• It was finally spring; winter had lasted much too long that year. The flowers were blooming again, birds were chirping, and snow was all but gone. Children were outside playing in the freshly uncovered grass. I wanted to be out there, too, but for some reason, I was playing an old board game with a good friend of mine. He wasn't very bright, and the game we were playing required lots of brain power. When I beat him, I nearly expected him to scream in fury, but he did not. Instead, he smiled.

    “I swear that I am completely yours, now and forever,” the boy that I knew as Edwin Johnson whispered, running his hand through my hair. I jolted away from him, afraid of this new change of atmosphere. How long had he known me? As I retraced the past five months in my head, I finally understood. All of those awkward moments were from his love that he bottled up inside. My lips pulled up into a smile. "I love you, Edwin." The words felt alien to me, but they seemed to flow naturally from my lips. I had never felt such a happy, innocent feeling before. My own words echoed in my head, and for a moment I began to worry. Had he not meant it in that way? As to answer my question, he held my hand tight. “I love you too,” he mumbled, tracing my hand with his fingertips.

    As I finally put away the board game, Edwin surprised me. “Let's go out for late lunch!” he exclaimed, keys in his hand. I tried to convince him that I wasn't hungry, but my stomach growled otherwise. Embarrassed by this, I followed him as he led me through his beautiful house. We went through the living room, the kitchen, and past a small broom cupboard before I spotted the door. But instead of opening the door, he turned and looked questioningly at me. Were my shoelaces perhaps untied? I looked down and found that they were still knotted tightly. I looked back up to find him gone. “Edwin?” I whispered into the air, a bit afraid. Then I spotted him in the next room, walking back towards me with his sweater in his arms. “You didn't think I'd let you freeze to death, dressed as you are, did you?” he asked, handing the sweater to me. I rolled my eyes, forcing the sweater on over my ebony tank top.

    The car ride was filled with awkward silence. I tried many times to start a conversation, but each time was a failure. As I watched him intently, I realized that he didn't mind the silence. My heartbeat slowed back to normal, for I was calm again. The heater finally began sputtering and warm air surrounded me. I looked out the window, wondering where he was taking me. I hadn't been to this part of town in a while, if I had ever been there at all. None of it was familiar to me. “How much farther is this place?” I asked, my heartbeat speeding up. This place did not seem very friendly.

    “We're here,” Edwin confirmed, pulling into a parking spot. He was out of the car in an instant, already most of the way to the building when I caught up to him. Then a rusty pick-up truck that I knew to belong to my neighbor drove past. I shrugged it off, thinking perhaps he was going to eat here too. Edwin seemed to read my expression. “Is something wrong?” he asked with worry in his voice. I shook my head, walking into the restaurant.

    He picked the table in the corner. I sat down, watching his beautiful blue eyes. They were skimming the menu frantically. I smiled, allowing myself to do the same thing. “Are you paying, or..?” I began to ask, but the waitress came and interrupted. “May I take your order?” I looked down, waiting for Edwin to order. After he said everything he wanted, which was a lot, the waitress turned to me. “Steak,” I forced. I didn't like to talk to strangers, even if they were harmless. She couldn't make it end, either. “We offer floats, appetizers, and three sides. What do you want?” I cleared my throat, looking through the menu a second time. “Cottage cheese,” I muttered. She was taken aback by my lack of hunger or something, but I just told her that I only wanted cottage cheese.

    As we ate, Edwin attempted to talk to me about school. “So, Beth, did you get your project for English class done?” he asked, taking a bite of his pork immediately afterward. I laughed, shaking my head. “Have I ever?” He smiled at that. He should have known by now that I never do projects, especially book reports. They never seemed to accomplish anything, just take away a huge chunk of time that I could've used for some activity that actually mattered to me, like reading.

    After a few moments of silent eating, I started coughing. Something was stuck in my throat! Edwin only noticed after I began coughing very horribly. “Beth?” His eyes were filled with worry that I'd never seen before. I coughed a few more times and drank some of my water. The food went down smoothly. “Sorry about that,” I said, taking a few deep breaths. He sighed in relief. “Don't worry me like that,” he whispered, holding my hand in his. “I need you.”

    We walked back to his car hand in hand, both of us very content. “I love you,” he said again, kissing me on the cheek. We separated only for a moment while we got into opposite sides of the car. “I think I had better go back home now,” I said to him. He frowned, driving silently for a while. As we neared my neighborhood, I tried to start a conversation. “Tonight was fun.” He didn't look at me for even a moment, which was probably good, considering he was driving. He nodded his head, his mouth nearly forming a smile. “It was, wasn't it?” he responded. I didn't know how to answer that, so I just laughed at him.

    As we neared my house, I began to sigh. “I'm going to miss you,” I told him. “I love you.” He pulled up into my driveway and put his car in park. “I would say that I love you too, but you know that already,” he whispered into my ear. I unbuckled my seatbelt and began to move my hand toward the door handle, but then I realized that I didn't want to leave. “Can I stay here forever?” I mumbled, fear consuming me, for my parents were completely against me having relationships. However, he shook his head. “I'm afraid not; I could go to jail for that.” I knew that he was right, although I wish he wasn't.

    I had to force myself to open the door. I really did. “Bye,” I said quietly. Walking up to my house, I cringed to hear the sound of his car driving away. The door was locked. Just my luck. I turned the doorknob only once more to make sure of this. The door burst open. Hadn't it been locked? Oh, but my father was in the doorway.

    “I don't like the fact that you are dating Edwin Johnson!” he declared, his anger startling me. How had he known? I looked up at him, asking, “Why would you think that I am?” I moved out of his way, running into the kitchen. “Don't lie to me!” he screamed, furiously punching the door frame. I shook terribly. I should have known my father would find out! “I wasn't lying,” I whimpered, running into the living room. Sitting there, talking casually with my mother, was my neighbor. He was behind this! I ran into my room, glaring angrily at the traitor. “Stop this relationship immediately!” my father roared after me, throwing my mother's favorite vase onto the floor.

    I locked the door to my room and flung myself onto my bed. How dare he talk to me like that? I cried into my pillow, sputtering nonsense about my father being mean and cruel. Then suddenly there was a tap on my window. I pulled back the curtains to find Edwin outside of the window. I gaped, sliding out of my bed. Quickly wiping my tears, I headed for the window. I knew he had seen my tears, for his expression was not happy in any way.

    I began pulling the window up to talk to him. However, he pulled up the screen up at the same time. “Come with me,” he beckoned, holding his hand out to me. I looked back towards my door, unsure whether to leave or to stay, but the thought of being without Edwin was unbearable. I turned back to my window, nodding. Without a second thought, I pulled my backpack onto my shoulder and climbed out of the window. I then took his hand and began walking down the alley to his car. “I want to be with you forever,” I mumbled, another tear sliding down my cheek. I suppressed a sob. “Don't worry,” he comforted. “You will be.”