Hey guys!

I made this chapter a little longer.. it was 7 pages on Word, so uhh... ya. I hope y'all enjoy! Took me quite a while to make it amazing. I think it was amazing anyway.. might end soon, might not. I'm not sure yet. :3 Anywho.. read on! <333 And I think I'll put up a pic on the side of what Sam looks like, so uhh.. look over there ==>

-smileyfacecupcakes

****************************************************************************************************************************************

   “I’ll have a burger and fries please.” I handed the waitress my menu, and looked across the table at my mom.

   She blushed. “I still can’t believe it.” She bit her lip and smiled as she started at her napkin.

   I giggled. “I can! You’re a beautiful woman! Any guy would be lucky to be with you! Marc sounds like a really nice guy.”

   “He is. You’ll really like him, Sam. He’s so excited to meet you.”

   “My mom is finally dating again!” I exclaimed as I raised my arms in the air.

   She blushed when people started looking over at us again, and took a drink of her soda.

   “Where is he?” I asked. I couldn’t wait to meet Marc Myers.

   She turned around to look at the entrance doors. “Any minute now.”

   “I’m so excited.” I grinned across at her and grabbed her hands.

   She stared at our hands and giggled. “I can’t believe it…” She repeated.

   I giggled at her, and then looked back at the entrance doors. A tall man in a work suit smiled in our direction. He had forest green eyes, neatly spiked black hair, and a very athletic body. My mom was dating a hunk. Well, he was a hunk for his age. He walked over, and I stood up to shake his hand.

   “Hi, I’m Sam. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

   He nodded. “The pleasure is all mine. Don’t bother calling me sir. Makes me feel old.” He laughed loudly.

   His laugh was funny. I laughed along, and then sat back down. He took a seat next to my mom, and kiss her forehead. They made small talk as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had tried talking to Candy about what had happened earlier, but she didn’t want to reply. I couldn’t believe I had basically lost my best friend over a guy who was going to leave me anyways. I sighed when I still saw no reply, and looked back up at mom and Marc.

   “Excuse me. I’m just going to go to the bathroom.” I walked into the bathroom, and looked at myself in the mirror.

   I had curled my hair today. I put in some purple colored contacts, just to feel different. I was wearing a white tube top with a red circle in the middle of it. It was supposed to look like the Japanese flag. I was also wearing a denim skirt, and knee-high Converse. I looked really good. I wasn’t wearing much make-up, but I still had my “natural beauty.”

   I walked back out of the bathroom, and bent over to pick up something that was sparkling on the ground. It only turned out to be a plastic ring. I slipped it on my slender middle finger anyway, and admired it. As I started walking towards my table, I was bumped into. I collapsed onto the ground, and held my head.

   “What was that for?” I looked up, and saw a really cute guy standing over me with an outstretched hand.

   He had a bit of a round-square face with a brown bowl cut framing it. His eyes were a deep midnight blue. He had an athletic build to his body which I really liked.

   “I’m so sorry.” His voice was soft and velvety. I loved it.

   I grabbed his hand, and he helped me stand up. “It’s totally okay. Sorry for flipping out.”

   He chuckled. “It’s no big deal.” He looked me up and down, and smirked. “I’m Grayson.”

   I blushed. “I’m Samantha.”

   “It’s nice to meet you, Samantha.” He kissed my hand, and winked. “See you around?”

   “Can I text you?” I asked. I wanted to put those words back in my mouth. I was so shocked at my sudden outburst of self confidence.

   He put his phone number in my phone, and handed it back to me. I sighed dreamily, and covered my mouth as soon as it came out. He chuckled at me, and walked away. I blushed, and walked back over to the table.

   Hi

   I texted him, and wondered if I should’ve included my name in that text. I shook it off, and started to devour my burger. I swear, this old town restaurant was the best place to get a good burger. Mom and Marc would glance over at me from time to time and laugh at me, but mainly kept their eyes on each other. I loved how sweet this was. I just sat back, and listened to them talk. It was nice to see a couple of people with such chemistry. This was the guy that Mom had always been meeting up with for coffee dates, and he had finally asked her out. It was really sweet. I liked Marc.

   After dinner, Mom and I headed home. Grayson had finally texted me back.

   Is this Sam?

   I grinned as I replied to his text.

   Indeed it is (:

   I ran upstairs, and changed into my Powerpuff Girls pajama pants and a light gray t-shirt. I pulled my hair back into a messy ponytail, and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. He replied to me right when I wiped all of the water off of my face.

  Well hey (;

   I bit my lip, and looked into the mirror at myself. I was such a dork; that much was clear.

   Hi

   I went back to my room, and turned on my radio. I was ready to dance off all of the energy I had left in my system. I danced to the first song that came on, which was a Skrillex dubstep beat. I shook my butt, and waved my hands. I didn’t care how ridiculous I looked. No one was there to make fun of me.

   What’s up

   He had replied to me. I started jumping and squealing. I wasn’t sure what was going on with me right now, but I was extremely happy.

   Just…dancing xD

   I had a feeling he’d laugh at that response. I started dancing again when Mom walked through my bedroom door, furious.

