Dead & Gone (DARAGON)

Your love is better than ice cream

Jacob Fischer and I met when I was four
and he was five, but somehow managed
not to have an actual conversation until I
was eleven and he was twelve. When
we were little, all I really knew about
him was that he was Such a Boy.
(Monsters and cowboys and farting, oh
my.) He was loud and messy and always
climbing on stuff in the playgroup
Sadie's mother put together after school.
One of those kids you loathe sitting next
to at restaurants or on airplanes.

We got older. Never talked much. Not
that I ever thought about him or anything.
Boys weren't on my radar, since they
were gross alien creatures who my
friends and I basically wanted nothing to
do with. Anyway, we were too busy
riding bikes and doing way cooler stuff
like diving (me), gymnastics (Tess), and
ballet (Emma and Sadie).

That is, until one September afternoon,
years later, when Jacob's big sister,
Maya, rang the doorbell. I was the one
who opened it.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Hey, Brie!"

Maya Fischer: long, crazy curly hair.
Invisalign. Silver hoop earrings. Orange
Crocs.

Ooh. I want those.

"Hey, Maya," I said, licking a
watermelon Blow Pop. I was trying to
make it last without getting to the bubble
gum too quickly.

"Is your mom home?"

"Yup."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Sure. What for?"

"I'm starting a babysitting company. I
stopped by to see if your parents ever
need a sitter."

I leaned a little farther out the door. "I
like your Crocs."

"Thanks."

"Brie?" called my mom from upstairs.

"Honey, who is it?"

"It's Maya Fischer!" I yelled back. "She
wants to know if you need anyone to sit
on us!" Then I burst into giggles and ran
back inside.

Turns out, as fate would have it, Mom
and Dad did need someone to watch
Jack and me that Friday. Dad had one of
his big medical-dinner things in the city,
so Mom set it up for Maya to come over
for the night.

"Only thing is," Maya said, "can I bring
my little brother? I told my mom I'd
watch him too, if that's okay."

"Of course!" Mom exclaimed. "We'll
order from Bo-Bo's."

I was obviously way more excited about
Bo-Bo's Burgers and watching Finding
Nemo for the eighty-seventh time than
Maya Fischer and her brother, Jacob,
coming over to my house.

Jacob Fischer: No big deal. Just a kid
from school. Just a kid from playgroup
when we were babies.
Before I knew anything about anything.

Mom and Dad were running late as per
Eagan family usual when the doorbell
rang again Friday night. I was lying on
my bed on the phone with Tess, listening
to her latest reasons for being infatuated
with Eric Ryan.

"Did you see him in the pool at
Bethany's birthday party? Don't you
think the way he does the backstroke is
kind of adorb?"

(What did I say? Total Ariel.)

Downstairs, I heard Mom say hi to them.
Heard the door slam as Maya and Jacob
walked inside and got the basic house
tour. Heard the garage door squeak open
and then shut as Mom and Dad sped off
to their dinner.

When I eventually wandered downstairs,
I found Maya sprawled out on the couch
watching MTV, and my four-year-old
brother sitting on the carpet playing with
his LEGOs. Maya turned around as I
walked into the family room.

"Hey, Brie!" Big smile. "You hungry?"
She checked her phone. "Bo-Bo's
should be here in like any second."

"Hi," I said. "Thanks, yeah, sounds
good." I walked over to Jack and
flopped down on the rug next to him.
"Hey, Jackson Hole, whatcha doing?"

Jacob was sitting next to my brother,
playing LEGOs too.

Picture me: a little chubby, a little frizztastic,
Soffe shorts, purple-rimmed
glasses about three times too big for my
face. Picture him: tall (okay, for a
twelve-year-old, people), curly brown
Jew-fro, a freckle right square on the tip
of his nose, snaggletooth.

Just a boy. Just a boy in a skateboard
shirt. Just a boy in a skateboard shirt
playing LEGOs. He didn't look at me or
even remotely acknowledge my
existence. Even though he was in my
house. On my living room carpet.
Playing with my littlebrother. Ugh,
typical caveboy.

"I'm doin' a spaceship," Jack said
proudly. He held up a stack of LEGOs
that looked more like a stegosaurus than
a spaceship.

I laughed. "Ooh, good idea, Jack. Maybe
I'll make a Wendy's space station, so the
astronauts can each order a Frosty when
they get to the moon."

Jacob snorted and made a face. "Ben
and Jerry's would be better."

I turned to him, wide-eyed.

Excuse me? You dare to snort at my
choice of dessert?

"Uh, I'm sorry," I said, "but Frostys are
the best."

"No way," said Jacob. His eyes met
mine. "Nothing beats Cherry Garcia."

And just like that, BOOM, there it was.

The evil, twisted, dreaded hold had
found its next victim.

If I'd known right then that this was the
kid—this toothy, big-haired Skatr Boi
wannabe—this was the kid who would
grow up to break my heart beyond
repair, maybe I would've stayed upstairs
on the phone with Tess. Maybe I
would've gone to bed early. Maybe I
would've begged my parents to take me
with them—even though those doctor
dinners are pretty much the boringest
things ever.

But I didn't know. Couldn't know. So
instead, I shrugged like I couldn't care
less and said something really genius
like "Um, whatever." I got to work
building my Wendy's space station.

And proceeded to fall totally, madly,
crazy in love.