Let Me Be Your Hero

Prologue

I AM CURRENTLY EDITING THIS STORY BEFORE PUBLISHING THE SEQUEL.

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"Melanie! Sweetie, hurry up, we're about to take the picture!" Melanie's mother waved her over to where the rest of the children stood, getting ready for the group picture. Melanie looked around, disoriented for a minute, before spotting her mom and heading over to the table where the cerulean birthday cake sat. She walked around some of the people that were animatedly talking, and finally reached her destination at the very edge of the table.

"Julian, come here right now young man! It's time for your birthday picture with your friends." Janet, his mother, reprimanded him when she noticed how caught up he was playing a game of basketball with some of his friends, even though he was supposed to be behind the table taking pictures.

He ignored her at first, but when she began walking over he stopped what he was doing, and with a grimace murmured, "Alright, Mom."

He almost ran to the small circular table in which only the kids waited by. They were all getting impatient, just waiting to go back to their hyper state. The adults took note of that, and hurriedly got ready to take the pictures before they ran off.

Melanie awkwardly smiled a small smile, while Julian had a full blown toothy grin outstretched on his face from ear to ear. Melanie dared a glance in his direction whilst more cameras snapped. She blushed a bit, and bowed her head to hide her embarrassment in possibly having been caught in camera. He is her crush, but never will she tell him out loud.

She has always watched him with other feelings apart from their growing friendship. Her innocent mind told her it was wrong, but her heart whispered otherwise. They may just be children and may not understand the whole concept of it, but they do know how to love. Julian had always been so kind to her, that she just couldn't help the butterflies bursting in her stomach every time he flashed her that crooked smile. Although it wasn't anything serious, she wasn't acting immature on the crush either.

Julian, on the other hand, had no knowledge of how her eyes sparkled at the mention of his name. He didn't notice how bashful she became around him. He had not seen the blush that would creep onto her face when he would hug her every time she came over to play and watch movies with him. No, he just cared about how today was his tenth birthday and of all the birthday presents he was sure to receive. He wasn't even fazed by the possibility of her feelings for him. He just didn't care.

When all the pictures were taken, Melanie sat in an empty seat, twirling the end of her long brunette hair in her fingers. She tried to dust away some mud she had accidentally gotten on the corner of her baby blue dress from playing tag earlier, but it was no use. She just sighed and stayed still, bored out of her mind.

From a distance she could hear Julian and Janet arguing. She strained her ears and tried to distinguish the rest of their conversation.

"...Everyone should dance too." Janet spiritedly told her son.

"No, I don't want it and it's my birthday, so I decide." Julian crossed his arms over his chest with a pout.

"But, I am your mother and what I say goes." Janet countered, clearly winning the argument.

"Fine, but I'm not dancing! Dancing is for losers." Julian walked away, towards the refreshments table. Melanie's attention then trailed off to a boy sitting on the side. He was strangely similar to her crush, but that's not what caught her attention, no. What made him stand out was the cloud of boredom over him.

"Everyone! It's time to grab someone and bring them onto the dance floor." Janet announced, pausing the upbeat song that was playing. Not many people were dancing, so stopping the music didn't really bother anyone. She switched the CD's and pressed play.