First part- READ FIRST Half a Nice Life

         
PART ONE:  1
         “Chase-chase get up! ” A small, urgent voice whispers in my ear. “Come on, the inspetors are going to be here. ”
         Inspetors? I open one eye and see Leum’s cheery face hovering over me. “It’s inspectors, and what are you doing on my side of the room?”
         “You told me to make sure you were awake,” he tells me. “So I did.”
         Hastily, I fold my warm covers back and crawl out from underneath them. I walk over to my dresser and rummage through the drawers to try and find my uniform, but after a couple of minutes, I still can’t find it anywhere.
         “Oh,” Leum pokes his head into the room, “your uniform is laying out on my bed. I ironed it for you already.”
         Relieved, I quickly slide my uniform on. Then I rush down to the bathroom to try and do something with my hair. My reflection almost surprises me. Not that I haven’t seen it before, but today I look older.
         Being 14, I am just now losing the “baby” look in my cheeks. My cheek bones are starting to curve in so they match my cheeks. My nose isn’t too bad, just a slight bump in the middle. But it is my eyes that catch my attention the most. They shine a very bright blue today. Some days they are gray, depending on my mood.
         Thankfully, my hair isn’t being too difficult like usual. It is sandy blonde, and getting a little too long. Strands hang below my eyes and the back curves to the bottom of my neck.
         “Chase?” Paul stops in the hall way and looks into the bathroom. “So you did decide to get up  I was just on my way to make sure you were awake. Need a hand?” He steps in and grabs another brush.
         “No don’t worry, my annoying room mate made sure I was awake. Loud and clear ”
         Paul laughs and sets down the brush. I can’t help but study him to see if he looks any different either. Paul’s dad was Mexican, but his mother wasn’t. She was actually albino, so I guess you could say Paul’s skin looks different then most. But he has a Spanish accent. Before he came here, he knew little English.
         His hair is black and always shiny. He slicks all of it down except for the front ends, which he spikes up. And his eyes are always dark no matter what his mood. Not much taller than me, Paul only is 5'7, but not nearly as strong as I am. I play quarterback, and he fills my shoes when I am not there.
         “It all seems like a waist of time doesn’t it?”
         “My hair, I know what you mean  I mean- who cares what it looks like it any way?” I say, giving one last tug at it before giving up.
         “Well that, and,” he smiles. “This whole thing. People coming and looking at us like we are on display. They point and look around until they find someone. If we aren’t what they like, we get sent back and have to start all over again ” Paul complains. He gets frustrated so easy, usually I have to calm him down.
         “What else would there be if it wasn’t this though? Not our fault our parents, well, hang in there man.  We all have to stick together.”
         Some kids run and scream down the hall, so Paul and I hurry and finish up. We hurry down to the kitchen for a quick breakfast, or whatever that nasty food is called.
         The kitchen is more hectic then usual. Kids of all ages run widely around, screaming at the top of their lungs and angry teachers chase after them. An airplane flashes past the side of my face, and some football crashes into a table, scaring a group of screaming girls away.
         We walk over to “our” table and pound everybody’s knuckles.
         “Nice hair Chase,”  Ryan teases. The entire table laughs.
         “Have you guys seen my little brother? I need to talk to him before inspection,” I ask while standing on my tiptoes to look over the crowd. Another disadvantage I have is, I am very short for 14. Only 5'6 while everybody else is above 5'8.
         Paul points past some little kids. Jackson and Mr. P are talking in a corner.
         “Catch you guys out in the garden,” I say and head for the corner. I slow down within a few feet from Mr. P and Jackson. I’m pretty much known for eavesdropping, sometimes Paul and I will listen in on the adults when we are suppose to be out in the garden. We learn some very interesting stuff. I pretend to tie my shoe and try to catch some of the conversation:
         “Jackson, this is the third time. Don’t cause any more trouble or we will be seeking another adoption center for you to stay in,” Mr. P tells Jackson with a very stern face. “Yes- without your brother.”
         “Yeah, yeah, I understand Mr. P.”
         “Do you?”
         “Yes, I said yes already that means yes,” Jackson spits back. He sighs.
         I stand back up straight. “Everything okay Mr. P? Jackson is staying out of trouble right?”
         “Actually,” Mr. P says, “he isn’t doing well at all. Talk to him will you? I’m afraid I have no advice for a youngster when he pulls down his pants and runs down the girls dorm ” He shakes his head in disbelief while I cover up my mouth from laughing. “This behavior is NOT to be tolerated by him, nor you.”
