It was our last week of high school and I had to suffer seeing my mom come to school everyday to try and sell tickets for the senior all night party.

Her and another student's mom had a little booth in the lunch room where people could purchase tickets and everytime I walked by she just had to make it known she was my mom.

I rushed past the lunch room trying to get to choir and thankfully she decided to wave at me this time instead of shouting my name across the room.

I let out a dramatic sigh and smiled before waving back because even though she was embarrassing I still loved her.

***

I was standing in line for lunch with Jordan and Bryce when my mom smiled at me again.

It caught Bryce's attention, and because he was an idiot he turned to Jordan and said, "things are looking good for your future bro."

I rolled my eyes, grabbed a tray and slid it down the metal rail.

"We don't even look that much alike," I told them as I moved.

Jordan's eyes flickered from my mom to me.

"You look just like her," he said with a smile.

"For real," Bryce started to say as he looked over at my mom. "Same ass and all."

Jordan slapped him upside the head, luckily before I did cause I was gonna do it harder.

"I know you're part idiot but hitting on my mom is a new low," I said as I made eye contact with Harper from across the room.

"Charlie, don't get offended, technically I'm hitting on you too," he said.

Jordan slapped him upside the head again.

"Keep going," Jordan told him. "Cause it's almost like you want me to beat the shit out of you again."

We sat down at the lunch table as Bryce responded.

"Again?" he said in disbelief.

"When have I not been able to beat the shit out of you?" Jordan asked.

Harper cut in.

"What are we talking about?" She asked.

"Bryce hitting on me and my mom," I told her.

She screwed up her face.

"Don't worry Harper I didn't forget about you," Bryce said.

She made retching noises and Liam turned to Jordan.

"What time are we beating his ass?" he asked Jordan.

I ignored them.

"You are such a flirt Bryce," I told him while eating my sandwich.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Thanks, it's part of my charm," he said, not bothered in the slightest.

I made a noise in the back of my throat.

"When you get a girl bro just you fucking wait," Liam said.

Harper and I laughed at the thought of Bryce having a girlfriend.

Even though we could admit he was hot we couldn't believe that he would ever stay committed to anyone. Bryce was never serious. Him with a girl was unheard of because he took fuck boy to new levels.

Bryce rubbed his heart and shook his head at us.

"You guys can play pretend all you want but I know you want me."

Harper and I looked at each other again before bursting into laughter.

***

It was Friday night and my mom and I were heading to the senior all night party.

My mom was volunteering at the food station so we drove together. The theme was Vegas and when I got there I saw all the casino games lined up in the middle of the lunch room.

My mom and I split up and I handed her my phone since we weren't allowed to have phones.

I found Harper and Margot by the tattoo station, where you could get the fake tats that lasted for around a week.

We all decided to get a string of roses tattooed on our lower backs. Very tramp stamp-esque. The female "tattoo artist" thought we were hilarious and laughed with us as we explained what we wanted. Elyse came mid explanation and decided to participate as well.

After we got our tramp stamps we went to play black jack which I was surprisingly good at. I didn't even really know how to play so I was just winging it and so far it was working. I was getting the big money and taking hella chips.

We eventually moved to the slot machines. It turned out we all had shit luck at the slot machines so we went down stairs to the gym where we found the boys.

They were racing on these little cars on a laid out racetrack when we walked in and the sight of them on these little ass cars had me dying.

Jordan flicked me off with one hand as he hit the gas to try and pass Liam.

We all let them do their own thing and we decided to race each other in these giant inflatable balls that we could get in.

I went up against Margot and I assumed she would win because she was an actual athlete but I raced her anyway.

Harper zipped me up in the ball and shot me a thumbs up before giving me a pep talk.

The attendant shouted our cues and on go we started running.

Halfway to the finish I slipped and rolled but the momentum kept me going. I heard laughter behind me but I was so disjointed that I could only laugh with them as I kept going.

Margot made the mistake of looking back at me and laughing which caused her to slip and roll too and then that caused me to push past her to get to the finish line and win.

I jumped around in my ball while Harper unzipped me. On my first step out I gloated cause I was a sore winner.

I was also severely out of breath so 30 seconds after my victory dance I had to stop to get some air.

Liam and Harper raced each other next and then Jordan made me wait in line with him to race on the mini cars again.

Once it was our turn I got in the little blue car and Jordan got in the little orange one and we waited for the signal buzzer.

Once it went off I hit the gas and went flying.

"Jesus Christ!" I screamed as I slammed my foot on the break. "How the hell do I control this."

"Maybe use the steering wheel," Jordan said as he passed me.

"Shut up," I said as I put my foot on the gas again.

I didn't know if my machine's speed reader was broken but it was moving way faster than Jordan's so I passed him again just at the nick of time and won.

"How's it feel to be a loser?" I asked as I stepped out of my car and did another victory dance.

I swung my arms around my body in a circular motion and Jordan just watched me, amused.

Afterwards we went upstairs again to eat some snacks before heading to the karaoke machine.

Jordan, Liam, Cameron and Bryce said they needed to go first and they wouldn't tell us what they wanted to sing.

We stood back with interest and excitement like we were some band groupies.