   “You want to tell me what’s been going on between you and Josh?” She folded her arms across her chest.

   I bit my lip nervously, and looked down. “How’d you find out?” I whispered.

   “Candy,” she answered.

   I closed my eyes and nodded. “Josh and I have…were liking each other for a little bit. It’s over now, though.” I looked up at her with teary eyes.

   Her face softened up, and she looked sympathetic. “I’m sorry, Sam.” She walked over, and wrapped me in a hug.

   “I thought he was the one, Mom. I really did,” I whispered between quiet sobs.

   “In all honesty, that’s what I thought every time I got into a new relationship when I was your age. I dated ten guys all throughout middle and high school before I met your dad. All ten of them turned out to be self-centered, cold-hearted jerks. I still talk to some of them, and their lives have gone nowhere. Sure, your dad broke my heart too, but at least he has actually done something with his life.”

   I nodded. “Sometimes, I think guys are a bit overrated.” I laughed, and wiped my nose with my arm.

   “You shouldn’t even be with your stepbrother anyway.”

   “Yeah, I know. It’s weird.” I still saw nothing wrong with it, but whatever floated her boat.

   “It’s not weird, but it’s definitely not normal. Love does crazy things sometimes though.”

   I sighed. “I don’t like that saying.”

   “Why not?” She laughed.

   “That’s Dad’s reason…” I didn’t have to finish the sentence.

   “Yeah, I know.” She hugged me tighter.

   “I love you, Mom. I’m sorry for keeping that from you.”

   “You two never…you know…”

   “No,” I sighed.

   “Good,” she kissed the top of my head, “I think I’ll be getting to bed. Love you.”

   She stood up, and walked out. I sighed, and looked at my phone. He hadn’t texted me back. I shrugged, and tossed the phone onto my nightstand. It ended up tumbling to the ground, but I didn’t care. I turned down my radio, and got in bed. Maybe a little sleep would help me. I just needed to get over Josh.

************************************************************************

   I woke up with the worst headache. I couldn’t even see straight. The pain was worsening as I tried to sit up in bed. I held my head, and slowly laid back down. I picked up my phone from the ground, and saw that I had two new text messages. I figured Grayson had texted me back after I fell asleep, and then Mom probably texted me after she left for work.

   I opened up my inbox to see that both texts were from…Josh. My eyes widened, and I quickly opened the messages to see what they said. The first one read:

   Hey…sorry about earlier. I want to make it up to you. Please text me back.

   Considering he sent that to me at midnight, I kind of understood why he sent me another text at eight this morning.

   Sam, I really am sorry. I did something that felt awesome at first, and now all I want is you. Call me when you wake up. Please.

   I sighed, and rested my arms on the sides of my body. I rolled my eyes, and then closed them. Was I supposed to call him? He had said that he did something that he most likely regrets. I sighed again, and sat up in bed. It didn’t hurt my head as much this time, but before it could really hit me, I went into my mom’s bathroom and took some pain reliever pills. After that, I walked downstairs, and poured myself a bowl of cereal. I sat down at the dining room table, and finally decided to call him.

   “Sam?” He answered.

   “Hi…” I stirred my cereal and milk around in the bowl.

   “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear your voice.” He sounded pretty relieved.

   “Oh…” I didn’t want to say much. I kind of didn’t know what it was that I wanted to say either.

   “So, um, I guess I should tell you what I did.”

   I stayed quiet, and took a bite of my cereal. “I’m listening…”

   “I slept with Erica.”

   “Who’s Erica?” I whispered.

   “This girl I was trying to avoid. It felt great at first, but I realized I was trying to do the impossible when I slept with her.”

   “And what is that?” I was kind of fed up. This irritated me.

   “Getting over you.”

   I gasped silently. I looked down at my bowl of cereal, and sighed.

   “Still there?” He chuckled nervously.

   “Yeah… Just thinking.”

   “I want to see you again. As soon as possible.”

   “My mom doesn’t really want us to be together, Josh. And I’m not so sure if I do either.”

   “I thought you…”

   “I did. But I mean,” I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, “I’m just not sure. We moved so fast.”

   “We can go slow. I can take you out on a real first date, and we can share a milkshake, and…”

   “Chill out, Josh. I don’t know if I want that. How about we just work on brother and sister?”

   “Oh…okay. I see…” He sounded really disappointed.

   “It’s not like that. I like you, but I barely know you.”

   “You can get to know me. I know I want to get to know you. I don’t know if there’s much to learn about you since your dad has told me everything about you.”

   “There’s a lot he doesn’t know. Might I remind you that he hasn’t been in my life for a vast majority of it?”

   “Oh yeah…”

   “I’ll talk to you later. I need to think things through.”

   “I understand.”

   “Bye.”

   He just hung up. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to think. Was I supposed to forgive everything, and come running back into his arms? I don’t think that would’ve been a wise choice, considering the fact that he slept with a girl the same day we broke up. I wasn’t really sure if we really “broke up.” We were never even really dating. I guess he was making an effort to make things work, and he felt bad for what he did. But, I couldn’t seem that gullible. What if he was just lost? I wasn’t sure what I wanted. Sure, I wanted him, but did he really want me?

