Page 4 of Once Upon an Apocalypse

I press my face into his chest and cry, not caring if anyone else is in the hallway. How long have I wanted Jonah to hold me like this? Forever. I shouldn’t let my best friend’s twin brother hold me like this in the middle of the hallway though.

But, in this moment, I don’t care. I let Jonah hold me and he doesn’t break our embrace. With his mouth against the crown of my head, he says, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s just Lexi being a bitch. I can usually take her insults, but this one really hit hard.” I say as I pull my head away from his chest. “Girls can be so cruel sometimes.”

“Want me to get Sarah to kick her ass?”

“I’m pretty sure Elice and Jenni are doing that as we speak.”

Jonah’s chuckle does something to my insides that I can’t explain. Mush. My insides are mush. With his hands now gently caressing my lower back while keeping me pressed against him, I can feel that I have an effect on him too.

Pretending not to notice, I place my hands on his chest, saying, “Do you think I’m a prude?”

“What? Wait. Did I do something wrong? Because we don’t have to kiss or anything until you are ready. Eighteen. Nineteen. Whenever. I’ll wait until you are ready.”

My forehead collapses against his chest, this time on purpose, and Jonah’s arms wrap around me again. Why does this feel so right, so good? I want to stay in Jonah’s arms forever. Then Sarah’s voice echoes from behind me and I let go of Jonah, turning quickly to face her.

“I just heard from Elice about what happened in the locker room. Are you okay?” Sarah asks, grabbing one of my hands.

“Yeah. I am now.” I look up at Jonah, who offers me a shy smile.

“Come on, let’s get to class,” he says, keeping his hands in his pockets.

A few weeks later, Jonah and I are still skimming the line of just friends, but I’m happier than I’ve ever been. Just knowing that Jonah loves me is a dream come true. I only wish we’d been open with each other sooner. Our senior year is coming to an end, and with that, an uncertain future.

We are going to different colleges. Though I’m open to a long distance relationship, I’m so worried it could not only break any possible romance between us but also our friendship. Still, flirting is fun, and quite a confidence boost after what Lexi said to me. I know I shouldn’t let her or Jake get to me. They are only jealous.

Not only am I in the running for a tri-athlete award before graduation, but I’ve been the MVP for both of the varsity teams I’ve played on so far this school year. Jake might be a star football player, but he didn’t get a full scholarship to Rutgers. I did.

The only thing that would make my near future perfect is if Jonah was also going to Rutgers. But he’s wanted to go to Stanford since I can remember. He won’t choose me. I can daydream anyway.

Prom is next month and though Jonah hasn’t officially asked me to go with him, we have joked about wearing matching outfits. I never cared about these things before, but Jonah makes me want to do all the cheesy couple things. Even though we aren’t officially a couple, I want everyone to know that he’s mine. I want my teenage dream to live a lifetime with Jonah Rosenberg.

Sarah interrupts my daydream by complaining out loud about how her boyfriend, Dylan, hasn’t made a promposal yet. They’ve been an official item since the beginning of the year, yet I can’t help but compare how different our respective relationships are. I’ve known Jonah for most of my life. We were close friends before confessing our feelings for each other while Dylan and Sarah admired each other from afar, not really getting to know each other until recently.

Dylan has not quite grasped how utterly controlling Sarah can be. He laughs at her impulses, thinks she’s adorable when she has a panic attack. But maybe that’s what she needs. Someone to balance out the crazy. Sarah has already planned out her promposal and given Dylan a blueprint of her expectations as subtly as she could.

I know Dylan has his own plans for how he’s going to ask Sarah to prom. He’s doing it on his terms though. Dangerous. Still, I’m very excited to see how this plays out for the both of them.

I look up from my creative writing journal and say, “Give him time. He’s totally into you. And who else would he invite to prom anyway?”

“What if he doesn’t even want to go to prom?” Sarah collapses on her bed, where she has completely abandoned her AP history homework.

“Has he said that to you whenever you’ve brought prom up? Because I don’t think that’s where his mind is at.”

“So you know he has a plan then?” Sarah pounces on the trap I fell into.Shit. She got me good.

“I didn’t say that! It’s just…well, you told me you guys have talked a lot about prom. Wouldn’t he have said to you that he didn’t want to go?”Solid recovery, I think to myself.

“Hmmm. Maybe you’re right.” And just then, Sarah’s phone rings. “Speak of the devil!”

She answers the phone with a “Hey, boo bear,” and flips herself over so she’s lying on her stomach.

I take this opportunity to slip out of Sarah’s bedroom and look for my own “boo bear.” He’s not in his bedroom, so chances are he’s in the basement playing video games.

As I reach the kitchen on the ground floor of this mini mansion, Sarah and Jonah’s dad startles me. He sits hunched over the kitchen island, watching videos on his phone. “Hello, Laurel. How are you and the family doing?”

“Hi, Mr. Rosenberg. Everyone’s doing well. Hayden is loving New York City, though I’m not sure he’s loving the college part of it all. And my mom is as busy as ever. Shooting to get promoted to Chief Nursing Officer.”

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