         “Yes sir,” Jackson and I both chant at the same time. I grip his shoulder and we begin to walk.
         “Jackson, Jackson, Jackson,” I begin as we sit down on a bench outside.
         “What?’
         At first I don’t say anything. Then with a smile I bump into his shoulder and tease, “any of them fine girls lookin’? You have some foxes at your age.”
         He stares at me in disbelief. “I-well . . . ”
         “Why does that surprise you? I was just much of as a little eight-year-old trouble maker as you are, but probably  worse. Maybe some day you will be hated as much as I am.”
         He lets out a couple of laughs, and relaxes more.
         “But,” I quietly add. “You’re running out of chances right now. You don’t want to get taken away from me do you?”
         “Of course not. It’s not that I try and be bad . . . it just happens. It’s so boring here.” He sighs.  “I guess I can try and keep out of as much trouble as possible.”
         I don’t have anything more to say so we just sit on the bench and let the cool breeze blow at our faces. The adoption center has trees all around it with a curvy road leading straight out into the big city. Even though I have always wanted to see the “big city”, I probably wont ever.
         “Do you think that they will come today?” Jackson asks all of a sudden. His eyes look different then usual; sort of like there are sparks in them; flaring in the middle. The sparks make his dark brown eyes seem almost black. A faint pink is settling on the center of his cheeks from the heat, and his brown short hair lays flatly above his eyes. Jackson never passes for being too intimidating, considering his height makes it very hard to take offensively.
         “Who?”
         “The people that come to take us home. Do you think they will come and take one of us?” he asks again. Then, barely hearing the next words, he mutters, “one of us.”
         Here it is. The normal brother separating brother worry before every inspection day. I have gotten over it, being 14 years old, but Jackson still gets jittery.
         “If they do, Jack, they will be taking both of us. You on the right, me on the left and our suitcases in both of our hands. There aren’t any if’s or what about’s, okay? I’m your big brother and I will take care of everything,” I tell him directly to his face. He meets my eyes and wipes away the tears.
         I stand up and give him a brotherly hug. Then I nod toward the building. “We both need to get back before roll call.”
         “Sure,” he says. We walk back into the kitchen; he goes his way and I go mine.
2
         I take a seat next to Paul and Megan on the floor. There are about twenty teenagers crowded together, just like every inspection day. There is shouting and spit balls even. I’m not worried today though, like some of the kids look.
         “You are ladies and gentlemen. Older then most kids here, role models, and on your way to happy lives,” Mrs. Chelst shouts above the noise to all of us. She is a round little lady with brown frizzy hair and sharp brown eyes. Thwack, goes the paper pamphlet against her thigh over and over again until most everybody quiets down.
         “Who goes first? Is it the younger kids then us this time or do we go dead last again?” A kid named Fred asks out loud. He pushes his glasses up further on his nose and blows into a red handkerchief that he pulls out of his pocket. With a few loud honks into it, he tucks it back into his vest and waits for an answer. Paul and I grin and each other secretly because of how funny and precise he handles everything.
         “We won’t know until later. But for now, everybody is to go out to the garden and wait until lunch or until you are called in,” she explains to all of us, especially looking at all of my friends and me. “Try to stay clean though. Nobody wants a dirty kid to take home. All right lets head out.”
         Everybody files out into the halls and outside. When we open the doors, groups of kids wander off with their friends. Nobody knowing if this is their last day to spend time with each other. The sad part about living at the adoption center . . .



PART TWO- Megan and me have always been really close. She is only 5'3 with naturally dark, brown hair that is perfectly straight. Her eyes are a deep brown with dark long eyelashes to match. For some reason, Megan’s cheeks are flushed pink, but it looks natural with her tan skin color. And she probably has the most contagious smile ever. If Megan smiles, you smile too.
         Every day, kids always ask me if I like Megan. I, of course, tell them only as a friend. It gets tiring, having to tell people every day how Megan and I are. We met at age six and have hung out every day since then, with no fights at all. Me being fourteen now, well of course we are close!
         “You guys!” Paul shouts and runs over to us. He is panting like a dog and sweat runs down his face onto his uniform. He repeats, “You guys!" he is breathless from the amount of running he has just done. "C’ mon TC just had to get his little sister taken away. He’s a mess, we should go cheer him up.”
