I wake up with the buzzing of my alarm clock in my ears. I reach over to press the snooze button, when I notice what time it is. 4:30.
"Aww, crap! It's moving day."
I'm Daniel, and I just turned 18 last month. The day I had been dreading for weeks was moving day. I didn't want to leave my friends, and when I tried to tell my dad this, I got the "You will meet new friends when we get there..." speech. But the thing was, we weren't moving to a new town. We were moving to the middle of nowhere, with a family I don't know. The only reason we're moving is because we were a little short on money, and the rent was cheaper with this family than with the apartment we had.
I sat up and looked around in the darkness, picking out my box of books I was taking with me, my suitcase, and my backpack full of more books. Just in case you are wondering, I read a lot. See, we never had much money, so we didn't have TV, or Playstations and whatnot. Therefore, I read books. I didn't have glasses, although sometimes I wanted them; I thought they might make me look a little cooler. I was never the popular kid in school; I just helped the popular kids. If anyone had a math problem, they would come to me. Same with the other subjects, I was good at all of them.
I stood up and rubbed my eyes to get the sleep out...this was going to be a long day. I slowly made my way to the shower, grabbed a towel, stripped my clothes, and got in. I didn't have the best body, kind of skinny, with sandy blonde hair. No one could quite decide on my eye color, so I named it blane...blue, gray, and green. After washing my hair, I got out, dried off, and realized I didn't bring new clothes into the bathroom, so I wrapped the towel around my waist and ran back into my room. I picked out some jeans and a t-shirt (my usual outfit) and combed my hair. I walk over to the window to see my reflection
"This is as good as it's goin' to get..."
After dragging my stuff into the front room I wake my dad up. He takes a quick shower and gives me the keys so I can start loading what little we have into the car. I put my backpack on and grab mine and my dad's suitcase. I start to think it won't be so bad, after all, dad said they live in a mansion compared to our apartment.
After I got all of our luggage loaded, my dad finished testing his blood sugar. (He is diabetic)
"Hey Daniel, guess what? My blood sugar is 112" He says. "Very good" I smile and tell him I'm done loading the car.
We drove for what seemed like days, I didn't even know where we were going. All I knew was that we weren't going back home. I just kept reading the new book dad had gotten me for this trip, The Da Vinci Code. I sleep about 2 hours close to the end of the drive, but when I woke up, we were on a country road heading for what was definitely a mansion.
We slowly drove down the road to the "house", if you could call it that. The place was huge! It almost looked like a house from those horror movies; you know, with the big front doors, a greenhouse to the north, and a forest to the back, where I'm sure there was a pool, hot tub, etc.
As we pulled up to the house, it seemed empty. I stepped out of the car and grabbed my backpack and the box of books and my dad grabbed both of our suitcases and walked to the front door. I knocked on it a few times and rang the doorbell. I hear the sound of people quickly making their way down a staircase.
The family that opened the door looked far from the rich snobs I thought would live in there. They were a very kind looking family. The mother, who motioned us to walk inside, had auburn hair and green eyes. She must have been part Irish, because her eyes were smiling as much as her mouth. The dad immediately asked if we needed help carrying in our luggage, and we said this was all we had. He was a tall man, dark brown hair and blue eyes. Their daughter was like a splitting image of her mother, auburn hair and green eyes. Their son however, was a different story. He had a fairly dark tan, like he had been outside a lot. His hair was dark brown like his dad's but with blonde highlights, but I couldn't tell what color his eyes were.
We quickly walked inside and I was in awe. A huge wooden staircase greeted me as I first walked in, and there were doors on either side of us. I couldn't tell what any of the doors led too.
"Hello!" the mother said smiling, "My name is Carrie, and my husband Jake. These are our kids Andrew and Madison."
"I'm Roger, and this is my son Daniel" my dad says, laughing a little.
Carrie looks at Andrew and Madison and says to them, "Why don't you go show Daniel to his new room and help him get situated?"
"Ok mom..." They didn't seem overly joyed, but I didn't object. This house was a lot nicer than our apartment
"Oh, ha-ha, they didn't tell you. I'm sleeping in here too." Drew laughed. "Hey, you look about my age! I'm 19."
"I'm not far behind you!" I answered. I'll be 19 in 11 months. I stuck my tongue out at him, joking. He laughed.
"Aren't there other rooms?" I kind of regretted saying this after it escaped my mouth, realizing it sounded like I didn't want him in here.
"Yeah, but mom and dad thought I should get to know you better, considering I will be living in the same house as you, and I don't mind really."
It was now that I noticed what time it was...10:00 pm!
"I think I will go to bed," I said, yawning.
