Don't Give Up On Us.

"All passengers must now lock their seatbelts. We will be arriving in Tempe, Arizona in about 12 minutes." The flight attendant announced through the michrophone.
I buckled my seatbelt and pulled my seat up. I closed my eyes and chewed on my gum so my ears wouldn't pop. As my eyes were closed shut, I thought. I thought about my old friends; will they still remember me? I thought about my sister, that hopefully she hasn't changed, and that she was still with her loyal boyfriend, Jacob, who treated me like his sister. But as I thought about my sister, The thought of my mom and dad came back. Why did they leave me and Julia? Why did they leave that night? Why did that drunk driver have to collide with my mom and dad at the intersection? Why did they have to leave me so soon?
Tears started to ring around my eyes. I didn't want to catch attention from anyone that I was crying, so I quickly wiped the tears away with the sleeve of my ASU hoodie. I opened up the window of the plane and looked out. The plane had landed, but still had to be led into the port for us to leave.
After being taunted by my own thoughts of my parents, the plane finally docked into the jetway.

I exited the plane, I made my way to baggage claim. Then, I saw her; My sister, Julia.
She didn't notice me yet, so I ran up to her and gave her a big hug.
She turned around and held onto me.
"Kaitlyn!" She yelled over my shoulder.
"I can't believe you made it back safe," She released me from her grip, but she had her hands on my shoulders."How have you been!? How was the school?" She flashed me a smile.
"It was depressing not being there with you! But it was so much fun. I learned a whole lot! How was the exchange student?" I asked her.
"That was the worst 1-year of my life. She was so weird and figity... The only english words she knew was 'hi' and 'where's the food'." Julia said.
I laughed and moved the hair out of my face.
"Well, now that I'm back, this will be the best year. I promise."
I grinned at my sister and she pulled me into another hug.
After grabbing my bags, we headed home in her Mercedes.

As we drove through familiar stores and buildings, I felt right at home.
"Nohting's changed in a year." I said, while looking out the window.
Julia had both hands on the wheel.
"Pretty much. Tempe never makes any big renovations."
I turned on the radio to 104.1. A song I was unfamiliar with was playing.
"Who is this?" I asked my sister.
"One Direction. I can't believe you haven't heard or them while you were in England, they're a British band from there!" She glanced at me.
I leaned my head back against the head rest.
"I never had the time to listen to music. All I did was study and focus on school."
"Well that's good though," Julia took a sharp left turn. "Hey, look where we are."
Looking out the window, I saw our house. Still small. Still white. Still simple. I loved it.
She parked the car and we both grabbed my bags from the back of the car.
I opened the garage door into the house. Taking a deep breath in, I smelt the same smell the house had always smelt like: Laundry.

I picked up all my bags, including the ones that she had dropped on the floor, and headed upstairs into my room. Nothing has changed. My old photos from 10th and 11th grade were still on my corkboard above my bed. My MacBook covered with stickers still laid on my desk. One of my walls was still covered with pictures of sweet memories. My other still had the old band posters pinned onto it. I set my bags down and laid in bed. My body was facing the wall full of old pictures. I was skimming through one of them, until one specific photo caught my eye: A photo of me and John holding hands. I knew we were over and that our relationship was in the past, but I couldn't ever forget what he did to me. We were friends now, actually, best friends, but what he did still ticked me off, and he didn't even know it.
I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes shut, trying to relax, until Julia yelled my name from the bottom of the stairs.
"Kaitlyn! Jacob is gonna come over at around 8. If you're gonna do anything tonight, you have my permission."
I checked my phone for the time. It read, "6:48 PM."
I plugged my iPhone into my iHome dock and played my music and at a low volume. Soon enough, I had fallen asleep.
While I was sleeping, I had a dream. Not an ordinary dream, though. It was of me and John. The replay of how he and I ended our relationship.
I arrived at Garrett's party late. Everyone was underage drinking, but that was nothing new. I walked into the living room, ecstatic to see John after a 2 week vacation. Then I saw it. John was on the couch making out with some whore I didn't even know. I stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do. Tears streamed down my face. John saw me crying, and released his grip off the girl. I ran out the door, as he followed.
"Kaitlyn! I can explain!"
I turned around, and my hands met with his cheek, leaving a big, red hand mark on the left side of his face.
"You fucking bitch!"
And that was how my dream ended. I sat up from my bed and took heavy breaths. Tears were forming, as they dripped down my cheeks. No matter how many times I denied it, I still loved John O'Callaghan.
From there, I heard a light knock on my door.
"Come in," I quickly wiped away my tears.
"Kaitlyn! How are you? How was senior year?" Kennedy jumped onto my bed and pulled me into a tight hug. Beside the fact the John, Garrett, Pat, and Jared were my best friends, Kennedy was beyond that. He was the only one who actually supported me after John and I's break up.
I sniffled, then answered his questions.
"It was great. It was pretty much amazing how I finished my last year of high school in such a foreign area. England is so different from Tempe, and I missed Arizona."
"That's great! I'm so glad you're back. I've missed you so much."
I was still in his arms, and my head was still lying against his chest.
I inhaled the smell of Kennedy's cologne which I missed.
I sniffled again, and another tear came from my eye. I missed my best friend.
"Kaitlyn? Is everything alright?"
That's when I cracked. Tears streamed down from my eyes. I started to get Kennedy's maroon wife-beater wet from all the tears, and I felt extremely terrible, but I couldnt help it.
"I didn't have any friends there. I missed you, John, Garrett, Pat and Jared so much."
I continued crying.
Kennedy started stroking my hair and back lightly.
"It's alright, beautiful, it's okay now. You finished highschool, so you'll be hanging out with us again like old times." Kennedy wiped away my tears with his two thumbs.
The boys were my neighbors; Kennedy lived across the street, John lived 4 doors down, Garrett and Pat lived 2 blocks away, and Jared lived down the end of the street. We all grew up together, I was in the same grade as Garrett and Pat, and 2 years younger than John, Jared and Kennedy.
"Where are the rest of the boys?" I asked.
"At my house. That's why I came here, to come get you. The boys and I wanted to invite you over."
I gave him a big grin and gave him one more hug.
"Pack your clothes. Julia told me she wants you to stay the night. She said something about her leaving to stay the night at Jacob's later, so she wants me to watch you." Kennedy smiled.
I got up and packed my old pajama's from my closet. I haven't really changed weight in a year, so I knew i still fit them.
I grabbed my backpack from the hook and threw all my clothes in.
"Are you ready to go?"
I nodded a yes and we walked to Kennedy's.

