Elizabeth Sparks, who much prefers to go by Ellie, moved to Edina, Minnesota when she was four years old with her parents and older brother. The family who lived next door, the Banks, just so happened to have two boys, one her age and one her brother's age. The Sparks and the Banks were quick to become friends, spending much of their free time together.
Six and a half years later, Ellie still remembers the first conversation she and Adam ever had.
Ellie was standing shyly behind her mom's leg, hiding from the family who lived next door. The Banks had noticed the moving truck in front of the house and wanted to see if they could lend their new neighbors a hand. Her dad was talking to Mr. Banks about hockey, specifically the Minnesota North Stars. Her older brother, John, had begged their parents if he could go and play with Michael, the Banks' oldest son. The parents allowed them to play hockey in the Banks' driveway, so they were able to keep an eye on them.
"Adam, why don't you go say hi to Ellie?" Mrs. Banks encourages her son, wanting him to make friends with the young girl. Ever since her husband signed him up for hockey, that's all Adam had been focused on. Sure, he had made friends with a few of his teammates, but she wanted him to have friends outside of hockey. "I'm sure she's very nice."
"But mom," Adam whines out, not too sure how to feel about the girl who stood across from him. He stares at the girl who was clinging on to her mom and then turns back to his mom. "She has cooties."
"NO! You have cooties," Ellie finally speaks up after observing everyone else have their own conversations. She was not taking this cooties slander from a boy she had just met. Plus, everyone knew it was boys who had cooties NOT girls. Just to add a little extra heat to her argument, she stuck her tongue out at the blonde haired boy.
Needless to say, Adam and Ellie quickly got over their cooties argument and was able to become best friends. The two did everything together and had become attached at the hip. Their parents even have a running joke that the two were eventually going to get married.
The ten year old girl stood at her window staring at the boy next door. He was sitting at his desk doing homework, not a clue that the girl next door had her eyes on him. It was two years ago when Ellie had starting noticing Adam in a different light. He was still her best friend, but as they got older she had started to realize that she was developing a crush on the blue eyed boy.