Chapter 1
Seth
“Seth!” I hear Heather yell from our front yard.
Standing up I lean over my desk and look out of my bedroom window. “What?” I yell back when I see her standing at the end of path next to our white mailbox.
“Abigail has fallen off her bike. We need your help please.”
I nod my head and drop my pen onto my homework.
Mom is at the shops with my older sister, Missy.
So, it’s just me and my little sister Heather and her best friend Abigail, relaxing on a quiet Saturday afternoon.
I played football this morning, we won and now I thought I’d get some study done before going to a party tonight with some friends.
I take the stairs two at a time and open the front door to my sister’s worried face.
“She’s this way,” Heather says as she starts jogging back down the road.
I follow Heather as we jog down our quiet street.
It’s fall and our suburb is the perfect picture representation of the season.
Crisp leaves are sprinkled like cinnamon over the ground and in the middle of the road next to her white and purple bike sits Abigail holding her ankle.
She is trying her best not to cry and act tough, but tears continue to fall down her pink cheeks.
“What happened?” I ask as I crouch down beside her. It’s a stupid question but it’s the first thing that pops into my mind.
“I fell off my bike and hurt my ankle. I tried to stand up, but it really hurts,” Abigail whimpers trying harder not to cry in front of me.
I examine her ankle and see the dark purple starting to shade in between the white sandals she wears. I look into her gorgeous aqua blue tear-filled eyes that shine even brighter with unshed tears. “Let’s get you off the road and back home. I’m going to pick you up, okay?”
“Okay,” she says wiping at her nose with the back of her hand. I shuffle forward in my crouched position and reach underneath her. She wraps her arm around my neck as I cradle her in my arms.
I have developed a lot in the last few years, fifteen-years-old and already over 6 foot.
I have always had a bigger than average structure although the daily football training has helped.
Good genes mixed with lots of strength and conditioning training.
So, I pick up her small frame with ease.
If I’m honest with myself, she seems to fit perfectly in my arms. The feeling of having her this close to me is like nothing I have felt before.
I want to hold her like this forever, protect her and never let her get hurt again.
I fight off those thoughts, crushing on your little sister’s best friend, neighbor and family friend is a terrible idea.
I blame my stupid sexual crazed hormones, push the thought out of my mind and walk her back to our house.
Heather leans Abigail’s bike against the house as I open the front door using my leg to help us through. I lay her on the lounge and place some pillows under her head and foot. “Heather, can you get an icepack then go to Abigail’s house and see if anyone is home?”
“Okay, it’s not broken, or anything is it?” she asks, twisting her fingers in front of her worried body.
“No, Heather,” I reassure her. “It’s not broken, just a bad sprain. You two will be back running amuck in no time!”
Heather smiles at me, a smile full of love and appreciation. A gesture that’s not needed. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my family, and lately...Abigail.
I unstrap the tiny buckle around her foot and remove her shoe, her ankle has almost doubled in size, and I need to pull a little harder than usual to get it off.
She’s brave sucking in a few deep breaths while watching me remove her shoe.
I relax down on the floor beside her and wait for Heather to return. “Are you comfortable? Do you want anything?”
She shakes her head, sitting up a bit more. “I’m okay.”
I take her in. She is the closest thing to an angel I have ever seen.
Her brunette hair is pulled back in braid, but strands have broken free and border her face.
Her perfect face that gets overseen by the most stunning eyes—aqua, like no eye color I have seen before.
They are the window to the purest soul you could ever meet, gentle, sweet, angelic.
Her eyes are so powerful, so alluring I have to force myself not to stare.
“How is school?” I say as I drag my eyes back down to re-examine her ankle and remove her other shoe.
“It’s going well, I really like my teacher. She is so cool. I would love to do what she does one day. I think it would be fun.”
I smile. “You want to be a teacher?”
“Yeah, I think so. Maybe a kindergarten teacher because I love little kids.” She says her eyes watching every move.
“You’re still a kid,” I tease her.
“I’m not in Kindergarten.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” I rub at the back of my neck and swallow the lump in my throat. “I think you would make a great teacher,” I say honestly.
Abigail has always been caring and nurturing, she loves helping others and watching them achieve their goals, it’s some of the many things I like about her.
“Thank you,” she pauses, her eyes drifting around the room then falling back down to me as I lean my palms into the carpet behind me. “You know you don’t have to sit with me.”
Like I’m putting myself out. “It’s okay I don’t mind,” I shrug.
It’s more than okay, I hope her mom is an hour away.
All I want to do is sit here with her, talk to her, care for her, take away her pain.
I think this may be the first time the two of us have ever sat and talked like this, and I don’t want it to end.
She is so pretty, sweet and every time I’m around her…
which is a lot, she holds my attention. Attention that I make sure no one notices, especially her.
Crushing on my little sister’s best friend probably isn’t the smartest idea, or the coolest, but lately she is all that I can think about.
“Well thank you for helping me,” she says. Her smile lights up her face making my heart stall in my chest. God she is perfect.