It was results day at Aylesbury Grammar School. I sat in silence in the back of our family estate staring out at the worried faces of my peers hurrying towards the building looming in the distance.

"Don't worry about it James, I'm sure you've smashed your exams son." My dad broke the silence from in front of me. I didn't answer for a few seconds and I could sense him looking at me through the rear view mirror.

"I'm not worried about that dad, I know I've done what I needed to get into Durham." I replied meeting his gaze. His smile extended to his eyes and he looked back to the road, content. It was true, I hit the books hard when revising for my end of school exams and I had always had a natural aptitude for schoolwork. My results weren't what was bothering me.

It was as we pulled up alongside the school that I saw her; Jessica Thorne, my best friend and also the love of my life. My breath caught as I took in her 5'7 slender frame and angelic face. Her beautiful auburn hair was tied back in a plait and she wore a smile that lit up her face and extended to her magical green eyes.

"Go on then son, time to go." My dad interrupted my thoughts as he waited for me to leave the car.

"Err, yeah sorry dad. Wish me luck," I muttered as I opened the door and left, already making my way over to Jess.

"James! Hey,"Jess beamed as she walked over to hug me. "Are you nervous?" She asked me. I could tell when Jess was nervous and she was practically shaking like a leaf so I assured her that yes I was nervous too but neither of us had anything to worry about.

"Anyway shall we-" I was cut off mid sentence as her brick of a boyfriend Sam Evans rounded the corner and summoned her over.

"Jess, babe, I'm here." He grunted opening his arms to gesture her over. With a fleeting touch of my arm she left me standing there and strolled over to her jock boyfriend. I let out a sigh and turned away to enter the building, unable to stand seeing any more of their lovey-dovey bull crap.

As I said, Jess was the love of my life. I had literally known her since we were five years old and as we'd grown older the friendship for me had developed into something much more. Unfortunately she hadn't exactly returned the feelings and, unwilling to risk what we had, I had never been man enough to try and take it to the next level. There had been a couple of times through the years where I could have sworn she had begun to feel the same way but they had ultimately amounted to nothing.

All hope was not lost though, me and Jess had always had so much in common and our academic endeavours were no exception. We had both been keen writers for as long as I could remember. We used to sit for hours even as kids seeing who could write the most entertaining short stories. That had stuck with us through secondary school and when it came to picking the best university for studying literature, Durham was practically incomparable. I remembered the conversation we'd had during lunch a few months ago when we told each other our top choice of university. She had got a tear in her eye when I told her it was my plan to go to Durham as well and hence I studied harder then I'd ever studied before to make sure I could achieve it.

I had been standing in line lost in thought when I heard one of my teachers Mr. Johnson call me forward. He was holding the small envelope with a smile on his face.

"Good luck James, I hope it all works out for you, it would be thoroughly deserved," he said. I uttered a thankyou and turned to walk out of the hall. As I went I walked past Jess and our eyes locked. I saw in hers fear and I gave her as reassuring a smile as I could muster and nodded towards the exit as if to say 'I'll wait out there for you'. She nodded her understanding.

As I stood outside waiting I noticed two magpies flying around a tree absorbed in a little game of their own, not a care in the world. It made me smile and my hopes seemed to lift. I waited for about five more minutes before the intoxicating scent of lavender alerted me to the presence of Jess before I heard her speak.

"Did you open yours yet James?" She asked.

"No not yet, I wanted to wait to do it together." I smiled at her and she returned the favour.

"Ok, here, swapsies. You open mine and I'll do yours, yeah?" She suggested sweetly. I blushed.

"Sounds good to me," I replied, taking her envelope.

"Okay, on the count of three we open. One, two, three!" She said. I saw her eyes light up as she examined my results and I stood there with my mouth open for a good few seconds as I looked at hers. She looked worried.

"Oh no I didn't do it did I?" She looked crestfallen. I could see her eyes start to screw up, a telltale sign she was about to cry. I finally found my voice.

"No! No you did it, you got the grades Jess! You're going to Durham!" I exclaimed. She let out a high pitch squeal.

"You too James! We're going to Durham together!" She cheered, grabbing me and pulling me into a tight embrace. It felt like the air had been sucked out of me, I was completely overjoyed. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. She drew back and looked into my eyes and in the excitement gave me a little peck on the lips. It was quick and she withdrew immediately, but it sent rockets off in my brain. I wasn't sure if it meant anything because she just went back to hugging me then until we were rudely interrupted by a gruff voice.

"I take it you got in then. Both of you?" Came the low voice of Sam who had just exited the building. I think that's when Jess realised she could have just opened her results with the wrong person. She immediately withdrew the hug and stepped back. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before she regained her composure and walked towards him.

"Yeah Sam, I'm going to Durham isn't it great?" She asked, slightly unsure of herself and pulling him into a hug of his own. He looked over her shoulder at me as he hugged her and shot me a glare that would send even the bravest of people running.

"Yeah, baby that's amazing. I'm so happy for you." He told her. When they broke the hug off I spoke.

"Jess I'm going to go, my parents are waiting for me at the diner, so we'll catch up later yeah?" I muttered. She turned to look at me and I could see tears starting to break the surface.

"Yeah definitely James, I'll talk to you later," she managed to say.

