Chapter 1

The beginning of this story is messy and uncertain. This isn’t a movie script or a fairy tale. It’s blurry and full of gray areas. It’s the story of two kids trying to find something special together. Some dreams get lost, some promises are unfulfilled. Some hearts get cracked. But nothing perfect every happened to anyone worth reading about.

It was spring of the year 2013. Their senior year of high school. By this point, everyone knew which college they were going to, no one had anymore exhausting tests and deadlines. Everyone was just trying not to senior slide too much as they coasted to the finish line, squeezing everything they could out of the ride along the way.

Jake had made it through high school in one piece. His plan was all a laid out for his future just as he wanted it to be, and he had made some great friends and memories along the way.

Lauren was happy to have the worst of it over, but scared for the future. Senior year she’d landed one lead role after another in every show and was surrounded by a solid group. But things can’t stay perfect forever.

When we start our story, Jake had been dating a girl in the theatre group for a short while. They had a few struggles with different expectations so the relationship ended. But that didn’t stop him from meeting up with her friend group after school.

The theatre kids they called themselves. A wacky bunch of overly exuberant, loud and outgoing people, it was always their business to congregate in the most inconvenient places for other people trying to get past in the hall or go through the door. But you could hear them from down the hall, and they were always relied upon to hang out in the same place every day after school before each of their different rehearsals began. This is where they met.

Sure they knew each other. Facebook friends since he started dating the mutual friend Alissa. His younger sister had been in many musicals through community theatre with Lauren. But they had gone to different middle schools, hung out with different crowds, and never really talked.

So when the breakup happened, against all expectations, Jake continued to hang around the group. He made other friends, he chatted. He was always good at talking to people, knew what they would like to talk about, and exactly what to say. So it was not a surprise to Lauren when Jake began talking to her as well. He would meet up with them afterschool for weeks on end, he became a common part of that daily ritual. On one not so particular day, Lauren noticed Jake had gotten a new phone.

 “Oh you got an iPhone!” Lauren says.

“Yeah, my parents got one for me.”

“Oh who are you snapchatting?” she asks.

“Just some friends. Do you want to be in one?”

“Sure!”

They took the photo and he sends it to a friend. “Do you have a snapchat?” He inquires. She responds with yes, and they quickly add each other to their contacts. After sending a snap to make sure it works, they go their separate ways as she goes to rehearsal and he leaves to drive home.