Dangerous

Summer of New Beginnings

Even after a year of being away from Jake, I just couldn't find the right time to go visit him. I always had things to do. I either had homework, volunteered at the hospital, or spent time with mom. If only I had a free week so that I could visit him.

In the meantime, I filled my best friend Sam in about all my family drama. She really helped me get through this tough time in my life.

One day in the middle of July, I went over to her house for a sleepover. She has been acting a little weird the past few days, so I wanted to know if there was any way I could help her like the way she helped me.

"Hey Sammy." I said walking into her room and plopping my stuff down on the floor that was strangely clean of clothes.

"I told you before," she said with an annoyed expression, "I'm not Sammy. Stop calling me that!"

I laughed before replying. "No. It's fun to call you that. It suits you too." I said with a smirk.

"Fine." She said with an evil grin. "If you keep calling me Sammy, then I'm going to call you..." She hesitated before continuing providing suspense for me. "Jo-Jo" she concluded.

"Noooooo! I don't want to be a Disney singer!" I shouted at her.

Her only reply was a fulfilled smile.

"Fine. Fine." I say feeling defeated. "I won't call you Sammy anymore."

"Yes!" She said and then laughed, but then abruptly stopped.

She spaced out for a few seconds until I interrupted her. "Sam!" I yelled to get her attention. She jumped a little then turned to look at me. "Do you want to know the real reason as to why I invited myself over to have a sleepover with you?"

"There's a reason?" she asked.

"Yeah. I feel like you have been upset lately. I know it's not me because you wouldn't have let me stay here if I were the problem. You don't have to tell me what you're upset about, but I just want to make sure that you are okay."

She hesitated before answering. "Well, I have been kinda down lately because..."

"You don't have to tell me. It's okay."

"I'm moving to New York." She quickly said with her eyes shut.

"What... Wait, you're playing with me aren't you. It's just like in 3rd grade when you told me that you were moving to Australia and-"

"I'm not lying." She says seriously.

"You- you aren't?" I say a bit shocked.

"I wanted to tell you sooner, but I didn't have the heart to do it. I didn't want our last few weeks to be-"

"Last few weeks?" I asked cutting her off.

"Yeah. I'm moving there next week. That's why my room looks clean."

I feel like I just got hit by a bus. Next week? Why does everyone I love keep moving to New York? What's so great about New York? Wait, everything. Everything about New York is great. There are so many jobs, so many places to live, tons of top class restaurants, giant parks, huge fashion stores, and so much more. It's a place I have always wanted to go to, but it's also the place that took my brother away from me. Now, it's taking my best friend too.

"My dad got a great job offer there." She continued. "He is going to work for The New York Times."

"That's awesome!" I say trying to act excited for her sake.

"Yeah. I guess that's pretty cool."

"So, are you going to live in an apartment there?" I ask.

"Yeah. It's not going to be as great as this place, but it will be pretty cool, I guess." She said and looked at the ground with a sad smile."It's supposed to have a great view of the city."

"Well at least you will have a reason to get up in the morning. You can just pull back the curtains and take in the view everyday."

"Yeah, but it's just not going to be the same. I want to be able to have a backyard and have my own driveway and not have to worry about strangers stomping their feet on the floor above me. I just want to stay here!" She says feeling frustrated.

"Hey." She looks up at me. "Do we get snow here?"

She looked confused by my change in topic, but she went along with it and answered. "No."

"You love snow! Remember that one weekend where I went with you and your parents to Colorado for a ski trip? Remember how everyday you would wake up and quickly put on snow gear just so you can go outside?"

"Yeah, I get it." She said rolling her eyes. "I probably will like the weather there, but-"

"You want a backyard, right?"

She nods.

"There is probably a park right next to where you live. See? You can still have everything you have here, it's just going to be a little different."

"A lot different. Where am I going to find another Jordan?"

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble," I say and purposely twirl some of my hair, "but I'm a 'one of a kind' kind of girl."

Sam doesn't say anything. She just laughs at my weirdness.

"Wait!" I yell as an idea pops into my head.

"I'm not going anywhere yet." She says and giggles.

"Haha." I say pretending to laugh. "That was just so hilarious."

"I try." She says while putting her hand up to mock the 'basic girl' emoji.

"Anyways, I have an idea."

"Shoot." she says, waiting for my answer.

"We can pick a day of the week to facetime each other! That way we won't be miserable without eachother."

"Who says I will be miserable without you?" Sam says laughing.

"You know what! Girl! You are messing with the wrong girl!" I say, being sassy.

She laughs at my weirdness. "Only you would say something like that."

The rest of that night, we talked about random things, watched movies, and dumped popcorn on eachother. We decided to facetime each other every Friday night.

We spent most of the week together going to places that she won't be able to go to in New York. We went to the beach, Disneyland, the county fair, and to our city mall.

Once she was gone, I felt more lonely than ever. I had always depended on Sam to help cheer me up when I am down, but I don't have her anymore. I know it is only the summer before my junior year of high school, but you know how it is. It feels like the end of the world to lose your best friend.

One night, I was sitting at home looking up music when I got a text.

How are you? I know Sam just moved away and I know its hard for you, but you have me if you need anything. - Tristan

Huh... I guess it isn't the end of the world after all.

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