The sun shone brightly in my face, waking me up from my long slumber. I looked around and noticed completely new surroundings. What was this? Had I been kidnapped!? Where was I? I looked to the left of me and saw a trash bin. I sat up, with a perplexed look on my face as I took in my surroundings. I was on a park bench, still in my normal clothes, not pajamas. Suddenly, the memories started to come back to me. I had wanted to return to Celia, but had gotten lost in this park. I decided to take a quick nap on the park bench and ended up sleeping here for the night. That was pretty irresponsible of me, though. It's probably not safe for a teenage boy to be out on the streets at night, sleeping on a park bench.

Whatever. I survived the night, now I have to find Celia and apologize a million times to her for the way I treated her. I can't believe I yelled at her and made her cry. All those words were just spewing out of my mouth because of my own stupid feelings and she ended up being hurt. I really regretted what I had said to her. I just hope she can find it somewhere in her heart to forgive me. I wouldn't want our entire 9 years of friendship to be over just because of one fight. I started to make a plan for where to reach Celia. Her house, no doubt.  Now, I just had to find my way back there. I stood up, tucking my hands in my pockets, looking for a map, street signs, people that could direct me in the right way, anything! I started to walk when I looked around the park. That's when I hit me. 

This was the park Celia and I had fought in. It's only a block or two away from the school! I looked at my wristwatch. School for her was going to start in about 20 minutes. I sighed and turned around to face in the direction I needed to go in. I walked backwards for a second, and then started to run. If I ran as fast as I could, I could get there before Celia heads into her first class! I continued to run, trying to avoid all the obstacles in my path. Fire hydrants, trash bins, poles, bushes, dogs, people, it seemed they were all out on the street today. I groaned and continued to swerve, hop, or full on jump to avoid them. I felt the cool breeze hit against my face and my clothes. Even though it was cold out, I couldn't feel it. I could only feel my body heat up from running and releasing this much energy. This is the only time I've worked out. Ever. Man, I really need to get in shape.

I looked down at my watch. Ten minutes until the first bell rings. I picked up my pace even more, going at the speed of light just for Celia. I really hope we can be friends again, I didn't want to have to do this for nothing. I closed my eyes, not a smart move on my part, to avoid the persistent wind making my eyes all dry. Thankfully, I opened them before I could run into the pole that was dead center, right in front of me. I swerved around the pole and continued to run to my destination. I was sweating, I was panting, I wanted to just sit somewhere to die. This tells you how rarely I run. Suddenly, I saw it. The cold stone building with a dozen steps leading up to it. I could see the lockers and could see the students fleeing to their classes, out of fear of being late. I looked back down at my watch. 3 minutes. 

I ran up those stairs, nearly tripping and having a near death experience. I caught my balance and reached the top of the steps. I ran into the building and just stopped. I was completely out of breath and just needed to take a second for a breather. I panted and panted until I saw a girl come out from the corner. The red hair, pale skin, and emerald eyes. Celia. Perfect timing! Oh, how I missed that beautiful face. My beauty seemed ten times more beautiful now that I hadn't seen her for so long. I can't believe I even had the guts to try and hurt this fallen angel. Okay, Jack, enough gushing about her, just go ahead and apologize. 

"Celia!" I cried. She turned her head to me right away. Her face went from normal to a mixture of sadness and surprise. At least that's how I perceived it. She could secretly be wishing for my death in her mind. She's not at all hard to read, but I couldn't tell what she was thinking right now. We both stopped, dead in our tracks, just staring at each other from across the bleak hall. I gulped and looked back at Celia, inching closer towards her. The building was so desolate and quiet that you could hear my footsteps coming towards Celia. "There are no words in the world that can express my emotions right now. Celia, I was a fool for ever thinking you were jealous. I was a fool for abandoning you and going for the world. I know now that was my biggest mistake, and will always be my biggest regret."

