My Crazy Love

Chapter One

You might have read those books with the cliché about how people, mainly teens, fall in love with their non-biological family. But what if we were never family. Were we family? Nope, not really but I fell in love with my mother's boyfriend's cousin's son. Yup it may sound a little confusing but hey aren't relationships?

I guess it might have just started when we first met. It was New Years Eve of 2013. I was there because it was the first holiday my mother and her new boyfriend, Vincent, spent together. I felt like a third wheeler around them because they were always in their honeymoon phase. Leaving me alone and left to myself. We were going to spend New Years at one of Vincent's cousin's houses. They had just finished getting it remodeled and installed a balcony overlooking the mountains that everyone 'just had to see'.

I sat in the long drive of the car looking out the window watching as the lights speed past us and behind us. Slowly the city was being left behind us and the light started to fade a little. I looked down to have my bright phone screen light up my face. Skipping through songs until I found the right one to fit my current feelings. After skipping about 7 songs I found the one. 'A Girl Like You'. As I listen to Daniel J sing these lyrics I look down at my own converse. They were the original black and white that were ankle high. They were beat up and a little dirty from dust and dirt the desert wind blew around. They also had some song lyrics written on the sides that were now fading. They may have not seemed like much but they were perfect for me. I zone out listening to music until I feel a hand shake me. I look over at my mother and her cheerful makeup covered face. "We're here!"

A family get-together. This is what this was. I threw my phone and earphones into my bag quickly. I stepped out of the car and stood around awkwardly. Shifting from one foot to another waiting for everyone to get everything out of the car. Vincent holding a bottle of alcohol, my mother holding a platter of deviled eggs, and I was clutching onto the strap of my bag. I was pushed to go knock on the door since I was the only one not caring anything. As I approached the door I felt a sudden shyness fall upon me. Some man, who I assumed was the homeowner, let us into the house. I was quiet because I didn't know any of Vincent's family and I was nervous to meet anyone. This would be the first time that I would meet any of them. You would think I would have been told about this ahead of time but instead she told me an hour or so before leaving.

Anyways his family seemed nice when they first met me but everything was a little overwhelming. Having a lot of faces and names being thrown at me all at once was making me apprehensive. I mostly stood around my mother and Vincent through the beginning of the night not knowing what to do with myself. "Come sit down," I turned around to see mother patting the floor next to her foldable chair. When she saw that I saw her patting the floor she motioned for me to come towards her then point at the floor next to her chair. She wanted me to sit next to her chair like a dog. I looked around and saw no other available chairs. What other choice did I really have?

As I sat cross legged next to her chair I held my bag in my lap. I slipped my phone out and pulled out my earphones. I was about to plug them in when I heard a thud not too far from me.

When I looked in the direction of the noise I saw there was a room with the door ajar. This room seemed to be loud and noisy when suddenly the door opened wide. I sat there watching as some other kids were all running around yelling and screaming in the room. I was worried about wandering off in the house, until I felt a nudge on my shoulder. "You should go meet them. They don't seem like bad kids." My mother motioned towards the door. I stood up with my bag.

I walked up to the door and stood in the door frame. I watched the tiles of the faux wood floor as I made my way to the doorway. I was so lost in my own thoughts standing in the door frame of the room that I almost didn't even notice her. Or even hear her talk to me. "Hey what's your name?" I looked up at her with my brown eyes. She was a little taller, maybe an inch, no more than two. Her hair was a light brunette color and it fell just a little lower than her shoulders. She had been wearing a peach colored sweatshirt and some dark blue jeans. Her brown eyes sparkled as she looked me up and down before she pulled me in the noisy room with her. "Duck!" I heard being yelled out as I entered the room. I ducked quickly but noticed a pillow fly and hit the wall just to my right behind me. I looked up to see who had thrown it. And then I saw him. His curious hazel eyes watching at me. His hair was a short brunette undercut style, some plain faded black jeans with a plain grey tee.

There was another boy who looked to be around my age with a pillow in his hand. Small brown curly waves plastered across his forehead like they were plastered by sweat, but his hair also looked dry to the bone. His outfit consisted of a video game t-shirt with some blue jeans. He then turned his attention back to what he was doing before. "Fire." The wavy haired boy chanted. In the next moment three different pillows are thrown at the same target, the first boy I saw. The wavy haired boy threw a pillow straight at the first guy's head. The pillows thrown hit him square in the nose, his upper chest, and his knee. I tried to hold back my laughter but I couldn't and laughed at his shocked expression. His face turned from shocked to a happy go lucky kind of smile in just a few moments. I picked up the pillow that was behind me. "Y'all are having a pillow fight?"

I had been curious about what they had been yelling about. "Obviously, what else are we supposed to do?" I hear a snarky remark come from behind me. I turned in the direction and leaning against a wall were two other kids in the room. I could tell just by looking at them that they were obviously the two youngest in the room. A boy and a girl that looked to be siblings. They both had very dark brown hair that looked to be almost black in the lighting. The boy was shorter and I am guessing was the younger of the two. He dressed in some all black basketball shorts and a random t-shirt I couldn't recognize. The girl wore a pair of dark blue jean shorts with a navy green color spaghetti strapped undershirt.

The boy with the grey shirt and who had thrown the pillow first chuckled nervously then asked, "So Luna who's the girl?" He cocked his head to the side slightly. She turns to him. "She must be the new kid. Her name is- wait what is your name? Sorry I forgot to ask you." She turns back to me, giving me a sheepish smile. I could tell she was a bubbly person. "Oh I'm Julie." I looked down at the floor wondering what their first impressions were. "Well I'm Kaleb, and I'm also Luna's older brother" I looked up and saw the wavy haired boy pointing at himself with his thumb. I nod as I take in this information. Kaleb did look a lot like Luna. His curly waves were the same shade of brown as Luna's hair, his eyes were a slightly lighter brown, he was taller than Luna and me. My head was just barely under his eye level.

"I'm Carlos and this is my sister Camila!" I look back at the other two siblings that also threw some pillows. "Okay." I looked over and made full out eye contact with the only person I didn't know the name of. "A-and your name is?" His eyes shifted away from me to make contact with Luna before his eyes met mine again. "Evan. My name is Evan. I'm also Luna's and Kaleb's older brother." I felt the tension in the room build up. We were quiet for what felt like days on end but was probably only a few minutes.

"Hey, do you guys want s'mores?" I heard one of the adults call somewhere from outside the room. Everyone looked around at each other and seemed to all agree to get s'mores. "Hey guys, let's go out to the back to go get s'mores!" Kaleb jumped excitedly before running out the door to whoever knows where. Kaleb's outburst made the room seem to lighten up. I watched as Carlos ran out of the room fast with Camila chasing closely behind, probably to make sure he didn't hurt himself. I watched as Evan calmly walked out of the room in search of the s'mores. I felt a hand grab my arm just above my elbow. I looked to the side to see Luna holding onto me and looking at me like she was a child looking for permission from her mother. Her big eyes begging to go. "Yeah let's go. Why not?" I let Luna lead me out of the once loud room. As we walked through the house to the other side. We approached a large sliding glass door that was partly ajar.