Chapter One:
A Very Special Day Indeed

The sun streamed through my windows and hit the blanket on my chest. I opened my eyes unwillingly, and stared at the blue fabric, wishing the sun to go away. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand, 6:24. Great, I lost six minutes of sleep, for a teenager that’s a lot. I put my hands behind my head and stared up at the ceiling waiting for my alarm to catch up with me. I reviewed in my mind how the special day was going to go.

It is the first day all summer my friends and I had to do whatever we wanted. We had spent the last few days, and most of last week, planning it all out. I smiled. Nothing except fun for today! I had never had Starbucks (sad, I know) and my five friends were planning on changing that today. Afterwards we would go to the park and play volleyball on the sand court they had there. This was probably the most debated idea because the reason that we hadn’t been able to hangout recently was on account of volleyball. We all played for our high school, and between the clubs that two of them did and the camps that the rest of us went to, we were all busy all the time. Of course, we had seen each other everyday the past two weeks for conditioning, but it had never been relaxing and we never got to talk to each other.

After we get tired, we plan on just hanging in the park till lunch time and having a pot-luck picnic. I am in charge of desserts. I stayed up late last night making the brownie and the cupcake batter. I also made cookies. I love to bake and all my friends know it (they get to taste every batch I make). Then we are going to my friend, Sam’s house because her family is going to be at her grandmother’s and won’t be home. There we are going to shower and get dressed into non-sweaty clothes. We will walk around downtown for a little while. Do just little things, like eat ice cream, cross the pedestrian bridge, and get old-fashioned candy. (I have a sweet tooth) Finally we are going to the mall to shop a little there, and then watch a movie. Lastly, we are going to a school dance and then a sleepover.
Even with it being a Friday and a dance night, conditioning still wasn’t canceled, they just shortened it. We all decided (with a little consent from our parents) to just skip. The boys’ school was hosting the dance, and with all of us going to an all-girls school, there is no way we would miss an opportunity to be with the opposite sex (even if they are annoying)! Today was going to be a very special day indeed.
My alarm finally rang and I got out of bed. I dressed in a size XL cut-off shirt and running shorts. They weren't my cute ones of course, because I was saving those for the park later today. My tennis shoes were downstairs. I grabbed my favorite lightweight water bottle and went outside to start my morning jog. I started jogging every morning for two reasons: One, I need to be in shape for the three sports I play, track, volleyball, and swim team. The second reason is more personal, one day a boy my age called me fat and told me I had “thunder thighs.” It's sad, I know, that that still bothers me. I try to be confidant with myself but most of the time I have awful insecurities. I’m not slender like the models or Cassie, one of my friends. I am what my mom calls a pear and what Sam calls a triangle. Meaning, I gain weight, guess where, in my thighs (hence the thunder thighs).
After I finished my second mile, I turned around and started to head back for home. One of the girls was going to pick me up. We were only taking two cars around so no one would get lost (again). Up ahead of me I saw my really cute neighbor, Joe, running towards me. He was sort of nice but could be really crass sometimes. He smiled and waved when he saw me and my pulse quickened as I waved back. ‘He doesn’t like you. And you could never like someone who swears! Besides didn’t he just end a relationship with someone?’
“Hey, Katie! How’s it going?” he asked when he reached me and turning to run alongside me.
“It’s been good. How about you?” I asked my voice a little out of breathe.
“Pretty good, I’m tired though. I stayed up late last night so catch me if I fall asleep right here won’t you?” he asked, winking.
I laughed, “Sure! And I’ll wake you up by pouring my water bottle on you!” I jiggled it in front of his face. He laughed to and grabbed the water bottle from my hands.
“What does it say?” He slowed down to try and read it. I panicked. The bottle was a light blue and it had a quote painted on it pink. It had been a gift from Becky, my friend. We were both big One Direction fans and the quote was from Harry Styles. It said: “It only takes a minute to call a girl fat and she’ll take a lifetime trying to starve herself. Think before you act.” I really didn’t want this particular boy to know I have self-confidence issues.
I lunged for the bottle which he merely raised higher. He looked at me ginning,
“What does it say? Why don’t you want me to read it?” He looked at it again. “I only takes a minute…” I jumped once more for the water bottle, missing but hitting his wrist instead. He dropped it and we both dove for it. My head hit his shoulder and knocked him off balance. We fell to the ground and I landed on top of him. I quickly tried to roll off of him, but he caught my arm. A look of alarm crossed his face.
“What happened to your face?” he asked.
I only half heard him. I was looking frantically for the water bottle. I spied it just above his head. This would be awkward. I leaned forward and stretched my hand over his head just as he reached up to touch my forehead. His fingernail scraped the skin on my forehead.
“Ouch! Joe! What the heck?!” I said leaning forward to snatch the bottle. I stuck it under my shirt and into the waistband of my pants. Then I reached up to touch my very sore forehead. “That really hurt! What were you doing?”
