The Night We Met

Prologue

       Well, look who it is. I'm glad you finally came to listen, well, read what I have to tell you. I guess it's finally time to unravel the truth about what happened huh? Well, alright then. But, you have to listen closely and follow my rules. Rule number 1, pay attention so you don't miss any details. Rule number 2, don't tell anyone what you know or you'll ruin it for everyone. Rule number 3, pass it on. Now that we've gone over the rules, let's begin. I'll start from when I first came to the small town called Selmer.

      The green trees pass quickly, all becoming a blur as my eyes go out of focus. I just listen to the music that was blasting through my blue ear buds. I've been in this damned car for the past 10 hours and my legs are becoming stiff. I feel a tap on my knee and I look up. My Dad gestures for me to take out my ear buds, and I do it, with quite a bit of stubbornness. "So, Paige, we are almost to our new home. Are you excited?"

       I see how happy he and Mom are about moving here. Dad and Mom moved here because of their job. That's right, they met through work. Dad was studying small animal science and Mom was studying large animal science at the same college as Dad. They both had applied for an internship at the campus Veterinarian and only one of them could get it. They despised each other at first, but as they started to know each other they completely fell in love. They both got their Doctorates degree in Vet Medicine and Animal Science. They had me and they moved to a place in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. Mom wasn't happy so they decided to move somewhere where they could have their own clinic and give me the full high school experience since I was homeschooled in Wyoming.

       "Yeah, Dad, I'm stoked. How big is the house again?" I ask that because I have a bigger twin brother and a younger sister. Dustin is Junior like me and Amy is in 8th grade. In our old house, Dustin and I had to share a room and Amy slept with Mom and Dad. The house was so small that I'm pretty sure it was built for midgets and they decided to move.

 

      "It is a two story house with five bedrooms, 6 baths, a three car garage, pool and hot tub, 6 acres and a game room. There are two rooms upstairs, three bedrooms on the main floor, and a bedroom in the basement along with the game room. I think your brother chose the one in the basement so I figured you'd like the one upstairs."

     I nod as I listen to him. I always wanted an upstairs bedroom so I guess I am pretty excited. Before I could respond, Mom squeals as she points to a two story white house. "We're here!" She starts squealing like a little girl getting a pony. I have to admit, it is a pretty nice house. I get out of the car and Dad gives us all a key to the house and I put it on my keychain along with my journal key.

     I walk inside and bound up the stairs to see my new room. I open the closest door and it was just a plain room. I sigh and see a door at the end of the hallway. I open it and I gasp at what I see. The room was huge and absolutely beautiful. The room was a teal blue color with white boarding and doors. I see two doors with white curtain on them and I open them. I have a freaking balcony. I'm liking this place more and more. I explore my room further, finding a large walk-in closet, a huge bathroom with a shower and a Jacuzzi bath tub, and I have a flat screen TV.

    
      I smile and run downstairs to gran all of my boxes. As I bring everything up, I keep hearing a certain noise. It was the roaring motor of an old muscle car. I head back outside to see a 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge, the black paint job shining under the blazing sun, the wheels brand news and the hubcaps shining like they've been newly bought.

  
      A black haired guy with a soft baby face gets out of the driver's side and he shuts the door. He looks over and I avoid my gaze quickly so he didn't catch me staring. I grab another box from the back of the Suburban and grab a bag full of my clothes. I put another box of pillows on the other box I was carrying and start walking. Of course, it falls because my over achieving ass wanted to get few trips from my room to the car and back.

      "Shit." The words just flies out and I was thankful my parents weren't outside to see or hear.  I bend over to try and grab the box which was an epic fail and it made me look like a complete idiot. I sighed in frustration and gasp when I hear a voice from behind me.

    "Need some help," the deep voice asks me from behind and I turn around quickly. It was the guy that owns the gorgeous muscle car. His black hair messy which was completely sexy and his soft caramel skin that's either from being in the sun or it was conpketely natural. His dark brown eyes sort of turning gold because of the sun rays shining onto his eyes. "I saw you staring and you dropped your box so I thought it was a good way to introduce myself. I'm Gabriel, but my friends call me Gabe."

      I smile a welcome to him and looked up at him since he had to be 6 foot something. "Uh, sure. Yeah I was just admiring your car. It's beautiful," she complimented as he picked up the box of pillows and he followed her upstairs and into her room. "Just set the box down by the bed."

     "You were admiring that piece of garbage? That thing is so old, like twenty years old," he said as he set the box down, chuckling when he saw the contents. He shook his head and looked around the room that was full of unpacked boxes and the bed that was put together not thirty minutes before.

      "Actually, the car is older than that. It's a 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge, so the car would be about 50 years old. You were close but you had to go up thirty years. It has a 400ci/360 horsepower. You can have three types if transmissions in it. There's the 4 speed, 5 speed, and the automatic. From what I've heard, you drive an automatic since the usual stick shifts have more of a popping sound when pressing the accelerator," I said and she turned to look at him. I giggled at his facial expression and I covered her mouth as I eyes crinkled at the ends. His mouth was slack and his eyes were wide in fascination.

    "How the hell do you know all these things about my car you just saw not ten minutes ago," he exclaimed and I laugh. I head back down the stairs with Gabe on my tail, wanting answers to my knowledge about the vehicle or as I call it, a beautiful masterpiece made by the car Gods.

     "Well, my Uncle is a muscle car fanatic and he took me to hundreds of muscle car shows. He'd quiz me on every car we saw, making the owners pop the hood or trunk so that I could be quizzed on the motor. By the age of 11, I could tell you the correct different between drum brakes and brake boosters," I explained and I turned to look at him. His face was contoured in amazement and amusement and I just smiled.

    We grab the last few boxes and take them upstairs. We've had small talk going about how he rebuilt the car to be beautiful how it is today. He told me funny stories about how he and his Dad would drive to the nearest autopart shop to get some parts. He told me this one time that he actually raced the car without telling his Dad. His Dad was pissed but he was pretty happy since Gabe had won $20,000 by doing three races. They bought more car parts to make it more durable and faster for racing. The rest they used for bills and groceries.

     "So, now that we finally got to talk more. Am I going to get your name and number? I'd really like to hang out with you more. You seem like a pretty lit girl to hang out with. Maybe one day we could work on Ole' Xander," Gabe said and he flashed a bright smile that was brighter since his teeth were super white.

     I smile and sigh with content. "Fine. Give me your phone," I say and set my hand out so that he could set his phone in the palm of my hand. He digs it out of his pocket and sets it down. I pull up his contacts and put my favorite emoji and number in. I close his phone and hand it to him.

     He opens his phone and he looks at it with confusion. I turn and walk back to the house with a smile on my face. "Hey, am I not going to get your name," he asked quickly and I heard his footsteps.

    I turn and look at him once I was at my front door. His eyes were watching me with anticipation and it was actually kind of attractive when it was on him. I smile and wink at him. "It's Paige," I reply and a smile spreads across his face.

      "Paige.. That's beautiful.. I'll keep in touch. I'll see you later, Paige ," Gabe said as he let Paige roll off of his tongue. I smile and wave as I enter the house, closing the door. I jet up the stairs and enter my room and go onto the balcony to see him crank the car and drive off. I watch his headlights disappear and I smile. "Goodbye, Handsome."

     That night, I couldn't get you out of my head. Your brown eyes stared into mine when I closed my eyes to sleep. I could still feel the warmth from you when you stood near me. I can still see your bright smile and it made me want to see you in person again. And that, Gabriel Santiago, was the night we met.