I love you more than...

Chapter One: There's always a beginning.

Chapter One: There’s always a beginning.

As I sat in the cold, hard seat of the church that Mikkel’s Family went to, I debated if wearing my yellow dress instead of my black one was a mistake. The way his mom looked at me said it all.  Her red nose all krinkled up like she smelled bad fruit as she glanced me over. Mikkel’s dad and mom always hated me. They couldn't believe their perfect son was dating a chatter box like me. Mikkel's twin brother, Derik was the least judgmental of them all. Derik gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek when he saw me sit down and said, “Mikkel, would have wanted you to wear that dress. You look beautiful.” I blushed because for a second it felt like Derik was Mikkel complementing me. What was I doing?

A few minutes later Derik went to the pulpit to say a few words about Mikkel. I heard him swallow hard as he talked about all the trouble they got into together. All I did was stare at Mikkel, he was just laying there still in the wooden coffin. His eyes were closed and his face was frowning.He looked so serious... that was not the Mikkel I knew. I wanted to run up to him and yell, “SNAP OUT OF IT!” Some would say I was being crazy but I’ll admit it I really was… I felt just as lost now as I did when we met.

Flash back 2 years ago…

Great! Fantastic! I’m lost again! My friend gives me stupid proof instructions and I still manage to get lost. I was heading to another one of my friend Cassie’s moving day parties. Here’s the thing her parents literally buy a new house every three months. This was no surprise. When I say moving “party” that usually meant a group of Cassie’s friends meeting at her house and packing the boxes. As a reward we would get a pizza and soda…that was the party. Sad, I know, then again that’s the kind of sixteen year old I was, it sounded like a good time.

This was my first time driving by myself. I drove extra slow and tried to read Cassie’s tiny print at the same time. Journey’s song “Don’t stop believing” incidentally began to play through my car speakers. I blew a sigh through my long bangs. Each street sign looked like it was a foreign language. I had no clue where I was going. When I finally found the street I almost stopped the car and make sure I wasn’t dreaming and that I actually found what I was looking for.

That was all the confidence I needed. I was determined! I didn’t even bother to look at the address. I passed a couple of houses and already found a driveway with the garage open and about twenty or so cardboard boxes next to a huge moving van. It looked like I was the first one here surprisingly I didn’t see any other people helping.

I pulled up to the curb and got out. The house was a gorgeous yellow color with a bright red door that made it different from all of the other white picket fence neighbors. I couldn’t imagine anyone not falling in love with this house. I walked toward the boxes and started to carry one by one to the car. These boxes were so stinkin’ heavy. It didn’t help that there was the sun beating down on my pale neck and not a cloud in the sky to protect me. Cassie owed me big time!

“Thanks for packing our boxes in the van but we’re actually moving in.” A male voice that did not sound like Cassie’s dad said amused.

I dropped the box and nearly wet my pants. I turned around to see a tan and brown haired guy. I than said the stupidest thing possible, “Oh your moving in, sorry about that…” Well, DUH! He just said that. Now flushed red, I began to fast walk to my car.

“Hey wait up!” Great… Now he probably wants to know my name and look me up online to make sure I’m not a sex offender or something. Of course I was over reacting but still I seemed like a creeper! I slowly turned around and tried to act like I was confident and not embarrassed at all. I smiled and tried to get into my car and escape from my stupidity.

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you… I was just joking around. You can help us unpack if you’d like?” He said with a smirk. He was a real looker. He even had a dimple… I nearly died. “You’re lookin’ a little red would you like a drink or something?” He genuinely looked concerned for my well being.

I put my hand to my face and realized I looked like a red faced clown with a goofy smile on my face. Soon as I got my bearings I managed to explain everything in one quick sentence, “I’m really sorry I didn’t know this was your house you see my friend is having this stupid moving party and I was going there to help her out but, of course I get lost and then I saw the boxes in front of your house and just figured it was hers…I’m really embarrassed by all this!” I took a deep breath because I scarcely breathed throughout the whole explanation.

He just stared at me and then started laughing. I then joined in the laughter too one because I was really stressin’ and two because he actually seemed amused with my ramble. When the laughing died down, he stuck out his hand like a true gentlemen and said, “Hi, I’m Mikkel.”