Meant To Be - A Sequel to Flipped

1.

Chapter One - Shooting Stars

Juli

Only telling through an open window I could finally say that it was summer. The surprising warmth was kind against the pale complexion I had been granted from the rough spurs of Michigan Winter, and though the cold had only recently passed, the grass on our front lawn softly tickled my ankles, producing a smile. But before I could admire the graciousness in which nature provided, I had the subtle feeling that perhaps what was standing in my yard was more admirable.

I always had the reluctance to get too close, hence, I kept my distance. The idea was that If I gawked from afar, I wouldn't be disappointed in matters of the heart. But even after years of careful consideration, he happened to be the one of the things I truly didn't understand. The emotions I had been bottling up within me for weeks rattled expectantly, spilling out like hot magma, consisting of anger, excitement, and slight interest. But I couldn't be sure about such things, not yet. I couldn't just make some rash decision that determines my fate.

Low and behold, fate stood before me in the glare of the summer light. Bryce Loski.

Bryce Loski was my neighbour, and though Christianity was certain that neighbourly love was of importance, he had other ideas. He had proven to be an egotistical, pompous barbarian, of whose aspects I didn't discover until barely month before. You see, for half of my life, I convinced myself that he was walking around with my first kiss.

I met Bryce Loski on a hot summer's afternoon in 1957, when I was in hardly in 2nd grade. He was moving into the old house next door, and when I was helping him and his father move boxes into their abode, or more correctly, trying to, we held hands by pure accident, and I was sure that he was going to kiss me, but instead he resolved to hiding behind motherly care. I stayed up all night pondering over the kiss that could have been, thinking that the little boy next door was perhaps my destiny. All I had ever wanted from then on was a manner in which every detail in the brown and gold speckled eyes he had so dearly been granted scanned me up and down and catalogued every detail, but to no avail, he never reciprocated my admiration. Day after day I continued to wait for a sign that perhaps he shared a mutual respect, and finally, after so many unrequited hours wasted away trying to catch his attention, we were friendly, and perhaps along the road, something more.

But I had to control my feelings for now.

Whether or not the truth be he cared about me, I couldn't take another risk down the path that was destined for failure. He had done an act of the upmost insincerity, and there was nothing to stop him from doing so again. I looked back to his eyes and deciphered it was like they told an old tale of woe, a message sent for me to trust him, to show that Bryce Loski was worth my time. But I was almost certain he wasn't worth my heart.

I didn't want to believe that it was true. If I could bury this deep below the surface of my feelings, I wouldn't hesitate. But there was the baffling reality that had been bestowed upon me by my own father, and I had to own up to the fact he was right.

Dad was a painter, a fine one at that, and he enjoyed comparing objects or feelings to the different types of art styles. Abstract, Renaissance, Realism, you name it, but the one he mentioned most often was that people were like landscapes. He said that you had to look at the entire picture, each miniscule atom of paint, or in a human's case, personality and social perspectives, and put them together to sum up the final product. If you find that what it produces is beautiful, you have yourself a keep's sake, and if not, you must move on and keep painting. And if I'm going to start being honest with myself, I had to move on. Living across the street and following Bryce around campus just because I had some childish schoolgirl crush didn't mean I had put together the whole landscape, I barely could scarper one part! This mostly one-sided relationship we were starting together was going to take time to calculate. I had to question what would be in it, that way I would know not only that I'm safe, but where we stand, as equals.