My eyes started to slowly fill with tears. "I'm sorry that I let you down. I'm sorry that I couldn't be faithful. All it took was one day of attention and I turned on the girl who had always stuck by me. I turned on you and was mistrusting towards you, even though you were only looking out for me. If I had listened to you, what happened that night wouldn't have ever happened." I looked down at the ground. "I was humiliated. They made me feel like I was the prince of the ball, the boy that everyone admired." I sighed. "I was stupid enough to believe that they really cared..for me." My voice started to break. Celia's eyes widened and filled with tears upon hearing what I was saying. 

"They waited for the opportune time, then they got me in the center of the room. Everyone had eyes on me, everyone could see what was yet to come. They said they had a big surprise. A welcome for me, ever since I came to their school. I was prepared for the best night ever. Then I got soaked by two jocks who poured buckets of water on me." I inched a bit closer towards Celia. She didn't move back, she just leaned forwards a bit as if trying to reach me as well. "I ran out of their, soaked to the bone. Embarrassed, I fled from Quinn's place. My cell phone died, I couldn't reach you. That's when I understood..you were right." I mustered up a smile, even though tears were by now streaming down my face.

"You were right about everything. You said not to trust them, but I did and they betrayed me. They lied to me and said that I was welcomed with open arms. I trusted them to be kind and sincere to me. Well now I know that they weren't at all. But you were always there for me. You'd walk with me each and every day. I took that for granted when I became real. If I could be with you every day and night, even if I had to give up being real, I would do it in a heartbeat." I chuckled, while trying to wipe away my tears. "Celia, you are all that I have. I love you to the moon and back. Forgive me..please. I know I don't deserve your trust, but I promise you that I will never betray you ever again. You come first in my life now and forever." Now that I had been walking to her, we were only a foot or so apart.

I held out my hand to her. "I'm sorry, from the bottom of my heart, Celia. Please, forgive me. That would be enough." Celia's eyes were watery with tears. The hallway remained silent. I looked down at the ground, retracting my hand back to my side. It's over now. I should have known. Suddenly, the silence broke when I heard a quiet sob followed by more sobs, louder each time. I looked back up to see Celia, sobbing and heartbroken, with a tear stained face. She dropped her backpack on the floor and started to run to me. She finally reached me and hugged me like the world depended on it. My eyes widened, as I looked down at Celia. My tears fell on the ground. I smiled and hugged her back. "I take it that I'm forgiven?" I asked, with a gentle sob.

"Of course you are. That apology was more than I could ever ask for. I was fearing for the worst when you didn't return my calls. All night, I was a crying mess. I thought I had lost you. Well, now that I know how you truly feel, I'll never let you go again!" Celia cried, sniffling a bit. I smiled, thankfully. We stood in the middle of the hallway, not letting of each other. "I'm sorry, angel." I nicknamed. Celia smiled back at me as we pulled apart. "You are forgiven, Jack." She sniffled. We stopped and took a moment to just look at each other. We were finally back to the way it should always be. I wiped away her tears and smiled, wiping away my own. "Well, go off to your class. I'll be waiting for you right here." I smiled. 

Celia nodded and started to walk off, picking up her backpack. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to me, a sad and angry look on her face. "What did you say they did to you at Quinn's party?" She asked. I looked back at her. "Oh, they just poured buckets of water on me in front of everyone and laughed at me.." I started to relive the moment and shuddered. I slid down the wall and sighed, sitting on the floor. "It was pretty embarrassing. But that's what I get for not believing you." I turned back to her, a smile on my face. Celia smiled for a second, and then she got a purely angry look on her face. "That's not right what they did. That is the final straw for them. I'm going to talk to them right now." She started to walk away.

My eyes widened. I took her by the arm, looking into her emerald eyes. "Celia, what about your writing club? Don't you have to write for the school's weekly paper today?" Celia turned back to me. "You are more important. I am not letting this rest for another second. I'll be back soon!" She turned away and started to run towards where the mean girls would be. "Celia!" I cried, but she just kept running. I sighed. "Well, looks like those girls are going to get burned with Celia's fire."