LOS ANGELES, CA – STUDIO – APR.7th, 2002 – SUNDAY

     “Ash? Yo, Ash?” Trevor called out after opening the door to this small office Ashley was in “Ash?” he shouted, because Ashley apparently wasn’t paying attention to him.

     “Yes!” Ashley abruptly looked up at the door “Oh, hey, Trev.”

     “What’s going on? What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me calling you before I shouted?” Trevor trailed inside the room.

     “Sorry. I was just writing some stuff down.” Ashley gazed down at a piece of paper on the desk.

     “What’s that?” Trevor seemed really interested.

     “I can’t tell you or anyone else for that matter.” Ashley covered the piece of paper with both his hands “Not for now, anyway. But it’s huge, man. You are so gonna like it.”

     “Really?” Trevor rubbed his hands together “Now, why do you say that when you can’t tell me what it is?”

     “Because I like teasing you, man!” Ashley smiled.

     “You tease me alright.” Trevor nodded “Well, I just came here to tell you you’re next. You’re in in 10 minutes.”

     “Oh, ok, I’ll be right there.”

     “Alright.” Trevor said and exited the room. Ashley resumed to the piece of paper in front of him.

 

REDDING, CA – SHOPPING MALL – APR.7th, 2002 – SUNDAY

     Kirstin parked her car and headed inside.

     “So, you couldn’t think of anything better so we’re in the mall?” Kirstin surprised Jared from behind.

     “Oh, hey!” Jared turned around and hugged her.

     “Hey.” Kirstin hugged him back.

     “So, well, almost that.” Jared told Kirstin when he pulled back from the hug.

     “Almost? What do you mean by almost?”

     “Well, we’re not here for the mall; we’re here for the great bowling alley they have here.”

     “Oh, bowling, huh? That’s… lame.” Kirstin grinned.

     “No, don’t say that. Now you’re only doing that to hurt my feelings.” Jared looked down and pretended to be hurt.

     “No, it’s not that.” Kirstin was worried. She knew Jared was sensitive, was he really upset because of one of her jokes? “I don’t think that’s lame at all, it’s just…”

     “Good.” Jared looked up smiling.

     “You are trying to make me feel bad!” Kirstin playfully hit him on the arm.

     “Ouch.” Jared smiled, rubbing the spot on his arm where Kirstin had hit him.

     “Yeah, like that hurt.” Kirstin rolled her eyes.

     “It did!”

     “Yeah, right.” Kirstin rolled her eyes again.

     “Come on, let’s go.” Jared took her wrist and they trailed off to the bowling alley.

 

LOS ANGELES, CA – HOTEL – APR.7th, 2002 – SUNDAY

     It was 8 p.m. when Ashley got into his room and went to take a shower.

     After dressing up, Ashley got the piece of paper he was working on out of his jeans pocket.

     “Ok… let me see what I have so far.” he sat on a desk that was in the room and checked the piece of paper again, reading it carefully.

 

REDDING, CA – HARBOR HIGH – APR.7th, 2002 – SUNDAY

     “How did we end up here?” Kirstin asked Jared. They were both lying in the middle of the football field.

     “I don’t know. I guess those few beers we had while bowling had something to do with this.” Jared told her and then they both laughed. The alcohol was starting to wear off.

     “Probably, yeah.” Kirstin and Jared were lying, the tip of their heads touching and they were with their legs and arms spread out.

     “You know what I was thinking?” Jared asked her.

     “Nope. What?”

     “You’re with Ashley Angel and I’m with Cindy Cooper. We are dating the most popular people in highschool.”

     “Yeah…” Kirstin nodded “That’s weird, huh?” Kirstin let out a giggle.

     “Yeah! It’s totally weird. I could never imagine we would be dating them one day. It is against all the odds.”

     “I know what you mean. I could never really imagine it myself.”

     “Yeah… So, K…”

     “Yes, JayJay?”

     “Can I ask you something and you promise me you won’t lie?”

     “Sure. Shoot!”

     “When I kissed you that time…”

     “Oh…” Kirstin let out.

     “Yeah, so… when I kissed you that time… was it because of that kiss that you started to treat me differently?”

     “Well… I guess… yeah.” Kirstin didn’t feel the need to lie to Jared.

     “And did that happen because you had feelings for Ashley back then or you just didn’t like me like that? Like… kissing material.”

