CHAPTER 1
“Are you sure that you are going to be ok during the flight over to phoenix. Do you need anything before you go?” my mother Rosalie asked me. “Yes mum I will be fine don’t worry about me ok I will call you once I get there alright!” that was the twentieth time that we have had this conversation in three days and it was really starting to bug me. “Fine but promise me that when you get there you will at least try to make friends ok Maree promise me!” she pleaded. I looked into her eyes and said solemnly “ok mum I will try my absolute best to make friends it shouldn’t be that hard should it be?”I asked her. “That’s the attitude for it. A positive attitude should definitely make it easier to make new friends.” She answered with a small smile at me. I could tell she felt bad that she was sending me to live with my father so I decided to say something to ease her mind. “Mum it is ok you don’t have to feel guilty for sending me to live with dad. I was actually planning to ask you for the permission to go visit dad myself so I am glad that you have decided to send me to him although I will miss you heaps while I am there but I promise to call you every day and to also come to visit you every once in a while ok mum. I love you goodbye.” I explained to her she smiled. “That’s my girl very brave and nice you will have no trouble making new friends I love you to goodbye.” That is how I came to be at my father’s house right next to the woods. The next morning I woke up with a scream where was I? Then I remembered I was living with my dad but how did I come to be in this room? The last thing I remember was falling asleep on the couch in the living room dad must have brought me in here before he went to sleep I thought. So I got up out of my bed and went to have a shower when I was dressed I went down to the kitchen to cook some bacon and eggs for my father and I for breakfast. My father came into the kitchen just as I was putting it on both of our plates. “Thank you for making breakfast Maree I am so glad that you have come to stay with me.” He told me with a smile my father didn’t have a girlfriend or anything yet so I think he was glad that I was going to be doing all the cooking as he never cooked and always ate out every day. “Its ok dad I am also very happy that I have come to live with you. What are you doing today?” I asked him with a smile I was starting to enjoy living here heaps already. “I have to go to work today and I will be home at 6 o’clock tonight ok. What are you doing today anyway?” He asked with a concerned look on his face as though he thought that I was not capable of being all alone I could tell that’s exactly what he was thinking. “You don’t have to worry about me being alone. First I will call mum then I will go exploring with Dylan ok!” I said a little bit too impatient and I knew that he heard it too. “Ok then I will see you tonight love you.” He said with a little grimace “love you too bye dad.” I felt bad as I said the last words and headed for the phone as I heard him close the front door. But then I ran out the front door just as dad was getting into his car. “Wait dad!” I said as I raced over to the car “listen I am sorry about getting impatient before I just don’t like it when people get worried about me I mean I am 16 I can take care of myself and if anything happens Dylan will help me ok see you later.” I said as I ran back to the house. Then I picked up the receiver of the phone dialled mums number and waited for her to answer. “Hi mum how are you today.”I said when my mother answered her phone. “Hello darling I am ok thanks but I miss you heaps. How are you and Dennishave you made any friends yet?” she asked with a voice that sounded as though she had been crying a lot since when I got on the plane and also when I talked to her on the phone last night which I reminded myself she probably had. “I miss you heaps too mum. Dad is ok but he still hasn’t got a girlfriend yet and I feel great I even got up and made bacon and eggs for breakfast this morning. Yes I have made a friend already even though I don’t start school until tomorrow. His name is Dylan Norman and he is going to show me around in a minute so I have to go and get ready I will tell you how it went tonight ok mum I love you.” I said quickly as the doorbell had just rung. “I love you too goodbye Maree.” She said and she hung up. As soon as I put the phone down I went to the door and opened it I got a surprise I hadn’t expected Dylan to bring me flowers and a box of chocolate. “Hi Maree these are for you I picked them up on the way here I hope you like chocolates and roses.” He said with a shy smile I couldn’t help but to blush in pleasure.
“Thank you Dylan I love chocolates and roses are my favourite type of flowers. I have to say I wasn’t expecting you to bring me these they were a pleasant surprise you are the best.” I smiled at him and getting very embarrassed ‘oh no I have got a crush on Dylan’ I thought to myself but out loud I said “Are you ready to go Dylan?” he gave me a huge but shy smile “Yes I am ready to go come on. Wait until you see my car!” He exclaimed excitedly. When I walked outside with him I stopped short and gave a gasp of surprise because his car was a black Porsche with tinted windows it was exactly how I dreamed that my car would look when I got one. “Wow your car is exactly what type of car that I want when I get my own.” I said to him with a huge grin. “Thanks when my father brought it for me it was white so I painted it black myself do you want to go for a drive with me?” He asked quietly as he looked at the ground. “Sure Dylan I’d love to come for a drive with you especially in such a cool car.” I said blushing a little bit even though I was smiling at him. “Why are you blushing Maree? Do you have a crush on me or something?” He asked quietly looking straight into my eyes as though he could read my mind. “I am not blushing! I am just hot!” I said pretending to get angry until I saw that he was laughing “I was only joking Maree jump in and let’s go.” He said still smiling at me as we both got into the car and put our seat belts on. Very soon we pulled into a rest stop just outside Warrington forest after we went to the shops to get food, a picnic basket and a picnic blanket for a picnic in the forest. As soon as we got out of the car we got the picnic basket loaded with the food and also the picnic blanket out of the boot Dylan locked the car up. As soon as the car was locked we walked into the forest to find a good place to have the picnic when we were walking I looked up at him and to my horror he had stopped breathing. “Are you alright Dylan?” I asked in a frightened voice this seemed to have snapped him out of this momentary trance because he looked up and started to breathe again. “Sorry what did you say Maree?” he asked as if he hadn’t really heard what I said. “Are you okay?You stopped breathing for 5 minutes!” I asked him again in a horrified voice he looked into my eyes “Sorry if I scared you it was