Chapter 1
Standing outside the Glenwood Springs West Glenwood Mall, Tara Smith stood patiently waiting. Her boyfriend, Nat Garcia stared at her for the longest moment and Tara thought to herself, Oh just kiss me already! I know you want to. Instead, he stepped towards her and gave her a big bear hug.
“See you later, baby,” he told her.
She looked around, to see that both his parents and her mom were waiting for them to finish.
“Okay, see you next weekend Nat,” she replied.
As she got into her mom’s car, she sighed. “So, did you have fun today, honey?” her mom asked.
“It was okay. We were walking around the mall again,” Tara told her.
Then her phone buzzed. Hope you had a good day today. The text read.
Yeah I did. She replied.
I wish I’d kissed you, but our parents were right there. He told her.
Yeah. Next time, hopefully. Send.
I love you. He texted her.
I love you too. Send.
“Was that Nat?” her mom asked.
“Yeah. Still telling me he wants to kiss me,” Tara said.
“I’m sure he will in time,” her mom assured her. “So are you excited to go to the Landmark College Program in Vermont?”
“I’m super excited,” she said. “I’m so glad you and dad are letting me go.”
“Have you told Nat you are going?” her mom asked.
“I have not,” Tara said. “I will tell him next weekend.”
The following Sunday, while lying in the grass, watching the clouds, Tara turned to Nat. “Hey Nat,” she said.
“Yes, baby?” he asked.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about,” she said. “I’m going to Putney, Vermont for three weeks at the end of the month for a school program. I will be back in mid-July.”
“But you will miss my birthday!” he cried.
“I know. But we can celebrate when I get back,” she assured him. “You will be fine, don’t worry.”
Again, when her mom came to pick her up, Nat stared at Tara for what seemed like ages, before finally giving her another bear hug.
“Did you tell him about your trip?” her mom asked as they were driving home.
“Yup. I’m going to miss his birthday but we’re going to celebrate when I get back.” Tara said.
“Good,” her mom said.
And maybe by the time I get back he will have the courage to kiss me. Tara thought.
Chapter 2
In late June, Tara and her mom arrived in Hartford, Connecticut. They drove up to Vermont, and checked out the campus, even though the program wasn’t starting for a few days. “It’s a nice campus,” her mom remarked.
“Yeah. I’m sure I will have a lot of fun here,” Tara agreed.
Three days later, the program began. Tara’s mom helped her check in, and when they arrived at her dorm, she found her roommate had already settled in. The girl noticed she’d walked in and smiled, but looked a little shy.
“Hi,” the girl’s mom said. “I’m Caroline, this is my daughter Kali.”
“Hi,” Tara said. “I’m Tara. I hope we can be good friends.”
Later that day, Tara and Kali had their first meal together in the dining hall. It was then that Tara thought she had her first friend. But that night was the only night Tara and Kali were on good terms.
The first week started and Tara enjoyed her classes. She was taking How to Write a Persuasive Essay class, Learning to Maximize Learning class that everyone had to take and a Community Art class. But as much as she enjoyed her classes, she knew it couldn’t be all about the school work and classes. She knew she needed to go out and be social, but she was too shy. She called home every day the first few days, complaining that she was home sick. She couldn’t really hang out with Kali because she hung out with her boyfriend Liam all the time.
Finally, her dad told her to go into the lounge, and there she met her first two friends, Keely and Landon. Landon was shy and would only talk to Keely at first, but Tara enjoyed being with them.
The next morning at breakfast, Tara was eating with Kali and Liam when Landon came over a sat next to Tara. They started talking, and Tara was so engrossed in their conversation, that she didn’t see Kali and Liam get up and leave.
Tara soon learned that Landon had depression, cut himself, and often had suicidal thoughts. It frightened her, because she had never met someone who had such dark thoughts. But she loved how open he was about his feelings and thoughts. She felt a deep connection with Landon and for sure knew she had her first friend.
A few days after they met, they were lying in the grass, talking softly, when Landon suddenly turned serious. “I don’t think I will ever get someone to like me this way again so…”
Tara didn’t understand what he meant at first, but the next thing she knew, his lips were on hers and it was Tara’s first kiss. But she was so startled by his actions that she pulled away after a few seconds.
Tara’s mind instantly drifted to Nat, and she suddenly felt ashamed. She told herself she wasn’t going to let that happen again. That night, she talked to Nat for the first time and although it was very awkward, there was no mention of the kiss that had happened earlier that evening.
As she spent more time with Landon, he wanted to kiss her, but she wouldn’t let him. He would kiss his fingers and then brush them against her lips and always ask, “Why can’t I actually kiss you?” She would always tell him, “This is enough.”
She spent the first week hanging out with Landon but he was finding that she was very clingy. He asked her if he could spend some alone time with Keely, and she always wondered what they were talking about. Finally, after spending a week with her, before their hall meetings, Landon asked Tara to meet him outside. “This is really hard to say,” he said. “But I think we should take a break and hang out with other people. I think you should fend for yourself, you know?”
“Okay,” Tara sniffed. “I understand.”
She tried to hold back the tears as she walked back to her dorm.
She was alone again.




