All About Us- Dani and Vince's Story

~~Chapter 1~~

The one thing I always hate to say any time of the year is saying goodbye. When saying it to a loved one or a close friend or to the dinner you are about to eat, it's hard to say it. And it is so dreadfully hard for me to say goodbye to the best two months I've had in my life this year: the summer. Of course every summer is a great experience when you spend time with your family, go to the beach, chill with your gals, spot hot guys your age at the community pool and all that good stuff; however, this summer was way better.

One thing is that I got a boyfriend. I never thought that a lunatic like myself would ever get one, but yea I did. It's basically almost every girl's dream to find the perfect guy for them, too bad that all the boys in my high school are all perverts. Talk about having no personal space in my school, but this isn't about the boys in my school, this is about my rather handsome boyfriend Manuel.

I have to admit that the first time I met him, which was at my uncle's house on Father's Day, the thought of dating him didn't even cross my mind. I mean, I was chilling with my cousins Jazz and Maya in their medium size living room. They have a large flat screen tv with a soft light brown leather couch that takes up most of the room with a little glass table in the center. There is an open space where there are stairs leading up to the bedrooms and the bathroom. Manuel came down the stairs, a navy blue towel hanging from his arm. I was the very first to notice him.

"What's your name?" I asked, giggling a tiny bit since I happened to be in my giggly and happy mode. It happens from time to time when I'm in a very good mood. He stopped walking and turned his body toward us where we got a full view of him. His broad, tan chest, his slightly buff arms, his slightly defined jawline, and his genuinely goofy smile. He also had deep brown eyes which were pretty nice.

"My name is Jose," he told us, having a strong and fake accent on the 'e' before continuing down the hall to the backyard where the pool is. Jazz, Maya and I burst into laughter at what he had said, and I really wanted to go see him again. The sad part is that I had use Jazz's mom's bathing suit because I hadn't brought one, but it didn't really matter.

He ended up telling me his real name, that being Manuel, when I had joined him in the cooling 5ft pool. Maniel and I would chill and talk and laugh together in the pool while Maya and Jazz would make annoying comments in the background about him liking me and stuff like that. Turns out they were right because we started to talk over text message for the next few weeks. I really started to like him too, and was very glad to know that my father and his father know each other a bit. We were able to hang out together at the park that we both live close to.

What shocked me was when he kissed me in the middle of July. I was never expecting it. We were just sitting on the bench in the boiling hot sun that was shining down hard on us that day and he slowly leaned it as his deep brown eyes bore into mine and kissed me softly. I had quickly moved back and wasn't sure if the heat on my cheeks was from a sunburn I might have gotten or if I was just blushing horribly at the fact that he had just kissed me. Of course, it turned out I was blushing. He just gave me one of his goofy smiles and chuckled cutely, even though that they next few times we met up he would kiss me again.

We met up once every week this summer and it feels great to actually have someone you really like like you back and also be your boyfriend! He was a major highlight of this summer, but another major one was my 16th birthday. Yup the big sixteen where the girl is supposed to have a big party where all her friends and family are invited. Yea I didn't do that, but it was still really fun. My mother, father, and little brother David drove to Downtown Manhattan where my grandmother still lives and dropped me off on 2nd street and Avenue B where I met up with my best friend Lexi. She is practically the most awesome and fun person you will ever meet, even if she can be very shy at times. She's tough on the outside and soft on the inside, like me.

Lexi and I had went to the Samsung Galaxy Studio in South of Houston or Soho and made our own custom t-shirts. I made one that said "M + D Forever" and she made one that said "Lexi Rocks!" It was a lot of fun to spend that time with her and I did happen to see Manuel that day also. He had given me a beautiful orange tulip that I still keep in a vase in my room to this day as well as a sweet make out session where we kissed for 5 minutes behind a large tree in the park. His warm hands were tight on my waist and I got a bit self-conscious because I'm not the skinniest girl in the world, nor the prettiest.

I would say that I'm pretty, but not drop dead gorgeous. I have nice cheeks, my skin is pretty clear, I have slightly pronounced cheekbones and jawline and a pretty nice body. A lot of my friends have told me that my butt is pretty big and I'm not going to say they are wrong. I like my body and how I look , even if I'm not exactly better looking than other girls in my school. I also have wavy blonde hair down to my back that tends to shine like it's golden in the bright sunshine and my eyes are very pretty according to a lot of people and tend to change from blue-green to gray, keeping the hazel rim around the pupil. Manuel says I am beautiful and he is the first guy to have ever said that to me and I am so grateful to have him. I'm not gonna be able to see him as often as I did in the summer and that really sucks. It's the last day of summer, so I better go outside and enjoy it for a bit.

My 6 year old brother David is currently upstairs playing video games while I am chilling in the living room. My small Pomeranian Husky named Fluff is padding around my ankles, wanting to go on a walk. I smile at her and stand up from the comfortable couch, stretching a bit. I walk down the short hall and pass by my parents bedroom where my mother is sitting on her bed grading her school kid's essays. She is an 11th grade English teacher and that is pretty helpful for me.

"Mom, I'm going to walk Fluff. I'll just take about 5 to 10 minutes," I say, bending down to grab Fluff's hot pink leash and latching it onto her collar. With her soft pink little tongue she licks my face a bit and I giggle, scratching her behind her cute little ears.

"Okay, Dani," she says, not looking up from her grading. Dad is currently working till 5 this afternoon so he isn't here at the moment. He is a cop for the NYPD at the Midtown South precinct and can be very protective which is why he wasn't so sure of Manuel and I seeing each other when we first met. I nod to her, grab the doorknob, open the front door and step outside. The bright sunlight heats up the whole area as I close the door behind me. I begin to walk along the broad hot sidewalk.

I live in a community named Shorehaven in the very South Bronx. It's nice here, but I don't really have any friends since I mostly spend my time inside my home reading books and doing my homework. I'm a bit of a nerd actually since I absolutely love books and my grades in every class are all 90's and above. I want to be an author also, wanting people to feel connected to the characters in my novels like I feel connected to the characters in the books I read.

Anyways, it's actually not even that hot outside, I'm guessing around 88 degrees. There is a cool breeze that blows my hair back and it feels nice and relaxing. This is what I'm going to miss about the summer time, besides seeing Manuel. The humid air with the cool breeze along with it and the shining sun instead of nasty cold weather and snow like in the winter which I hate extremely.

Fluff is happily padding beside me, her light gray and white fur ruffling up and casually stopping from time to time to mark her territory. I now find myself all the way across from my home, a large meadow like field in between it where dandelions and sunflowers grow in the spring. A large moving van catches my eye by one of the houses I'm close to. I stop in my tracks and watch as a large man with a mustache and a guy who seems to be the driver of the moving van carry a large black leather couch inside, even though I don't know how that would even fit. I guess there's someone new here, but I don't see any kids or a teenager my age, not that I would made friends with the new kid in the first place.

I start to feel Fluff tugging at the leash to continue our walk and I continue walking before taking a glance back at the new people moving here. I blink a bit, seeing the back of a boy who looks much younger than the one with the mustache from before carrying some luggages into the house. He has fairly light skin, brown spiky like hair , and obvious biceps under his light blue shirt. I can't see his actual face though, but it doesn't really matter . I turn away and keep walking until I get back to the front door of my house. 248 is what the front door says. I sigh as I look down at my dog who has her tongue lolling out of her mouth. If only the summer were longer, I wouldn't have to go to school tomorrow. Let's see where Junior year takes me.