         Paul and I run ahead of Megan over to the little spot where TC is sitting. His face is in his legs and I don’t think I have ever heard somebody cry so hard.
         Megan sits down by him and pats him on the shoulder. She strokes the side of his face, and wipes away the falling tears, looking kind of like a mother hen.
         “Dude,” I begin to say but I’m lost for words. “TC, did you even get to say bye?”
         He looks up at all of us and shakes his head no. Then he breaks down again into a pile of tears. In between cries, he tries to tell us:
         “I t-t-told her t-that I . . . I loved her s-so-so much. They can’t..t-he-y shouldn’t have. I’m going to miss her!” He cries so hard, that it makes Megan cry, and I begin to tear up, but turn my head so in case tears did fall, nobody can see them.
         It happened to him, now it’s going to happen to me. Please oh please don’t happen, I pray inside of my head.
         “We should go guys. Let him have his time alone,” Megan says and gets up. She snuggles close to me and we all just kind of gawk at TC, at how much of a mess he is in. And just like that, the sky gets cloudy, or it does so to me, and we hear a high pitch, terrible scream.
         “What the...” Paul begins to say but his sentence is lost as we see a crowd of people dragging a small boy into the building.
         Instantly, just like that, I am off to the scene knowing just what  was happening. They have Jackson and I’m not with him, just like I promised him I would.
         My legs don’t seem to move as fast I need them to because just as I get there they almost have him inside. But Jackson is putting up a huge fight, they have to struggle and call back up.
         “Let him go!” I manage to choke out as my feet come to a complete stop about eight feet beside him. Dust flies around me from stopping so fast. I can’t see anything, only hear. Screaming, it sounds like they are slautering a animal. I fight harder forward, and then reach out to him. He struggles to grab my hand with his small, grubby ones.
         “Let go of me; I want my brother! You can’t take me away from him, please, not without him. Don’t make me go please!” He cries out and one of his hands nail a security guard in the mouth. The security guard recovers fast. Just before the leave for the doors, Jackson shouts out, “Chase you can’t leave me! You promised!” and before I can say one word, he is inside and gone forever.
         My legs go unsteady and I fall to the ground. “I’m not leaving you Jack, you are leaving me.” I can’t help but stare at the doors that they just took my brother in. My mind freezes up. Nothing around me is in picture, only those doors and Jack’s terrified face. It wont leave my mind. It’s glued-stuck. I wont ever be able to forget it.
         Now kids stop staring and everybody goes back to their normal routine. Swinging, soccer, football, and hopscotch. But I still can’t get up. Somebody call the hospital, I shout inside my head. No words come out. Only cries. Megan is already beside hugging and comforting me. Paul just stands speechless beside me his face pale.
         His small little head with spiky brown hair, and cheery green eyes cling to my mind. The silly laugh I have grown so familiar too fills my ears along with his voice.
         Nothing is going to be the same. No more wedgies, giving advice, jokes, hugs, getting him out of trouble. My little brother is gone and I have broken all of my promises ever made to him that we would always be together. But now there is nothing I can even do about it.


PART THREE: The halls are so empty and quiet; I feel alone
and even guilty. Why? Well I’m not real sure. Maybe for the fact that I’m not really getting my socks, or that I am about to ditch Megan. But the situation has gotten out of my hands, now there is nothing else to do.
         When I reach my room, I immediately crawl out my window and lay on the roof. Luckily, my view on the roof is so close to the building where the dance is, I can hear the music and cheers from all the happy kids. I would be happy to, I tell myself. If I was there.
         A small breeze picks up through the air, making an annoying loose strand of my hair flip in my eyes. I shake it away and lay back on my elbows. What a long night it is going to be. Me and the bright stars as my only company.
         “Found you,” a faint voice says. I don’t bother to turn around. I very well know who’s voice it is. Megan’s.
         She slowly sits down by me and sighs. We don’t talk or even look at each other. It’s all quiet.
         “Look Megan,” I begin. “It’s not that I didn’t want to come. It is just that we haven’t been speaking. . .there would have been that awkward tension between us that would have ruined the night.”
         Megan nods understandingly. “Don’t act like it’s your fault, Chase. I know it’s mine. Now.” This time her voice is different from three days ago. No girlyness anymore. “You’re just so great and fun.” Embarrassed, she stops herself.
         “Well you are great too! I love being your friend.” And I leave it at just that. When I sneak a peek at her face, the smile she is wearing makes me feel ten times happier, but also guiltier. “Being such a good friend comes with boundaries though too, you know.”
