I’ll always remember the first day I met Jacob Gorrenson. We were eight and so naive. I was sitting on the curb watching my parents go back and forth moving furniture into our new apartment. Then this little blonde boy walked up to me and handed me a popsicle.
“My mom told me to give that to you,” he said before he sat down next to me. “I’m Jacob Gorrenson. What’s your name?”
“I’m Jane. I just moved here.”
“You wanna ride bikes?”
“I don’t have a bike.”
Jacob grinned. “Then let’s go catch snakes.”
I gave him a curious look. “There’s snakes here?”
“Of course!” He said, “Come on, I’ll show you.”
So I followed him into a forrest behind our apartments that I hadn’t noticed before. We spent an hour walking around until a small slithering tail under a bush caught my eye. I was terrified, but Jacob bent down and petted it like it was a kitten.
After that day, Jacob and I became best friends. We did just about everything two little boys could do together. Other girls had Barbie dolls and easy bake ovens, but I had Jacob. He and I were practically inseparable. We went to school together, rode on swings, tossed pebbles, dug for treasure, etc… until the summer we both turned eleven. My parents announced to my brother and I that they had finally bought a home so that we didn’t have to live in a small apartment anymore. I was mortified. Not because I was scared of starting all over, but because I knew I was going to lose my first best friend.
When I finally had the guts to tell Jacob he shoved me down and didn’t talk to me for the rest of the day. But to my surprise, before I stepped into the family truck to leave, Jacob showed up and handed me a piece of paper. It was a drawing of me and him. “Don’t forget to come back,” he said before he ran off. He didn’t even wait for me to say something back.
Three years later, I saw him again at the city park. It was a sunny 4th of July. I had come with my friend, Kirsten and her boyfriend. After a while, I grew tired of feeling like the third wheel so I wondered off alone into the crowds of people. I just walked and walked until I noticed that I wasn’t walking alone anymore. There was a tall figure walking beside me. I looked up and saw Jacob’s green eyes looking down at me.
“Oh my gosh! Jacob?! Wait… Are you Jacob?” I was shocked.
He grinned, “I was wondering when you would going to finally notice.”
It turned out that he was spending a month at his grandparents place. He had moved to Spokane, Washington a few months after I had moved. I was shocked because of how much he had changed. He was about a head taller than me and his hair had gotten darker. I tried not to, but I couldn’t help being attracted to him.
We sat on the grass watching people dance to jazz music that a band played.
“I’m bored. Let’s go climb that tree,” Jacob said as he pointed to a huge sycamore tree off in the distance.
“No way! I don’t feel like walking.”
“I’ll carry you.”
“No… Besides, it’s way too high.”
“I’ll give you a lift.”
I finally gave in and we walked the mile to the tree. No one was there. It was just us and the tree. Jacob boosted me up and I sat down on a branch. Jacob climbed up and sat right next to me. I noticed that it was dark out now. I could barely hear the band playing in the distance.
“Is this the first time you’ve climbed a tree?” he asked.
“Yeah. It’s so high up here.” I looked down and realized that it was really high. It was a good thing I wasn’t afraid of heights. I looked at Jacob. “You know, I normally don’t do these kinds of things.”
“I know. You never did anything reckless unless I asked you too.”
I don’t know why, but that made me mad. I knew Jacob was right. I never took any chances unless I was told too. I turned to him and glared. That’s when I lost my balance and fell backwards and hit my head on the ground. Everything went black. When I woke up Jacob was kneeling over me. My head was on his arm and he was looking right at my face. The moon was shining through the branches.
“Jane? You alright?” He sounded like he was pleading for me to be okay.
I tried to sit up, but the moment I lifted my head from the ground a bolt of pain struck the back of my head and I winced. “Yeah, I’m fine. How long was I out?” I asked.
“Just five minutes” he pulled me onto my feet and that’s when the fireworks started going off.
“I missed you, Jane!” Jacob yelled over the explosions.
“I missed you more!”
When it was time to leave, Jacob pulled me into a long hug and I knew then that I had to see him again.
Little did I know that I did I know that my relationship with him was going to change my view on boys forever.
To Be Continued…