Chapter Two: Past Revisited

Jake had been thinking about Ella all night.

He had replayed their conversation in his mind a hundred times. The way she looked, the way she sounded, even the way she smiled when she recognized him—it all felt so surreal. It had been years, but in a way, it felt like no time had passed at all.

Sitting at his kitchen table the morning after their encounter, Jake stared down at the half-empty coffee cup in his hands, the steam rising in a lazy spiral. His thoughts drifted back to their childhood—the time before the fame, before the distance, before everything had changed.

He remembered the first time he met Ella.

It wasn’t a dramatic event; it was just one of those things that felt like destiny, even when they were too young to understand it. Their parents were friends, so Jake had spent hours playing in her backyard. Ella had always been a natural leader, even back then. While Jake was the quieter one, the observer, she was the one who took charge—organizing games, making up stories, daring Jake to join in even when he was content to sit on the sidelines.

There was always something magnetic about her.

As kids, they spent most of their time together. Long summers filled with bike rides, picnics at the park, and endless conversations about everything and nothing. Ella was the kind of person who made every moment feel like an adventure. She wasn’t just his friend—she was his escape from the ordinary, his glimpse into a world where dreams were limitless.

Jake found himself drawn to her, always a little more than a friend. But he never had the words to say it. Not back then. And by the time he was old enough to realize he was in love with her, life had already begun to separate them.

It wasn’t that they stopped being friends—it was just that Ella’s ambition started pulling her in different directions. She had always been determined, even as a teenager, that she was going to make something of herself, something big. And when she got that scholarship to attend a music school in Los Angeles, everything changed.

Jake remembered how they stood on her front porch the day she left, Ella with that determined look in her eyes, the one she always wore when she was setting out to chase her dreams. She had promised they would keep in touch, that they wouldn’t lose contact no matter where life took them. He had promised the same. But deep down, Jake had known something he couldn’t put into words—he knew she was destined for a life that would eventually leave him behind.

As the years went on, he watched from afar. He heard about her success through the small-town grapevine—she was in a band, they were opening for bigger acts, then solo albums, and finally the big breakthrough. Ella was everywhere. Radio stations played her songs, TV networks broadcasted her interviews, and fans adored her. It was hard to escape her, especially in a small town like this.

But Jake didn’t want to be one of the thousands of fans. He didn’t want to be another face in the crowd. He had always seen Ella as something more than just a celebrity—she was the girl who had made his world brighter when they were kids. And yet, he had never been able to find a way back to her.

He hadn’t reached out. Part of him had convinced himself it was for the best—Ella had her life, and he had his. But seeing her again yesterday, that flicker of recognition in her eyes, that warm smile—it had brought everything rushing back.

And now, here he was, sitting in his kitchen, wondering what it all meant.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the way Ella had looked at him when they spoke, as if she had missed him as much as he had missed her. It was impossible not to hope. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for them to reconnect.

But the problem was, Ella wasn’t just a girl from his past anymore. She was a star. A woman with a life so different from his own. Could they really find their way back to the friendship—and more—that they once had?

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. He glanced at the clock—it was time.

Jake took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and opened the door to find Ella standing on the other side, looking just as stunning as he remembered. Her blonde hair cascaded around her shoulders, and her eyes—those familiar, sparkling eyes—met his with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty.

“Hey, Jake,” she said with a smile that made his heart skip. “Ready for that coffee?”