He lifted me gently and carried me to the bed. He tucked me in and then climbed in next to me.
"Get some rest, Sophie. I love you." He kissed me goodnight, and I fell asleep feeling better than I had in…forever.
The next day at school, I cautiously approached Simon. He was standing with his arm around Terry. He was being the attentive, sweet boy that he had been to me when we'd first gotten together.
"Can we talk?" I asked softly.
"Where's Jackson?"
"With Ellie and Ronald. He doesn't need to be here for this. This is about us."
"There is no us anymore, Sophie."
"Look, can I please just have a minute? I'm not asking for much, Simon, just a minute. Please?"
"Just go, Simon," Terry said, shoving him lightly. "Go."
I laid in bed and cried until about 5:45, then I fixed my make up. It didn't matter much to me what I looked like, but I was representing Jackson so I felt like I needed to be pretty. Sharon arrived at 6:00 to pick me up. She knocked on the door and I peered out at her. Her eyes were glistening with tears."I can't believe this," she whispered. "I know that he's still going to be here for a few months, and that he'll less than an hour away… but…" she shook her head."It's okay," I murmured. "I've been crying since he left.""He'll come back and visit. We have to be happy for him. You ready to go?"I nodded. "Yep…"When I got to the car, I saw Simon sitting in the backseat."I thought we should all go as a family," Sharon said to me. "Hope you don't feel too awkward. You
Summer turned out to be the best time in our relationship. We spent every day together and didn't take any of our time for granted. One day as we were driving home from having coffee with Wyette and Brent, I glanced over at Jackson."I feel bad," I murmured."What for?""You never hang out with your friends anymore. Now you just hang with mine."He shook his head. "Your friends are my friends. The only real friends I've ever had, except for Brenda. Thank you for introducing us." He kissed my cheek. "And I'll get you guys into college parties.""Are you going to start drinking a bunch again?""No. I won't. Not after how hard you've worked to help me. We're going to Mom's tonight for dinner.""What are we eating?""Who knows? Something