“My birthday had been an absolute train wreck,” I looked over at the boy sitting on the park bench table, “Can you believe her freaking cake actually exploded on me? How do you get chocolate cake to explode by having it just sit there?!? It’s cake. Come on.” The boy laughed around my anger and hopped up onto his feet. He was tall, like basketball player tall. However, he didn’t flaunt his height like most guys would, he wore it in a kind of strange and gangly fashion, like he wasn’t used to all the extra arm and leg length he had. He looked like his skin was a little too loose on his frame. He also had these eyes, it’s like, impossible to describe. I’ve just never seen eyes like that in anyone, especially a black person. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, he’s black. Not like dark truffle black, more of a mocha latte, hold the whip, somewhat black. In addition, his eyes were super hunter and electric green. It was highly strange on someone like him, but they seemed to fit his face okay, so I let it slide. Yeah right, like could’ve done anything to change them anyways.

Jonny was special to me. Special in a way that can’t really be replaced. Ever. He had fire, strength, passion, and promise, a person like him was invaluable. To me, anyways. I was lucky I found him, if I hadn’t, I’m pretty sure I’d be even more lost without him, had I never met him.

“At least you’ll never forget it? That’s the best I got, I know it’s pathetic, but I’m pretty sure the whole explosion thing was exactly what your mom was going for. She tends to be… unique, to say the least.” He walked over and grabbed my hand, rubbing it softly between his pull the circulation back to my icy fingertips.

“Yeah, but why does my mom have to be the freakish one? Why can’t I have a semi-normal mother?” I was being a complete blowfish and I knew it. My mom had only done what any other mother would have done. She just blew her role out of proportion. “Besides, moms are supposed to love you, not try to explode you.” I blew my bangs out of my eyes. How I hated those stupid bangs. My mother made me get them because they made me into her little girl again.

Jonny stroked my hair down my back. “Hey, let’s get out of here, okay? I’ll take you to Indiana Beach for the day.” Oh… it sounded so enticing. I wanted to, really badly. But mom would notice I’m gone. “You can tell your mom that you’re staying the night at Paige’s tonight. And it won’t be a lie. We’ll go to the park, have some fun, bring back some kind of fat stuffed animal for your pixie, drop you off at her house, and call it a night. Cool?” I nodded blankly. I loved that he could practically read my mind and come up with a fast solution. “So get going.” He smacked my backside, and forced me to realize he wanted me to go to mom and tell her tonight’s “plan.”

January 3, 2008

Dear Diary,

Yesterday was, by far, the scariest day of my life. I was walking on the icy puddles between the trees at Lion’s Park and he was swinging. Right? I walk over to him and he starts arguing with me about the dumbest thing ever, my freaking hair. He stands up, grabs a fist full and pulls it over my shoulder telling me that it was perfect the way it was, he didn’t want me to dye it, not even with Kool-Aid. So, I tell him to lay off, Kool-Aid comes off in like two weeks, and he got even madder. But he just stood there. Not saying anything but the expression on his face got weaker and weaker. And he looked like he was looking somewhere far away. And then, he fell, like flat out fell to the ground. Some fat-ish dude from the pagoda calls an ambulance and says he’ll pay for it too. I was told to go home. Dave would come and get me later. I’m really scared, this has never happened before.

Love,

Skeeter