Ties (Book 1)

30. The Gates of Heaven

I had been sending text messages back and forth with my sister, Nicole. I was discussing my first senior day to her, and how it was living in a new state in a new school with new people. I had never been very keen on making new friends, but I had no choice anymore.

My dad, Richard, had been planning my family's move to Texas for a couple of months, and it finally happened at the beginning of summer vacation. I had joined the football team as a defense player, but the coach changed my position to quarterback. Apparently I was fast; I mean I had been in track for a couple of years. I was starting to gain some ground on friendships with some of the people on the team. There was this one kid, Scott, that always came up to me to talk; I guess he was my friend.

I received another message from Nicole that said that she was not going to be able to come down that week from Washington D.C. I stopped abruptly to reread her message. But when I did, I felt someone run into my back. Oh shit. When I turned around, I saw the most beautiful girl ever. Her golden hair reached her waist, and her eyes were a mossy green with brown specs. She was short compared to me, which only made her all the more adorable. For a second she had looked angry, but it quickly dissipated and turned into surprise or disgust— I wasn't really sure.

"I'm so sorry," I said.

She pulled up her binder and hugged it to her chest tightly, almost as if she wanted to hide behind it— maybe it was disgust. She hesitated before saying anything.

"Oh, umm, it's fine, no big deal!" She walked away really fast, giving me no chance to further apologize or ask for her name. I engraved her eyes and every single part of her in my brain; I couldn't help it.

I went to football practice and changed into my practice attire. Thanks to Nicole's message I met her. We went outside and warmed up. As we stretched, I decided to ask Scott about the mystery girl. I needed to know who she was.

"Scott?"

"Yeah," he answered, as we stretched our hamstrings.

"I need help with putting a name on a face."

"Shoot," he said. Shoot what? Oh shoot my questions... Texans. I shook my head; they had the weirdest expressions sometimes.

"I ran into this girl that had long blond hair, with green-brown eyes, pretty and more on the short side... Oh and her binder said captain. I don't know if that means anything to—"

"Mackenzie."

"I haven't finished describing her." I said with irritation.

"You don't have to. She's a pretty little thing, ain't she? She's the captain for the cheerleaders. Single, I might add." He smiled knowingly.

Single. Well that was good news. I was going to do everything in my power to meet her again. There was something about Mackenzie that made me have this indescribable need to seek information about her like a dog sniffing for a scent.

But I didn't have to wait long; the next morning, I stopped at a red light and turned my head to the left. There she was, dancing and singing in her car. I laughed aloud and stared at her without shame. She had to be a morning person; otherwise, why would she be dancing at 6:40 in the morning? After a while, she turned her head by chance and saw me looking at her with a stupid smile on my face. That time, she was definitely angry. She turned her head and hit the accelerator as soon as the light switched to green. Talk about adorable.

I pulled into my assigned parking spot, and there she was again! I would see her every morning for the whole school year. She grabbed her things and quickly walked into the building that I now considered the gates of Heaven. She always seemed to be avoiding and running away from me. There was always something alluring about a chase.