What If We Had It All

Chapter 9 All We Have Is What's Between Hello and Goodbye(Henry's Story)

Driving home from Cat's felt like a dream, I finally shoot my shot. The second I laid eyes on her I knew she was something special and I just couldn't get her out of my head. She's just so charming and sweet in every way possible and I really liked her. Deep down I just hoped she felt the same about me. I'm Henry Alrez, I go to Albuquerque High where I'm on the swim team. My family moved to the United States from Puerto Rico when I was just eight years old. My family came here to the Americas to try to make a better life for me and my sister Selena and my abuela. We first moved from Puerto Rico to Florida when I was eight, then to Connecticut when I was ten, then to North Carolina when I was eleven, then to California when I was twelve and  we've been in Cali ever since. My dad works as a mechanic while my mom works at a local deli. My parents couldn't afford to send us through college but luckily my sister got a scholarship from MIT so she's in Boston right now studying Mechanical Engineering. I always wanted to find my purpose in life and help out my family the way Selena did with her scholarship because I know my parents don't have the funds to send me through college. That's when my abuela encouraged me to start swimming. She would take me to Myram's beach located just two miles away from my house and she would teach me how to swim and do different strokes and stuff. I would spend almost all my free time there. She was the one who told me when situations get tough I have the power to swim it all away when I'm in the water. She said that swimming could get me a full ride scholarship to college and that way my parents won't have to worry about paying to send me to college. I can't wait for the day when I get that scholarship and my abuela sees that all her hard work that she did for me paid off because I did it. My abuela is the reason I'm here today. I just sure wished she was here to see it. She passed away two years ago due to a lung infection. That's why I always wear a Daisy flower on my cap in memory of her. It signifies a seed growing into a beautiful flower, my abuela planted a beautiful seed in me and now I hope I can blossom into an Olympic athlete in her honor. That's why when I saw Cat she reminded me of my abuela, her beautiful black hair, her rustic brown eyes and that smile that just  lights up my whole world. After my abuela passed I learned to live everyday like it's my last because we never know when it's actually our last, call me crazy but that's why I kissed her tonight because just for a small second, she could have felt the same way about me the way I feel for her. Cat deserves a good guy and that good guy could be me even just for a moment.