Chapter 1 — 01

Here's the thing. Life happens. What does that even mean? Well, it means just that.

Life.

Literally.

Just.

Happens.

It is in constant motion, going on, no matter the circumstances and regardless of the outcomes. Sometimes, things happen the way we want them to, and sometimes, they don't.

In actuality, we have little control over how things turn out in the end. It is impossible to know how the choices we make will change the course of our future, how a small break from a relationship might seal our fate, or how an inconsequential choice over something we deem temporary could become permanent.

You see, every action has a reaction, and that reaction has another, and so on and on. Therefore, once that action is put out into the universe, we have no control over the infinite amount of reactions that might occur, forever changing the future.

I don't know if I believe in soul mates, but I do know that someone is out there for everyone.

There is one person who fits so perfectly in my life, someone I love unconditionally—someone who makes me laugh until I cry, and someone who I'm so attracted to that my blood will race through my veins at his every touch.

Okay, that sounds a lot like the definition of a soul mate, so maybe I do believe in it. Perhaps though, people can have more than one, but I don't.

I have one, and his name is Jax Porter.

I have known Jax my whole life, and by extension, I have loved him with every breath I've taken throughout my entire existence. Our mothers have been best friends, and Jax and I were born a mere month apart. Ever since we could communicate through slobbery gurgles, we have been put in the position to be inseparable best friends.

So, one might think our story is sealed, our fate written.

Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Through this experience of life, we have many choices to make, and each one will lead us down another path.

I find myself at a destination that I never imagined, and to be honest, I am terrified of it.

Yet here I am.

Now, I have to figure out where to go from here.

******

Lily

Age Twelve

I turn my face, laughing, as a gush of water collides with my cheek. Wiping the wet drops from my eyes, I see Jax surfacing from his recent cannonball.

"That was a big one, right?" His smile is wide with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, it was okay," I tease. "I bet mine will be bigger!"

I swim toward the ladder of our pool, taking note that the normally bright blue liner underneath the rippling water is taking on more of a greenish hue than normal. I love our pool in the humid Michigan summers, but I hate cleaning it. I sigh inwardly, remembering that it's my week to vacuum the pool. Yuck. Maybe I can bribe my younger sister, Keeley, to do it for me. She is usually pretty easy to win over. Admittedly, she sucks slightly more than I do when it comes to cleaning our algae—happy pool, so perhaps that isn't such a good idea.

"Sure, Little. Give it your best shot!" Jax grins as he flexes his arm muscles, displaying his manly biceps.

I grab on to the ladder and pull myself up, shaking my head, with a big grin spread across my face. He always makes me laugh. He has been my best friend for as long as I can remember.

Our mothers have been best friends since they were young. They grew up as next—door neighbors, and because they were each the only child in their families, they were more like sisters. They were each pregnant at the same time with Jax and me. So, we have been thrown together since we were born—or at least a month after I was born since I am a month older than Jax.

"Hey, it's Lil, not Little!" I say in reference to Jax's love of switching my nickname as a joke. "And remember, 'Though she be but little, she is fierce.'" The framed Shakespeare quote has adorned my bedroom wall for several years. It was a birthday present from Jax's mom, Susie.

The Little jokes are just that—jokes. I'm not abnormally small for my age. Well, I was one of the smallest girls in the sixth grade, but I know that in a month, come seventh grade, I am going to shoot up. At least I hope I will.

Usually, my size doesn't bother me, but I was the last girl in my class to get my period, and that was embarrassing. I wear a training bra, but to be honest, I don't even need it. I've got nothing. My older sister, Amy, is fifteen, and she has had legitimate boobs since she was twelve.

I steal a glance at her sitting in the lounge chair on the side of the pool, reading her Kindle. She looks like Mom in her bikini. She has hips and everything.

I still wear my purple one—piece. I refuse to wear a bikini. It would only draw attention to my wimpy boy body, not that it matters. Other than the few snide comments the bratty girls in my class have made, it doesn't affect me that I have no curves whatsoever.

I get a running start off the diving board, and thinking big and heavy thoughts for maximum splash effect, I jump as high as I can before grabbing my legs and crashing my balled—up body into the water with what I'm sure is an epic splash.

When I surface, Jax calls out, "Seven, max. Maybe even a six and a half."

"No way!" I protest. "That was at least a nine!" I tread water as I wipe the drops from my eyes. "What do you think, Kee Kee?" I direct my question to my nine—year—old sister.

She is adjusting her face mask and snorkel. She has been practicing her snorkeling abilities nonstop lately.

Her eyes appear bigger, showcased through the thick plastic of the hot—pink face mask she's wearing. She spits the snorkel out of her mouth. "I don't know, Lily. I wasn't really watching." She shrugs her shoulders.

"That doesn't matter, Keeley! You should always side with me. I'm your sister!"

She shrugs again before placing her face in the water to resume her snorkeling.

Jax chuckles. "Ah, poor little Lily. Can't get your sister to cheat for you? As I said, six and a half."

"Hey, mister, you said seven first! You are not taking it back. Besides, I give yours a five!"

He slaps his hand through the water, sending a wave into my face. "You're a sore loser, Lil."

"No, I'm not because I didn't lose. You got a five," I say indignantly. I swim to the front of the pool where I can stand.

Jax follows. He grabs my hands in his, entwining his fingers through mine. "Name That Tune?"

I grin. "Okay. You go first."

Hands intertwined, we take a deep breath and let our bodies sink into the water. With our heads submerged, Jax begins to belt out a song under the water. I listen really closely because it is very difficult to hear the song through the water. It reminds me of what that teacher from Charlie Brown would sound like if she were singing.

We run out of breath and come up for air.

"Any guesses?" he asks.

"Hmm. It sounded like Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You.'"

"Huh?" Utter confusion is etched across his face. "I have no idea what song you're talking about."

"I know you have heard that song before!"

"No, Lily, I haven't," he answers seriously.

"It is a classic. Haven't you ever watched The Bodyguard?"

"Body what?"

"The Bodyguard. It's an old movie with Whitney Houston and that other actor guy." I love to watch all my mom's old movies.

"Lily, seriously. Guess a song that I would actually know."

I let out a sigh. "Fine, but it sounded exactly like that song."

"Um, no, it didn't. Now, give me a real guess." He smirks.

"That was a real guess, but fine. Let me think. 'Get the Party Started' by Pink."

He laughs. "No. It sounded nothing like that."

"Fine, I give up. What song were you singing?" I remove my hands from his and cross my arms as I pout.

"Work It by Missy Elliot."

"What?" I ask in confusion.