Chapter 3
Tara was lonely and lost. Landon had been her only friend and now she had no one to hang out with. She spent the last full weekend at Landmark with a few girls that she was thrown in on their trip to mall.
But it was the middle of the final week when things for Tara finally turned around. She had been sitting next to this one boy for a week and a half and hadn’t said a word to him at all.
Okay, this is ridiculous. She thought to herself. I’ve been sitting next to this guy for a week and a half. I need to at least say hi.
She looked over at his computer and said, “Wow. Nice essay.”
He turned to her at her words and smiled. He looked at hers. “Yours too.”
She smiled. Well, this could be the start of something.
They chatted easily for the rest of the class. Then, realizing they both had the same class afterwords, they walked up the long, steep hill to their Learning to Maximize Learning class. They were walking in a large group and had a conversation going, and suddenly someone said to him, “What’s your name?”
Tara answered, “His name is Micah.” Having heard the professor call out his name so much in class, that’s how she knew.
‘See? “Micah said proudly. “She knows my name.”
Well, glad he knows I’m a girl. Tara thought.
The rest of the day she spent with Micah and she was very happy. She was so glad she finally had a friend again.
The next day, however, things started to change. The first moment they were alone, Micah asked, “Wanna make out?”
Tara looked at him strangely. “Um, no. I have a boyfriend,” she told him.
But he didn’t hear her. Instead, he continued to ask her to make out with him. Every time however, Tara would respond, “No.”
But Micah didn’t stop asking all day. Finally, when it was time for her to check in for the night, Tara felt relieved.
Then, she got a text from Keely. Hey. I saw you with Micah. Did he kiss you?
No. But he asked me all day. She replied.
Well, he isn’t serious about it. He tried asking me to make out with him earlier this week. Keely texted her.
Well, hopefully he gets over it. Tara thought to herself.
But Tara’s thought wasn’t as accurate as she thought. Every time she and Micah were alone, he would ask her, “Wanna make out?”
Her same response, “No.”
But she was curious about one thing. “Micah,” she said. “Keely told me you asked her to make out with you earlier this week. Did you?”
“Yes I did,” Micah said. “But she said no and I didn’t ask her again. She isn’t my type anyway.”
“Oh,” Tara whispered. “Okay.”
Later that night, after the Lip Synch, everyone was able to have an extra hour before they checked in.
Oh joy. Tara thought.
Sitting on the bleachers, watching students run around in sheets, Micah continued to ask Tara to make out with him, and she continued to deny him with one exceptional “Maybe.”
When an RA came and told them it was time to check in, they started walking back when Tara realized she was missing something.
“Micah! I’ve lost my cellphone!” she cried.
“Give me the number,” the RA said. “Is it on ring or vibrate?”
“Vibrate,” Tara told him.
He called her phone and they found it a few feet away in the grass.
“Delete my number,” the RA told her. “I don’t want any student having my number.”
We walked to the bottom of the stairs leading up to Hall Four and we stopped. “So, wanna make out?” Micah asked.
“You aren’t going to let me leave until you make out with me, are you?” Tara asked.
“Nope,” Micah said.
Tara looked at him, deep into his green eyes and knew that she couldn’t walk away from him without kissing him or she would feel guilty forever.
“Okay fine,” she agreed.
He stepped towards her and gently cupped her chin in his hand. He kissed her gently, but because she was new to kissing boys, she pulled away from him a few seconds later.
When she was safely back in her room, she cried, “Oh my gosh, Micah just kissed me!”
Kali looked at her, but she really didn’t care. “Eh. Liam and I started making out the first day we got together.”
The next morning was the last morning for Tara and Micah to be together. When they were sitting on the couch in the Hall Four lounge, Tara was texting Nat, and Micah was reading the texts. As she was replying to one of his repetitive texts, Micah suddenly grabbed her phone out her hand.
“Hey!” she cried. “Don’t throw my phone!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Micah told her. “I just want to tell your little boyfriend something.”
“Okay. But don’t say anything mean,” Tar told him.
“I won’t,” Micah said.
It took him five minutes to figure out how to send a text from her phone, but when he finally sent it, she grabbed her phone back and sighed when she read the text.
Stop sending one word answers! :3
Um, okay. Was Nat’s response.
Later that morning, after eating breakfast, Tara was standing talking to a few of her friends, when Micah called her name from the top of the hill. She turned towards his direction when he came sliding down the hill.
‘Oh my gosh Micah!” she cried. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Hey, I just knocked service into my phone. Anyway, my dad just called me and told me we aren’t going straight back to New York when they pick me up, so I have to go do laundry, so you are coming with me.” His eyes were on Tara.
“Me?” she asked.
“Yes,” Micah said. “And you can’t protest about it.”
He grabbed her arm and dragged her down to the laundry room.
They stood there as his laundry was going and Tara thought he was going to start making out with her again, but only moments after they had been in the laundry room, Micah’s friend Julian sauntered into the room and they started discussing video gaming. Tara stood there with a disgusted look on her face as the boys excitedly talked. She looked at her phone and realized it was time for her to leave. Finally. An excuse to get away from this conversation. She thought to herself.
“Hey Micah?” she asked. “It’s time for me to leave.”
“Oh, okay,” Micah said.
They walked back up to Hall Four, and stood in the doorway, staring at each other.
“So,” Tara said.
“Wanna make out?” Micah asked.
“You got your memory yesterday,” she told him. “Why do you need another?”
“I want another memory,” he told her.
“Okay,” she sighed.
He stepped towards her again, cupped her chin in his hand and gently kissed her as the world disappeared to her and she didn’t even hear one of her friends come in and say, “Aw, you have a little lover.”
When they separated, Micah smiled at her, and Tara nodded at him.
“Bye Micah,” she said.
“Bye Tara,” he said.
Then she turned, feeling the tears prickling at her eyes.
As she headed back home, all she knew was she had feelings for a new guy and she would have to break it to Nat.
Chapter 4
Back home, Tara began to constantly stay in touch with Micah. They were constantly chatting on Facebook, and as soon as she found out her parents were getting divorced, she found herself calling Micah for support. She knew she had to tell Nat and end their relationship for good, even though she knew it would be hard.
She decided to give him one more chance with one more date. They went miniature golfing in West Glenwood with his parents, two brothers, and his cousin. She felt totally uncomfortable. After their date, she asked if she could talk to Nat alone. When they were alone, Tara took a deep breath.
“So, Nat,” she said. “There is something I have been thinking about for a while. I think we should just be friends.”
“You’re breaking up with me?” Nat asked, shocked. “But I love you!”
“I know, but I don’t feel the same way,” Tara told him. “A relationship can only work when both people feel the same way about each other. I’m sorry Nat.”
“But we can still date!” Nat told her. “I love you!”
“No Nat,” Tara said. “If I’m only making you happy, it’s not fair to me. I need to be happy too.”
“Who’s the other guy?” Nat asked.
“Why do you assume there is another guy?” Tara asked.
“It sounds like you are dumping me for another guy,” Nat told her.
“Okay. I met a guy at the program I attended,” Tara explained. “His name is Micah and he has been helping through a rough family matter that I am dealing with. I do really care about him. I think I am falling in love with him.”
“Well, this guy better watch his back,” Nat said. “He doesn’t know what fight he picked.”
“Bye Nat,” she told him firmly.
She walked away, feeling strong, knowing she had done the right thing and she and Micah were free to date.

