Our Time Around The Sun

Chapter 4

As we're turning down the street, we see a moving truck in the driveway of the house right across the street from mine. "Looks like someone's moving in." Sanchez points out. I wonder who moved into that place.

We pull into the driveway and Ace and Sanchez have a race to see who can get into the house first and change their clothes the fastest. That means that I get stuck with unloading the car, again. Yay me. Which reminds me, Sanchez still needs to get his things out of my car.

Just as I walk back there to pop open the trunk, I see a girl walking out of the house across the way. I notice the long dark hair, and it feels like my jaw is going to drop on the ground.

It's her. The girl I see right now is the one that walked past me on the beach earlier. This can't be a coincidence. Well my day just got even better. Sanchez is never going to believe this. Speak of the devil, guess who just walked outside.

"Did you really think that I would let you unload the..." Sanchez stops mid- sentence, and dead in his tracks. I already know why. Because of her. He sees her too.

"Checking out sun-kissed over there?" I ask. "Yeah, how'd you know?" He responds while asking me a question. "Because while you and Captain Nemo were busy racing each other, I started unpacking the car as she walked out of her house. Oh, and get your things out of my car before you forget them again. Don't come crying to me when you can't find anything" I tell him.

"Really. I can't believe I missed that. So what you're trying to say is, you were checking her out first." He says as he's getting his stuff out of my car. Ding, Ding, Ding we have a winner. "If that's how you wanna put it then yeah, I guess I was."

Sanchez gets an idea. He starts to hum and you know that he's about to say something. Should I be scared right now? "Hey I got an idea." He says. I spoke too soon. My brain tells my feet to start moving but nothing's happening. Why the hell am I not moving. I'm trying to escape a situation but I can't. Looks like I'm screwed. It's unavoidable. I really need to stop freaking myself out. Ugh, this could only happen to me.

"Am I going to like this idea or am I gonna wanna call you a lunatic?" I ask him. "Most likely both if I had to guess." He responds. I really don't want to know what he's thinking, but at the same time, if I asked him I wouldn't have to worry if he does anything stupid that also involves me. I would already be informed if he told me instead of keeping myself guessing.

"Okay what's your idea." Why am I doing this to myself? Please don't let me regret this. "I was thinking, maybe you should go and say hi or something. You know, introduce her to the neighborhood. Be friendly. That sort of thing." That could work. I'm not opposed to the idea. That's not what I'd thought he would say. I always prepare for the worst.

"That could be a good idea but what would I even say? How would I start a conversation?" Why do I ask myself so many questions? I'm psyching myself out over nothing. I need to tell myself not to worry about it. It's fine. We're fine. Everything's fine.

"You're freaking yourself out again." Sanchez notices. Man he's always been good at guessing games. Maybe he can just read people really well. "Is it that obvious?" I ask with a worried tone.

"Yeah it kind of is. You're pacing back and forth and look like you're losing your mind." He replies. That's nice, my freak out is noticeable. "It's fun to know that you can see my emotions written all over my face." I say.

"I'm going to take that as a bad thing." He responds. Yeah probably should. Well maybe not. I don't remember the last time I had a freak out this big. I just need to calm myself down. "I guess you should. I'm going to go sit out on the driveway if you need me." And by sitting,I'll probably end up laying down. I need to relax.

They leave me alone for a while as I sit and start to pick apart what I'm thinking. Let alone what I'm doing. Maybe I should go talk to her. That seems like a good idea. I get up and start to walk across the street.

I get there and say, "Hey I'm Scott and I live across the street. I was wondering if you guys needed help with anything." A woman, probably no older than my own mother turns around and says, "What a nice boy. Offering to help other people out of the kindness of his own heart. You're more than welcome to help us if you want to." She says as she points to a pile of boxes stacked up in the truck. I pick up a few boxes and wonder why this lady looks familiar.

I pick up a box that's already on the sidewalk and walk into the house and put the box that I'm carrying down on the living room floor. I feel like I've been in this house before.I think I remember something. Before I turn around, I hear a familiar voice call my name. "Scott, is that you?" The voice says. My heart skips a literal beat. I turn around, I recognize her immediately. It hits me like a ton of bricks. "Hey, Carmen." I say.