The look on her face was indecipherable, even to me and I turned and walked away, determined not to look back. I managed it for a minute but couldn't help a quick glance back before I rounded the corner. But they were already gone.

As I walked to the diner I felt a huge flurry of emotions; Confusion, happiness, disappointment. But the one I settled on was determination. I had a feeling in my gut that me and Jess were meant to be. We would be alone in Durham, away from friends, family, our old lives and most importantly away from Sam. The time for action was now. I needed to invite her to mine and show her how amazing we could be.

Lunch was fine, my parents were over the moon as was to be expected, and I embraced their joy as I thought about the possibilities of the future. However, the day soon passed and I hadn't heard anything from Jessica yet. It was 9pm when I finally decided to just text her instead. 'Hey Jess, waiting to hear from you. Want to come over for lunch tomorrow? xo' I clicked send and got an almost immediate response.

'Sorry can't, going out for lunch with Sam and his family xox' was her response. This irked me even though I should just accept it. I replied straight back again.

'Okay dinner then? ;) lol xoxo' a cheeky response, I was hopeful. I watched the screen as the icon that says the other person is typing appeared for nearly five minutes. I began to wonder what could be taking so long to type when the icon disappeared. My heart sunk. A few seconds later it reappeared and I got a quick response.

'I'll be there :) xo' I smiled to myself. Despite what seemed like hesitation, she was coming round and that was all that mattered.

The next day dragged by, I couldn't wait to see Jess and actually have a proper conversation about our results, we'd been cut short at the school yesterday. I showered, had a shave and doused myself in half a bottle of aftershave before giving mum a hand with the Lasagne we were having for dinner.

"What are you so giddy about?" She asked me, noticing my mood.

"Ah, you know... Just the whole Durham thing, it's so exciting." I lied. She looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"By Durham, I assume you mean Durham with Jessica?" She replied with a knowing smile.

"I mean, yeah it'll be great to have Jess there as well she's my best friend." I retorted, trying to get her to back off. She looked at me for a few seconds.

"Be careful James honey, I don't want to see you get hurt." She said knowingly. I looked back at her and didn't reply. It never ceases to amaze me how well a mother knows her son. A few minutes later I heard the door buzz and rushed out to get it. I stopped briefly at the mirror in the hall to make sure my dark brown hair was still flicked perfectly to the side and was satisfied at the reflection.

"Hey Jess! Come in." I beamed as I opened the front door to my beautiful best friend. She wore a tight red tank top that showed off her wonderfully perky little breasts and tight jeans which as she walked past me allowed me to enjoy how fantastic her round ass looked.

"Hey James, thanks," she replied sheepishly as she breezed past me, surrounding me with the sweet smell of jasmine again. I swear I noticed her have a quick glance up and down as I opened the door. Was she openly checking me out?

We went through to the living room and sat down to watch tele with my dad. Things felt as they always had with Jess; natural, right. We enjoyed a beautiful lasagne and pleasant small talk was made between us all like it always had been. Then after dinner we went to chill in my room just like we always did but when I closed the door after her, the atmosphere took a noticeable change. Now that we were alone, the tension started to build for some reason. We sat down on the bed and I switched my tv on.

"So Jess we actually did it. Durham here we come." Breaking the ice had never been a problem for me and this time was no different. She turned to look at me with such a genuine smile on her face.

"Yeah we really did James, I can't believe it. Sorry we didn't get to celebrate it yesterday," she said. I smiled back at her.

"Ah, no worries. Are you going to Jason's end of school party next week?" I asked her.

"Yeah for sure, we'll get to say goodbye to everyone in style!" We laughed together and our hands met on the bed. I felt her flinch but she didn't pull away, instead she just looked at the tv. Being sat there holding her soft little hand seemed to spur me on and my heart rate picked up ten fold as I realised this was the moment I had tried to push myself to on countless occasions.

"Jess," I spoke her name softly, "There is nobody in the world id rather be going with. I'm so glad it's you." The words were coming out but I couldn't believe I was speaking them. She looked hesitant but still didn't pull her hand from mine.

"I know James it's going to be amazing," she replied uncertainly, unable to drag her eyes from mine. I saw her lick her lips, an involuntary, innocent action I know, but it was all the invitation I needed. I leant in and pressed my lips to hers. They tasted of cherries and were magically soft, like velvet. She pulled back slightly but after a moments hesitation returned my advance. I felt her hand reach up to caress the side of my face as she deepened the kiss. I felt her little tongue snake into my mouth to search for mine. I let out a groan and deepened the kiss further still. It felt like we were exploring each other's souls. I never wanted it to end. But then it did. She drew back with a sharp intake of breath and I saw a tear roll freely down her cheek.

"James, no... I can't, it isn't right." She sobbed. I felt the cruel release of her hand from mine as if a whip had been cracked. She stood up. "I'm sorry James, I have to go." Tears were openly streaming down her face now and it felt like an arrow had been shot through my heart.

"Jess... No, wait!" But it was too late, she was already rushing out of my bedroom and a minute or so later I heard the front door to the house open and then close. I was left sitting on my bed in shock.

Editor's note: The UK Grammar school is equivelant to the US secondary school. There will be sex scenes in subsequent chapters.