         Slowly she nods and her dark hair slides around her perfect face. I oddly wanted to put the loose strands behind her ears. Seeing she isn’t going to attempt to start a conversation, I go on.
         “We uh. . .we never really went over those boundaries.”
         “We shouldn’t need to. If it weren’t for me we would be down there right now, having the times of our lives!”
         “Please don’t blame yourself,” I soothe. “It isn’t your fault and I wish you would stop saying so. Megan, I really do like you. The more I talk to you, the more I grow attached to you.” Don’t grow attached to anything new. It will save getting hurt. “I am attached to you though, so very much.”
         Her eyes finally meet mine. They sparkle and stand out in the beautiful night. But they are also so confused.
         Suddenly, it all makes sense. My always wanting to be with her, the way she makes me feel happier. Why I could only think about this little fight for the last two nights, how upset I’ve been without her. Of course! I like Megan. I always have. In some way, she has always been my girl. But I must have been to dumb to realize it all these years.
         “But you just said that we were friends with boundaries.”
         “Yes I did. I know what I said, I just don’t know why I say a lot of things. The day I asked you to the dance I wasn’t real sure even.”
         Megan’s expressions grows dark. “You didn’t?” She hurtfully asks.
         “Well. . .” I don’t know how to explain something to her that I don’t even quite understand myself. Instead we sit in silence again. Cheers, music, and laughter sing out into the night. Megan watches longingly, which doesn’t help my guiltiness. Crickets chirp loudly, so loudly they almost drown out the blaring music.
         “Your brother,” Megan blurts out suddenly. “Where did they take him?”
         Pain fills inside of me just as the word brother is said. “I don’t know. They never told me.”
         “I’m really sorry.”
         I turn away so she can’t see the tears fall. And they do too. “When am I going to stop feeling like this? You know, missing him so much.”
         Dumbstruck, Megan slides her hand onto my leg and squeezes it. “It is okay to miss him, Chase. He was your brother.”
         “Is my brother.” I quickly correct.
         “Yes. He is your brother. Don’t forget about him, that is the worst that can happen. Not remembering somebody can be awful. It’s like they were never  part of your life. All the memories you shared, the sad ones, the happy ones. . .” her voice trembles. “They disappear and then there is nothing but what you can dream for. Dreams aren’t real though.”
         I wipe her tears away with my hand and casually  slide closer. “It feels like I’m living a nightmare with the way everything works out sometimes. But,” I gaze up into the sky. “In dreams, even in nightmares, you can wake up sooner or later. In real life you can’t. Plain and simple. No matter how much of a nightmare it is. You just have to work through it.”
         With a huge smile, Megan snuggles to me and I slide my arm around her. With nobody around we don’t have to feel like we are doing something bad.
         I take heavy breathes and struggle to recalculate everything that is happening. After a horrible week of avoiding Megan, here she is, in my arms. Maybe it isn’t so much of a nightmare after all.
         “Chase?” her quite voice startles me and makes me jump.
         “Megan?”
         “You have never told me about your parents. Will you? Please, I would love to know.” She looks up at me and smiles. As I stare back down at her sparkling eyes and perfect white smile, I nod.
         “If you want me to. Anything.”
         Megan squirms out of my arm and lays back on me and stare straight into my face. So I begin with a deep breath.
         “On such a perfect day. It was sunny, the sky was blue, and I had just learned how to fingerpaint! My mom and I were singing along cheerfully in the car, but as we pulled into the driveway, a huge ugly van was taking up our spot. So Mom just parked along the road and we quickly went inside.
         “Soon to figure out, the ugly van belonged to my Aunt Vana and Uncle John. Rarely did these people ever come by. Only when something was wrong. Mom just quickly made me a snack to keep me preoccupied, and listened to my Aunt and Uncle intensively.
         “The look on her face is unforgettable. Even at my young age. But anyways, it turned out that my grandma and grandpa were in a terrible accident and were in the hospital in intensive care.
         “My Aunt stayed with me and Jackson so my mom could go swing by to pick up my dad and then go right to the hospital without having to keep up with us little kids. Her being in such a rush, she didn’t even say goodbye or look at me for that matter before she left.”
         As I tell the story, images pop back into my mind of the hectic day. All the crying and screaming for me to stay back. . .