   I called my mom. I was sure she could help me through this situation. It was eleven in the morning, so I figured she’d be on her lunch break by now.

   “Hey, sleeping beauty. You’re normally an early riser. You just wake up?” She asked.

   “Yeah,” I giggled awkwardly, “Josh texted me. And I talked to him over the phone.”

   “What did he have to say?” She turned serious.

   “He said he slept with some other girl to try to get over me, and it didn’t work. He says he wants to try to make things work between us, but I just don’t know.”

   “Sam, do what your heart tells you to do.”

   “Thanks for the advice,” I mumbled sarcastically.

   “What was that?” She asked.

   “Nothing; thanks Mom.”

   “No problem.”

   I hung up, and stared at the ceiling. What was I supposed to do? I wanted to go back to him so bad, but how did I know that this was the right thing to do? I sighed, and went upstairs to take a shower. I sat in there for a good twenty minutes before I started washing up. I took my time doing that too, so altogether, I showered for forty-five minutes. I got out, wrapped a towel around my body, and went to my bedroom. I dried off, and rubbed lotion all over my body. I walked over to my closet, and searched through my selection of clothes. As much as I hated wearing dresses, I figured wearing one today wouldn’t hurt.

   I threw on a dress that was knee-length and neon green. It had black paint splotches all over, and a few tears in it. It made it look even more original. I had thrown paint and ripped holes in it on purpose, and it didn’t look as girly. It had spaghetti straps, so Mom always told me to put something over it. I looked through my closet, and grabbed a black cardigan. It looked pretty unique in my opinion. I twirled a little bit, looking at myself from every angle before starting on my make-up. I didn’t do much with it today. I just put on some eyeliner on my water line, and then mascara. I scrunched my hair with mousse, and then hair sprayed it in place. I looked good with my natural waves framing my face. I picked up my phone, and texted Josh.

   Park. 1 oclock. Be there.

  I stuffed the phone in my pocket, and went downstairs to put some snacks in my backpack. I put a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, crackers, and some water bottles. It wasn’t much, but if we got hungry, at least we’d have some food.

   I zipped up the backpack, threw a strap over my shoulder, and headed off to the park. I still wasn’t sure what it was we were going to talk about, but I figured we’d try to make things work.

   When I got there, it was only 12:55, so I threw my bag on the grass, and ran over to the swings. I sat down on a swing, and checked my phone. I had gotten a text from him, saying he’d be here. I put the phone back in my pocket, and started swinging. I saw two familiar faces chasing each other around the jungle gym. It was the little girl and little boy that Josh and I had seen when we first came here together. I smiled, and watched them play. They ran up and down the stairs, and would always end up sliding down the slide together.

   I saw Josh walking in my direction out of the corner of my eye, so I stood up, and walked over to him. He tried to hug me, but I just folded my arms across my chest.

   “I can’t even hug you?” He sounded shocked.

   I shook my head.

   He nodded, and looked at the ground. “Alright,”

   “Let’s sit,” I said, and started walking over to where my backpack was.

   I pulled out a water bottle, and tossed it at him. He nodded a thank you, and took a drink. I pulled out the other water bottle, and drank half of it in one gulp. I was parched.

   “So, what did you want to talk about?” I asked, playing with the grass.

   “There’s not much I want to talk about. I think I’ve made my side of the story clear. I’m ready to hear you say something in response.”

   “I don’t know what to say. What do you want to hear me say?”

   “Anything,” He sighed, “Look, I know I hurt you. But you have to believe me when I say that I was stupid to ever want to leave you.”

   “But,” I closed my eyes, “you did.”

   “I know, and it was the worst mistake I’ve ever made. No, the worst mistake I ever made was trying to forget about you. It’s impossible. You stay in my mind, and I can’t stop thinking about you, and what I might’ve done to you.”

   “You did a lot, and I find it very difficult to forgive you, Josh.”

   “I understand, but I want to change. I thought being the same old me was easy, but it’s not. I’ve already noticed a dramatic change in my personality. The whole time I was with Erica, I wished it was you.”

   I looked up at him. “Do you really mean that?”

   “Every word of it; I swear.”

   “Have you told your mom?”

   “Actually, I haven’t. And Daniel didn’t want me to be with you again, so I just said we weren’t interested in each other like that anymore. Does your mom know?”

   “Yeah, Candy told her.”

   “Figures…” He took another drink of his water.

   I nodded. “So, start over?”

   He smiled at me. “Fresh start. I want you to be proud to be with me.”

   I blushed. “I already was. I mean, when I got dirty looks from other girls, it boosted my ego a little bit.”

   He chuckled. “That’s good.”

   “I missed you.” I grabbed his face in my hand, and pulled him in for a soft kiss. It was a light peck on the lips.

   “I missed that.” He whispered. I breathed in his minty breath, and sighed.

   He bit my lip, and we continued kissing lightly for a while. I was back to where I started. I didn’t care what Mom or Dad or Patricia or Candy thought. I was in a place of comfort and safety. I was in love.