to me where on earth you got the idea that I was dead?" he asked me.

"My mom was talking on the phone, it was right after I got back from Hawaii," I started. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and let me finish.

"I had just finished unpacking and I heard my mom hyperventilating, it seemed to me. I went over and listened in, I could hear both my mom's and the person she was talking to voices perfectly. I heard her say you and my father had died in a car accident, and I begged my mom, begged her to please tell me it wasn't true, but she said it was. She said your bodies burned to ashes, as an explanation to why the coffins were empty at the funeral." I continued, trying to stop the tears from coming down.

"And I didn't want to believe it. Part of me always held on to the hope that I might one day see you again, that it was all a lie, and you were alive. And here you are." I finished the tears pouring freely now.

"Only part of that was true. Your father did in fact die in a car accident, but I wasn't there when it happened. I was never in any accident. Whoever told you that lied to you, because as you can tell," he gestured to himself. "- I am very much alive."

"But who would lie to me like that? On such a serious matter, it's just cruel." I said, unbelieving.

"There are cruel people out there, Rache. Cruel, cruel people." He said.

"Yes, now you tell me why on earth you thought I was dead." I demanded.

"It was the day after you had left for your vacation to Hawaii. I was told that you and everyone on the plane you had taken had perished when the plane crashed and was lost at sea. But I too, always held on to the hope I might see you again someday, too. I would walk on the streets and could almost swear I saw you." He chuckled at that last part.

"Who told you that load of bullsh*t?!" I demanded. 

"I don't even remember, I wasn't really paying attention who told me, I was more focused on what he told me." He stated.

"Oh, but you know what? That doesn't even matter because you're here now! And that's what really matters!" I said, reaching out and squeezing his hand.

"Yeah, you're right. God, you have no idea how much I missed you." He said sighing.

"Me too, I even did some pretty crazy things when I found out, but that's not what matters. That was in the past, and the past is way too sad, so I say we focus on the present, and on you and me, best friends reunited. I wonder what kind of mayhem we'll cause now that we're older and our brains are more developed." I wondered out loud.

"I don't care what new devious thing you've though up for us to do. As long as we do it together." He said.

"Together." I repeated. "Best friends forever and ever, always together, always standing side by side." I said smiling. He smiled back at me and I felt as I were floating in the clouds. Adam was alive, alive! My father wasn't, but this is much better than I ever could've expected. I thought I had lost both of them. I only lost one of them. And the other was right here, smiling down at me (Wow, he grew over these past few years! I feel like a midget!) As if nothing had ever happened.

"I got a good one." I said smiling deviously.

He laughed. "I am so going on Santa's naughty list now that I have you back at my side to convince me to do devious things, like when we egged Mr. Belier's house in fifth grade." He said still laughing.

"I got something better." I said, smiling all the while.