         “I don’t,” my voice is so shaky I can hardly even speak. Megan soothes me.
         “I’ve heard enough. You don’t have to go on.”
         But I do of course.
         “I don’t know why things had to happen that day. But just as mom and dad were rounding the corner of sixth street, some wild teens hit them head on and they were killed instantly. The teenagers, later we found out, didn’t have a scratch on them.
         “We didn’t know until later when the hospital called us to report the horrible news. All I remember is my Aunt Vana yelling at me to get my brother and get in the van.
         “Then on from the hospital to the waiting room there was so much grief and crying. Nobody would tell me what was happening and I just wanted my mom or dad. To hold me, to comfort me. Aunt Vana defiantly wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t even touch me.”
         I shutter just to think back to that awful day. But the worst is still to come. I stroke Megan’s hair and keep going, ignoring all the falling tears.
         “I can still remember when the doctor took me in to see my mom. I tried to climb on her lap, but everybody screamed and held me back. So I screamed to. I cried for her more then I ever have.
         “When Aunt Vana took me back home that night, she told me my Mom and dad ran away considering my horrible behavior all day long. She told me that they would never come back if I kept acting like I was.”
         Megan sits up in shock. She even has tears in her eyes. “But why? She couldn’t say something so horrible! You were only so little.”
         “For days I acted as good as a four year old could. I ate all my broccoli, played with baby Jackson, cleaned up after myself, and after a week went by, I began to search for my lost parents. I would yell for hours how sorry I was and how much I missed them.
         “I just couldn’t understand what I had done that was so horrible! But after awhile, I started going a little crazy. I wouldn’t listen to anybody, and I would sometimes take Jackson and run away for hours. That is when we got put here, they said we were going crazy and uncontrollable.”
         The awkwardness earlier seemed to have made a fog through the night. Now everything is crystal clear, and I feel great.
         My eyes dart over to Megan. She smiles, then gets serious again.
         “I’m really glad you did come here though.”
         “Why’s that?”
         “Because then I wouldn’t have gotten to know you. In case I haven’t told you already, I’m really glad we are friends,” she says without any signs of kidding around. I’m glad though, because I am taking it pretty serious myself. Suddenly very interested in how she feels, I ask her.
         “What are you feeling?”
         “Excited.” Her eyes gleam.
         I tighten my arm around her waist and pull her even closer to me. She smells of flowers, roses maybe. It tickles my nose, so I laugh.
         “What is so funny, Chase?” But even she giggles too.
         I shrug  my shoulders and smile even bigger. “It is just weird how some things turn out.” Then I slide my hands gently around her cheeks and lean in to kiss her. At first she is so surprised, it feels like I’m kissing a dead fish. But then, she kisses back.
         When we’re finished, I realized that Megan is my first kiss. That is something nobody can ever replace. A one in a life time thing. And there is nobody else I would rather have taken it but Megan.
         “Chase,” Megan interrupts.
         “What?” I ask dreamily, still mesmerized.
         “Why on earth did you just do that? We just got done talking about us being friends, good friends. . .”
         Every word that falls out of her mouth fall together and don’t make any sense. I lean in for yet another kiss. This time she kisses me back. Every boys dream is to kiss a girl and actually get kissed back. But after awhile she pulls away.
         I let out a sigh and lean back on my elbows. Then I wait, not the slightest clue what she is going to tell me. “You don’t like kissing me, huh?”
         Megan rolls her eyes and almost lets out a warm smile. But instead, she lets out a huge breathe and turns to me.
         “Trust me, I do like kissing you. I’m the one that likes you remember.”
         “Oh yeah,” I grin and feel my cheeks grow warm. “And not to be pushy or anything but, there is a dance going on right now. Please come with me.” I beg, and give her my best puppy dog eyes. Before she can even reject I grab her hand and run. Hand in hand we run together. Megan’s laughter fills the air as we race down the stairs and outside. I laugh too. For so many reasons. One, I am standing next to the prettiest girl in the building. Two, Megan and I are actually talking. And three, I finally got my first kiss.
9
        As soon as we burst through the two back doors, a small breeze cools me down instantly. And Megan even giggles at the sudden change of air.
         Half way there, Megan stops and pulls on my hand for me to do the same. Of course I do.
         “Hold up, Chase. Please. Just for a second.” Her voice is different. Not whiney, but confused. Desperate. I turn towards her and pull her body closer to me.
         “What is it Megan? Isn’t everything worked out?”
