I have edited the story to correct the typos and other mistakes.
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Chapter 1: Kayla
James and I met when we were four years old. He and his mom moved in next door; and they were invited over for a play date. My twin sister, Kylie, took one look at him and said, "ew, boy", and went to our room. He and I got along very well, and became friends instantly. Most people called him Jimmy, but when I got upset because I didn't have a nickname, he told me that I could call him James, so that neither of us had a nickname.
When we got to Kindergarten, another boy teased him because his best friend was a girl.
"Girls are gross, you can't have one as a best friend. You have to choose between us and her," the boy told him.
"If I have to choose between you and Kayla, I choose Kayla," James told the boy and took my hand as we walked away.
That began my lifelong love affair with James. We remained friends all through elementary school. In middle school, James began playing football, and gained some new popular friends. I continued to hang out with him, but our group dynamic changed. It was no longer just the two of us. My sister began hanging out with us, because boys were no longer gross, and brought her friends with her. He gained some friends from football, and we became a group of about twelve that hung out together. As he became more and more popular, we hung out less and less. He still was the nice guy, who let me call him James, because I didn't have a nickname, even though he became king of the school due to his football prowess. As each year went by, I grew more and more in love with him.
Even though we have known each other basically our whole lives, our true story doesn't begin until the summer after we graduated high school.
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I was staring. I knew I was staring, but I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. James had been talking to my sister Kylie on the front porch for 10 minutes. What could they be talking about for that long? Granted, Kylie was doing most of the talking, but James wasn't stopping her. He was listening. Finally, he stepped back and headed towards his house next door. I moved away from the window and went back to the kitchen table and pretended to read the newspaper that was spread out. Kylie came back inside and went to the refrigerator to get a drink.
"Hey Kylie," I said as casual as I could, "what did James want?"
"Nothing really. He just wanted to talk," She said as she opened a can of Diet Coke. "I think he likes me. I mean, why else would he come over just to talk. Amber did tell me that he mentioned trying to get up the courage to ask me out."
"Really?" I said trying not to sound too shocked. "Are you going to say yes?"
"I haven't decided yet. I mean he is gorgeous, but we are going to different schools in the fall. It would just be a summer fling."
Kylie decided to end the conversation there by walking out of the room, leaving me in my misery. I have had a crush on James for as long as I could remember. We have been good friends our entire lives. I didn't want to be the one to ruin that by professing my love and being rejected. And there is no doubt that I would be rejected, especially if Kylie was his type. Kylie and I may be twins, but we looked nothing alike. Where she was thin and athletic, I was curvy and a bookworm. We had slightly similar features, but they looked vastly different on our frames. She was going to the local state college on a track scholarship. I, on the other hand, got an academic scholarship to Notre Dame. James was going to Notre Dame with me, on a football scholarship. He was the epitome of a high school football god. He was tall, dark, and gorgeous; and completely out of my league. He had dated the prettiest girls in the school, he was the most popular kid in our graduating class, and everybody loved him. Even though he ruled the school, he was never mean or cliquey. He was an all around nice guy, which just made me like him more. If James were to reject me, I am sure he would do it in a nice way, but I know that would just make me feel worse. I needed to get him off my mind.
I decided to head outside to check the mail before our parents came home from work. It was summer break before we all went off to college, and we had decided to spend the entire summer with all our friends at the beach to have some great memories to take to college with us. As I reached the mailbox, James popped up out of nowhere.
"Hey Kayla!" He said.
"Oh my god!" I exclaimed, pressing my hand against my chest. "Don't do that. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"Sorry," James said. "I was trying to catch you earlier. Kylie said you weren't home."
"Huh, that's weird. I've been home all day. I wonder why she said that."
"I don't know... Anyway, a couple of the guys are planning a trip to the beach tomorrow morning. They are planning on spending the entire day there. I was wondering if you wanted to come."
"Yea sure, that sounds like fun," I said as I grabbed the mail out of the box. "I wonder why Kylie didn't tell me."
"I figured we could go together," He said seemingly ignoring my question. "How about you swing by in the morning and we can take my car?"
"Sure. What times should we be there?"
"9. And it's just you and me. Kylie told me she is heading there later with some of the other girls. They don't like to get up that early."
"Right. 9 sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow." I started heading back towards the house.
"Wait..." James said jogging up next to me. "Maybe we could have breakfast at my house before we go."
"Am I going to have to make this breakfast?" I asked skeptically.
"Nope. I'll make breakfast." He said with his chest out.
"Cereal?" I said in a mocking tone.
"No, real breakfast. Eggs, or pancakes, or french toast. Something hot. I promise."
"Sounds yummy. I can't wait." I said as we reached the front porch.
"Great. I'll see you tomorrow." James hesitated for a second, like he wanted to to say something else, but then headed back towards his house.
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I woke up early the next morning. I was too excited to stay asleep. I was going to spend some time with James without my sister around. She always made sure she was between the two of us. I showered and shaved; making sure I would look nice in my bathing suit. It only took two minutes to walk over to James' house. I walked in the back door, like I had been doing since I was in elementary school. His mom was in the kitchen gathering her stuff in her purse.
"Good morning Ms. Morgan. How are you doing?" I said to James' mother as I walked in.
"Good morning Kayla. I am doing well. How are you? Enjoying your summer?"
"Very much."
"Well I'm off to work. Tell Jimmy that breakfast has come and gone. I'll see you later." She said as she walked out the door.
"Bye."
I headed up the stairs to James' bedroom. The door was slightly open, and I could see that he was still in bed. I walked in and turned on the lights.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead. Your mom said breakfast has come and gone." I walked over to his bed and sat down beside him.
"You know, you really need to work on your bedside manner," James said as he turned over towards me.
"Well I'm not planning on becoming a doctor, so I don't have to worry about that. What happened to us having breakfast?"
"Breakfast is still on the agenda." James said as he pulled me into bed with him.
"What are you doing?" I gasped as I rolled into his body.