Hi. My name is Kathy. This is the story of how I met my true love. It all started in the summer of 2008. My friends and I were visiting my grandparents on Cape Cod for a week. My birthday was in two days so my parents let me invite three of my best friends down to visit with me. Once my friends Jeremy, Justin, and Madison arrived we all went exploring. We found a nice little store down the street from my grandparent’s house. We started going down there everyday.

Chapter 1

One day my grandmother asked where we kept running off to every day. We all started telling her at once about a bunch of different places we had gone. She got so annoyed that she said never mind and left. Later that day she asked us to run to the store and buy some groceries that she had forgotten about. We decided to all go to our special store on the way. When we got there their was only one other person in the store so we started looking around for any presents for our families back home. I was looking at some cute jewelry for my friends who didn’t get to come with me when the other customer, a boy about our age maybe a little older, bumped into me. When I looked up to apologize I noticed for the first time how cute he was. He asked if I was looking for anything specific. When I said no he looked a little upset so I decided to be nice. I called my friends over and introduced them. Then Jeremy with his big mouth invited the boy over for dinner that night. My birthday dinner and he knew it. We gave him directions to our house and said goodbye. On the way home I punched Jeremy while everyone else talked excitedly about tonight’s guest. When we got home I made Jeremy tell my grandmother about our extra person. She surprisingly thought it was nice idea. When she asked for his name to see if she knew him none of us knew the answer. That night when the doorbell rang Madison wanted to answer the door so the rest of us stayed on the patio watching the sunset. Madison brought the boy out the patio and introduced him as Alex. We all said hello and let him sit down with us. My grandparents came out and turned out they knew him and so did I. When we were younger and my parents came with me we had met his parents at the same store. Alex and his parents had ended up coming over a lot. My grandparents spent the rest of the night trying to remind us of all the fun we had had together. Neither of us remembered. Alex said he had to leave right after dinner. We all offered to walk him home since it was so late. He said he was fine and was worried about Madison and I being outside so late. We told him to come over again anytime. He asked if we’d be going back to the store tomorrow. We said probably and made plans to meet there. Madison and I went to our room and talked about Alex. She said she really liked him and was thinking of asking him to one of the dances coming up over the weekend. I told her that sounded great. She asked whom I was planning to bring. I told her either Justin or Jeremy. She asked why so I said because she had called Alex and there was no one else that we knew.


Chapter 2

The next day Madison was up at 6 am. When I woke up at 8 she was outside on the deck. I asked if she was ok. She said she was a little worried about asking Alex out today. I told her she’d be fine. After all she had Jeremy, Justin, and I to back her up if something did happen. She started crying and said that I hadn’t seen how Alex was watching me all last night. I told her not to worry I didn’t like Alex so he was all hers. She felt a little better so we went to start breakfast and wake the boys. By the time we got the boys up and had breakfast it was 11 am. We were supposed to meet Alex at the store in a half hour. It was a nice day so we decided to walk rather than wake my grandparents. We left a note saying we were with Alex so they didn’t worry. When we got to the store there was no one there. We waited for another half hour and still no one came. We started walking home when we found an abandoned old shack with a beautiful garden around it. We decided to explore. We got to the shack and looked in the window and found a disgusting bed and lots of dirty clothes. We started looking around the garden. Just then someone started yelling at us. We ran as fast as we could. I turned to see if they were following us but all I saw was Alex with a little girl just like him. I didn’t tell anyone that I saw him or her. We went out to dinner that night then to the carnival. My grandparents let us run wild at the carnival while they stayed waiting for us to get bored. We got in line for the Ferris wheel and waited what seemed like forever. We finally got to the front of the line and got on they said we didn’t have enough people in our group. Our savior came just then and Alex jumped in with us. We took off and no one said anything until the boys decided to yell at him. When they asked why he didn’t show up at the store he said it was because he had to work until 2 that afternoon. I finally snapped and asked how come he was at the abandoned shack at 12 with us then. Everyone stared at me except for Alex he turned bright red. My friends asked what I meant so I told them. They all stared at Alex until he admitted that that was his house. He lived there with his younger sister after their parents died. I felt so bad that I didn’t talk for the rest of the night. When we got home everyone said goodnight and left me on the deck to think. I was so caught up in my anger at myself that I didn’t notice when I wasn’t alone. Alex had come onto the deck with me. He put his jacket around me and asked what was wrong. Once I told him how sorry I was and how bad I felt he told me that he wasn’t mad at me. When I asked how come he said it was because he knows how hard it was for me to keep the secret for that long. We sat in silence for a while until Madison came out and started yelling at me. Alex said he had to leave so Madison and I went inside. I asked why she was yelling at me and she asked what happened to her having dibs on Alex. I said that she still did that Alex and I were just friends. She didn’t believe me. She yelled at me that she had eyes and what had just happened was not just friends. I went to sleep and she stayed up crying.


