Beyond Denver

Chapter 19

10 years ago, Chelan, Washington

People tended to say that we never forget our first kiss, the first person we fell in love with, or the day we had our first time with the person we care about.

We never forget the best teacher in school nor the one that most despised us.

We never forget the most unforgettable trips and the best birthday parties we've ever had in our lives.

And then, we never forget the first person we have lost on Earth. I think death is practically impossible to overcome.

I remember the first time I met the siblings, Jessa and Jason when I was in third grade. I was eight years old. My mother needed a nanny to take care of me on a non-school day, and Adele, Jessa and Jason's mother, was the only person who volunteered to help my parents. Their kids were about my age, Jason being a few months older, and Jessa a few months younger.

"Hi, my name is Jessa Anderson. Do you like playing with Barbie dolls?" The long-haired brown girl asked me as I entered the house. She had one Barbie doll in her hands and three old ones stored inside of her bedroom closet. Barbie's boyfriend, Ken, had been abandoned and neglected in the corner of the room.

"No," I didn't lie about it. Playing dolls has never been my thing.

Her sibling, Jason, appeared with two friends, Edmund and Eddie, the Super Brothers.

"This is Cassidy," Jessa introduced me.

"I remember," It was all Jason said while the Super Brothers looked at me curiously. But I didn't remember meeting either one of them before. In his hands, Jason held a board game, "Do you guys want to play Game of Life?" he offered.

"What's that?" Jessa asked.

"Have you never heard of the Game of Life? Don't be a beast," he snapped at his sister. Edmund and Eddie laughed at his comment.

I had played this game a few times before, so I was the first person to answer, "I'm in." I might as well teach Jessa how to play only to beat these boys. Jason sat on the floor of the small bedroom he shared with Jessa.

Then opening the board game, he dealt the cards among the five players. He was a very handsome boy with black eyes that glowed dark in that room. I was used to honey-colored and brown eyes my family had, but not as dark as night like his. It gave me the impression that his eyes were about to devour the universe at any moment.

Twenty minutes into the game, Jason stated he was bored and needed to move on to something else. But I think it was an excuse for not losing the competition. He was already losing all the financial resources while Edmund and I were getting close to become millionaires. Even Jessa was winning from him.

"C'mon, I can sit still. Let's do something else," he begged. We played hide-and-seek around the house for a while and then ran through the streets of Chelan. Between ringing the houses' doorbells and running away, we also played pranks on other children in the neighborhood.

As if that wasn't enough, Jessa and Jason also had many cousins our age who lived nearby and frequently visited them. Super Brothers Edmund and Eddie also enjoyed coming over, especially when the girls showed up.

"Look at Idiot Elliot. They look like three retards," Jason pointed to the spiky-haired boy sitting in front of a giant white house with two of his peers. It was Saturday morning, with the three boys calmly playing marbles balls. When Idiot Elliot saw me standing there next to Jason, his sister, and the Super Brothers, he accidentally staggered to the side of the sidewalk, hitting the wrong ball. They all laughed.

"What's wrong with you guys?" The boy asked angrily. Elliot Hickman and Jason Anderson never hit off since the first day they'd met.

"You have a thing for Cassidy, don't you?" Jason confronted the boy. Upon hearing his comment, his hair became more upright than usual.

"Don't be an idiot." The boy tried to defend himself. "Why am I going to have a thing for this parakeet-looking girl?"

My face fell as Idiot Elliot's friends burst into laughter at his comment. Jason was the first one to speak, his voice louder than usual, "What did you just say? Take it back!" he yelled.

"Yes, Elliot is interested in her," said one of Elliot's friends. "He just called her a parakeet because he doesn't want to tell you the truth that he's already told us." I couldn't believe his own friends turned his back on him. It was hard to know if they were lying.

Jessa interfered with calmy, and I know she did it to protect me and avoid a physical fight that may have happened between her brother and Elliot. "Come on, Jason. Let's go home," she begged. It is not worth it. Don't you see that?"

Unlike Jason, Jessa was a peacemaker.

After that day, I didn't know which side I fit in the most with the two of them. I had become the lost girl between two siblings. Jessa, with her long, waved brown hair, brought peace and harmony. With his intense dark eyes, Jason brought me the wild side I didn't know existed in me.

I was the sister who wasn't a sister.

Just as the dolls were a pain to play with, so it had been my life before I'd met them.

Back at their house, I spent most of my afternoons. I went there after school, on weekends, and summer months. When Adele went for walks before sunset with a red lipstick emblazoned on her mouth and her fake Michael Kors bag hanging on her shoulder, we'd all head to Grandma Gigi.

The family was big and had tons of stories to tell by the campfire. Grandma Gigi had a chicken coop and cooked the most delicious meals on Earth I've ever tried. Knowing that my own grandmother had died of natural causes when I was little, granny Gigi quickly replaced her. The chocolate lava and the guava cake were the most appreciated desserts at her house.

Guava Cake used to be Jason's favorite.

The most important thing is that my parents knew I was safe at Adele's home.

And so, the three of us grew up to be the best friends in the world.

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