         “No,” she mumbles. “We didn’t solve anything! We almost did. . .we were so close. And then you kissed me!”
         I cringe at how she says it. “I’d do it again too.”
         “But why?!” her voice cries out into the air and makes me jump. It isn’t so much as angry, just. . .lost. “You don’t like me like that I thought.” She sits down on a old tree stump and sighs.
         I sit down right beside her and lay my chin in my hands. “I’m very sorry, Megan.” I apologize. “I guess I have always just liked you as a friend because that is what I thought you have always liked me as. I never even thought about us any differently. Not until Paul told me.
         “At first, I didn’t feel any different. But then, then I felt shy around you. And I had so much going on. Honestly, even now I can’t tell you why I feel different. I’m not so sure myself.”
         Megan flashes a beautiful white smile and giggles. “I’m sorry I took everything the wrong way at first. I was selfish. I wanted you to be mine and only mine!” she suddenly says all serious again.
         “Wish come true.” Megan is standing so close to me, her lips come up to my chin and my arms are wrapped securely around her waist. “And I’m sorry for kissing you earlier.”
         She smiles and moves her deep brown eyes to meet mine. “Don’t be sorry.” Then, this time, Megan reaches up to kiss me. 
         All though I’m taken for surprise, I react quickly and we finally kiss for what it seems like forever.
         In between kisses, I say, “would it mean anything to you if I asked you to be my girl friend?”
         And just like that, everything ends and Megan pulls away. She stares at me like I had just said something horrible.
         “Yes,” she whispers. We are still so close. “A lot.”
         I decide to joke a little bit. “It isn’t like I’m asking you to marry me, Megan. Just be my girl friend. It’s my turn to be selfish and have you all to myself.”
         The thought itself makes Megan beam. But then her forehead squishes together. And at the same moment a breeze picks up, and blows her loose bangs in her face.
         “What happens when everybody finds out and they crowd around us again?”
         My face grows warm. “So let them! I’m tired of people messing with my life. Nobody can take you away from me Megan. Not now. They have taken everyone else.”
         She pulls away from my arms and walks off in a daze. “Last time they did that, we ignored each other and stopped talking. I defiantly don’t want that to happen again!”
         “It wont,” I promise with a warm voice. “Last time neither of us knew what we wanted. Now we do. I do. I want you, Megan.”
         “I want you too.”
         “So say yes.”
         “Yes, Chase. I would love to be your girlfriend!”
         Right then, I pick her up and wrap her all in my arms. Her skinny body against my buff stomach seems weird at first, but I don’t mind. Everything feels right. I haven’t hugged her for so long.
          I take her small hand and grip it tightly. Then I kiss the top of her head and whisper, “lets go dance.”


PART FOUR: The dance floor is amazing. Streaming all around the walls are colorful papers and streamers. Balloons lay on the floor lifelessly. In the very back corner is our cool teacher,          Mr. Beasly, funking out with a huge D.J. box; and off to the side of the middle floor, is tables of punch, cookies, french fries, marshmallows, chips, and so many different assortments.
         From the ceiling flash colorful lights. I have to admit, I am impressed. I look at Megan, but her huge smile gives it away.
         As we walk in holding hands, the huge heavy doors seem to be louder than the music and echo throughout the whole building. Everybody stops at stares at us.  Thousands of eyes, all at us. Megan drops my hand and steps further away from me.
         My head sharply turns and glares at her. “So you’re going to be that kind of girlfriend.”
         “Chase, everybody is staring at us!” she whispers. Her voice trembles. I only shake my head and purse my lips tightly together. Then I hold out my hand for her to grab it again. She doesn’t.
         “Megan. Nobody is going to ruin my night. If people want to waist their night at stare at how pretty you look, then that is their loss, but not ours. Ok?” I grab her hand now and pull her close to me. Slipping my arm around her waist, I then guide us over to a table where all our friends are sitting.
          A very speechless group of kids stare at us. Paul’s eyes squint together and look at my arm around Megan’s waist. My eyes stare at his and Susy’s hands clasped together. Then we both smile at the same time.
         “Sorry I’m late guys, hope we didn’t poop the party too bad,” I tease and tighten my arm around Megan’s waist. She looks up at me.
         Nobody says anything.
         “Er. . .actually, it isn’t much of a party,” Paul finally says. He looks at me ashamed.
         “Oh.”
         Mr. Beasly makes a loud announcement, his voice booming and cackly over the loud music. 