As we walked through his front door, memories came flashing back in my mind.
I looked at his staircase and saw the paint stain on one of the arms of the stairs.
When me, Garrett and Pat were 6, and the other boys were 8, we were all painting at Kennedy's. I remember asking John for the water bucket to rinse out the color in my paintbrush, but I accidentally splashed it on John's favorite shirt. From there, it turned into a paint war. The paint was all in everyone's hair, and Garrett tried to fling a blob of paint at me. I dodged it, and it hit the arm of the stairs. We all laughed, until Kennedy's mom punished us for it.

"You still have that paint stain from 1994?!"
He laughed.
"Yep. Still won't come off," He grinned at me." Come on, let's go into the living room, that's where everyone is."
I took the familiar steps to Kennedy's large living room.
On the couch, I saw my old friends sitting watching tv: Jared, Pat, Garrett, and John.
"KAITLYN!" They all yelled, except John.
Everyone jumped off the couch and gave me a big, group hug. I missed them all so much.
"Oh my god, we missed you so much. Senior year sucked! The only person I sat by at lunch was Garrett!" Pat yelled.
The boys let go of me and all smiled.
"I missed you guys, too! A little too much." I announced.
Everyone was huddled around me except John. He slowly got up from the couch and stood behind Garrett.
He didn't say anything to me, instead, he gave me one of those sad faces. But it wasn't my fault he cheated on me, so he could be sad all he wanted.
"How was the school there?" Jared asked.
"Did you miss me too much?" Garrett questioned after Jared.
I laughed at Garrett's question and smiled.
"Oh boy, I missed you the most!" I joked at Garrett. "And it was great, Jared."
"Aye, let's continue this conversation in the kitchen. I'm starving." Kennedy said, while making his way to his kitchen.
Everyone but John followed along. I was halfway toward the kitchen, until I felt his soft hands stop me.
"We need to talk. You left before we even got to solve things out." John spoke softly.
I turned around. He looked into my brown eyes, and I looked into his beautiful, green eyes.
"What do we need to talk about? You and I had a perfect relationship, but then I left for a 2 week vacation with my sister and you decide to make out with some disgusting whore on the day I came back. Story is over."
"Kaitlyn! John! Food is ready." Pat yelled.
I turned around and made my way back into the kitchen. "Coming." I yelled back.
John stood there, watching me walk off.
I looked on the stove to see a pan full of pizza bagels.
"I missed these so much!" I grabbed a handful and stuffed them in my mouth, doing the same as the boys.

Shortly after munching on the Pizza Bagels, John entered the kitchen.
His eyes were red and droopy, as if he was crying.
"Where have you been?" Garrett asked.
"There's only one pizza bagel left." Kennedy said.
"The bathroom. And I'm not hungry." John replied.
He looked at me, then took a seat by Jared.
"Anyone gona finish the last pizza bagel?" Jared asked.
Everyone nodded a no, and Jared took the last bagel.
"So," Pat wiped the crumbs off his face."what do you guys wanna do?"
"Let's watch Lion King like old times!" Jared suggested.
"I call sittin' by Kaitlyn on the couch!" Garrett yelled, running to the living room.
"I get her other side!" Kennedy laughed.
John and I had kept quiet while the others were discussing the seating arrangement.
We both made our way into the living room.
Jared was putting the movie in.
Garrett and Kennedy were sitting on a couch in front of the TV, while Pat was sitting by himself on the other couch.
John took a seat by Pat and sat silent.
"A seat saved just for you, ma'lady." Garrett winked and patted the empty space in between him and Kennedy.
Kennedy chuckled. "You're fucking lame, bro."
I took a seet inbetween the two, and Garrett put his arm around me.
"Nu-uh, mister. Hands to yourself!" I joked.
Everyone laughed at Garrett.
"You know you want me!" Garrett said.
"SHH! The movie is starting." Jared said, making his way to the couch with John and Pat.

Throughout the whole movie, I saw John looking at me here and there, making sure Kennedy or Garrett weren't making any moves on me. But who was he to make sure no one was touching me? We weren't even dating.
A little after half of the movie, I started dozing off. My lids started to get heavy, so I grabbed the blanket off the arm of the couch and placed it over me, Garrett and Kennedy.
Without even knowing it, I fell sleep on Kennedy's shoulder.