Our Little Love Story *NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON KINDLE!!*

chapter one.

Carrying the last of the boxes into the living room, I flopped down on the couch and wiped my forehead dramatically.  

"Tired, are we?" my mom asked, walking into the living room, setting the box she was carrying on top of the one I had just placed on the floor. 

"Exhausted. Completely wiped out," I answered. 

"Uh-huh. I see," she answered, turning her attention to the living room window. "Well, your father and I were going to run and get burgers or something for everyone for supper. You want to go?" 

"Nah, I'll just stay here," I answered. 

Nodding her head, Mom brushed off her jeans with her hands headed back outside. Sighing, I got up and went to the kitchen. Turning on the faucet and letting the water run to get as cold as possible, I stared unseeingly out the window. The house next to ours stood silently, the owners probably still at work. They had a little girl about my brother's age. That's about all I knew of this little town we were now residents of. I knew there was a small park a couple of blocks over, and a large church at the end of our street, on the 'main' road. It was just a quiet summer evening in Small Town, USA.  

Gulping down the water, I wiped the few trickles that had escaped off of my chin and set the glass on the counter.  

"Tiff! We'll be back in a little bit! Sam's going with us!" my father called from the back door. 

Glancing to my right, I called back, "Okay! I'll try not to burn the place to the ground while you're gone!" 

"Tiffany!" I heard my mother gasp. 

"Kidding! Geez, Mom," I answered, rolling my eyes. She took things so literally sometimes. Mothers, gotta love 'em. 

We didn't have the cable set up yet. Those guys were supposed to be coming tomorrow morning. All of my books were packed away, and I'd had enough of hauling boxes around for a lifetime. I took my phone out of my pocket and glanced at the screen. A missed text from Jessica. 

'How do you like the new place so far?' it read. 

"It's ok.' I typed back, and hit send. A moment later, my phone was ringing. It was Jess. 

"Hey, what's up?"  

"Nothing. What are you doing?" I asked. 

"Sitting around watching tv. Have you met anyone yet?" Jess asked. 

"No, I've been forced into child labor unloading an insane amount of boxes. I had no idea we owned so much crap," I told her, joking. 

"I'm really going to miss you next year. It's just really not going to be the same without you," Jessica said suddenly. 

"Yeah," I sighed, "Hopefully this new school doesn't suck too much."  

"Oh, hey, I got to go. Mom's home," Jessica said, barely giving me enough time to respond. 

"Okay, 'bye," I said, rushed. Jess' mom hated if she was on the phone. I guess she expected her to be sweeping, mopping, and cleaning the whole ten hours she was gone at work. Jessica and I joked that she was a victim of 'Cinderella Syndrome.' Of course, I figured most teenagers felt like they did everything from time to time and felt little if any gratitude from their parents. Such is life, as my mom would say.  

I sat on my bed for a few minutes, and then decided maybe going for a walk would help the time go by quicker. I scribbled a note for my parents in case they returned before I did. God forbid they think someone came and kidnapped me or something.  

Outside, the air was warm on my skin, the summer sun low in the sky. Another hour or two, and it would be a spectacular sunset. I walked down our new driveway to the end of the road, not sure which way to turn first. I decided on going right, and walked next to the ditch, kicking random rocks with the toe of my sneaker. The house next to ours was on the corner, so I turned left, knowing that going to the right would just take me past a farm supply business, and then the main highway out of town.  

After a few blocks, I came across a small town park. I walked over, and sat on one of the swings nearby. The sound of the chains creaking and groaning in the quiet evening were loud against the sound of the few birds in the tree. I slowly started rocking back and forth, dragging my feet in the rocks and dirt underneath of me. I had really gotten started swinging, enjoying a long lost childhood favorite, when the sound of footsteps and then a voice startled me, nearly making me fall out of the swing. 

"Hey, I wouldn't trust these old chains too much. Lord only knows how old they are." 

Stopping myself, I jerked my head around ready to see a middle aged pedophile ready to snatch me up and whisk me away in his unmarked box van. Instead, a boy stood in front of me. He looked to be about my age, tall, slender, tan. He had short black hair, and the most gorgeous eyes I think I've ever seen in person. 

"I think you just gave me a heart attack," I answered. My heart really was pounding ninety miles an hour inside my chest it seemed. 

"Oh, sorry. I just happened to see you over here swinging from my bedroom window, and thought I'd come join," he answered. 

"Your bedroom? Where do you live?" I asked, trying to discreetly slow my heart rate. 

"Oh, just over there. In the gray-ish blue house with the maroon shutters." I looked in the direction that he had gestured, and sure enough, there stood his home, big as life. 

"Oh, that's a nice house," I answered, looking back at him. Those eyes. Oh. My. Goodness. 

"So, what's your name?" 

"Tiffany Strauss. You?" 

"Jared. Jared Michaels," he answered. "Are you visiting family or something?" he asked. 

"Um, no. We just moved here, actually. In a brick house a couple blocks over," I replied. 

"Oh, yeah, the Long's old house. I heard they moved to St. Louis or somewhere, I don't really know. They were older and didn't have any kids or anything," he informed me. 

"I see," I said, trailing off, trying to think of something halfway intelligent to say or ask. The sound of my phone beeping interrupted my thoughts. "Oh, sorry. Hang on a second," I said, pulling the phone from my pocket. "Oh, that's my mom. They're back with supper. I guess I gotta go," I said, rising from the seat of the swing. "It---it was nice meeting you," I added shyly.  

Jared rose from the swing he had sat in next to me, "It was nice meeting you, too. Maybe I'll see you around?" There was something in his eyes that seemed to sparkle, seemed to shine. I couldn't help but smile. Inside my chest, my heart rate had slowed from earlier, but was now picking up the pace again. I felt my stomach do a few quick flip flops. A smile spread across my face. 

"Sure," I replied, quickly glancing down as I felt my cheeks burn. I felt like a child seeing Santa for the first time; becoming shy and giddy when he asked what it was I would like for Christmas, and if I had been a good girl all year. 

"Well, okay then," Jared said with a smile of his own, "until then." And before I knew it, my hand was in his and he placed a quick, soft kiss on top of it. He spun around and was halfway across the park before a single thought could even begin to form in my mind. Holding my hand down in front of me, I looked at the spot where his soft lips had been. After a few minutes, I looked up, and he had completely disappeared. I turned around and walked home in a daze.