Chapter One
The music played softly as our feet followed the rhythm of the beat. We swayed from side to side as I laid my head on his chest. I could hear his heart beating in a slow rhythm too. We moved across the room in a smooth motion, as he would twirl me every now and then. We’d make our way across the room and would end up back in the middle. It was only him and I as the twinkling lights were dimmed low.
“Chase?” I asked to see if he’d respond.
It only took a couple of seconds until I heard the rumble of his voice clearing beneath his chest. We moved from side to side ever so slowly, with Chase’s hand holding my hips, and the other interlaced through my fingers.
“Hmm?” he said the moment he looked down and kissed the top of my head.
“Why can’t we end every day like this?” I asked as I snuggled into his chest.
“It would be nice, wouldn’t it?” he asked as he twirled me around and guided me back into his arms.
“Seems too good to be true. If I wouldn’t have known, I would think this is a dream,” I said when I leaned my head against his chest and listened quietly.
Chase and I were both silent for a moment before I had cleared my throat.
He twirled me around in a full circle before he pulled me close enough to feel his minty wintergreen breath just as the cool sensation sent shivers down my spine. He looked deep into my eyes. His striking blue eyes sent me into the darkest depths of the ocean.
Lost, in a blissful state of mind. There was a sort of calmness and comfort luring me deeper in his embrace.
We were just inches away when he flashed a smile — kicking me out of my thoughts just before our lips touched. He had cleared his throat when I stopped for a moment before glancing into his eyes. For a long while, we didn’t say a word. We cherished this moment, just him and I under the twinkling lights. Chase softly opened his mouth as his deep voice rumbled between our chests.
“Too bad, this is a dream,” he said as I stared at him, confused for a moment before realizing what he had said.
In the distant, I could hear my alarm. It was a soft hum at first, and within seconds, it became an unbearable beeping sound just when Chase let me go, and the whole world around us faded to black. I reached to grab him just as I had felt the sensation of falling off of a cliff and crashing hard beneath the rocky tides below.
My body violently shook before sitting straight up to find myself alone in my room. I squinted from the beam of the light that was shining through the shutters. Groaning, I laid back down on my bed and thought back to the dream I just had. Surprised and utterly terrified to see that the boy in my dream was the same boy I knew since the second grade.
It was crazy to think that Chase and I would ever be anything more than friends. We’ve had always been close ever since we were little, but never to the point of being something more... Sure, I have thought about it. I mean, who didn’t? He was everything any girl in our school has ever wanted.
Chase Adams was the perfect guy. A mix of good genes, and southern charm. Luscious brown hair that had always been groomed and swept to the side. A well-maintained beard that perfectly aligned with his sideburns. Sun kissed tan that emphasized his charming looks, and athletic body. In the autumn he would play American football, in the spring he would play baseball, and when he wasn’t doing either he would run.
Although my dream would say otherwise, I never really thought of him of something more. To me, he was Chase, a boy I knew and loved as we’d been friends for a long while.
Sometimes I do think to myself, and wonder if, in another universe, we could ever be more. But just as fast as those thoughts would come, as quickly as they would leave. Chase has always been my friend, and as much as I would hate to admit it, I think us being something more would ever only live in my thoughts and dreams.
I sighed as I tried to shake away any thoughts of Chase that were floating around in my head when my brother opened my bedroom door. I jumped a few inches off the bed, clenching my chest.
“Are...you okay?” Jake asked when he kept his hand on my doorknob.
“Yeah...I’m fine...just a weird dream, that’s all,” I said as he nodded slowly.
“I get it...want to go to the lake? Chase is on his way. Be ready in twenty,” he said as he smiled before closing my door.
I heard his footsteps rush down the hall as a door slammed seconds later.
My brother and Chase were friends since kindergarten. But it wasn’t until Jake’s eighth birthday party when I had first met Chase. I still remember when my brother ran up to me with Chase behind him as he introduced us.
“Hey Riley, this is my friend, Chase,” Jake said as I looked up to see him standing there before me.
Chase was pretty tan; it seemed as if he went to the beach quite a few times that summer. His hair was dirty blond with a hint of brown in it. He combed his hair upwards to form spikes, and his eyes were crystal blue.
“Hi, Riley,” Chase said as we waved to each other.
“Want to play with us?” he continued as I shyly said yes, and the three of us ran off to play.
As time went on, both Chase and Jake invited me to hang out with them while they played in the neighborhood or hung out around town. Soon we were inseparable, and the three of us would hang out every day. During the summers, we would spend our days by the lake.
But it wasn’t until we were in the seventh grade when Chase would climb to my balcony to talk. He said that my brother would never understand the things we talked about, and I did not mind spending time alone with him. Ever since then, both Chase and I have gotten closer. We talked about anything that was on our minds, and it felt lovely as he stayed quiet and just listened. And when Chase would speak, I listened. But it never went more than just an innocent talk between two friends.
I locked my door as I changed to a bathing suit and threw on a romper. I put my hair up in a ponytail, brushed my teeth, and applied sunscreen. With five minutes to spare, I was ready to go.
