the year everything changed

new beginnings

The next morning I was rudely awakened by the sound of a knock at the door. I rolled onto my left side to face the alarm clock that sat on the bedside table. Six o'clock. Too early. I turned back to the other side of the bed and shut my eyes, assuming Annette or Landen would be up to get the door. Less than twenty seconds later I audibly groaned at the sound of more knocks. You had to be kidding me. I sat up and waited a few seconds for the blood to rush through my head before sleepily shuffling to the mirror on my vanity. I wasn't expecting too much from whoever was on the other side of the door, but I had to make sure I was somewhat presentable. I quickly walked down the steps and to the front door, where I was taken aback by the outline of a boy in the frosted glass door. The doorknob was cold in my hand and I yawned as I opened the door, feeling like I was doing something wrong. Had I lived there long enough to open the door for someone? Were there rules for these sorts of things? There really wasn't any other option so I went through with it. A boy? Surely this wasn't the boy Mckenzie had come home with last night.

The blonde-haired boy stood across from me in silence, confusion plastered on his face. Soon though, the confusion was twisted into a sweet closed-mouthed smile, and I got a new feeling in my stomach. Shyly, I looked down at my feet, realizing I'd left my toes unpainted- something I often forgot to do. I kept my head hung for some time, hoping he'd break the awkward silence soon.

          "Um, I didn't realize Mckenzie wasn't up yet. I'll just come stop by later."

          "Yeah, no she's still sleeping. She had a pretty rough night- but, I'm sure you already knew that."

          "Yeah, she did, didn't she? You know what, could you just- could you just give this to her when she gets up? She left it at my house last night." The boy looked nervous as he handed me a black sweater; the one Mckenzie had left wearing the night before. For some reason, I couldn't force a response from my mouth, rather I stared back up at the boy and his perfectly messy hair. He looked away a couple of times, but then back at me before speaking again. "I'm, um, I'm Liam- Liam Buchanan. I live a couple of neighborhoods down. Does Mckenzie have a secret sister or something?"

          "Oh, no- I'm just staying here for a while. We're old friends." I explained. He nodded at this and then stuck his hands in his shorts pockets. I took note of the seashell necklace he had hanging around his neck. My mom and Annette had matching seashell necklaces when they were younger. "I'm Daisey."

          "Hm, Daisey." He stretched my name out on his tongue as if to catch its taste, and then searched my face like he was trying to figure something out. His eyes were a color of blue I'd only ever seen once: in Annette's eyes. They were daring, like they could lure you in and keep you there. I wanted to swim laps in them. Slowly, Liam turned his head and started walking off the porch. Before he made it the full way out of the driveway he yelled behind himself. "See you around!"

          "Yeah. Yeah... around." My voice trailed off as I realized I hadn't been yelling loud enough for him to hear anyway. My eyes were stuck on the boy as he walked further and further away, and I slammed the door shut when his head turned around to look behind me. Was he checking if I was still looking? I was. I replayed the scene over and over in my head trying to figure out if it really happened and soon convinced myself that I was just being stupid. He wasn't nervous to talk to me, he wasn't taking any interest- that's just how he was. And either way, he was Mckenzie's.

          "Was someone at the door?" I spun around at the voice, my breath fast- my heart faster. Mckenzie was standing in front of me wearing the same clothes she got home in, except somewhere along the line she'd lost her skirt. My hands were behind my back, hiding the sweater I'd received a few moments ago.