Promise to Keep by Jessica Wood Page A

a great speech, Mr. Valedictorian. You made me cry.”
    “But you cry about everything,” he teased.
    I punched him in the arm, harder than normal this time. “I do not. Ass.”
    He laughed. “I’m going to miss your daily physical abuse when I’m at Harvard and you’re at Penn.”
    “Me too.” We shared a meaningful gaze and I wondered if we’d always be best friends like this.
    “Congratulations, man.” My cousin Charlie shook Jackson’s hand. Charlie then smiled over at me. “Who knew Chloe would have a genius for a best friend?”
    I laughed. “I’m pretty sure I should take that as an insult, Charlie.” I made a face at him.
    “Hey, you know I’m just teasing.” Charlie laughed sheepishly and pulled me into his arms for a bear hug. “You got into Penn, kiddo. That’s a pretty good indication that you’re pretty much a genius yourself. You know I’m super proud of you.”
    I giggled as I pulled away from him. “It’s so good to see you, Charlie. Thanks for coming to my graduation. It means so much to me.”
    Charlie was Aunt Betty and Uncle Tom’s son. He had just turned twenty-nine recently and had been working as an attorney at a prestigious law firm in Chicago for about a year now. Before that, he went to UCLA in California for law school for three years. But even though he had a busy life, he’d always made time to fly back home to visit his parents and to see me. I always loved it when he visited. Not only was he funny and easy to talk to, I loved having him around the house. The love he shared with Aunt Betty and Uncle Tom was how I’d always pictured the perfect family to be. So it always made me smile when I got the chance to see them interact together as a family unit.
    We all laughed and talked excitedly for several minutes about the graduation ceremony and our plans for college. Then Aunt Betty and Uncle Tom went to go talk to some of the teachers and Charlie went to the restroom. Jackson used this opportunity to pull me aside to talk.
    “Clo, I have something for you. Are you free in an hour?”
    “What is it?”
    “Just a little something I think you’ll like,” he answered vaguely.
    I looked at him suspiciously. “I thought we’d agreed not to do gift exchanges for graduation?”
    He snickered. “Who said anything about it being a graduation gift?”
    I rolled my eyes. “What is it?”
    “It’s a surprise. Meet me out at our spot in an hour?”
    I faked an annoyed look. “Fine. I guess you do always seem to get what you want,” I teased.
    He chuckled. “Sometimes.” Then he paused briefly. “But not everything.” He looked at me in a way that made my heart pound faster against my chest, and I wondered why he had this effect on me.
    Before I could ask him what he’d meant by his last comment or work through what I was feeling, someone came around from behind Jackson and interrupted us.
    “Great speech, Mr. Hotshot. Can you sign my graduation program so I can have it before you become famous?” Amber joked as she excitedly swung her arm around Jackson’s shoulder.
    The moment I saw Amber, I felt my happy mood disappear.
    “Thanks, Amber.” Jackson flashed her a smile but took a deliberate step away from her.
    I saw a flicker in Amber’s eyes as she smiled over at Jackson, and I knew that I wasn’t the only one who had noticed Jackson’s subtle movement. While forcing myself to keep a straight face, I felt a small surge of triumph flow through me, and at that moment, I had an intense urge to throw my arms around Jackson and give him a big hug.
    Even though, personally, Jackson thought I was overreacting and holding a childhood grudge, he knew I didn’t like Amber and stood by my side. I knew deep down that I’d been holding a grudge against Amber, but I also knew that sometimes the embarrassment and hurt a person experienced when they were younger could leave permanent marks and would never truly go away. That was how I felt about Amber. She was the girl