Run to Me

Chapter 5: Dinner

Maurice's POV

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, carefully running a hairbrush through my light brown hair. Staring intently at my reflection, I winced. I could already feel a bead of sweat running down my back. Great. My nerves were going to take over the show once again, just as they always did. Most people wouldn't be this nervous to have their best friend over for dinner. But I guess I'm not like most people, because to say I'm nervous would be an extreme understatement. I'm a wreck. When Robin came home last night, barreling into the house, telling our parents that Mandi came back to England, they were just as excited as we were. Just like Mandi was ours, Mrs. Lancaster was a very close friend to both of them, especially my mum. She kind of took her under her wing, for when they first met, Julie was a new widow, and they've been great pals ever since. So naturally, Mum insisted on having the Lancaster's over for a meal. I was both ecstatic and terrified when she suggested that. The reasons, might you ask? I've been in love with my best friend since the fourth grade. I know it sounds a little sketchy, but I honestly can't help it. There's just something about her that strikes you. She really is the whole package, as cliché as it sounds. She's smart, she's kind, and once you get to know her well enough, she's extremely funny too. The first day that I laid my eyes on her, I knew that she was something special. The way that she genuinely cared about me, pushing me to try new things and comforting me when I needed it. Mandi is an amazingly beautiful person, both inside and out. It's a wonder how it took me so long to realize it.

When I was nine years old, my older sister Lesley was thirteen. There was boy at her school named Edward who had had his eye on her ever since she started to grow breasts, as shallow as that sounds. He was a first class asshole, but she fell head over heels for him, as all naïve teenage girls do to their first crush. Les would come home every day in a great mood, as Robin and I would stand there in confusion. We couldn't understand what the heck was happening to our usually moody and hormonal sister. It was me who finally asked, and that was when she told me all about love. I remember her words distinctly to this day: "Love is when a person makes you so incredibly happy, you feel that you're in heaven on earth whenever they're around." That got me thinking a lot. Picture that, a nine year, pre-pubescent boy with teeth bigger than his whole head, thinking about love. Although I look back on it now and realize that my sister was still a kid who was overjoyed by the thought of having a boyfriend, I was fascinated by it.

I watched Lesley with Edward whenever I got the chance, as she told everybody that they were "going steady". They seemed to do all the same things that I did with Mandi. They laughed with each other and listened to each other and genuinely seemed to care. My sister seemed so happy with him. I confronted her many times, curious about the aspects of relationships. She simply replied that I'd figure it out one day, when I started to fall for a girl. Little did she know that I already was. My friendship with Mandi was, if anything, a brother/sister one. We wrestled and pushed each other out of trees and fell in the mud together. But I started to feel that she was more than just a playmate. She helped me up when I was down and always listened. I could never make friends like Robin could. With just the wink of an eye, he would have a whole posse at his feet. I stuttered whenever I spoke. I would start to feel hot and get overwhelmed in a crowd. My mum said I had social anxiety. I just thought I was a freak. But Mandi never made me feel like that. She made me feel like I was worth something, which is a very hard thing to do. She was my whole world. And I never had the courage to tell her. I was scared of scaring her away and losing our friendship. I was scared that if I told her that I felt so incredibly happy around her, like I was in heaven on earth whenever she was around, that she'd get creeped out and run away. Which is why I've kept this little crush a secret. But when she came into the recording studio the other day, I just fell in love with her all over again. Those luscious red locks and those dazzling green eyes...man, she had me off the walls. Although our idiot drummer Geoff nearly gave away my liking towards her, which was absolutely mortifying, I still kept everything inside as best I could. All those years apart really took a turn on me. Now that we're older, I understand my feelings a little better. I still feel like I'm on air whenever she's around.