PROLOGUE
I picked out the nicest dress I had in my closet that wouldn’t make it look like I was headed to a wedding or a funeral. A lime-green halter dress with pink strawberries on it seemed as good a choice as any. When paired with a cream cardigan, my favorite pair of roman sandals, and my golden brown, wavy hair hanging freely at my shoulders, I felt good that I was dressed impressively enough. I was dancing around my room to the music of my heart racing wildly, barely able to contain my excitement to head to school for the day. Even just having to come home and go to sleep seemed to be too long; I wanted to get back to Colin.
He finally kissed me.
I walked over to my dresser and picked up the newest addition to my jewelry collection, a thin, gold chain, on the end of which half of a small, football shaped locket hung. Colin had the other half. I’d saved for close to a year in order to buy it. The day I saw it in the window of the kitschy sports shop at the mall, was the same day I realized I’d fallen in love with Colin Undinger. His parents had taken us with them to do some school shopping at the mall and after grabbing my hand to pull me out of the way of some oncoming moms with strollers, he decided to continue to hang on after the danger had passed. Our parents were high school friends, so we’d known one another our entire lives, but that was the first time I started to see him as more than just my best friend.
We were still so young, but even as a spritely seventh grader, I knew that I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to be my first kiss and my second and my third. I thought that he liked me back when he held my hand, but he never did anything else and I was too afraid of rejection to venture to find out. I settled for continued friendship until the day I bought a football locket for us each to take a half of, inspiring him to finally kiss me during sunset in front of the same mall. I couldn’t keep myself from foolishly thinking we were going to eventually get married at that mall; it had been such a staple landmark in the development of our relationship.
A kiss was more telling than a hand hold, but I still didn’t ask Colin how he really felt about me just yet. I wanted to dress my best, sit him down, and ask him properly; today was that day.
I skipped downstairs with my locket in hand, and walked into the kitchen. My parents were standing around the kitchen island, sipping coffee, and nibbling on bacon. I hopped up on one of the island chairs and held the locket out to my mom to help me put on. Both she and my dad were eyeing me through peaked eyebrows and suspicious smirks.
“What?” I asked.
My mom walked over and took the necklace from me, holding it up and letting it dangle in the sun streaming in from the window. “This is nice. I didn’t know you were into football.” She said it in a way that let me know she already knew the answer to her inquiry.
I smiled as she laced it around my neck and clasped it. I touched it gently where the locket hung at my collarbone. “I bought it for Colin and me.”
My dad tilted his head, his curly black mop top and salt and pepper goatee making his piqued interest more whimsical. “It looks nice. How did you afford it?”
“I saved up my allowance for a year.” Pride filled my body. It felt so good having my hard work for a year lead to my first kiss with my first love.
“Wow.” My mom set a plate with some bacon and eggs and a cup of orange juice down in front of me. “It must have been important to you.” She sideyed my dad and they shared a knowing glance. “What did Colin do?”
I remembered the feeling of his soft lips on mine. I’d heard horror stories about awkward first kisses. Neither person knows what to do and it’s quick and sloppy and unexpected. I’d always told myself that it didn’t matter how the kiss went, as long as it happened; a kiss with someone you loved was good regardless. When I noticed Colin leaning in, I started to prepare myself mentally. I knew it was going to be awkward. But his lips brushed gently against mine in a barely there peck before settling into place and drawing my very breath from my mouth. I sunk against him naturally, trying to emblazon it into my mind. When we parted, an eternity had passed, but it had still been too short, all I wanted was to do it again.
“He was happy.” I realized too much time had passed since I responded and the silence answered for me.
My mom kissed me on the top of my head. “I’m glad.”
“Me too.” My dad finished his coffee and set his mug in the sink. “I think I’ll have to talk to Colin soon.”
I didn’t realize what he meant at the time, but I didn’t care. All that mattered to me was getting to Colin again and chasing a second kiss.
I finished my breakfast and, after saying goodbye to my mom, went to my dad’s he-should-have-retired-it-years-ago, navy blue Corolla. My school was only about two blocks from my house, but my dad worked at the school district office right across the street, so he drove me because it was faster. We lived in a small, everyone knows everyone town outside of Grand Junction, Colorado called Orchard Mesa with a population of less than 10,000 people. All of the students in Orchard Mesa went to one of the three schools we had, either the elementary school, the middle school, or the high school and they were all located in the ‘Quad’ a spit of land where the district office and all three schools all sat kitty corner from one another. Colin and I were in middle school, but we’d known one another for as long as either of us could remember.
My dad pulled up in front of the school and I was a little disappointed to see that Colin wasn’t standing there waiting for me like normal. I knew that the results of last week’s football tryouts were going to be posted, but I thought he would still wait. He’d always been a fan of football and I didn’t have any doubt in my mind that he’d make the A team. Only the high school had a varsity and junior varsity team, while the middle school didn’t turn any students down, per se, but they were divided into A, B, and C teams based on their skill level. There were no other schools to play against in Orchard Mesa, so the tiered teams helped the school determine who their opponents would be. Colin had been playing football on rec teams since he was old enough to do so, and had waited excitedly for the day he could try out for the first Orchard Mesa team he could, Middle School A. I celebrated the occasion with the football locket I’d bought him, the one he’d immediately dubbed his good luck charm.
I didn’t need to see him to know that he’d made the A team, but that didn’t stop me from hopping out of my dad’s car without even saying goodbye and heading into the school with a little pep in my step. Those who tried to greet me on the way in got little response, I had the love of my life to get to--to congratulate him on his latest achievements. I imagined myself sitting on the bleachers on a chilly fall night, wrapped in one of Colin’s jackets, cheering him on during one of his games. The very thought made every part of me tingle with warmth and excitement.
It was going to be a good year.
The entrance of the school was packed with all of the middle school’s students in a concentrated area. I didn’t realize that the sports tryouts results would be posted right inside the front door. What teachers had hoped would be a quick glance and pass for the students had turned into a blood clot. I stood on my tippy toes, peering over the crowd in search of the one I wanted to see. He was taller than most kids our age, so I knew he’d be easy to identify.