Paper Cranes

‘Going out with Jason again?’
Zack nodded, adjusting the collar of his plaid shirt.

For the past three months, he’s been learning sign language.
Just for me.

“You’re going out with Josh, right? I’d hate you leave you alone with Mom and her druggie friends…”

‘I’m going to meet him at the pier later.’
“Okay. Good.”

He pulled out his phone and checked the time.

“Shit! I have to go! Be careful! Have fun!”

He kissed me on the cheek before he dashed out the door.
I smiled to myself as I stood up from my bed and walked into my closet, rummaging to find an outfit.

I slipped on a black pair of skinny jeans and pulled on a black shirt, covering it with a burgundy hoodie.

My phone vibrated, letting me know that I had a message.
I grabbed it and opened the message.

‘I’m at the pier. Don’t make me wait too long. ;)’

I blushed at the message and quickly put my shoes on and headed out the door.
~+~+~+~+~

“Hey, Ricky. How many cranes have you made now?”
‘900. Why?’

Josh pulled out a shoebox from his backpack and handed it to me.
I opened it, reveling tons of paper cranes, almost every size and every color.

“I folded 100. I wanted to help you get closer to your wish. Looks like I did just that.”

On the inside of the cover, a small note was written.

‘Sorry I forgot your name when we were kids. I hope this makes up for it.’

I burst into tears.

I hadn’t even thought about the kid that I met back in Scranton.
Turns out, he was my boyfriend the whole time.

“Ricky? What’s wrong?”
I shook my head and wiped the tears away, giving him a warm smile.

‘You know what? I don’t need really need these.’
His eyes widened.

“But…What about your wish?”

I placed the box on the ground and pressed my lips against his.
I pulled away, granted that we both needed oxygen.

‘I don’t need that wish. My parents would have wanted me to move on. They would have wanted me to be happy. I have you, and everything is fine. That’s all that matters to me now.’

He smiled brightly and kissed me on the cheek.

“I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.”

We went to the arcade and spent a couple of hours there. Afterwards, we hung out at the ice cream shop.

‘I forgot to ask you. How are you holding up with your dad’s remarriage?’

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be. It’s like Cruella—I mean Miranda became a completely different person. She’s more cheery, less bitchy, and she actually treats me like her son. Plus…I can tell that she really loves Dad. He’s just as happy as her.”

‘That’s great! I’m happy for you all.’

“They’re not the only ones who got hooked.”
‘What do you mean?’

Josh pulled out his phone and showed me a message from Austin.

It was an adorable selfie of him with a ginger-haired boy.

‘Austin has a boyfriend?! Who’s the guy? I’ve never seen him around school.’
“His name is Alan. He’s homeschooled. Austin said that he met him at some concert and they instantly hit it off. I think we’ll get to meet him next week.”

‘Okay!’

Josh looked at the time.
“Come on, we should go home. Dad’s making spaghetti tonight. You don’t want to miss it.”

I giggled and took his hand in mine. Heading towards the direction of his house.
~+~+~+~+~

Dinner was amazing. Josh was asleep on his bed, and I was holding onto a green paper crane that fell out of some journal.

I slightly cringed as I read through the letter.

God, my handwriting was atrocious.

I couldn’t help but smile though.

He kept this crane all of this time.

I opened the journal to a clean page and grabbed a blue pen.

‘It has been a long year.
I was bullied, used, and abused.

Until a certain person transferred to school.
There were so many words to describe him.

Funny. Talented. Smart. Caring.

And I am proud to call this individual my boyfriend, the one who I truly fell in love with.

He saved me more than he thinks. He’s the reason I’m still here.
I’ll always be grateful for that.

The funny thing is…I knew him before he moved to Santa Monica.

He was a long lost friend from Scranton, but I’m glad I found him.
That was nine years ago.

Now, here I am with the guy I love, nothing to worry about, and the accomplishment of 1000 paper cranes.

But my wish already came true.’

I folded the letter back together and put it back into its place in the journal.
I closed the journal and stuffed it into the mattress before I climbed into bed with Josh.
He groaned a little and instantly wrapped an arm around me.

I snuggled closer to him and sighed in content.

“I love you, Ricky...”
I giggled as he mumbled in his sleep.

I pecked his lips and closed my eyes.

“I love you too, Josh.”