Surrounded by the Lovely

"Have you guys seen Jenna?" I asked a random group of kids. My girlfriend seemed to have disappeared at her own party, in her own house. I recieved a chorus of No's from them, thanking them anyways. No one seemed to know where she was. I checked virtually everywhere and she was nowhere to be found.

"John Ohh!!" An almost-drunk Garrett approached me, giving me a big hug.

"Hey, Gare. Do you happen to know where Jenna is?" I held him by his shoulders, making sure he wouldn't topple over.

"Yeah, man. She's outside." He pointed behind himself towards the backyard. Of course she'd be in the one place I didn't think of looking.

"Thanks." I patted his back and released him, making my way to the backyard. "Hey," I called out to her. She laid on the grass, both hands supporting her head as she stared up at the sky.

"Hey, yourself." She smiled and sat up, sitting criss-cross.

"Why aren't you inside with everyone else?" I sat down beside her, crossing my legs like hers.

"I just wanted to think," she crawled over, sitting on my lap and I gladly allowed her, slipping my arms around her waist and kissing her shoulder blade.

"Think about what?"

"How graduation is just around the corner. What am I going to do afterwards, John?"

"Well, what do you want to do?"

She shrugged, "A lot of things."

"Then you'll do a lot of things." She elbowed me in the ribs lightly, though it still stung. "Ow," I chuckled.

"I'm being serious! I'm about to graduate college soon and I don't know what to do with my life." She sighed and leaned back onto my chest. In an instant our breathing became in sync.

"You're thinking about this way too much, babe. You don't need to know what you want to do with the rest of your life right now, just do what you want." I reassured her.

"Easy for you to say, you already know what you're going to do." She linked our hands together. "Life sucks,"

I chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Do you remember last summer when we took that rode trip to San Diego?"

"What about it?"

"Remember when we made a bet with Kennedy, saying we'd pay him $20 to talk to that girl he thought was so hot?"

"And she rejected him after Pat pretended he was Rat Boy and was saying all these embarrassing stories of Kenny." She finished the story as we laughed together at the memory.

"See, life doesn't suck. Life brings us good memories like that." I made a point.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I am right." I kissed her temple, then the corner of her eye, and then her cheek, then finally her lips. "Now, stop worrying about your future and focus on today--focus on me."

She laughed at this before kissing my lips softly, "You're funny." I smiled. There's nothing else in this world I enjoy doing more than making Jennalyn laugh. Her laugh alone was enough to make my day, and it was infectious enough to make anyone else smile. "I love this song," she hummed quietly to the tune that blared from the radio in her house.

Instead, I sang along, "And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
But I don't know how

Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall"

Jennalyn turned so she was facing me while still sitting on my lap. She placed her hands around my neck, looking deeply into my eyes, "I love you, John."

"I love you, too, Jennalyn," I closed the space between us with a kiss. The kiss lasted longer than the flirty pecks we were giving one another throughout the day. It was needy without being racy, and passionate without being lustful. No tongues, just our lips seeking comfort and affection. "I know you, and I can tell you're still bothered by your future." She kept her arms wrapped around my neck and buried her face into my chest, as I rubbed her back soothingly. "But we're in this together, all right?" I softly spoke into her ear. "Growing up won't bring us down."