The sounds came closer and closer and as soon as the person was in eye shot I fired the water from the gun. The person sped toward me and shot me with her water gun. We ran and dodged the water until we were soaked. “Madison,” I said through my laughter. “I have missed your childish antics.”

Madison rushed to me and gave me a hug. We spent about five minutes greeting each other before lying on the hood of her car, looking up at the sky as our clothes dried around our bodies. “Spence, there is a lot of confusion in your eyes. What’s going on?”

I hated how she knew everything just by looking at me. “I always thought that Ashley and I would never happen, you know? And now that we have, I don’t know if that is what I want.”

“Sometimes when you grow up, you mature and you don’t realize it until after the opportunities arise.”

“But how do I know if this is exactly what I want still?”

Madison stayed quiet for a moment, almost as if she wasn’t sure how to answer it. She opened her mouth and closed it numerous times before actually speaking. “When you wake up, is she the person you want to see most?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Do you get butterflies even when a thought about her crosses through your mind?”

“Yes”

“When she kisses you, do you feel vulnerable and unable to stay a solid person?”

I laughed. “Yeah”

“If the two of you got together and broke up, would you be able to know that she would still be there for you as a friend?”

I thought about all the things Ashley and I had gone through in the past and how no matter what she was always there. “Yeah, I guess she would be.”

“Then it sounds to me like you’ve already got your answer. You’re just too scared to jump in head first. By the answers you just gave, Spence, there’s no reason to be scared. But you shouldn’t be talking to me about your problems. It seems to me that you’ve already solved them.”

I smiled to myself knowing she was right.

TBC