I feel a tingling in my nose as my eyes start to water. Just as I’m about to go back into my room, I hear a familiar voice behind me.
“Hey baby.”
Wiping at my eyes, I turn around to find my Daddy coming up the stairs dressed in his work clothes. He frowns when he sees my face.
“What’s wrong?” he asks bending down so that he’s at eye level with me.
“Nothing,” I mumble averting my eyes.
He puts a finger under my chin and turns my face back towards his. “Mia, tell me what’s wrong.”
Just then Mya and Mommy come out of her room. Daddy glances at them and then back at me, understanding clear in his eyes.
I turn my face away again, not wanting him or them to see the emotion on my face. Daddy sighs heavily as he gets to his feet.
“Hey girls, where are you headed too?” he asks.
“We need to get some more fabric and clothes for the pageant,” Mommy says.
“Okay be careful.”
I hear the front door slam shut. Daddy bends down again, so that he’s eye level with me.
“Listen Mia, I know your Mom and Mya have been spending a lot of time together lately, but it’s only because of the pageant. They’re not leaving you behind on purpose.”
“Are you sure about that?” I ask.
Daddy doesn’t hesitate. “Of course. Look, I saw some kids playing at the park across the street when I was coming in. Why don’t you go over there and see if you can make some friends?”
“Okay” I say. At this point what could it hurt?
His phone starts beeping, and he glances down at it, a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth.
“I’ve got to make a phone call. Are you going to be alright at the park by yourself?” he asks.
I shrug. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
He places a kiss on my forehead and then he’s gone disappearing into his office. Blowing out a deep breath, I go into my room and put on my sneakers before grabbing a book and heading downstairs, I try to shake off those bad feelings. Truthfully, I don’t really like going shopping, but I thought it would be something nice I could do with Mommy and Mya.
Our neighborhood is really nice. All the houses are separated by a lot of yard space. I look to my left at our next-door neighbor’s house and see a few boys that look older than me going into the house. I’ve seen them going in and out of that house ever since we moved in.
I get to the end of the driveway and check both ways before crossing the street to the park. There are two swing sets, a slide, a sandbox and a big open grassy area. There are several boys laughing and throwing a football around.
I look around, but don’t see any girls my age. Not knowing what else to do, I take my book over to the bench near the sandbox and curl up on it. I don’t know how long, I sit there reading before suddenly, somebody swipes the book out of my hands.
“Hey!” I gasp looking up to see three boys standing in front of me.
“What kind of loser comes to the park to read,” the one holding my book says. He’s the tallest of the three. The other two boys laugh egging him on. My cheeks redden as embarrassment sweeps through me.
“Give it back,” I say trying to sound strong. My fingers curl into fist as I get to my feet. They tower over me, but I try to stand as tall as I can.
“Give it back,” the ringleader says in a high-pitched voice. They all start laughing again.
Anger rushes through me, my heart is beating so loud I can practically hear it. Just then the book is swiped out of the boy’s hands. I peek over his shoulder to see another boy standing behind him.
“Leave her alone.”
My attention shifts to the fourth boy and my breath hitches. Up to this point, I haven’t really been interested in boys. At my old school, they were either jerks or they did nasty stuff like pick their noses in front of everybody. But the boy standing in front of me doesn’t remind me of any of those boys from my old school.
Black hair flops over his forehead. He’s tall, taller than any of the other boys standing in front of me and he has the clearest light green eyes I’ve ever seen. He’s the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen.
“Aw, come on Levi, we’re just having some fun,” the boy that snatched my book from me says.
Levi raises an eyebrow. “You think it’s fun to bother people that are minding their own business? Well I don’t, now beat it.”
And to my shock the three boys grumble something under their breath and leave. My mouth drops open in shock as I watch them walk away. I can’t believe he got them to go away so easily.
“Here you go,” my attention shifts back to Levi and I’m struck stupid by how beautiful his face is.
“This is yours, right?” he asks raising both eyebrows at me. My cheeks grow warm when I realize I’ve been standing here staring at him while he’s holding my book out to me.
“Oh, um yes. Thank you.” I take the book from him.
“No problem, those guys are jerks. If they bother you again let me know.” He shoves his hands into his pockets and he rocks back on his heels.
“Okay. My name is Mia” I blurt out.
A small smile forms on his lips and my heartbeat picks up in response. “I’m Levi. You just moved in across the street, right?”
“Yeah, right there,” I say
