Stan had been distracted all day. He didn’t participate much in gym class and seemed to dodge any real conversation as they walked home. This concerned Jake, but he decided not to intrude; he knew that Stan would open up when he was ready. Jake and Sara had spent most of the evening together and didn’t worry too much about their friend, not until they spotted him sitting alone atop the old slide in the school’s playground.
“What’s going on, Stan?” Jake tried again as Stan tossed a stone down the slide.
“Nothing,” he said with a stubborn finality in his voice.
Sara was first to climb the ladder and Jake followed until all three of them were huddled in the small metal-framed play area.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been up here,” Jake said with a smile.
“It was our spot,” Stan said, “mine and Annie’s.”
“Was?” Sara asked, but Jake already caught his meaning.
“Did you guys break up?”
“Yeah.” He looked at Sara. “She didn’t tell you?”
“I didn’t see her much today. Now that I think about it, she might have been dodging me.”
“Sorry about that.” He tossed another stone down the slide.
Jake watched Stan mope and hated that not a single encouraging word came to mind. He’d never had his heart broken and had no idea what Stan was going through. Stan and Annie had been dating for a while now, and Stan had mentioned wanting to marry her more than once. She obviously disagreed.
“What happened?” Sara asked.
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t really tell me. She just thought maybe it was time we took a break. I asked how long she needed and she said she wasn’t sure, maybe a long time. I’m not dumb. I know that means forever.”
“Can you guys work it out?” Jake asked.
“No, I don’t think so.” Stan tossed the rest of his stones aside and slid down the slide. The others followed and the three strolled toward the building. Stan shrugged and continued his previous thought. “I didn’t think anything was wrong. We never fought, but I noticed that she hadn’t been smiling as much lately, and she only made it to half the things that I plan for us to do. I think she just got bored with me. How do you fix that?” Neither Jake nor Sara answered, so Stan just sighed. “How do you guys do it? You’ve known each other forever, and you never get bored of each other.”
“Were the two of you in love?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know. I thought so.”
“You’ll know when you are, at least, I did. It’s more than just attraction when you have that. I don’t think either of you would have gotten bored if you were both in love, and maybe you’ll just have to wait for someone like that to come around.” Jake could feel Sara’s awestruck eyes on him, but he did his best not to meet them.
Stan nodded but didn’t seem quite so inspired. “That sounds like you guys, and it reminds me of my parents, too.” He leaned against the wall and pondered this before shrugging again. “Can you guys do me a favor? You know I get frustrated at being the third wheel sometimes, but it wouldn’t feel right without you being like this. When I think about my future, I think about my parents, but lately, I’ve been thinking about you. I want what you guys have. Don’t ever break up. I think I need to see it in someone other than Mom and Dad to remember that it’s real.”
Sara hugged Stan.
“You have a promise,” she whispered and Jake agreed.
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Stan said while rubbing Sara’s back softly. Then he let her go and looked at the ground, his expression suddenly solemn. “I miss holding Annie, though.”
“You’ll find your own Sara someday,” Jake offered, “and Annie will just be an old memory. Maybe you’ll meet her at our wedding, hot bridesmaids and all that.”
Stan smiled, remembering that conversation, but then he looked up in sudden realization. Jake couldn’t help but laugh as Sara pulled a golden chain out from beneath her shirt, the diamond ring attached to it.
“Yeah, I asked her the day after Christmas. We weren’t sure if we should tell anyone yet, but since you saw the ring...”
Stan leaped forward and hugged them both. He laughed and looked at them again, his sad expression gone. “I do get to be the best man though, right? I mean, don’t tell him I said so, but Phil would kill me.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Jake said with a sly smile, “but let’s just keep it quiet for now. I don’t know when I’ll do it, but I want to ask Beverly’s permission before anyone else finds out.”
“I promise,” Stan said, and he punched Jake in the shoulder as he laughed.
It excited Jake to think that he and Sara, as a mature married couple, might one day be able to visit Stan and Phil and their future wives while their kids played together in the front lawn. Jake knew that Stan would eventually fall in love and get married, maybe not with Annie, but with someone. She would likely be gorgeous and funny, and she’d be the luckiest girl in the world—next to Sara of course. Stan had a wonderful future ahead of him. He just didn’t know it yet.