Chapter 5

The months began to fly and Micah and Tara began to keep in touch non stop .they began to plan to see each other again, and Micah really wanted Tara to come to New York,and as much as she wanted to go visit him out east, she told him her mom believes if he truly cares about her, he would come to Colorado first, then she could go visit him in New York. He moaned about it at first, knowing he’s not very fond of rural areas, but agreed. He soon began to look t his breaks, but found that he couldn’t set his mind on one break and found himself telling Tara he was coming to see her, then cancelling at the last minute for reasons of other trips or fares being too expensive. It began to worry Tara and she began to feel she would never see Micah again, even though he made her very happy and they cared for each other deeply.

Tara’s mom began to see the emotional rollercoaster Tara was on and it worried her that Micah was just going to break her heart. She began talking to her soon to be ex husband about it, emailing him and letting him know what was going on. Tara’s dad also began to see changes in Tara’s attitude and agreed that it could soon lead to heartbreak. So Tara’s mom decided to talk to Tara about it.

It was a few days before Valentines Day that Tara’s mom decided to bring it up at the dinner table.
“So Tara,” she started. “Is Micah planning to come visit any time soon?”
“Well, money’s tight at the moment, so he might not be coming out for a few months, maybe his spring break,” Tara informed her.
“Well, I’m asking because your dad and I have been noticing your change in attitude and we think it’s because of Micah’s constant promises to come see you then letting you down,” Tara’s mom explained. “We want you to be happy and we don’t want to see you get hurt or heart broken.”
“I am upset about his cancelling, yes. But he will come out here, Mom,” Tara told her.
“When?” her mom asked. “I don’t think its good for you to be waiting on a boy who isn’t taking this seriously. I think you need to tell Micah that he needs to tell you he is coming to see you or you guys should just be friends.”
“You want me to break up with him?” Tara cried.
“I know you care about him Tara, but if he isn’t going to take this seriously, then there are pleanty of boys out there who would love to date you,” her mom told her.