nothing really that happens sometimes it’s nothing to worry about. But thank you for snapping me out of it.” He said with a small and unconvincing smile. “Dylan do you think this is the best place to eat at or do you want to go further into the forest?” I asked hoping that he wanted to go further into the forest so that I could talk to him more in privacy away from the people that were around the area where we were at the moment but I think that he somehow knew what I was thinking because he then said “I think that we should go deeper into the forest so that we can have a private talk.” With a cheeky wink at me as we started walking again I looked very confused. “How did you...?” I started to ask but he winked again as he cut me off “don’t worry you will find out later!” so we kept on walking while I was thinking about what just happened. First Dylan stopped breathing for 5 minutes which is probably the longest time in the world then it seems as though he read my mind just a couple of minutes ago. I didn’t realise that he had stopped walking and turned to face me until I walked right into him and lost my balance I was very lucky that he grabbed my hands and I got another shock Dylan’s hands were ice cold so I let go of them and sat down. “Are you ok Maree?” He asked with a very soft voice. “I am fine thank you Dylan I just had things on my mind is all. Thank you for stopping me from falling.” I said giving him a small smile to show that I was thankful. “Yes well I can see that. This is the best place to talk no one ever comes into this part of the forest.” He said not looking at me as he spread out the picnic blanket and started putting the food on to it. When he finished he turned to me and smiled. “What did you want to talk to me about Maree?” He said as he started to make ham and cheese, salad, peanut butter and jam sandwiches. “Well I think that you should get your breathing checked Dylan!” I said in a sad voice as he handed me a ham and cheese sandwich. “I said don’t worry about it Maree I am ok really as I said it won’t do any damage to me alright!” he said a bit angrily so I looked down at the grass while I chewed my sandwich thoughtfully for a moment. “Sorry it’s just that my little brother has breathing problems and it makes me very sad and cautious ok.” I said with tears coming out of my eyes and falling onto the ground fast. “Geez I am so sorry Maree! Are you ok? I didn’t mean to make you cry I swear.” He said in alarm as he came over and hugged me. Then when he sat down I hugged him back. “It wasn’t anything you said Dylan it is just that he said exactly the same thing and I have been acting happy ever since I got onto the plane to come over here but I am not really happy because Joel is in hospital but I have been trying not to let it get to me and now to find out that you have breathing problems too is even more heart crushing!” I said as I broke down and started sobbing even worse then I was before and I was barely able to breathe as I sobbed. So Dylan held me closer to him “Calm down Maree don’t worry about me baby I can fight it and by the sounds of it your little brother is too alright?” He said to me with a sympathetic smile. “Did you just call me baby Dylan?” I asked looking deep into his eyes as if trying to see if he was making fun of me he just looked down at me and I gave him a small smile. “Yes I did Maree would you go out with me.” He asked looking down at me with another shy smile I could hardly believe my ears and I turned a deep shade of red and gave him a bigger grin. “Excuse me what did you just say Dylan?” I asked him as he looked even deeper into my eyes and even more solemnly. “I said will you go out with me Maree Smith?” He asked again and smiled down at me as he waited for me to answer him I just looked at him for a couple of minutes smiling. “Yes I will go out with you Dylan. Before when you asked if I was blushing because I had a crush on you I was denying it because I thought you might say that I was acting stupid but I do have a crush on you Dylan Norman and I will gladly go out with you!” I said as I stood up and we shared our first passionate embrace. “Do you go to Franesco high Dylan?” I asked him as we sat back down and finished our lunch together. “Yes I do go to Franesco high. You and I are going to be in the same class as each other.” He said looking into my eyes. Then after lunch we packed the stuff up and we went for a long hike through the forest and then he took me home because it was 5:30 when we got there I said “Do you want to stay for dinner?” he smiled at me and said “Thank you for asking but I promised my parents that I would be home at 6:00 so I have to go. But I will see you tomorrow ok baby I love you.” He said and we shared another embrace. “I love you too see you at school tomorrow.” I said and watched as he got into his car and pulled out of the drive way. Then I went inside and started to cook pork chops, mashed potatoes and beans for dinner. When we were eating dinner dad asked “So what happened with you and Dylan today did you have fun?” I finished chewing and smiled at him. “Well it was fun first we went to the shops to get a picnic blanket, a picnic basket and some food. Then we drove to Warrington where we had our picnic then I found out that Dylan has breathing problems I sort of cried for a bit he comforted me then he asked me to go out with him and then we went for a hike through the forest. After that he brought me home. I also found out that we are going to be at the same school and in the same class together.” I told him feeling great I never wanted to leave this place I was going to live around here for the rest of my life with Dylan. When we finished dinner I washed and dried the dishes. Then I went into the living room with dad we sat down and watched a couple of movies. I went up stairs to my bedroom put my pyjama’s on then called mum and told her all about what had happened today. She told me that Joel was doing very well and that his friends form school had come to visit him in hospital which was a surprise. When I finished talking to mum I had a quick shower brushed my teeth then got into bed to go to sleep.I woke up a couple of times during the night the first time was at 1.00 in the morning so I had a hot cup of Milo then I went back to sleep the second time was at 3.00 in the morning so I played my laptop for half an hour. When I got back to sleep I had a dream where I was in my room writing in my journal for English when someone came in and shot me in the head so I woke up and stayed up again for a little bit trying not to go back to sleep in case I had another nightmare while I was awake I made a get well card for Joel then I got down a small box from my wardrobe and put some of his old toys in it then I put them both in my drawers. I went downstairs and made myself some pasta ate it watched some television and went back up into my room lied down. Then a couple of minutes later or so it seemed I woke up.
| 
Email this Novel
| 
Add to reading list
