Nothing More Contagious Than Love

Introduction

I met Jerome when I was rather young. I first met him when my mom and I joined Haly's circus, when I was only 6 years old. That may sound young for the circus, but circus performing was in my blood. My mom started performing in the circus when she was just 4, so age definitely doesn't stop are family. Being that Jerome was the only other person in the circus close to my age (he was 7 at the time) we became friends pretty fast. We hung out everyday when we weren't practicing or performing. We quickly moved from good friends to best friends in just a few years. Unfortunately, when I was only 10, disaster struck. My mom was killed in a fatal car accident. I was an orphan. But not for long because Jerome's mother, Lila, took me in. She had grown fond over me over the years and was happy how close Jerome and I had become. I was more than happy. The next few years of my life were great. I loved living with the Valeskas. However, over the years, as my relationship grew with Lila, her relationship seemed to strain. I think it was because Lila had many flings and would often bring them into the trailer where we all slept. I didn't necessarily like it, but then again, it also didn't bother me that I never really paid attention. I never saw the same face twice in the trailer. However, it affected Jerome pretty bad. His mom seemed to ignore him when she was with a fling and would nag him to do things such as wash the dishes. Also, Jerome was protective of his mom, and didn't like the idea. Jerome's father died when he was young, which was another way I connected with him. It hurt him to see all these men get with his mom, knowing none of them could ever be a father figure. The closest person he ever had to a father figure was the fortune teller, Paul Cicero. I was glad about that, but I tried to stay away from him as much as possible. He kind of freaked me out. He also didn't  seem to fond of me anyway, which is why I stayed away. 

When things got to chaotic, Jerome and I would often wander away from the circus and we'd hang out for hours alone by ourselves. I cherished every moment I had with him for it was not something to be taken for granted. I especially started enjoying them more and more after I realized that my feelings for Jerome changed. In a good sort of way. I realized it after I had learned about all that fun stuff from Lila. Being that we couldn't go to school since we were on the road all the time, we were homeschooled in a way. I began paying more attention to how I looked around Jerome and I would blush when he was around. I haven't actually told anyone, but I wouldn't doubt it if Lila or the entire circus knew. Jerome was completely oblivious, which I was more happy about than angry. I was afraid if he knew and didn't return the feeling, I would ruin are friendship. 

Anyway this story isn't about my past or Jerome even it's about what happened on my 18th birthday.