First Love, Last Love

one: the start of something new

Am I enough for him? This thought traveled through my brain while I sat on my bed. I've had the biggest crush on Hunter Baker since 6th grade. I always dreamed that he would notice me one day, but who am I kidding? I'm just the smart kid he only talks to if he needs help in one of his classes. I play softball, and I'm very athletic, but I guess he likes volleyball girls more. His girlfriend Claire is insanely pretty and smart. She plays volleyball as a varsity starter and plays on our school softball team. Even though I've been nothing but friendly to her, she still seems to hold a grudge against me and has never liked me.

"Lydia! Can you come here, please?" my mom yelled. I got off my bed and headed for the kitchen where my mom was making lunch. She is on maternity leave after having my baby sister Kensley. My mom has always been there for me, and we have a great bond. She has supported me through my softball journey and tutors me for my science classes. I don't really need it, but I prefer to know what I will be up against when we get to more complicated units in class. The tutoring just helps us get even closer. My mother is like my best friend, and we have always had a great relationship.

"Hey, mom. What's up?" She looks at me with a sad look on her face. I know that the anniversary of my dad's death is coming up, and it still hurts her a lot. I hope that she is doing ok. She doesn't like to talk about dad because he brings back memories.

"I just got a call from my boss. I'm going back to work tomorrow, and I know you just finished your sophomore year, and you want to hang out with your friends, but I really need you to take care of your baby sister. Is that ok?" I know that my mom has a busy work schedule when she returns to work. After all, she is the best neurologist in Alabama, maybe even the best in the entire south. That's the reason I'm in so many AP classes. My mom is very intelligent and tries to teach me a lot about what she knows. It's hard for her to get off work, and she only got 6 weeks of maternity leave. She left for 3 weeks before Kensley was born and had 3 weeks with her. With mom going back to work, that might distract her from dad.

"Yea, momma. I can watch Kensley during the day." Babysitting Kensley Mae isn't my first rodeo. I'm the oldest kid in my family. I turned 16 last October. My little brother Saylor James is 14. It amazes me that my baby brother will be a freshman in high school in only 3 months. Since he was born, Saylor has been sort of a pain in my ass. He got my dad's looks and his athleticism. Sometimes his ego is a bit too big for him. Then there's Kensley Mae. Kensley is only a month old. I love kids, and I'm very grateful that I have a little sister. To be honest, I wasn't surprised that my parents had another kid. My mom is only 38 years old, and my dad is only a few months older.

"Thank you so much, honey! I appreciate it. You can have friends over to keep you company during the day; just make sure I know who they are. Saylor is staying with a friend for the next few weeks because he has baseball tournaments, so you can have people over. That's all I needed." With that, I went back to my room. I closed the door and looked around. I want to see if my best friend wants to come over, but I know her parents just got back in town and that they will be leaving soon. I looked at my bookshelf, and a sad smile spread onto my face.

I've always been a huge bookworm. I will read anything that catches my eye. My dad introduced me to my favorite book when I was 3. He read it to me every night before I fell asleep. The book is called "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks. When I start to miss my father, I pick up the book and read it. I grabbed the book off the shelf and headed over to my beanbag. It was always the comfiest place to read at. I took out my bookmark and started reading chapter 5. Once I started reading, I could do it forever. I have read this book so much that I can read it in only 3 hours.

I was about to turn the page when I saw my phone light up. I looked at it and saw that I had gotten a text from my best friend, Harper. I moved from Auburn to Huntsville right before I started 6th grade. I met Harper on my first day. We were in the same class and sat at the same table. I was always sort of jealous of her. She has beautiful natural bleach blonde hair, blue eyes, a perfect body, and many friends. She never really noticed me, and we didn't become friends right away. She was always nice, but it seemed like she had better things to do than be friends with me. We became friends in the summer before 7th grade. Harper's dad coaches her softball team. Her dad, Mark Green, needed to fill in a spot after another girl quit. It is insanely hard to get onto her team because of its reputation. They only take the best girls, so they will only win.

I had heard about her team before I even moved to Huntsville. Mark works at the same law firm as my dad. Getting in contact was easy since their offices were right next to each other. My dad called Mark and told him that I could play 3rd base and have played softball since I was 4. I got the spot and made an incredible bond with all the girls, especially Harper. Once we started to spend time with each other, we were inseparable. Harper is also a genius, and we have a lot of classes together. Her parents are both going on business trips a lot, so it is common for her to have meals or spend the night at our place.

Harper: Me and Coleton are going to hang out at my place tonight. Both of us get to invite a friend. Want to come?

Me: Sure. I'll be there in about 15 minutes. Who is Colton inviting?

Harper: Hunter.

My heart skipped a beat when I got the message. I've never gotten to hang out with him outside of school. I never really talk to him either. He only talks to me when he needs help with class or answers to a worksheet. I got a little worried when I started to think about Claire. She already doesn't like me, and I wonder what she will think if she knows that we will be in the same house together. They have an off-and-on relationship and fight a lot. He is very carefree, and she is very protective of him.

Me: Are we sure that Claire will be ok with that? I really don't want to give her another reason to hate me.

Harper: Don't worry about it. It's not like it will only be the two of you. Me and Cole will be there. Don't let her bother you.

Even with Harper's reassurance, I'm worried about her. If I make one wrong move around her, she could have the whole school come after me. I care about what other people think of me. I know that's a bad thing to do, but it really bothers me if someone says something about me. I try to please everyone, and I give up anything to make someone happy. I have tried everything with Claire. I tried helping her with classwork, inviting her to come study with Harper and me; I even tried to get her to try out for our softball team so we could spend more quality time together. Every time I try to talk to her, she looks me up and down and rolls her eyes. It honestly hurts my feelings.

I put my phone down and started to read my book again. I can't shake the feeling that I'll get to see Hunter for the first time since school ended in a couple of hours. What if he doesn't like who I am as a person outside of school? Just thinking about it stresses me out, and I can't focus on my book. I put the bookmark in and closed the book. I set it back on my bookshelf and climbed into my bed. I grab the teddy bear my dad bought me for my birthday before he died and cuddle up. I keep thinking about Hunter and Claire. Eventually, I push all of those feelings back and close my eyes.

-

Around 3 pm, I get up and start getting ready. I straighten my hair and put it in a low braid. I wash my face and brush my teeth before I put on mascara. I don't own any makeup, and the only thing I actually wear is mascara. I go back into my bedroom and put on an Alabama University softball shirt and some black lululemon shorts. I put on my Birkenstocks and grab my sunglasses. I head over to the table to grab my keys when I hear someone talking. Slowly, I creep down the hallway and crack open my parent's bedroom door. My mom is sobbing into my dad's shoulder. I know she's crying about dad dying. I'm glad that she found Braxton to take care of her. He understands that she still loves my father but also loves him. I walked into Saylor's room and told him goodbye and that I was going to Harper's house. Of course he didn't actually listen to me since he was playing his Xbox, so I walked out the door to my car. I looked at the picture I had on my dash of my dad and me before he got deployed. I push the happy memory away and start my car.

a/n:

Thank you for reading the first chapter! I am curretnly prewritting some chapters so I can post and still focus on school. I want to try and post once a week and I'm currently thinking about Wednesday's. I have so many ideas for this book and can't wait to see how it does! Make sure to vote so the book gets to more people and for more chapters!

word count: 1,746