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For Mackenzie Richardson, it was not a sudden change in feeling that did her heart in. Rather, it was a steady erosion of thought, of the boundary that maintained that two close friends should remain simply that, that drew her to Jonathan Rodriguez.

Even though she and Jonathan had been best friends for years, and therefore knew nearly everything about each other, there were still some things she hoped he didn’t notice. She prayed each day that he would fail to recognize that her face was slightly more flushed whenever he bantered with her these days. She also wished he didn’t notice when she would hug him just a bit longer than before, and she certainly hoped that he didn’t notice her sometimes breathing in his scent, as if through pure instinct.

Speaking of scents, she could smell the chocolate fudge cookies beginning to burn. That royally sucked. Thankfully, she saw Jonathan run with his arms flailing in the air toward the oven and take the pan out, and even more thankfully, the cookies weren’t burnt enough for there to be much trouble from their teacher.

After he successfully rescued the cookies from the inferno, he approached her holding the ice cream maker and asked, “Mackenzie, why didn’t you notice the timer beeping?”

She groaned as she heard the relentless beeping of the oven, and replied, “I guess I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

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The first thing Jonathan noticed was the faint smell of burning chocolate. He panicked and ran as fast as he could toward the oven, blowing on the cookies to make sure they weren’t burnt (hey, anything helps). As he placed the barely-burnt cookies onto the cooling rack, he noticed that Mackenzie had a distracted look in her eyes, and wondered what she was daydreaming about now.

He approached her and asked why she didn’t notice the timer beeping; it was rather out of character of her to be so completely out of focus in the kitchen. She then proceeded to reply, “I guess I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

He then proceeded to mentally facepalm. If he had a dollar for every time he had heard Mackenzie say, “I guess I’ve had a lot on my mind lately” or some variant of that thought, he’d be able to pay for culinary school by himself. Additionally, he had figured out a long time ago that whenever she said that, she really meant, “It’s about you/graduation/AP tests/my dead cat but I don’t want you to know it.” He might have bought what she said had it been a week ago, when they were in the throes of AP testing, but now, since the hardest parts of their classes were finished, she had little excuse.

For all her idiosyncracies, however, Jonathan had found himself falling hard for her. He had absolutely no clue why she hadn’t noticed, though; she should have figured it out by now, especially since he had gotten more affectionate with her in the past few months. Ah well, he thought as he cleaned the pan, she’ll figure out someday.

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“Finally! We’ve graduated!” Mackenzie yelled as she ran toward Jonathan and sprang into a crushing hug. She then proceeded to jump up and down repeatedly, her cap flying off after a couple jumps. She then picked it up and placed it back on her head as she saw Jonathan walk over to their families.

“We’re so proud of you!” Jonathan’s mother said as she hugged her and Jonathan, “Tonight’s going to be a spectacular party for the both of you!”

Mackenzie grinned at the idea of the party coming tonight. Parties held by the Rodriguez family usually meant one could count on listening to wonderful music, lots of dancing and socializing, and, most importantly, spectacular food, some of it made possibly by Jonathan himself.

She had the feeling that Jonathan wouldn’t be able to make any of the food for this party, though; his family insisted that he just relax and revel in his day of graduation, much to Jonathan’s chagrin; she distinctly remembered him ranting to her, “It’s my graduation party, and if I want to cook for it, then I should get to cook for it! My God....”

She remembered her soda coming out of her nose after he said that. She then thanked every god she could think of that they would be attending schools in the same area of California. She’d be going to Sacramento State to study Criminal Justice, because she had heard it was the second best program in the country, and her parents wouldn’t let her go to the other side of the country for #1. Jonathan, on the other hand, would be going to culinary school in Sacramento, she couldn’t quite remember the name, but it was a culinary school in Sacramento. That was all that mattered.

She could barely remember mingling with her other friends, her mind was so clouded with the weight of the diploma in her hands. It was then that she realized that if it weren’t for Sacramento, she’d probably never see any of her friends again after this. Well, there was always Facebook, and everybody knew that she loved chatting with people on Facebook, but it wouldn’t be the same.

Mackenzie then hugged every one of her friends, save for Jonathan, goodbye before she went with her family and Jonathan’s family to their house. The drive seemed to be but a few seconds, though she knew rationally that it took around 15 minutes. However, once she entered the Rodriguez house, she could hear Jonathan’s mother’s favorite mariachi music and she couldn’t help but smile.