Tara got up from the table in tears and ran to her room. She called Micah and waited impaitently as the phone rang three times before Micah finally answered.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” she said sadly.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, noticing the sadness in her voice.
“We need to talk,” she told him.
“What about?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she answered. “Micah, are going to be coming out here soon?”
“You don’t sound great,” he noted. “I want to come out to see you but money is tight for us at hapter the moment, I told you that, remember?”
“I know,” she told him. “But my parents are worried that I’m acting sad because you keep promising to come out and then don’t.”
“Well, Tara, I’m trying as hard as I can, but it will be a while till I come out,” Micah said.
“Well, I guess we have no choice then if you don’t have an exact date,” Tara sighed. “I think we should be friends.”
“Your breaking up with me?” Micah asked. “Don’t your parents know we love each other?”
“That’s the point,” Tara told him. “My parents want to prove you love me by coming out here.”
“Well, times are tough,” Micah told her.
“I know. That’s why I think we should go our seperate ways,” Tara said. “I’m sorry Micah.” Then she hung up the phone, and fell on her bed, sobbing uncontrollably until she fell asleep.

Chapter 6

The days were long after that call for Tara. Valentines Day came around and she sighed as she tried to avoid all the couples at Basalt High School and just get through the day. When she got home that night, her mom told her she was going to dinner with a friend of hers. “Lucky you,” Tara mumbled.
“What’s that supoosed to mean?” her mom asked. “I don’t like when you use that tone with me.”
“You made me end my relationship!” Tara cried. “Do you know how that feels?”
“There are other boys in this world besides Micah,” her mom told her. “Now, I have to go. I will see you later.”
Tara spent the night in her room, just thinking about Micah, wondering if he was thinking of her too.

2000 miles across the country, Micah was staring at his computer screen, video gaming, talking to the other players. He was hurting, but because of his ADHD, he didn’t show his emotions very well, and the way he decided to cover up his feelings was by engrossing himself into his video gaming world. He missed Tara terribly, and his friends told him what happened was a bad move. But he didn’t know what to do. He wanted to talk to his mom about it, see if she could help him out, and then hopefully he could surprise Tara.

Tara was miserable at school. She realized why she loved talking to Micah. No one else at school would. She couldn’t believe her parents thought her relationship with Micah was unhealthy. Couldn’t they see now why she needed him? She was even more miserable and couldn’t do anything but think of him. Gradually, her junior year came to an end and she passed all her classes. But her summer would bring a great surprise to her.

Chapter 7

Summer began to pass slowly for Tara. She hung out with a few friends, but nothing could replace void of Micah. She still thought of him quite frequently and missed him terribly.

It was on July 6, 2011 when Tara got a shocking phone call. It was about 9am when her cell phone buzzed. It was an unknown number but the text read, “Be at Aspen Airport at 1:15pm.”
Tara was confused but went up to Aspen on the 12:15pm bus. While standing at the arrival area of the airport, she didn’t bother to see what plane was arriving at the airport at 1:15pm. But it was when she looked at the door and saw the figure come through the door, she realized. It was him.
“Micah!” she cried. She ran to him and fell into his open arms.
“Hey there, sexy,” he said. “You got my text.”
“I didn’t know it was you,” she said. “But yes, I got it.”
“Why didn’t you know it was me?” he asked.
“I didn’t think we were ever going to see each other or speak to each other again, so I deleted it,” Tara admitted.
“So no one knows I’m here?” Micah asked.
“Nope,” Tara said.
“Well, then that gives us pleanty of alone time,” Micah said, sliding his hands around her waist.
“Oh Micah,” she laughed. “Not in the airport.”
“I know not here,” Micah said. “When we get back to your house.”
“Okay,” Tara said.
“Your shorter than I remembered,” he commented.
“Yeah, well, blame my mother for my shortness,” Tara said.
“I will,” he told her.
He put his arm around her. “I missed you Tara,” he said softly.
“I missed you too Micah,” she replied.
He then dropped his bag and she put her arms around his neck as he leaned down and kissed her. She felt his tounge brush up against hers, realizing this kiss was different from a year ago. The kiss last a few seconds, before he pulled away and she smiled.
“I love you Tara,” he said.
“I love you too, Micah,” Tara replied.