title: In And Out Of Love (by Mandi)
 
Story: I unlocked the door to my small apartment as the phone started 
to ring. After opening the door I ran to the phone.
 
 "Hello," I said
 
 "Hey baby," the voice on the other end said.
 
 "What do you want Jake?" I asked.
 
 "That's no way to talk to your boyfriend," he replied
 
 "You don't call me for over a week and you expect me to not be 
mad at you," I said with my voice rising.
 
 "I was working," he answered.
 
  "That is still no excuse for not calling, you could have least 
at called once and left a message just saying that you were busy 
working and would call me when you got the time. I would think that I would 
be just as important as your job," I screamed.
 
 "You are important but by the time I get home and take a 
shower, I'm ready to go to bed," he replied.
 
 "Whatever Jake, call me later I have to go to work," I said in 
annoyed tone.
 
 "Alright," he said and then hung up.
On my way to work I started to think about Jake and our relationship. 
Things had been different ever since he had come back from Texas. It is 
the same thing every time that he comes back into my life. Jake and I 
have known each other for about six years. In those six years it is hard 
to tell how many times Jake and I have gone out with each other but it 
has been a lot. All together we have gone out for about three and half 
years. Most people think it is that we are not in love but that is not 
the case. We just can't seem to make it work between us yet we can't 
stand to be apart from each other. We have an unexplainable connection 
called love.
 
 It always starts out really great and we are getting along. 
Then all of a sudden things change and we start fighting all the time. 
That leads us to breaking up but then after a while we are back together 
again. Two months after he returned from Texas we started going out yet 
again. This time though Jake seemed different. It was not at first but 
after two months of dating I could tell that he had changed. It was the 
little things that I noticed like how he never really said I love you 
to be anymore. He used to say it all the time and wouldn't hang up the 
phone until it had been said. Jake treated me different when he was 
around his friends; he didn't want anything to do with me. He would not 
even acknowledge that I was there. This was not like him; it never had 
made a difference before. I was getting feed up with it all. Texas had 
made him into someone that I did not know; I wanted the old Jake, my Jake 
back.
 
 I finally said something to him one day when I was at his 
house. Of course it turned into this big fight between us. Jake did not 
think he had changed because I was the only one that had said something 
about it. He just did not understand. Finally he was just like drop it and 
I was angry at him for trying to leave things unresolved. I didn't say 
anything else the rest of the night until I left. All I said was 
goodbye and then I went back home. The next day when I went over there we 
talked some more but this time it didn't turn into a screaming fight like 
before. We both said that we were sorry and he said that he would try 
to do better.
Then came Christmas time and like every Christmas he went up to 
Lynchburg to spend some time with his brother. It is like a tradition that he 
goes up there. This year though it was different. He didn't call me 
that often, like once every three or four days. It was tearing me apart 
that I wasn't able to talk to him that much. I missed our long 
conversation that we used to have on the phone. Even when he did call most of the 
time he paid more attention to his cousins then he did to me. He said 
that he was coming back after New Year's. I couldn't wait to see him 
again but that got changed.
 
 Jake called me after New Year's to tell me that he was going to 
move in with his grandmother who also lives in Lynchburg. When he told 
me that I just broke down crying. I couldn't believe that he was doing 
this to me. Then one of my friends said that he was cheating on me. I 
didn't know if I should believe her or not but I didn't think she 
wouldn't lie to me about something like that. I ended up asking Jake about it 
and of course he said that he wasn't true. He has said before that it 
is not cheating as long as it is in a different area code.
 
 It was over a week before he called me and I had left messages 
on the machine for him but had not gotten a return call. I was talking 
to my friend recently, the one who told me about Jake cheating on me, 
and we came up with a conclusion. Deep down Jake really does love me and 
it is clear to see that. Now if he knows it or not, that part I really 
don't know but I do know that in his heart he does love me. Jake just 
needs to figure out his life a bit first before he can really see that. 
All of those girls that he is messing around with are nothing compared 
to me. In time he is going to see that and realize that he really loves 
me. It is hard to explain how I know that he does love me but if you 
were around us then it would be clear to see.
I don't know how much longer I can handle not seeing Jake and not 
hearing from him that often. I'm slowly falling apart because of him. I need 
him in my life, he is the one that I truly love and want to be with. I 
know what I need to do and that is break up with him and move on. It 
will be hard but I have to do it. Jake will always be in my heart and be 
the one that I love but I can't deal with him coming into my life only 
to leave me with heartache time after time.
 
 Wow January has flown by and of course I just couldn't move on 
and dump Jake. I'm sure that February will be just the same. Jake seems 
to be doing better with calling me often. He had been saying "I love 
you" to me every time he called. The last we talked he said that he would 
be coming home soon for about a week. I was so happy; I couldn't wait. 
It seemed as if things had changed but I was wrong about that.
 
