“Dad what did he mean by that?” I asked my father as I walked out of the investigating room. “I don’t know honey. He could be lying he is a criminal” I could tell my father was lying but why? It irritated me but I let it go for now. “So what’s next? Do you want to come back home with us for a little while, just for a visit?” My father suggested as we stepped outside. I quickly reacted to the cold air, and started to rub my arms. “I could use a break” I figured I might as well finish my vacation since it was cut off so early. The drive was six cruel hours of awkward silence. I woke up as we pulled in the driveway of my old home. “Home sweet home” I whispered to myself as a grin appeared on my face. I hadn’t been home for a year now and that seemed like an eternity. I walked up to my old room and when I entered I couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s so funny?” Nicole asked from the hallway. “Why haven’t you guys turned this into a guess room by now? It’s such a teenager’s room” I commented looking at the seat hanging from the ceiling. “Your dad keeps it this way. He said that it makes him feel more at home. I think that he doesn’t want to feel old.” I giggled along with her and then brought my attention back to the room. It was only 3:00 and there was one person I wanted to visit before the day was through. I went across the street to my old best friend’s house hoping that her mother still lived there. I knocked on the door and I have to admit I was a bit nervous. The door opened and there stood Ms. Hernandez. Her face lit up when she saw me and she almost dived into my arms. “Oh my goodness, my second child is here!” She yelled and I began to laugh. “Hi mommy how have you been?” I asked kissing her on the cheek before pulling back. “Ay babysitting babysitting and more babysitting. Aleli brings her daughter here in the morning while she’s at work. I’m exhausted!” She exclaimed putting her hand to her forehead. She was just as dramatic as I had remembered which made me smile to myself. “Look at you top model!” She said in her thick accent holding my face in her hands. “Oh stop it!” I yelled blushing almost immediately. “Does Aleli live close? I wanted to surprise her” I explained. “Oh yes she lives a few blocks down, here’s the address.” Even though it seemed close I decided to drive just for convenience, and laziness.

 I pulled in the front of her house and my heart began to beat fast. I felt bad for not keeping in contact and you never knew how Aleli would react to anything. I walked up the driveway of a one story house. It was really nice and had a beautiful garden in the front. I stood at the door for a minute and then finally gained the courage to knock. I heard yelling for a second and then the door opened. There stood Aleli looking more womanly then I would ever imagine. Her eyes grew wide and she began to scream. The sound of her screeching was over whelming and I began to laugh uncontrollably. “YAHARA! Look at you, oh my goodness. Get in here hoe!” She yelled pulling me into a hug squeezing the life out of me. “I thought you would be made at me” I said a bit shocked by her reaction. “You know I can’t be mad at you girl” she said letting me into her house. It looked to be renovated and might I say it was cozy. I saw a little girl playing in the living room and when she looked up at me it was like looking at Aleli’s face. “Wow she looks just like you!” I exclaimed a bit freaked out by it. “I know girl and I’m glad to, she aint get none of Eric’s goofy features” she tried to whisper but he heard her. “Shut up Aleli” he said coming out a room down the hallway. “Yahara you look spicy” Eric said with a huge smile. I gave him a hug and pulled back. “We have to talk” Aleli said looking at me up and down. I knew that she probably talked to Michael seeing that they were practically brother and sister. “Do we have to talk now? I’m having so much fun” I wined as the smile left my face. “Girl please, we have to talk now” she said leading me to her room.

“You know I talked to Michael” she said sitting on the bed which I expected. “Yea you always talk to Michael” I mumbled taking a seat next to her. “Look okay I know that Michael is an asshole, everyone knows that. But you guys are literally perfect for each other. To tell you the truth neither of you are gonna find anybody else.” I was insulted by this but I expected it from her. “Uh that wasn’t nice” I stated crossing my arms. “It wasn’t meant to be. Face it no other guy will put up with your fits or your attitude.” My mouth flew open at this comment. I didn’t have an attitude. “Um excuse me I don’t have an attitude.” I stated rolling my eyes afterward. “From what I was told you cured out an entire family at a castle, and then offered to do a slave dance.” She began to laugh and I couldn’t help but join in. “they were rude as hell” I said in defense. “Look okay that’s beside the point. I can’t tell you exactly why Michael couldn’t leave but I believe it’s a good reason” she said which made my suspicion grow. “What do you mean?” I asked narrowing my eyes at her. “I can’t tell you” she said growing a bit nervous. “He should have said that” I commented being stubborn. “Oh shut up. Now you got him all worked up and pulling his hair out because he thinks he’s lost you forever. You know how much you mean to him and in my opinion you just said that to hurt him.” She made too much sense which made me irritated. “No Aleli I said it because I meant it. He’s too much of an ass for me” I was trying to convince myself more so then her. “But you love him, and he loves you. He never stopped loving you. Every relationship he has gotten into since high school has been compared to yours. She doesn’t do this like Margret use to she doesn’t do that like Margret use to. It drove me crazy but it’s the real thing.” I was a bit taken back by this comment. I didn’t know that Michael cared that much. In fact I started to believe that he would lose interest as he always did. But apparently he’d never lost interest. “Wow you’re speechless” Aleli said after gasping. “Oh shut up, I’m thinking. That’s what I’ll do, I’ll think about it and then I’ll make my decision.” I got up and walked towards the door. “I’ll be here for the weekend so I’ll come back to visit tomorrow.” I gave her a hug and drove back to the house.