         “This next one is for the ladies. So ladies, grab a partner and head to the center of the floor.”
         Everybody is still while a very slow song, Almost Lovers, comes on. I smile while Megan leads me to the floor. We are right in the middle and are followed by Paul, Susy, Bryan, Camry, and some other of my friends.
         Megan slides her arms up over my shoulders, and I place mine below her hips. We dance so close our foreheads touch and we look down. Paul and Susy, well you can practically hear the amusement in their eyes from watching us.
          For half the song, Megan and me don’t say a word. We just sway back and forth to the music.
         “Chase?”
         Her soft quiet voice startles me. I breathe heavily. “Megan?”
         She stops herself from saying whatever she was about to, almost embarrassed.
        “I hope you get past this whole embarrassed stage,” I mumble loud enough for her to hear. She looks up at me and sighs.
         “I was just going to say that. . .I’m really glad tonight happened.”
         Smiling, I bend down and softly brush my lips against hers. Then, I close my eyes and pull her as close as she can get to me. “Me too Megan. I’m starting to really like you.”
         Forgetting about Paul, I sneak a look over to him. Him and Susy are at least a little closer, and laughing. Their faces seem to be getting closer. I know Paul wants to get his first kiss tonight. I smile to myself, just thinking back to all my kisses I’ve gotten.
         “What are you smiling so much about?” Megan suddenly asks me. She is gazing up at me, her dark brown hair falling past her shoulders. I touch her soft cheek and murmur,
         “When I’m around you, it’s hard not to smile.”
         My heart starts to beat so fast, and my stomach twists up into a million knots. A new song is playing now. Goodbyes is the title. With everything that has happened tonight, I haven’t even thought about some day having to say goodbye to Megan. It makes me feel sick just imagining it.
         “If you ever get adopted out,” I say, still staring right into her eyes, “do you promise to say goodbye?”
         Megan’s eyes seem to grow a little darker and her arms tighten around my neck. “Only if you promise first.”
         “You have my promise,” I sooth and lean the side of my face on the top of her head. “But I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon. You and Paul are my only life now.”
          The time goes on. Megan hangs out with her friends some, and I do too. But mostly, we hang out all together.
         With only thirty minutes to go, everybody is tired from all the sugary foods and beverages, not to mention all the dancing and screaming kids. By the time 10:00 comes, everybody is so ready to leave.
         Paul and me decide to walk our dates to the outside of their rooms (they are roommates.)
          I am pretty much carrying Megan up the stairs. She is more exhausted than I am. I am walking behind her with both my arms wrapped around her stomach keeping her up. The whole time we are walking to their rooms, I keep mumbling the songs that are stuck in my head.
         But finally we reach their rooms. Paul and Susy awkwardly exchange hugs-stiff hugs. But as they face each other Paul stutters,
         “It was fun though, right?”
         Susy nods, and they lock eyes. Then Paul leans in for a small peck. Megan and I pretend to look away.
         “Sleepy?” I laugh and turn her around so now her arms are around my waist and I’m hugging her to my body.
         “Very sleepy,” she mumbles. But she grins and wraps her arms once again over my shoulders. “Thanks for tonight. I don’t even think my dreams turn out better.”
         I wink and give a tempting smile. “Maybe you need some sleep after all. I’ll pick you up for breakfast, okay?” She nods and rest her head against my chest.
        “Megan,” I gently shake her and lift up her chin. “Don’t I  get my thank you for walking you all this way? Please?”
         Her eyes peel open and find mine. They sparkle. “Of course.” Then our lips meet and this kiss is even better than any that night. But we can hear Paul and Susy muttering in the back, so regretfully we pull away.
         “See you in the morning. Don’t miss your bed.” I laugh and watch her stumble into the bedroom. Paul shuts the door after Susy stumbles through. Then we turn and head back upstairs to our dorm.
        “Weirdest night ever,” Paul mutters and stares at me, his eyes full of questions.
         “Turns out I like Megan more than I thought I did.” I shrug and try to hide my smile. Paul isn’t fooled.
         “Well obviously! I’m too tired to hear about it tonight, but in the morning you will explain, okay?”
         I nod and wave as he leaves for his room two halls away. Then I open my door and fall on top of my bed.
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Like I said, this is just four parts of some points that I need help with. Check with my  other parts in the portfolio to read more about them as life goes on. Thank you so much, and God Bless you all!