 Jake did come back for two days. He was supposed to stay a week 
and then I was going to take him back to Lynchburg. I only got to see 
him for a few hours one morning before I had to go to work. He hadn't 
called me at our normally time so I called his house and his dad answered 
the phone. He told me that Jake had gone back to Lynchburg. I couldn't 
believe my ears so I just hung up. I was with one of my friends, Lissa, 
and I got her to call back and ask to speak to Chris (Jake's brother). 
Once Chris got on the phone he told me that Jake really did go back and 
we talked for a few minutes until I started to cry. That is when I hung 
up with Chris. I tried to call Jake in Lynchburg but his grandmother 
knew nothing of him coming back. I tried again the next day he still 
wasn't home.
 
 Super Bowl Sunday (February 1) Jake decided to call me and we 
talked for few minutes. He was watching the Super Bowl so he told me 
that he would call me back later and of course he didn't. I'm used to 
that; I know not to expect him to call me back. I know that is not really 
going to ever change and I think if I have dealt with all of this for 
this long then I can still keep on dealing with it.
Friends and my mom tell me that I should just give up hope on him and 
move on with my life. They say that he doesn't deserve someone like me 
and that I could do so much better. All of them they just don't 
understand and they never will. I'm not giving up, not when there is always 
hope. Everyone thinks that I am crazy for holding on but if they think 
that then they have never truly been in love. There is always a chance for 
anything to happen as long as you don't give up the hope of it, just 
like miracles. Things happen and change when a person is least excepting 
it.
 
 I was sitting at school on that gloomy Wednesday morning. It 
was my loner day at school and I was not looking forward to it all. My 
second class of the day, Government, we had some free time so I decided 
to check my phone and see if anyone called. I had one missed call; it 
was Jake's number and I wonder why he called so early. Accounting class 
actually flew by for once and then it was off to Creative Writing. Lunch 
was during that class and when I went to get my money out of my purse I 
noticed that my phone has one new voicemail message. I looked to see 
who called and it was Jake again. This got me wondering what he wanted. I 
wish I could have checked my phone during school but according to the 
school we are not even supposed to have them on our person at school.
 
 When I left school that day, the first thing I did was check my 
voicemail. Jake had left a message saying to call him as soon as I got 
home. I had to run a few errands so I decided to call him right then.
"Hey baby," Jake said after the second ring.
 
 "Hi," I said back.
 
 "How was your day?" he asked.
 
 "Pretty good, there was a fight at lunch and I got my report 
card today," I replied.
 
 "Was your report card good? Jake asked.
 
 "Of course it was, you should know that." I said
 
 "I know, I'm just making sure my girl is keeping her grades 
up," he said laughing.
 
 "I got all A's and B's," I said.
 
 "I have good news," Jake said.
 
 "What is it?" I asked.
 
 "I'm going to show you, just be at my house tomorrow at 2 in 
the afternoon," he said.
 
 "Ok," I replied.
 
 "I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow. I love you," he said.
 
 "I love you too," I said and then hung up.
 
 I didn't even attempt to get what he was planning out of him. I 
knew that he would not have told me no matter how hard I tried. I had 
no clue what Jake was up to, it was not like him to be really romantic 
or surprising so who knows what he was up to. I couldn't wait until the 
next day.
 
 Thursday school flew by for once. I drove to Jake's house in 
record time because I wanted to know what he was up to. He was sitting on 
the porch when I pulled up.
"Hey baby," he said after kissing me.
 
 "So, what is the big surprise?" I asked.
 
 "I wanted to tell you that I'm saying here in New Kent. at 
least until you finish high school in June."
 
 "Why?" I asked.
 
 "Because I want to be able to spend more time with you more 
often and I miss you so much," he said.
 
 "I miss you to and I'm glad that you are staying but only until 
I finish school. I don't understand that," I said, as tears were about 
to start to fall.
 
 "Well, I was going to wait until after our dinner to do this 
but I guess now is a good as time as any," he said as he bend down one 
knee while pulling out a black box from his pocket.
 
 "Will you marry me?" he asked.
 
 "Yes," I said as the tears that had build up were now flowing 
down my face.
 
 As I stood there in his arms, I couldn't believe this was 
happening to me. My life was turning out just how I wanted it to. I knew now 
that Jake really loves me and I was just so happy. I couldn't wait to 
tell my friends and family. I knew my friend would be very happy for me 
but my parents I wasn't to sure about. I knew that Jake had changed and 
he now saw who truly special the relationship him and I have is and 
that he will never find anyone that will be there for him though it all 
like I am. I just had to convince my parents of that.