"Same, do you want top or bottom bunk?"
"Bottom. I'm not a big fan of heights," I laughed a little as I said this, and then went into the bathroom to change to my PJs and brush my teeth. When I came out, he was already changed and in the top bunk. I crawled in below him and stared at the bottom of the bed above me, when he stuck his head over the edge and I noticed he had one blue eye, and one green.
"Mind if I put on music? I can't sleep well, it relaxes me"
"Go ahead, music sounds good," I said, smiling.
He reached to a shelf on the wall and pressed play on a CD player, playing some old Broadway tunes, my favorite...I think I will like it here.
The next day Drew and I went to the creek a little ways out in the trees, and sat on the small bridge that crossed the creek, looking over the water, but I wasn't looking at the water. I was looking at Drew. I couldn't stop looking at him. I mean, his eyes were beautiful, and one of a kind. It was so wonderful, I knew he knew I was looking at him, but he didn't mind. The birds started singing, but not normally. It was more of a buzzing...
I woke up to the sound of Drew's alarm clock, and I realized it was all a dream. I sighed and got up as he turned off his alarm.
Drew looked at me and laughed a little, "Wow, I didn't figure you would want to be up this early. It's 5:00 am. I only get up at this time so I can get my chores done early."
It took me a moment for me to think of an answer, considering it was 5:00 am. I finally replied, "Do you want help?"
"Umm, sure...I guess, I could always use the help. Of course, I have never met a person that wanted to help with chores, but...'To each his own'," he laughed a little and went into the bathroom to change and brush his teeth. I got up and rubbed my eyes, then got dressed in the room quickly. He came out of the bathroom just as I was pulling my t-shirt over my head.
"What first?" I asked as I yawned, still sleepy.
"I guess we could go to the greenhouse first. Sound ok?" I nodded and followed him through the seemingly endless hallways until he opened a door and walked into the giant greenhouse. I followed him in and asked what we were supposed to do.
"Pick up the water bottles, and spray all the plants" I nodded and picked up two water bottles and started spraying the plants, one by one, until Drew spoke.
"So, why did you move here? I mean, it's not like I don't want you here...it's just that....well, you know," I knew what he meant and told him the rent was cheaper to stay here, but that I didn't want to lose my friends. He told me not to worry, there was tons of stuff to do here, and there was a pool in the back.
We finished spraying the plants and proceeded to the pool to clean it.
Drew looked at me laughing and said, "Haha, want to go swimming?"
"Sure!" I started toward the door to get back inside and he pushed me into the pool. The water was freezing! I swam up to the surface and gasped for air as he laughed at me.
I swam to the edge, looking at him, "You know what....I was planning on being nice to you for awhile, but you deserve this," I grabbed his ankle and pulled him into the water next to me.
We began a war in the water. We were dunking each other and splashing each other, until we realized we might want to go get cleaned up considering we could smell breakfast cooking.
We got out of the pool and drip dried for a little bit, both of us laughing our heads off.
I headed for the door still dripping, and walked inside. Both of us ran upstairs and into the bedroom and he said he would take a shower in his dads room, so I went into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and got into clean, dry clothes. I saw Drew as I was heading downstairs for breakfast and I raced him to the kitchen. He won of course, because I didn't know where the kitchen was.
We had a full breakfast with bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Not to mention the juice and ice cream for dessert.
Madison ended up doing the dishes, so I went back to our room to get my book to read. Drew ended up following me and scaring me so bad I fell onto the bed.
"Why did you do that!?"
"Ha-ha, for pulling me into the pool," I couldn't help but notice his eyes, always bright and cheerful. I guess I spaced off staring at his eyes and he noticed.
"Why are you staring at me, are you gay?" He laughed a little, joking of course. "No!" I protested, but I wasn't so sure of the answer anymore, after all, I had dreamed about him last night. And, I couldn't resist those eyes.
"Sure you aren't," He winked at me then went into the bathroom. I started reading my book. He came out of the bathroom asking why I always read stuff.
"Why not? It's interesting...if you want to read any, I have plenty" I motioned to my backpack and the box of books.
"Wow, those are all yours?"
"Yeah. Library book sales, garage sales, book stores. You name it, I got a book from there" I laughed and put my book down. "What do you do for fun?"
"I swim!" He laughed a little then showed me the swimming trophies on the wall. "Those were before I moved out here, but I like it better here, more space." I nodded and got up.
"Swimming is fun," I smiled, "but I don't have a swimming suit."
"You can borrow one of my old ones. I have plenty!" He got into one of his drawers and pulled out a pair of blue swimming trunks.
