Dreams vs Reality

Everyone was enjoying their summer before entering high school. Laughter and smiles filled the air. The stars were aligned just right. The crescent moon never seems so bright and the smell of smoke from the grill made its way to my nose. A group of people jumped into the pool causing bits of water to land on my shirt. I took a seat at the table to enjoy my burger when someone tapped me behind my shoulder. I turned my head slightly to see Jesse.

Jesse Abraham Arthur McCartney. That name always managed to plaster a smile on my face. We met in kindergarten, when he asked me if he could sit with me on the bus. Ever since then, we’ve been best friends. Up until eighth grade, I’d laugh if anyone ever had the idea of us dating (since we were always together). But now, things have changed—he’s changed. I’m just going to say it: he was hot. He let his hair grow out, decided to pick out his own clothes, his braces were off, he no longer wore glasses, and other than his appearance, he was suddenly irresistibly charming. There was something about his all-of-a-sudden confidence that made you go weak on the knees. Oh and how could I forget his one-million-dollar smile. Although he looked different, our friendship remained the same—well sort of. We hung out all the time as usual and told each other all our secrets, but I grew some feelings for him; feelings that were too hard to deny. I was hoping I’d tell him tonight.

“Hey Jesse!” I said, smiling at him. He looked kind of bothered if you asked me. “What’s up?"
“Can we talk?” He asked, returning an innocent smile. His dimples were the cutest things.
“Sure.”

He led me inside my house. We were sitting on the couch. It was so quiet in contrast to the outside. I glanced at Jesse who looked like he was having a hard time with his words.

I interrupted his thoughts and asked, “Jesse is everything all right?”
“Lily, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…” Jesse drifted off.
“And that is?” I asked, not really knowing where he was going at.
“I’m-” He drifted off yet again. I was hoping he’d say, “I’m deeply madly in love with you Lily.” But to burst my bubble he finally said, “-I’m moving to California next week.”

My face dropped. I was speechless. He did not just say he was moving to California. My best friend and possibly future husband, was leaving me? No, it can’t be. This was obviously an awful dream. Scratch that, this was a nightmare. I waited for someone to pinch me to assure that this was in fact just a dream.

“Lily?” He asked, bringing me back to reality.
“You’re leaving? How long ago did you know? Why didn’t you tell me? How could you?” I asked furiously.
“I didn’t want to ruin this night.”
“That’s a little bit too late!” I said, getting up from my couch.
He pulled me back down to reason with me. “Lily, you have to understand. I got casted for this soap opera. You know it’s been my dream. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I have to move.” He explained.

I was happy for him, yet angry at the same time. I didn’t know how I could cope with him being so far away. Tears suddenly rolled down my cheeks. He placed my bangs behind my ears and wiped away my tears. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me into a hug.

“I love you Lily. You’re my best friend—always. We’ll keep in touch. I promise.” He whispered into my ear, sending chills down my spine.

My dream was suddenly interrupted by the buzz of my alarm clock. My fingers found its way to the off button. I tried to wash away my memory of Jesse so I could get ready for my first day of freshman year. I was exhilarated but was also kind of sad. I’d always picture this day with Jesse. We talked about going to high school since sixth grade and it made me miss him even more since we weren’t sharing this special day together. Just an FYI, no he never called me and no I haven’t heard a word from him since he left. So much for keeping in touch, right? Nonetheless, I got dressed to go to school.

I took the passenger seat and turned on the radio. Beautiful Soul by Jesse came on. Did I forget to mention that he ended up singing too? I changed the station immediately. My mom stopped in front of Ardsley high school. It was huge compared to my middle school.

“Have fun at school dear,” My mom said, kissing my left cheek.
“Thanks Mom,” I said, returning her kiss. I stepped out of the car, wiping a little tear that formed in the corner of my eye, hoping that high school would bring new and better things into my life.

English was first on my schedule. I walked through the hallway searching for Room 107. Room 105, 106, ah room 107! I placed my bag on top of the first desk in sight. The bell suddenly rang and a few kids hurried into the classroom to take their place.

“Hi, I’m April,” A voice approached me from behind
“Oh hey, I’m Lily,” I said, shooting her a friendly smile.

Before she could say anything else the teacher told us to hush down. His name was Mr. Hall. We sat through the boring rules, but he made it fun by joking around. He was already on my favourite teacher list. Once he was finished, he let us chat for the remainder of the class. April and I set our schedules side-by-side only to find out that we shared the same schedule.

Since April and I were in every single class together, we decided to sit together at lunch. When we finally spotted two empty seats, we put our bags down and headed toward the lunch line. The line was tremendously long. Waiting impatiently for my lunch, I couldn’t help but notice someone. Someone gorgeous. He had brown hair that went to his ears, his eyes were a mixture of blue and hazel, and his skin was flawless—he was flawless. He apparently noticed me staring at him ‘cause he stared right back. Embarrassed, I turned away for a second and then back to see him flash a beautiful crooked smile, which caused butterflies to form in the pit of my gut. The last time I had those were when Jesse was still here. To be polite, I returned his smile.

“I see you’ve met Ethan.”
“Huh?” I asked, still mesmerized by the jaw-dropping figure.
“Ethan. Ethan my brother,” April stated.