He stared up at me, “Trying to see if you were okay.” I froze, remembering where I was. Awkwardly, I looked away from him, mumbling something about helping him up. Just as I made a move to get off of his chest, he stopped me. He pushed me down his chest and onto his legs, and then sat up. We were inches from each others faces. And-- I gulped-- I was in his lap. If my mom was here I’d be grounded, if my friends were here, they’d be shooting a video. I suddenly became very aware that I was wearing a white cutoff with a very bright pink bra on under. I also noticed that I was sweating pretty badly. It was dripping down my face! I wiped some of it off.
“OW!” I yelped. I looked down at my hand it had blood on the fingers where I had tried to wipe the “sweat” off. “What the…” I gingerly reached up to touch my forehead. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I felt around the throbbing part. There was a lot of blood and a gash on my forehead. I looked at Joe. He was watching me examine my wound with an amused expression on his face.
“Is it as bad as it feels?” I whimpered. His face changed as he looked at me. He looked at my forehead then back at me. Looking me straight in the eyes he said,
“Nope. Just a little scratch.”
I rolled my eyes, “Uh-huh. Why is there so much blood then?”
“Head wounds always bleed a lot.” I gave him my best Aren’t-you-the-smartest look. He laughed and leaned back, bracing himself on his arms. He looked so casual, like girls knock him over all the time and then sit there bleeding in his lap.
Well, even if that did happen to him a lot, I wasn’t going to be there for much longer.
“Well, I better get going. I have to be somewhere soon.” I tried to get up and once again he kept me down. He sat straight once more and pulled his shirt off.
“Whoa there! What are you doing?” I asked startled. This was getting more and more awkward by the second (for me anyway).
“Relax, Campagna,” he said, reverting to my last name. Something he only did when we were younger and he was annoyed with me. “I’m just gonna use my shirt to stop the bleeding. K?”
“But, but, that’ll ruin your shirt!” I protested holding his arms at bay.
He pushed against my arms, and then paused. “Do you want to use your shirt instead?” He grinned rakishly. “I don’t mind.”
I blushed, then asked, “Can’t we- I just wait until I get home?” I really wanted him to be gone, yet at the same time I wanted him to stay.
“Um no.”
“Umm why not?”
“‘Cause it’s bleeding pretty hard.” He looked me in the eye and said sternly, “No buts.”
“Fine.” I conceded but only because he used his big brother tone. I still couldn’t help adding in a ‘but’: “But really, this is gonna stain your shirt.”
He let out a big breathe and paused in his tying the shirt around my head. “Katie if you don’t stop talking I’m going to rip my shirt in half and stuff it into your mouth!”
“You wouldn’t…” I trailed off when he glared at me. “It would taste horrible anyway.” I muttered.
I hadn’t thought he’d heard me but then he let out a big laugh. “There all done. Now, let’s get you home.
We walked almost in complete silence the whole two miles back to my house. It was nice walking with him when he wasn’t being a jerk. Sometimes he would point out something and tell me a story about it. I glanced at my watch as we turned in my driveway. It was 7:57. Whoever was picking me up would be here at 8:30.
“Your parents are going to freak,” he said, cutting into my thought of how to rush my morning routine.
“Huh?”
“Your parents are going to freak,” he said again. “With the forehead and all.” He motioned to my head.
“Oh yeah.” I sighed. “Thank you though for the shirt. I‘ll wash it and see if I can get all the stains out and give it back to you.”
He laughed again and put his hands on my shoulders, “Campagna, do you really think I went jogging in a shirt I care about? Keep it. And if you can’t get the stains out, then you will have a great story to tell everyone you meet while jogging. Besides you always run in clothes that are too big for you.”
My mouth dropped open in surprise. Not just because he had given me a shirt, but because he noticed what clothes I where. Just then the door opened and mom stepped out. She looked surprised slightly peeved.
“Katie! There you are! We were wondering why you were taking so long. You’d better get ready. Becky just called and she’s heading over.” She said this all so quickly I had little time to process it all. Then she noticed Joe. “Oh! Hello Joe. How are you?” She held the door open and ushered us both in.
As she and Joe talked I went to the kitchen and filled a bucket with cold water. I untied the shirt from around my head and dunked it. I left it to sit and then headed up the stairs to shower and get ready.
“Oh, Katieee!” my mother called me. She and Joe were standing in the hallway still talking.
I turned around, “Yes?”
“Don’t you think that you should thank your guest?” She raised an eyebrow at me, probably trying to figure out where her daughter got such bad manners. Then she said, “I will be right back. Joe, would you like anything to drink?”
“Water, please. Thank you, Mrs. Campagna.” She walked out and he and I stood there staring at each other.
I broke eye contact first and looked past him to the door, “Well thanks for the shirt… and the bump on the head.” I gave him a small half smile.
He returned it. “Yeah, anytime you need a new scar just ask me.” He scuffed a shoe on the floor. “Sorry about that.”
“No, it’s okay. You really should stop wearing buttons on your shoulders.” I raised an eyebrow at him.
He laughed, “It’s an old shirt. I don’t pretend to understand the fashion choices of those who lived before me.”
I laughed to and then my mother came out with the glass of water. She led him into the living room to chat for a moment or too.
“You’d better hurry. Your friends are not going to appreciate you being late,” she told me over her shoulder. I jumped slightly and headed up the stairs. I looked into the room again and caught Joe watching me. I gave him a quizzical look and he lifted his glass into the air then looked pointedly at my belly. I still had my water bottle there. I blushed and he grinned at me.
For some reason, it felt like things had changed between Joe and me. Maybe for the better.