"Thanks!" I went into the bathroom and changed into his swimming trunks, and I came out and he was completely ready, trunks on and no shirt. I told him I would take off my shirt when I got to the pool. He laughed and raced me outside.
Drew did a cannonball into the pool as I took my shirt off and got in. We played around for awhile, with diving sticks, and rubber floaties.
"Hey, wanna go off the diving board?"
"I don't really know how, but ok..."
Drew got out of the pool and walked to the diving board, and I did the same. He ran and did a flip into the pool.
"Wow!" I said, as he surfaced.
"Piece of cake, now you try." I stood on the edge, jumped a little, then did an awkward dive into the water. After surfacing I could hear him laughing.
"You need a little practice," he laughed as he said this, "...make that a lot!"
"Thanks..." I said sarcastically.
"No prob!" He got out of the pool and did another dive as I got out and began to dry off. He did one dive after another. I was amazed.
"Okay, this next one will be the last one! It's really breath-taking!" Little did he know it would literally be breath-taking....for both of us. He got out of the pool and ran for the board, but slipped and fell, hard, onto the concrete. I screamed as I saw blood staining the cement under his head. I immediately got up to see if he was conscious. His mom came out when she heard me crying, said "Oh my god!", then ran back inside to call 911.
"Please, don't die...don't die," I didn't want to lose him...
Drew was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. I rode with my dad, who was following Drew's mom and dad. I was crying the whole way. My dad just drove silently, watching me cry.
We arrived at the hospital, and Carrie went up to the secretaries to ask where he was. Carrie and Jake immediately went through the doors to the emergency room, and I followed.
A security guard stopped me and asked, "Are you family?"
"No, but-"
"Family only." He walked off, and I just went to one of the chairs in the waiting room and cried.
After about an hour passed, I was asked to come in to Drew's room. I followed, wondering why I was suddenly allowed inside. It turned out Carrie asked for me, knowing how bad I felt. Drew was asleep, and he was a little pale. He had one of those hospital gowns on and had two IVs in his arm, one with blood, one with some pain-killer I guessed. I just sat on the chair next to his bed, watching the monitors and him himself.
Carrie finally spoke, "They think he will be ok...only a mild concussion. He needed a few stitches, but he should be able to come home tomorrow..."
I sighed with relief, "I'm truly sorry. I don't know what happened, he-"
"It's ok, don't worry. I know it wasn't your fault."
I sat silently, until a doctor came in, wrote some stuff down, then left.
"Would you mind if I stayed here? That is...if it's ok with the doctors too."
"I probably will too. I don't care what they say...but I would like some company," She smiled and looked at me.
I smiled back, "Thank you."
We ended up staying there all night, alternating between talking and sleeping. The doctor came in every few hours to wake Drew up. I learned a lot about their family that night, and in the morning, Drew finally woke up by himself. He looked at both of us, then smiled.
The doctor said he could go home around noon. I was starting to like Drew...but more than a friend. I don't know what's happening to me...I mean, I always thought I liked girls, but I liked him now.
"I guess I won't be swimming for awhile," Drew laughed and looked around, then sighed.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I haven't seen Lisa in awhile..."
"Oh, don't worry. I called her, she should be here soon." said Carrie.
"...Who's Lisa?"
Drew looked at me, then laughed, "My girlfriend."
Just as he said this, a girl about Drew's height and blonde hair pushed the curtain of the cubicle we were in and walked in. She immediately went up to him and hugged him, then kissed his forehead.
Oh my gosh! He has a girlfriend...I felt like crying right there, but why? Is this normal for me to feel this way...I'm so confused.
"Hey Lisa!" he sat up weakly and kissed her on her cheek, "I missed you."
"Same here," She smiled and sat down.
"He gets to come home today, "said Carrie, "and I think he will get to read some of Daniel's books." She laughed a little and smiled at me.
We sat there and talked until the doctor came in and said Drew could go home. We all got up and helped him into the van, then we drove back to the house. I sat in the back by myself, while Drew and Lisa sat in the middle, laughing and hugging. It made me sick just to look at it. I knew I never really had a chance at him, but I did like him.
The van pulled up into the driveway and we got out, and helped Drew to our room, where I gave him a pile of my favorite books.
"So....How long have you and Lisa been...'together'?"
"About a year now," he replied, picking up a book and looking at it.
"That's cool." Oh my gosh...a year?! I might as well give up.
"I think I will read this book..." he held up the book. I read the title...Inkheart...a very good book in my opinion.
"Well, that's a good book, but I think I'm going to take a little nap. I was up most of the night."
"Ok then."
I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep thinking of Drew. Why did I like him so much?
This is my first story I have written like this, so please send comments/suggestions to: