My Best Friend's Brother

Chapter 1

The summer before starting college for the first time is an exciting experience. At least, that's what everyone seems to say. According to some, it's the time of the year when we graduate high school, have cool pool parties nearly everyday, and travel to many cool places and post it on social media for everyone to see.

I am currently halfway through summer break and I feel like I haven't done much. So far, I graduated high school which I was very happy about because that meant getting away from all the drama and the rumors, not that I was involved in it.

I also spent nearly everyday with my best friend Janett, hanging out at her house and swimming around in her pool; and the times that we weren't at her place, we spent it at our local mall spending money on an unnecessary amount of cute clothes and makeup.

Janett and I have been best friends for so many years. Our parents were best friends since they were in high school, which only makes sense as to why Janett and I have been best friends since we were practically in the womb.

We have been neighbors for so many years, and now that we're both about to start college, we have made so many plans to go apartment hunting to find the perfect apartment for us to live at because dorms at the school are too much for our budget. We've dreamt about being roomates in college ever since we were in middle school, and now that it's about to happen, we can't help but be excited.

Currently we are outside of her house getting everything ready for a surprise party that we are hosting for a family friend of ours.

Once we finish decorating, we decide to take a break and get back to planning for our future apartment.

"So for sure we want a nice apartment that has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a decent-sized kitchen and living room, right Steph?" Janet asks me.

"Yeah," I reply, "but wait, why three bedrooms?"

"Oh you know, for storage or just in case anyone wants to come over and stay the night" she replies and gives me an innocent smile. It's almost as if she's hiding something, but I brush it off.

"I doubt that anyone will spend the night. Everyone has their own dorms and apartments around the area that we're looking at. Well, unless you decide to bring a guy over." I joke.

She chuckles lightly and replies, "hah, that's funny. But I'm off the market for a bit, especially after what happened with Max."

Max was Janett's ex-boyfriend. He was a nice guy, very caring and studious. The only problem with him is that he didn't know how to be loyal to her. They had been dating for almost a year when we found out that he had cheated on her with a former friend of ours. I don't blame her for not wanting to date after what happened with that asshole. When Janet's older brother James found out, he was infuriated and drove two hours just to confront him and give him a few words of his own. Even though it was pretty obvious that it wasn't only words that were exchanged. I know that because the next day he was rocking a bruised look. Janett and James have always been close siblings which I always admired.

Janett's brother James. The guy I've had a crush on for years and had my first kiss with, even though we were only about 14. I've also known him since I was practically born; he's only a year older than I am. He currently lives two hours away with one of his cousins and is attending college in that area.

James and I have always gotten along when we were kids up until high school. I was a junior and he was a senior and we had gotten really close as to where people would ask if we were dating because of how much we supposedly acted like a couple.

At that time, it was November around thanksgiving time. A cousin of his was getting married, so I went as James' date which I was extremely excited about even though to him we were just really close friends. I wasn't sure if he knew about my crush on him, and if he did know, he didn't show it.