| published! under the new title MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE | Eden knows she can't love Truman, the boy with the angelic smile and devilish eyes. Why? He's her best friend Katie's older brother, who she strictly promised she'd stay away from.
But when a...
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E D E N
I was fifteen years old when I first met Truman Falls and made a promise that would keep my heart locked up, the key lost somewhere in the past.
It was summer that day. The sky was bright and my hair stuck to my forehead from the heat. I remember it was raining, even with the sun out. A sun shower, is what Katie had called it while we walked over the warm asphalt to her house, skipping through puddles.
Her and I had been friends for exactly six hours and we decided that was enough to warrant ice cream. After all, completing our first day of grade nine surely called for celebrations.
My shoes made a funny noise as I stepped into her house and froze. Rain drops danced on my eyelids, so I was sure my vision was blurry and I was imagining the shirtless boy sprawled out on the couch.
That is, until he spoke.
"Katie," he greeted, eyes locked on the television screen. "How was your first day of high school?"
I vaguely remember her cheerful response before her hand gestured in my direction. Her brother peeled his gaze from the television and met my eyes instead. A dimple popped into his cheek, mouth stretching up into a slow grin that I'd soon grow familiar to.
"Who's that?" He paused the video game and stood up, eyes never leaving mine. His shirt rose as he stretched his arms above his head, showing a small patch of skin.
It was that moment I decided to spend as much time possible at my new friend's house.
Katie introduced us, oblivious to my ogling. "This is Eden," she said. "My new friend."
He smiled. I blushed. It was stupid, I know, but my fifteen-year-old heart was a treacherous thing, doing cartwheels and summersaults in my chest. I swear my tongue vanished inside my mouth and I forgot how to speak.
After Katie had literally dragged me into her bedroom, she explained that was her brother Truman, but everyone called him Tru.
"What do they call him when he's lying?" I asked, bursting out laughing. Katie looked like she wanted to throw me out the window.
By then my brain had remembered how to send those little signals to my mouth to open and speak, and I couldn't seem to shut myself up.
"How old is he?" I asked.
"Sixteen," she answered.
"Why didn't I see him at school today?"
Katie rolled her eyes. "He doesn't believe in the first day of school," she said, clearly disagreeing. "Something about teachers not actually teaching until the second day."
I had asked her what seemed to be a hundred more questions and she answered them all, sprawled out on the carpet, ankles crossed high in the air as she painted her nails the colour of the sky.
Her eyes narrowed slightly every time I pestered her for more information on her glorious brother. I ended up reluctantly admitting that I appeared to have a crush.
To be fair, not having a crush on your friend's older brother was unheard of. The thought alone would send the universe out of whack.
"Promise me," Katie demanded, holding me with her eyes. She set the nail polish aside for this very serious conversation.
I remember laughing as I promised my new friend I would stay away from Truman. Cross my heart and hope to die, duh.
Katie smiled, satisfied, and we spent the rest of the day laying on our stomachs on her plushy carpet, watching One Tree Hill and debating between which Scott brother was better.
The answer was Nathan, obviously.
The school year stretched on and our one day friendship blossomed into much more. Before I knew it, I had a best friend.
We spent the days laying on the floor in her family room, drinking juice and reading textbooks. Well, Katie was studying, Iwas peering over the edge of my textbook and watching Truman, the sound of his video game always serving as background noise.
Days stretched into years and that hazy summer day when I first met the Falls siblings began to drift into the past until four years had passed.
Everything can change in four years, that's what I learned.
Like how I broke my promise to Katie and kissed Truman in a closet.
And maybe if we hadn't been kissing, I could have stopped the accident that placed my best friend in a coma.
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a/n: please tap the star and vote
hello guys, hope you liked the first chapter! chapter 1 & 2 the take place in the past, before we get to the present :) comment your thoughts!