Chapter 3

The next morning I stayed in my room while Justin tried to comfort Madison. Jeremy just yelled at my door making Madison cry more. Madison came in and told me she forgave me and that Alex was all mine because she was going to the dance with Justin. I said I was so sorry for the night before. She said not to talk about and we’d both be fine. When I got dressed and came out of my room she was out on the deck sharing a lounge chair with Justin. They looked so happy that I decided to leave them alone and go out on the other patio for breakfast. Turned out I wasn’t the only one with that idea because Jeremy was out there too. We talked about how great it was for Madison and Justin to be together. I asked Jeremy if he had found some one for the dance yet. He said he was still looking. I said I was too but that Madison wanted me to go with Alex. He asked if I was going to. I told him I wasn’t sure yet. We went to go ask Madison and Justin if they wanted to go to the store with us. They said yes so we told my grandparents and headed off. Once again there was no one there. We looked around, Madison and I bought new dresses for the dance that weekend. Madison’s was purple with flowers on a hot pink background. It was a halter-top and looked awesome on her. Mine was a halter-top with blood red roses on a black background. Everyone said I looked great but I didn’t see. I ended up buying it so they’d all get off my back. We then went to the mall and bought new outfits for the boys. Madison and I had a little too much fun finding outfits that actually matched for them. When we were all satisfied we decided to go home. We had a fashion show for my grandparents. They loved our outfits and said we’d all look so cute together. My grandmother brought Madison and I shopping for makeup and shoes. We also got manicures and our hair styled.

Chapter 4

The next day Madison and I got up at 7 am to start getting ready. We made breakfast and got the boys up. It was our last day and night. We had the dance tonight so we wanted to have fun today. After breakfast the boys went swimming while Madison and I tanned to look good in our dresses. We got bored soon so we went for a walk. We ended up at the store. Madison asked the clerk if he knew the boy that was always here. He asked if she meant Alex. He said well duh he works here. She asked to leave a note for Alex. She wouldn’t tell us what it said. When we finally got home it was 5 pm. We ate dinner and started getting ready for the dance. My grandparents insisted on pictures to send to our parents. We posed for almost an hour of pictures. We finally had to yell that it was time to go. When we got to the YMCA where they were holding the dance it was 7. We started out dancing in a group but Madison and Justin left us so Jeremy and I went to go get a drink and who should be there but Alex. I asked what he was doing here and he said Madison had left a note at the store saying a very special girl needed a date. I told him sorry but she was with Justin. He said he wasn’t talking about her but me. Jeremy came over and asked what he was doing talking to me. Alex said he was with his date and I said that I wouldn’t leave Jeremy. Turns out Alex had thought ahead and brought his sister for Jeremy to dance with. We ended up dancing with Madison and Justin. I thanked Madison but she told me it was Jeremy’s idea so I thanked Jeremy. We ended up having the best night of our lives together. Later when Alex and his sister, Anna, came back to the house with us we started talking about leaving tomorrow. Turned out Alex and Anna were moving to North Attleboro, where we all lived. Alex was going to North High with me and Anna was going to Tri-County with Jeremy. Madison and Justin were going to North High with Alex and me. After Alex and Anna left we talked about having them meet our parents tomorrow before we left. My grandparents had thought ahead of us. When we woke up the next morning Alex and Anna were already at our house. Madison, Anna, and I made breakfast for everyone. We all went swimming till my parents came to pick Jeremy, Justin, Madison, and I up. They loved Alex and Anna right away and even offered to give them a ride back to NA with us. They said no thanks but they’d be in North in time for school in 2 weeks. Madison and Justin are still together. So are Jeremy and Anna and Alex and I.