Free Taking Chances by Deanna Frances Page A

back into his amazing light brown eyes.
    I stood up on the tip of my toes, threw my arms around his neck, and brought my lips to his. He put one of his hands on my back, and his lips moved eagerly, yet lightly restrained with mine. Most of his worries were gone. I would never leave him, and he knew that.
     
     
     

Chapter 8
    INDESCRIBABLE LOVE
     
     
    Somewhere near eleven, everyone but Jeremy, Jacquie, Annie, Michael, Dean, Spencer and I were gone. We all sat on the couches in the family room, watching TV. The guys left around midnight.
    Jacquie, Annie and I decided we would sleep down in the gigantic living room, so we made a huge bed out of three blankets and a bunch of pillows. We ate chips and salsa, drank soda pop, and watched the chick flicks P.S. I love you, with Gerard Butler, You’ve got mail, with Tom Hanks, and No reservations. Watching No Reservations made me think about Spencer, because some of Michael Buble’s songs are in it. That night was probably one of the most fun nights I had ever had. Jacquie was right, the fun came eventually. We fell asleep at three-thirty in the middle of our third movie.
    When we woke up, it was extremely bright out. I figured it had to be at least ten-thirty in the morning. I looked at my cell phone. It was eleven forty-five! Well, that was what we deserved after not falling asleep until three in the morning.…
    “That’s the latest I’ve ever slept in,” I told Jacquie and Annie.
    “This is my latest, too,” Annie said.
    “Not mine. I slept in until three in the afternoon once,” Jacquie said.
    “Are you serious?” Annie said.
    “Yep. I had been at a party until about two-thirty in the morning, I came home wasted.”
    “Wait, wasted, as in…you were drinking?” Annie asked, shocked.
    “Yeah. I didn’t drink anymore after that, though. It was my first and last time.”
    “That’s good that you don’t do it anymore.” I said, thinking back to that pack of cigarettes on the counter.
    “Yeah. Even when I turn twenty-one, I’m not sure if I’ll drink. It made me feel like crap, and then it made me do things that I still regret.”
    “Like what?” Annie asked.
    Jacquie sighed. “I lost my virginity that night, with a college guy I didn’t even know.” she said, ashamed.
    “How old were you?” Annie asked sadly, feeling genuinely sorry for Jacquie.
    “I had just turned fifteen. But even though it was a few days after my fifteenth birthday, I was pretty much still fourteen.”
    “I’m so sorry, Jacqs,” Annie said.
    “It’s not your fault. It was mine. But that’s why I strongly suggest that you guys don’t drink until you’re legal. And even when you are, don’t get wasted. I love you guys too much to want you to do something stupid like I did. If you’re married by then, go ahead.” She giggled. Annie and I smiled. “But, my life plans were thrown away because of stupid alcohol. I was planning on not losing my virginity until I got married. It would be something that would give me pride. I would know that I was responsible enough to not do anything bad as a teenager. My cousin ruined her life and lost her pride, and I didn’t want to be like her. She was the one who threw the party. She was seventeen then, now she’s twenty and she’s already screwed up her life. She is single and raising two young children because their fathers abandoned them. She lives in Rockford, and her mom is taking care of the kids most of the time.”
    “You’re only seventeen, Jacquie, you can still change your life. You already have since then. I’ve been best friends with you since the end of our freshman year. Now we’re juniors and I would have never guessed that you had done any of that stuff. You’re a really good person, Jacqs.” Jacquie sat sullenly, and Annie continued, “You’re not the one with two kids. You have a long-term boyfriend who really cares about you. Jeremy would never leave you, even if you did get pregnant as a teen. He would