Forever And A Day

Six : The Past

I ran skipping over muddy puddles while feeling my heart flutter like a great big butterfly in excitement.

I got chosen for the lead role in the annual school play today and I couldn't wait to tell Max.

I don't see him as much as I want to these days because he's been attending High School while I was still in Primary School .

He was a very busy boy right now too, what with the preparation for his next role in a major film . He would be gone for at least six months if not a year . On top of that it was High School and modelling for a major clothing brand .

His time was quite limited and usually when he gets a break ,he spent it at home with his Mom and sisters . His Dad was mostly on their farm these days working his bottom off to provide for his daughters . Uncle Niel didn't have to worry about Max because Max did well enough for himself . Max would've helped him with everything if he'd just let him ,but Uncle Niel was as stubborn as Max when it comes to such things .

I reached the front gate of the Toerien's yard . It stood ajar as if beckoning passerby's to go in for a visit .

I passed through , shutting it because Aunty Emma didn't like it when it was left open. Lyssa or maybe Jessie must've left it open by mistake. Goodness knows, they always did such things .

I walked to the back of the house to the kitchen door that stood open also .

Lyssa sat on the steps with her hands on her cheeks and her elbows resting on her thighs.

" Hello ,Lyssa ", I greeted her .

She still hasn't lost weight much since the previous year ,but she didn't look ugly to me .

" Hello, are you here to see Max?. Or have you come to play with me and Jessie?. Max has a girlfriend ,you know. He's acting all mean today . You'll see he'll chase you out of his room when you go there . His girlfriend is there and they're kissing . Jessie said so ."

I feel my heart sink at hearing this news . I didn't know about Max having a girlfriend .In fact I never thought about him ever getting a girlfriend .

I'm still a kid , aren't I ? . I still play with dolls and cars and don't have time to think about such things . I always keep forgetting that Max is older than me by three years which means he'll be grown up long before I am . A sad thing really.

" I'm just hear to tell him something ", I tell her ,all the excitement gone .

" Mhm, Okay, don't say I didn't warn you that he's mean . Just go ahead and go see for yourself".

She shifted out of my way, jabbing a finger at the empty kitchen behind her .

I stepped up to the door and went in .

                      🍭🍭🍭
I heard voices and laughter as I walked down the hallway towards Max's room .

One was clearly a girl's voice and I almost turned tail and run because I didn't know what to expect when I get to Max's room . If only I'd known then that I'd meet my enemy that day I might've taken my own advice and run far away from that house .

I didn't .

All I did was walk up to the open room door and knocked on it effectively catching the attention of the two occupants.

They were sitting on Max's bed talking , while music played softly on his CD player .

All the friendliness drained from Max's face as he set his eyes on me .

The girl didn't look any better as she glared  down her nose at me with her blue eyes .

Max got up from the bed to turn off the CD player before coming over to me asking grumpily "What do you want ,Carly?."