When It Rains In Ocala

2- Remember When I Called

“This is going to sound crazy, but... from the moment I first set eyes on you I haven't been able to stop thinking about you.”
― Leigh Fallon, Carrier of the Mark

“Maggie! Maggie! Maggie!” I was woken up by Hanna’s piercing voice as she bounced up and down at the bottom of my bed.

“Wha?” I mumbled through my pillow. She’s my next door neighbor, so she can get here easily and early, which is not always a good thing. Like right now.

“Get up, ya lazy geezer.” She squealed.

Knowing that if I sat up, her voice would lower a few decibels, I pushed myself up off of my pillow and sat up, looking lazily at Hanna’s bouncing blonde curls as she twirled around in my office chair.

“What’s got you in a happy mood?” I mumbled through a thick yawn.

“You know Jake Porter, right?” She asked with a huge grin as she moved to sit on the edge of my bed.

“Uh, tall, brown hair, baseball team Jake Porter?” I asked as I ran my fingers through some of the big knots in my hair.

At the mention of his name, Hanna’s smile grew wider and her big gray bluish eyes sparkled with excitement. “That’s the one.”

“Okay, what about him?” I asked, standing up from my bed and grabbing my brush from my dresser and brushing through my golden brown frizzy hair before turning on my straightener.

“He asked me to go to the Lake Party with him next weekend!” She squealed.

I instantly spun around with my jaw dropped. “No way.” I gasped.

“Way! I’m going to meet him there.” She squealed, jumping into my arms.

We jumped up and down in excitement, my frizzy hair jumping all around us while Hanna’s curls just curtly bounced. “I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks. So...” She dragged me by the wrist to sit on my bed so that she was facing me. “Spill on what happened last night. Marissa said that you went home with some guy, you whore.”

“Okay, I didn’t ‘go home’ with him. He just offered to take me home. But then we ended up going to the diner and we had dinner.” I said like it was no big deal, trying to hide my excitement.

“Well tell me about it!” She said, her own excitement dancing in her eyes as she watched me with anticipation.

“His name is Evan.” I said with a stupid grin. “He gave me his hoodie. And we danced. And we ate.”

Her jaw dropped, very far. “He- He gave you his hoodie?!” She shrieked.

I bit my lip and nodded. “And it smells like mint.”

“Aww, that is so cute!” She squealed. “And a bit weird since you only met last night, but way cute!”

“Thanks.” I said with a smile.

“Maggie.” She said sternly, looking into my eyes. “I’m your best friend. Let it out.”

And so I did. I let out a deep breath before emptying into a deep fit of giggles. “Oh my lord, Hannah, this boy isn’t like anything I’ve seen before. His hair is perfectly shaggy and shakes over his eyes when he laughs but it’s just a little big stringy when it’s wet and it looks even sexier. His eyes are so green like, like a meadow. And when he smiles, it lights up the room. Like, if he smiles you can’t help but smile. And if he laughs, you can’t help but laugh. And when I made him laugh there was this fuzzy warm, fuzzy feeling right here.” I pointed directly at my heard through my shirt. “And it’s just this amazing feeling. His hoodie, oh my , his hoodie was so warm it felt like I could live in it. And it smelled like mint. He smelled like mint. He opened doors for me and he paid for my food. He offered to walk me up to the door. He’s such a gentleman. Hannah, we stayed at the diner for seven hours, just talking. I didn’t get home until five.” And then I was done.