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Jonathan saw his mother put on her beloved music and sighed. This was a requirement of any Rodriguez party, as much as Jonathan protested it. He knew that eventually he would remember it with fondness, but for now, he’d prefer to listen to some Lady Gaga. He was almost tempted to loudly ask to hear Lady Gaga just to rile Mackenzie up; for all her vocal dislike of her music, she did confide in Jonathan that she did enjoy dancing to it, rarely of course. Sure....

He could then smell the tamales and mole, spiced with chili powder and cumin, and he couldn’t stop himself from drooling. He then got up from his seat, and as if through a gravitational pull, ran to the table. His mother stopped him, saying, “We have to pray first, you know that.”

He chuckled and replied, “Of course, Mamå.”

After Mackenzie’s family toasted to their friendship and graduation, and they prayed over the food, it was time to eat, and there was a veritable feast to behold. First and foremost were the tamales, at least 10 dozen made, and they were leaving their plates like hotcakes. After that, there was chicken and mole, along with tortilla soup and soupa, more commonly known as arroz. Finally there were bunelos and a glorious cake his mother had made for him. Mackenzie’s family had brought a strawberry-marshmallow dip that was gone within minutes, along with some chocolate chip cookies, tri-tip and potato chips. As for drinks, there was soda and sparkling cider to be shared by everyone.

After dinner was had by everyone, his mother once again insisted on playing some mariachi music, and he didn’t protest this time, for his stomach was content and he could tell his mother wanted to dance with his father.

The swells of his parents’ wedding song floated in the air; the very first “Bésame, bésame mucho...” tipped him off to the fact that his parents were happily dancing in the center of the room... and that Mackenzie was sitting on the couch, by herself for once. He walked up to her, grinning and said, “Would you like to dance?”

It was only a few seconds before Mackenzie replied, “Sure, why not?” with a radiant smile on her face. He placed his arm around her waist as she placed her hand on his shoulder, and they moved as well as they could to the beat of the music. He was fully aware of just how close they were to each other, and he relished every second of it. He could see her bury her head in his shoulder and close her eyes, smiling, and he grinned, hoping to hide the growing blush on his face. His father naturally found it and gave him a thumbs-up. Of course he would, Jonathan thought; ever since he confided to his dad about his crush on Mackenzie, his father had gone out of his way to make sure they were close.

After the dance ended, Mackenzie said, “Thanks!” and kissed him on the cheek. He was aglow for the rest of the party.

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Mackenzie was surprised by herself and what she did. She actually gathered the nerve to kiss his cheek, and judging by the shocked look on Jonathan’s face, it wasn’t entirely unwanted. She was now officially royally confused. Not to say that his reaction didn’t delight her, but if he had feelings for her, why not show them to her earlier? She would have definitely said yes to any offer he had made.

The party was winding down, and the guests eventually all left, making the Richardsons and the Rodriguezes the only people left.

They were alone in the room again, a state she didn’t quite mind as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She sighed at the platonic gesture, and leaned against his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered shut, and for a second she thought she saw him turn his head and smile. As she relaxed into his arm, she thought she could feel his hands wander into her long red hair, stroking it and murmuring his thoughts aloud. The word “beautiful” seemed to slip from his lips, and that was when she got the idea to reach for his hand.

She sat herself up, and traced his arm with her fingers, reveling in the transition from cotton to skin. She stopped at his elbow as she heard him gasp; for a second, she thought she had done something horrifically wrong. When he didn’t push her away, however, she let her fingers continue stroking his arm, all the way to the palm of his hand. Finally, she placed her hand against his, and clasped it.

She grinned at the ceiling, glad that he hadn’t pulled away,but she hadn’t expected him to pull her close and kiss her, his arms on her back and her lips covered by his. Something in her chest leaped for joy as she wrapped her arms around him, pressing him closer to her as he kissed her more deeply. She could feel his tongue slip into her mouth, but for some reason, her own didn’t mind.

Unfortunately, it only lasted a few seconds more before Jonathan determined that he had to breathe. She had wondered why he couldn’t simply breathe through his nose, but then she remembered that it was nearing the end of allergy season, so his nose wouldn’t get some blessed relief yet.

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They were both panting, waiting for the other to say something. It took a few minutes for the tension to either fade or boil over, for it was then that Mackenizie blurted out, “Jonathan, I love you.”

A grin crossed his face as he said, “I love you too.” The two looked at each other as though a new light had shone on the both of them and before Jonathan could Mackenzie that their families were coming into the room, she pulled him in for another passionate kiss.