Contrary to popular belief, I do actually appreciate constructive criticism. If I am making mistakes, especially repeatedly, then obviously I haven't caught the error. That is what this website is for: to become better through peer evaluation. If I do not recieve any feedback, then I cannot become better, and the others on this website have done me a disservice.

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When she finished dusting the shelves, Chloe moved on to wiping down the coffee table. Blake was in the middle of vaccuuming. Chloe marveled at how well they had been getting along. They did homework together, ate together, still slept in the same room even. They had both independently decided that it was a little weird, sleeping in their parents' room. She found that with him as a friend, she didn't miss Kevin so much, and her life didn't seem as stressful. Blake's mind was on a totally different matter, namely chasing a bug with the vaccuum. It was running for its life, but not nearly fast enough. He chuckled to himself. It would be terrified for all of two minutes before it forgot entirely the traumatic vaccuum incident. Suddenly, the tarp was ripped aside, and in stepped their parents. The two exchanged looks, and dropped what they were doing to greet them. Without so much as a 'hi', Gloria announced,

"We've decided to move back home, Blake. We don't think you two will make a good match after all."

"We don't want you two talking to each other any more. I'm sure that won't be hard for you," Matthew said.

"Dad!" Chloe protested. "Isn't this a little sudden? I mean, we've been living together for a while now...it'll be weird."

"Yeah," Blake agreed, "weird." He paused for a second before continuing. "We've gotten so used to each other, you know. Plus, I don't want to change schools in the middle of the year."

"That would be pretty unfair," Chloe chimed in. As hard as it was to admit, they were both scared. Neither of them would admit exactly why, but it was a shockingly strong feeling for both of them.

"We've already made our decision," Blakes father, Kenneth said sternly, "now go pack your things, we're leaving tonight."

Blake and Chloe both headed to their room and began gathering all of his belongings.

"I can't believe this," Chloe noted, "Just a couple weeks ago they were forcing us to go on dates." Blake nodded.

"I'd rather be doing that than packing," he muttered. Chloe tossed him a duffel.

"Yeah. At least that was familiar. This is weird, even for them." She found a stray sock under the bed and handed it to him.

"Agreed." Grimacing, he shoved a pile of clothes into the duffel.

They packed the rest in silence.

An hour later, Blake was ready to leave. His dad grabbed his bags, and both of his parents slipped past the tarp. Hesitating, Blake turned to Chloe. Without warning, she launched herself at him, hugging him quickly, then just as quickly retreating.

"I'm sorry," she said, a nearly imperceptible twinge in her voice. "I guess. I guess I'll miss you or something."

"Yeah," he said, and left. Why did he feel so horrible leaving her behind?

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The next night, I was sitting in my room, feeling sorry for myself. I had foregone dinner and hadn't spoken to my parents since he had left. I kept asking myself what was so upsetting. It wasn't like he was my boyfriend, and it wasn't like he was dead. Everything would work out, I kept telling myself over and over and over. But it didn't feel like it would work out--it felt like the end. But the end of what? A friendship, definitely, and maybe, I grudgingly admitted to myself, something more than a friendship.

Then the phone rang. I shreiked and scrambled to answer it.

"Chloe?" the voice said. My heart stopped, I choked, and it thudded painfully back to life.

"Yeah?" I responded, not sure what to say. "Blake?"

"Hey, you recognized my voice." I had a feeling he was kidding, but it was hard to tell without seeing that goofy half-smile he always did when he was making a bad joke and knew it. I laughed.

"I thought we weren't supposed to be talking," I said.

"And I thought I didn't care." There were a few seconds of awkward silence. "I just, uh, called to say goodnight. You know, cause you can't have a good night without me telling you to."

"Well, thank you. I will have a good night now. But only because you told me to." I was joking--well, half joking. Okay, maybe a third. In any case, he laughed, we said goodnight and goodbye, and hung up.

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Drumming my fingers nervously on the steering wheel, I sped down the highway. It had been so long, it seemed. A whole semester, really, was how long it had taken me to save enough money for the car I was driving. I'd already had about a thousand in savings, so all I needed for a car that would actually drive, and do so for longer than a day was three hundred. The car shook as I slowed to exit. Oh man, I was so nervous. We hadn't really talked after that one night, since Chloe's number had changed mysteriously. I wondered if she was even still in the same town, but I had to try it. Since my parents had actually moved us several hours away, it was impossible for me to find a ride. I didn't have any friends at my new school or work until several months in, and even then, they weren't willing to take me anywhere.

Most of the town hadn't changed at all, but there was a Pizza Hut conspicuously near the high school. I stopped there first, to see if she was there. Flowers in hand, I then walked to the high school. Not only my knees, but my whole body was shaking as I pulled the doors open. And there she was, standing in the hallway, looking amazing. She had gained weight (due to Pizza Hut? The world may never know), and it looked cute on her. It seemed to accentuate her smile, make it brighter, although maybe that was just because I hadn't seen her in so long. She turned and saw me, and the smile disappeared. I faultered. Now I wasn't so sure. What if she didn't want to see me again? Then she was running toward me, but she somehow tripped and fell. I wasn't used to her being clumbsy, and laughed. As she stood, she glared.

"Still enjoying other people's pain, I see," she commented as she finished closing the distance between us.

"Oh, you know me. I kick puppies in my spare time." She took the flowers and smelled them, smiling.

"I thought you'd never come back," she told me. I shrugged.

"I just bought my car yesterday."

"Oh."

"And what about your phone number?" I asked.

"My parents changed it and actually paid for it to be unlisted."

"Oh." We stood there in awkward silence for a while. I didn't really know what to do, so I grabbed her and kissed her. Hey, might as well go for the gold, right? She kissed me back, and it was short and sweet, just like a first kiss should be. She tasted like ChapStick. Not really my favorite flavor, but I couldn't complain. I had finally done something I had been wanting to do for what felt an eternity. She hugged me and said,

"You know, being married wouldn't be so bad." Whoa. Whoa. I was only seventeen for God's sake.

"Yeah," I responded in what I hoped was a sincere manner.

"But that's a long long way away," she added. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank god," I blurted out. She pulled away from me and smacked my arm.

"You scared me!" she exlaimed, "The way you said 'yeah' I thought you wanted to go get married right now!"

"Come on," I said, "I want to know if that gaping hole is still in your house."

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The parents peeked through the tarp, watching as Blake and Chloe approached, hand in hand. A job well done, indeed.

"Um, guys, what are you doing with a tarp in the middle of the yard?" Chloe asked.

The parents grinned at each other--the less she knew, the better.

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Okay, it's over. That's all--the end forever.