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Chapter 11: Confessions

We had one more night to hang out before I left for school. We built a fire in my front yard and strung up hammocks in the trees like we had on so many other summer nights. When the mosquitos got to be too much to handle, we all went inside. Jordan, Katherine, Miles, Greyson, and I gathered our things from the clear patch in the woods where we hung our hammocks and went to sit at the kitchen table. The five of us sat in the dark at the kitchen table and began quietly discussing the next few weeks. I would have to return to school and so would Katherine, Miles, and Greyson. It was my senior year but the three of them still had several more years of college left. The difference between all of us was that I was the only one who would have to leave Lovejoy to go back to school. They had all decided to stay home and go to the community college since it was cheaper.

"Dude, I don't want you to leave me," Katherine said from across the table with tears in her eyes.

"Don't cry Kat! You're gonna make me cry. I don't wanna leave either, but this is my last year and I bet it'll go by super-fast!" I reassured her.

"Yeah, plus, she can come home on weekends. That'll be really good for me because I have to do all my school stuff during the week and then work in the evenings so when you come home, it's gonna be extra special," Miles interjected.

"We're gonna miss you, Ind."

"Thanks, Jordan," I smiled.

I was sad to leave again. It felt like watching a really great movie, only the last ten minutes had been cut off and you didn't get to see how it ends.

"Anyways," I broke through the silence, "Jordan, why aren't you and Kat official yet? Everyone knows now that you guys have been talking and going on dates. I figured you guys would be official by now. I mean, I thought you guys would be official before August even started," I laughed.

Katherine and Jordan had been on several other dates after their first one. In late July, they had taken several of the girls from the youth group on a hike with Katherine's sister. On that hike, one of the girls took pictures of Katherine and Jordan being flirty and hugging each other. Neither of them knew and by the time they all got back to the bottom of the trail and to the car, the pictures were all over social media. The poor girl had to endure both of their anger then. "I just HATE her!" Katherine had told me over the phone that night. "It was only a matter of time before people found out, Kat. And, cut her a break. She's only thirteen, she didn't know she wasn't supposed to post pictures." Katherine had been furious and I had assumed that her anger fed off of Jordan's.

"Yeah, why aren't you guys officially official?" Miles asked.

"Well, he just hasn't asked me, I guess."

"Well, ask her Jordan, she obviously wants you to be with her," I said.

"Yeah for real. Just ask her, bro," Greyson poked at Jordan.

Jordan shot Greyson a look that said "shut up or I'll kill you".

"I want to ask her to be my girlfriend but I don't know what she'll say. I'm nervous," Jordan said to all of us as if Katherine wasn't right beside him. It was like he was a preteen boy, scared to ask out his crush.

"Here! I know what we'll do. We'll make a ceremony out of this." Miles's idea wasn't bad but it made me uncomfortable to put them on the spot. I knew Katherine would say yes and I knew it would all work out but it was starting to get a little awkward.

"Indie, do you have any confetti or something?" Jordan asked. "If we're doing this, then I'm gonna make it big, just for you baby," he said in a terrible country twang to Katherine.