That night I had a dream of one of the most special moments of my life.

“I can’t believe we’re gonna be seniors next year. I’m officially a man” Michael said as we walked down the street. I giggled at his statement but kept my comment to myself. “Why are you so quite?” He asked a bit concerned. “No reason I’m fine, I like hearing you talk its funny” I smiled warmly and when he stared a bit more intensely I quickly turned my head away. “Let’s sit down I’m tired of walking” he said sitting at a bench in the park. I sat next to him and it was silent at first. “So what colleges are you thinking about?” Michael asked trying to get me to talk. “I don’t know I mean I want to stay close. But then again I want to be at least an hour away” I said staring at the ground. Michael grabbed my hand and held it. I looked up at him and smiled. “You’re really pretty” he complimented looking me in the eyes. “Thanks” I said not really knowing what to say. He scooted closer to me and kept my gaze for the first time. It was as if his eyes were trying to tell me something. He kissed me softly and pulled back slightly to stare into my eyes once more. Our noses touched and I could feel his heavy breathing on my lips. “I love you Margret” when saying this my heart skipped three beats. I almost jumped out of my skin. It was surprising to me seeing as though Michael wasn’t the type to really express those kinds of feelings. “Please say it back” he begged as his facial expression showed that he felt let down. “I love you too” I said which made the smile I was use to spread back across his face. “Thank god, I was about to die” he said which made me giggle. We kissed once more and he stared into my eyes until I had to go home.

I woke up the next morning a bit more relaxed than before. Truthfully I didn’t want to leave Michael, but sometimes he really hurt me like now. I really needed him to be here and he wasn’t. My dad poked his head into my room with the biggest smile. “I miss doing this” he said as his eyes sparkled. “I bet you do Dad” I said giggling at his comment. “Breakfast is ready and might I say it’s as good as my old guilt breakfast.” Whenever he felt bad for something he did wrong he would make me a huge breakfast. “Then I better run down stairs” I said getting up and getting my slippers on. I came down the steps and saw Nicole fixing plates. “Good morning” she said looking up at me with a huge smile. “Morning” I said smiling back at her. I sat at the dinner table and stared down at the mountain of food on my plate. What if this breakfast was a guilt breakfast for yesterday? My dad might have felt bad for lying about what that guy had said. I began to eat the pancakes and my dad just stared at me with puppy dog eyes. “Nicole and I wanted to talk to you about something.” My dad announced which made me stop shoving food in my mouth. “What’s up?” I asked a bit curious as to why they both looked so intense. “We’re considering adoption” Nicole said and closed her eyes as if she was getting ready for me to throw a fit. “That’s great!” I exclaimed getting excited by the idea. “What age were you thinking about?” I asked shoving eggs into my mouth. “We want the child to be around seven or eight. You don’t have a problem with this?” My dad asked while looking at me sideways. “Why would I?” I asked a bit confused. “I don’t know I guess I figured you would be jealous.” This comment made me laugh a bit. They were treating the situation as if I still lived in the house. “Uh dad I’m 26 years old. I really don’t see myself being jealous of a 7 year old.”

I took a shower and got some clothes on. I put on some black skinny jeans and a newspaper T-shirt. I put my sandals on and began to walk to Aleli’s house. I passed the park that Michael and I sat at so long ago. I decided to sit down for a little while just to take in the beauty of the view. Today wasn’t cold but it wasn’t hot either. The weather was perfect and the sun shined brightly. The sunshine made the display of the colorful flowers ten times better than I remembered. I closed my eyes and inhaled the sweet smells of the flowers. I could stay here forever. “I can’t believe we’re gonna be seniors next year” I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. My eyes popped open but I couldn’t tell whether or not I imagined that. “I can’t believe I really thought being a senior made me a man” the voice said as a giggle was released. It defiantly wasn’t my imagination. Michael cam around the bench and sat next to me, but he didn’t look at me. “You remember that?” I asked looking down at the ground. “How could I forget?” He asked grabbing my hand. I looked up at him and before I could get a word in he cut me off. “I’m so sorry for not coming with you. I was being an ass and if you would please forgive me, I will never do anything that stupid again. I love you Yahara.” I was a bit surprised that he called me by my first name. “Sadly I love you too” I said pretending as if I was tired of it. His smile grew wide to the point that he had to bite his lip to contain it. “Ok so now that we’re on good terms” he said this getting off of the bench and getting on one knee. “I know you’re not very traditional but I really want this to be special.” He put his hand in his jacket’s pocket and my heart started to beat intensely. “Michael” was the only word I could get out. He presented a little black box and opened it. “Will you fight and bicker and abuse me forever?” He said this giggling and I couldn’t help but laugh myself. “I’ll try my best” I said getting a bit choked up. “Is that a yes?” He asked grabbing my left hand. “Yes it is” I said as he quickly pulled the ring out of the box. He slipped it onto my finger and I was definitely satisfied with the appearance. The diamond wasn’t too big and the silver had roses and ivy carved into it. “This diamond didn’t come from Africa did it?” I asked hoping that he would say no. “No it didn’t I remembered you going on and on about the poor diamond mining children so I made sure to stay away from African diamonds.” He got up off of his knee and I jumped into his arms. “You’re the best” I whispered into his ear as we embraced each other. I never wanted this moment to end.