They all turned around to face the wall and when the first few chords came through the speakers we started to cheer.

They spun around to face us once the beat dropped and then I laughed even harder because none of them could sing.

Big Time Rush would have been disappointed that these 4 idiots ruined the song Boyfriend but I, however, was kind of impressed.

The girls and I screamed like fans and when Jordan pointed at me I pretended to faint out of pure adoration.

Once they finished they all posed in stupid boy band poses and then we screamed even harder because they were just that talented.

"Ladies, ladies, ladies," Bryce said as he walked towards us.

We all ceased screaming.

And before he said another word, we all simultaneously said, "Shut up Bryce."

We moved on to the Photo Booth and first we got a couple pictures with my pals and then I went in with Jordan so we could take some, just the two of us.

I sat on his lap and we did the basic couple photo booth pictures. First one smiling, second one him kissing my cheek, third one a stupid face and then the fourth one was just us kissing.

It was cheesy but it made us happy so we did it anyway.

Jordan deepened the last kiss and when his fingers encountered the slight bumps from the fake tattoo he arched my back to get a closer look.

He furrowed his brow and stared.

"What the hell?" He asked.

I decided to mess with him.

"Oh did I not tell you?" I said casually.

He looked at me.

"Um no," he said confused.

I climbed off his lap.

"I got tatted up," I said with a smile.

Harper suddenly knocked on the frame of the booth.

"Stop making out and let Liam and I have a turn," she said.

Jordan and I got out and I looked at Harper willing her with my eyes to understand what I was doing when I said, "I was just telling Jordan about my tattoo."

She looked at me like I was dumb.

"Cool," she finally said as if I was nuts. "We all got the same tattoos," she told Jordan.

His mouth dropped open and I laughed at the sight.

"Harper," I said while winking. "We got matching tattoos at the tattoo parlor, remember like 3 days ago?"

She wasn't getting it.

"What the hell Charlotte are you drunk? We got them here and they're temporary," she said.

I facepalmed before rolling my eyes.

"I was just messing with Jordan," I told her.

"Oh," she said stupidly.

Jordan smiled when he realized and then made me take him to the tattoo section where we both got each other's names tattooed on our inner arms.

"My mom is going to be so proud." I told him sarcastically.

Jordan looked at me.

"Your mom is light work. My mom would kill me and then force me to go to church so they could pray for me."

I let out a laugh as they finished up.

All the stations were closing down because it was time for the hypnotist.

We filed into the auditorium and waited for the hypnotist to come out.

Jordan and I were both skeptical but we figured it would be fun so we participated. In the beginning he picked some volunteers and had them get hypnotized for the show.

Margot volunteered and I didn't know what he did but that her and the 9 other students he hypnotised looked completely gone.

He sat thim in a row so we could see them and had them complete mildly humiliating tasks.

Margot was hypnotized to forget her last name everytime he asked. Every time he asked it was like for some reason she couldn't remember and then she would glare at the laughing audience as if it was their fault.

The whole thing was hilarious and by the end I was starting to believe that hypnosis was definitely real.

They did some raffles at the end and I won airpods and Jordan won a mini fridge for his dorm. Once we got our items we were free to leave and we finally got our phones back.

Jordan drove me home because I didn't want to wait with my mom. He tried to get me to hang out with him some more but I fell asleep in the car because it was past my bedtime.

I woke up expecting us to be somewhere fun but I realized we were at my house.

"I thought we were hanging out?" I said sleepily as I rubbed my eyes.

Jordan pushed hair out of my face.

"Nah Charlie, you're tired." He said softly.

"No, I'm awake." I told him to try to play it off.

He gripped my thigh.

"Nah go home and go to bed," he said looking at me funny.

I glared at him and he just smiled back at me, not budging.

"Fine," I said as I picked up my purse.

I put my hand on the door handle and opened the car door slightly but I paused once I heard Jordan say my name.

I turned back to look at him and he still was making a funny face.

I was going to ask what was wrong but before I could say anything he kissed me.

And it was a different kind of kiss. It was softer and sweeter. Like he was savoring this moment. Like he was telling me something important.

When we broke apart, breathless, I felt my lips fix into a small smile.

"What was that?" I whispered.

He gripped my thigh harder.

"I'm going to marry you one day," he said back in response.

My smile widened even more.

"What?" I asked.

He ignored me again.

"I love you," he said.

I tucked hair behind my ear.

"I love you too."

We were heading into strangely mushy territory for us and I was kind of confused but I could tell this was serious to him and I needed to let him get this out.

"I'm going to miss you so damn much."

I nodded.

"Me too."

"Nobody knows me like you."

Stupid little tears pooled in my eyes.

"I don't want you to forget me," he finished.

I shook my head.

"I could never." I told him.

He brushed my face with his hands and closed his eyes.

"What the hell am I going to do without you?" He asked softly.

And then just like that I felt like we were 5 years old again and we had just met. When we had no idea there would have been an us. Before college was going to screw things up and before I couldn't imagine a life without him.

And even though I knew reality had its way of setting in I still felt like I could promise him me. I wanted that more than anything and I couldn't imagine that changing. And surprisingly when I did I had never felt more free.