Love Me Back

Prologue

I don't remember exactly how Damon Gray and I became friends. I think I was seven. I had moved away from my childhood home to a house right next to his. I remember I was crying, basically the whole drive, because I didn't want to move from our old house. It was in the woods and had two stories and a pool in the back. I loved it. We had a chicken- I don't know how it got there- that I named Chica.

When my dad told me I was moving, I remember throwing a fit. We were moving from Kansas to California, even though my dad's business is based in Kansas. I was furious- we couldn't take Chica, which means I would have to leave her there all alone. I cried myself to sleep every night leading up to the big move, I didn't talk much on the drive to our new house.

I was a dramatic kid, okay?

All I could think about was Chica, and how she was my best friend and I just left her.

We moved into a townhouse. I didn't like it at first; I didn't even want to go inside the house. So I didn't.

I parked myself right on the steps, my eyes red and face blotchy, watching as my parents work. I don't understand why they didn't hire people to help them move in, but that was their decision, not mine. An hour after we arrived, a man and his wife from next door came outside and helped them move it. They were laughing and talking and I was so mad because how could they move on so quickly? This house doesn't even have a big backyard. Then a little boy came out.

He had dark hair, with beautiful green eyes. He looked my age, but he was tall and lanky. He had glasses and beauty marks on his face, and he smiled at me. He smiled at me, and I saw he had dimples. One on each cheek.

He came over and he sat right next to me. He smiled and said, "I like your eyes, " which I thought was strange, since my eyes- hazel- usually look brown. He likes brown eyes? Who says they like brown eyes?

Still, my mother raised me right, so I said, "Thank you," and he smiled.

"Are you okay? You look sad." He fiddled with fingers, looking at my parents talk with who I thought to be his parents.

"I'm okay," I said. Then I asked, "are those your parents?" Just wanting to make sure.

"Yeah," he said. He pointed to the house right next to ours. "That's our house. Do you want to come over? I got a new game today."

I thought about telling him no. I really didn't want to go anywhere unless it was back to Kansas, but he seemed so excited, so I said yes. We both stood, and I brushed off my overall dress. He smiled at me, a bright and big smile, and ran right to his parents. I saw them nod at whatever he said, and he raced back over to me, pulling me to his house by my wrist.

I was at his house for three hours, watching him play and sometimes playing myself.  Before I left, he asked me for my name.

"Emory," I said.

He smiled- he smiled so much. "Mines is Damon."

I thought that he would have forgotten about me, and went on with his life after I went inside. But I was wrong. The next day, he knocked at my door asking for me.

So I guess that's when we became friends. Even after my mom went to rehab, and I became closed off, he always found a way into the house, sitting on my bed, comforting me when I cried.

I think Damon is an angel in disguise. Don't tell him I said that, though.