Another Chance

Prologue

I've never been one to go out of my way to make friends with someone, especially young boys my age. But ever since a boy named Paul moved in next door, I couldn't help but wonder what it's like to hang out with a five year old boy and play soccer with him, because that's what five year old boys like right? Clearly I was wrong as I eavesdropped on the conversation my mom and Paul's mom were having the other day, discussing how much Paul was more of a football kind of a guy and not soccer. I remember the first time I saw him and thinking, "What a gorgeous creature he is with his hazel eyes, light brown hair and the almost unnoticeable dimple on his left cheek." Meanwhile, it's safe to say that he couldn't describe me if someone were to ask him since, as far as I know, I was the only one who watched him from afar and never caught him glancing my way once. However, that all changed today when he accidentally hit my face with the football he meant to throw to my older brother Jake's way. As I kept blinking to clear my vision that turned hazy from the aftermath of the collision of my head with the football, I suddenly saw what seemed to be Paul's face just two inches away from mine asking me if I was ok. "Hey, I'm sorry I hit you... are you alright? You must be Jake's little sister. I'm Paul," he said as he took out his hand for me to shake. I shook his hand with my sweaty palm as I simultaneously got up from the ground in the clumsiest way possible. "H-h-hey, yeah I'm Jake's little sister, how did you know?" He looked at me as if I grew another head and said, "Well, you're the only little girl I'm seeing here and Jake has been talking about how he has a little sister at home." I can't believe he called me a little girl- the audacity, as he didn't look much older than me anyways. "I'm not a little girl, I'm only six and a half. If I'm a little girl then you must be a little boy because you sure don't look that big yourself." He chuckled and then replied, "Oh really? I guess you're right, I'm starting first grade this year. Maybe we'll be in the same class, who knows?" He looked a little flustered as he looked down at the ground in what seemed to be in an embarrassed way. Then quickly, as if noticing me notice his mortified state, he asked if I'd like to join him and my brother playing football and instead of saying yes, I declined his offer and decided to spend the rest of the day alone, watching my favorite Netflix series of Garfield. "Thanks for the offer but my mom is probably waiting on me at home... see you at school maybe?" He flashed me a smile and said, "Alright then, take care. Again, I'm sorry for hitting you with the football, you should probably put ice on your head once you get home." I grinned and said I will do just that. It turned out that we were classmates that year and we spent a great deal of time teasing one another about our height difference and how he's taller than me by four inches and how he always happened to be better at math than I was. I honestly thought he was the sweetest boy I've ever met and happened to have a crush on up until we were in high school and all of a sudden the boy I grew up with pretty much changed overnight as soon as he hit 13 and seemingly wanted nothing to do with me. I would sometimes cry myself to sleep, knowing that my best friend and neighbor of many years had slowly drifted away from me in front of my own eyes. Hopefully the sweet little boy I met the summer before first grade would come back to me one day and maybe even end up hitting my head with another football, as proof that nothing between us has really changed after all.