     “Oh, no. It was not because of you, Jay. It’s just that I always had these feelings for Ashley deep down inside.”

     “And why didn’t you tell him, then? I mean, I always thought he liked you too.”

     ”I know, but… I don’t know. I guess I always knew Ashley had feelings for me too, but I was just… I was really messed up during highschool.”

     “What do you mean?” Jared frowned.

     “Oh, it’s a long story. Let’s just say that I wasn’t really prepared to have a love relationship back then. I loved Ashley, but wouldn’t say anything about that to him afraid of what could come out of it.”

     “Oh, ok. I understand… I guess…” Jared said and Kirstin abruptly sat up and Jared decided to sit up too. Kirstin crossed her legs and so did Jared.

     “That’s not really important. What’s important is that we’re together now. So what if we’ve been through lots of difficult times? We’ve managed to get out of them and now everything is fine!”

     “About those difficult times… You mentioned them yesterday. Do you think that… I don’t know… that you’re ready to tell me about them?” Jared stared into Kirstin’s eyes. Kirstin didn’t sound too comfortable thinking about whether she should tell Jared about that or not. She then looked deeply into his aqua eyes and knew she could do that.

     “We got together one time and then I broke things off with him.”

     “Why?”

     “Because I thought I was in love with some other guy from New York.”

     “And were you?”

     “For a while, yes. So much that we even got engaged.”

     “You were engaged?” Jared sounded really surprised.

     “Yeah…” Kirstin played with her fingers and continued “It barely lasted a month, but yes.”

     “What happened that you called off the wedding? I’m guessing you were the one who called off the wedding…”

     “Yes, that was me. Well, he cheated on me.”

     “He cheated on you?” Jared was getting more surprised by the minute.

     “Yeah, well…”

     “What kind of an idiot is this guy?”

     “What do you mean?” Kirstin frowned.

     “Who would cheat on you, Kirstin? For crying out loud, you’re perfect! And I’m sure Ashley agrees with me here. And not only just the two of us. Anyone that knows you, would never do that if they had you.” Jared smiled to her.

     “I’m not perfect. And Tom was just… confused.”

     “Still!”

     “Well, he was. And that’s alright. I understand him and I forgave him already, so… we’re back to friends.”

     ”How could you forgive him for doing something like that to you?”

     “Well, the fact that I was pregnant with his baby kinda helped me forgive him.” Kirstin gazed down and tears started to form on her eyes.

     “You have a baby?” Jared couldn’t believe all the things he was hearing.

     “Actually, no.” Kirstin played with her fingers. Jared saw a tear fall down on the grass.

     “K, come here.” Jared got up and offered his hand out to Kirstin. Kirstin wiped the tears away from her face before accepting his hand “That’s ok.” Jared started walking “What happened, girl?”

     “I lost him.” Kirstin started crying again “I had some complications during my pregnancy and I lost him. I couldn’t even take care of my baby while he was inside me. Can you imagine how things would be if he had actually been born?” Kirstin was sobbing now.

     “Shhh… You are totally wrong.” Jared stroked her back “I’m sure it was not your fault.”

     “It was!” Kirstin couldn’t help but blame herself. It was easier that way. She felt the need to blame someone. She couldn’t just settle with the idea she had simply lost the baby and it was no one’s fault.

     “K, stop blaming yourself. I’m sure it was not your fault.”

     Before Kirstin knew it, Jared's arms were around her waist. She was too upset and tired of thinking about the baby to squirm away from him. And the longer his arms stayed there, the less she wanted them gone. Without thinking, she wrapped her own arms around his shoulders and leaned against his chest.

     “Shh… It’s fine. I know it was not your fault.” Jared said.

     Kirstin nestled her chin in his neck, tightening her grip on his shoulders.

     “Thank you.” Kirstin said.

     Jared tightened his grip on her waist, not letting her leave, trying to make her feel better. Kirstin let herself lean back into Jared's arms. She hugged him back, not wanting to let go. She wasn’t so over the fact she had lost a baby less than a month ago. It hurt to know because of her medications and her stupidity, her baby was gone. Thinking about it hurt, but Jared’s company was helping her at that moment. Kirstin's hands drifted from his shoulders to the back of his neck. Suddenly their hug changed. Her wet cheek was sliding against his smooth, dry cheek. Her lips were grazing his skin. And then, before she knew it, her lips found his.