Free Promise to Keep by Jessica Wood

floor.”
    “So?” I wasn’t sure where he was going with his question.
    “Well, when you took my hand, it meant you trusted me, and I somehow knew that from that day forward we’d be best friends.”
    I raised an eyebrow and looked at him dubiously. “You knew all that from just me taking your hand?”
    “Well, the way I see it, the moment you decided to take my hand was the moment I knew you trusted me.” He then paused and gazed into my eyes. “I know you’re worried about the future, Clo. I am, too. So I’m asking you now to close your eyes and take my hand again.”
    I looked at him suspiciously, unsure what he had planned.
    “Come on, Clo. Show me you trust me. Close your eyes and take my hand.”
    “Okay, Jax, but no funny business. Don’t you dare push me in the lake,” I warned before I closed my eyes.
    He chuckled. “That wasn’t what I was thinking… but thanks for putting that thought in my head.” The playfulness in his voice eased my nerves as I kept my eyes closed and reached my hands out in front of me.
    I felt his warm hands touch mine and an intense sensation rushed through me. Before I could figure out what the feeling meant, Jackson turned my hands around and positioned my opened palms together so that my hands formed a bowl shape. Seconds later I felt him place a cool, metal object in between my hands.
    “This is the surprise I had for you.” From the sound of his low, hushed voice, I could sense how surprisingly close he was to me.
    “This is what you got for me?” I asked in confusion. It feels like a lock—maybe a padlock, but why would he be getting me a lock?
    “Open your eyes.”
    I opened my eyes and saw him looking at me with a twinkle of eager excitement in his eyes. I forced myself to pull my gaze from his warm emerald eyes and looked down at the object in my palms.
    To my surprise, I was right. It was a padlock.
    But it wasn’t like the padlock I’d used for my locker in school. This lock was painted red and was in the shape of a heart.
    “What is it?” I looked back at Jackson expectantly.
    He beamed at me. “It’s a love lock.”
    “A love lock?” My stomach flipped when I heard his words.
    “Do you remember that pact we made when we were thirteen?”
    My eyes grew wide. I was too surprised to respond verbally, so I just nodded.
    Of course I remembered the night we made the pact. I remembered it perfectly like it’d happened just yesterday. I could still see the glow of the soft, colorful lights that moved across my bedroom ceiling that Jackson had created to mimic the Northern Lights. I remembered the things he’d said to me, the promises he’d made me, and the unforgettable kiss we’d shared. But for some reason, after that night, we’d never talked about the pact again—or that kiss we’d shared. After a while, I’d convinced myself that Jackson had forgotten about the pact and the kiss—or worse, he had regretted it and wanted me to forget about them.
    So to hear him bring up the pact we’d made that night five years ago paralyzed me with shock.              
    “Well,” he continued, “I know you’ve been nervous about going to different colleges and how that’d affect our friendship. I know you’re scared about being alone. I just want to let you know that I have those same feelings. And that is why I had this made for you—for us. I wanted to remind you of our pact and my promise to you. Even though we haven’t talked about it since we first agreed to it five years ago, I meant every word I said. If we’re both single by the time we’re thirty, I promise to marry you.”
    Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked into his eyes. “Oh, Jax. I meant it, too,” I whispered. “You’re my best friend, and I can’t imagine being happier than when I’m with you.”
    “I feel the same way. So I heard about this tradition with love locks recently where two people will lock a padlock against the railing of a bridge or gate and