First Everything

1. New Year

The phone blared with a loud ring. Running to answer it before it stopped, Rhea almost tripped on the carpet.

Reaching there before five rings, she snatched up the receiver. A little breathlessly she answered "hello."

"What took you so long? I was gonna hang up and call again."

It was her best friend Liza. They had this crazy rule to only let the phone ring five times before hanging up and then calling again. This was to alert each other that the other was calling. This also acted as a strategy to avoid their mothers answering the phone first. It was a scheme that worked most times.

The fact is that they spent hours talking to each other on the phone. Sometimes not saying anything at all, just having the connection there made them both feel like they were spending time together.

This annoyed both of their mothers because it held up the phone line and other calls couldn't come though. They did this every night!

"Sorry" Rhea said apologetically. "I got here as fast as I can. I had a feeling it was you calling. I almost fell."

"You ok?" Liza asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So what's up?"

"I'm just calling to see if you're back home..." She paused and then continued, "and if you're busy."

"Me and mom just got back actually" Rhea told her.

It was January 3rd, 2003. She'd gone to spend New Years with her cousins. They always threw a big party. She ended up sleeping over and having a blast.

"I'm not busy, why?" Rhea asked.

"Well...I'm bored here and was gonna take a walk over to your house" Liza said.

They didn't live far from each other. It was about eight blocks, but it can feel like a small journey at times.

"Sure, come over. I'll ask my mom if I can come out with you."

Rhea always felt like she needed to tell her mother everything. It was just the two of them. Her father had left a long time ago. She'd never met him.

"OK great, but please please please promise me that you'll come with me and don't change your mind when I get there." Liza pleaded.

"Oh fine, I promise I won't change my mind," Rhea said with an eye roll.

"Good, see you in a couple minutes, bye!" Liza responded excitedly and quickly hang up the phone.

Why did she make me promise not to change my mind? That was kinda strange, Rhea thought.

She got dressed quickly. She choose dark blue low-rise flared jeans and a burgundy T-shirt from Old Navy which said, "So much attitude, so little time."

As she brushed and pulled her long black hair into a ponytail, she heard her mom calling "Rhea, there's someone here to see you."

She's here already, Rhea thought. That was so quick!

Hurriedly she ran to the window and peeked outside. There was Liza, but she wasn't alone. There were two boys with her!

"Oh my god" Rhea groaned. Why did she bring boys? How am I supposed to ask mom to go for a walk with boys? She thought of a million reasons to give her mom and none made sense. She was experiencing a zap of fear at the thought of mentioning boys to her mom.

It was a mutual understanding between Rhea and her mother that she wouldn't date boys until she was much older. She was only fourteen, well almost fifteen, her birthday was two months away.

She was slowly starting to panic. This was why Liza made me promise. Ugh! how could she do this? She was always up to something.

Rhea's mom had also looked out the window and saw Liza and the boys. The same boys that Rhea didn't even know! The same boys that she never saw before now!

With a slightly terrified feeling Rhea ask her mother, "can I take a walk with Liza? I promise to be back before it gets dark."

She sounded scared and timid to her own ears. Her voice ended with a tiny squeak.

She hoped her promise to be back early would make her mother agree. That was another thing she and her mother had between them. They both made sure they were home before it got dark.

Surprisingly her mother answered "Yes, sure."

She actually sounded nonchalant about it. What a relief!

Rhea was shocked, but she didn't hesitate before her mother changed her mind. She quickly said, "Thanks mom," and she put on her shoes and was out the door.

Once she was outside with the door closed, she turned and got a good look at the taller boy. Her heart skipped a beat and she had to remember to breathe again. "Wow, he's cute!" She thought.

She made her way down the stairs and almost tripped over her own two feet. Oh God, why did she have to be this clumsy? She almost went tumbling down the last two steps.

As she approached the group she said, "Hi."

"Finally," Liza said. Gesturing towards the taller boy she said "This is Adam."

Adam responded with a polite "Hi" and a small smile.

"And this is Ian," Liza continued. Ian did a kind of a head bob in greeting.

"You know Ian, right?" Liza asked.

No, she didn't know Ian. Was she supposed to know Ian? At her blank expression Liza clarified, "Ian went to our middle school."

Oh yeah, now she remembered him. "Hi", she said again, awkwardly.

She felt Adam looking at her and it was making her very nervous. He was so tall and she didn't want to look up directly at his face. She suddenly didn't know what to do with her hands. She opted to fold them nervously.

They were all standing in a small circle and no one said anything else. With an eye roll and a laugh Liza asked "Why are we standing here? let's walk!"

Everyone silently agreed, turned and began walking down the sidewalk.

They'd somehow rearranged themselves so that Liza and Rhea walked next to each other and Ian and Adam followed behind them.

Speaking quietly so as not to let the boys hear, Rhea said "You didn't tell me you were bringing company?"

"Oh", Liza giggled. Surprise!"

"I cannot believe you!" Rhea exclaimed quietly. "I didn't even think mom was going to agree to this."

"Well, she did. Just go with it, please. You promised!" Liza reminded her pleadingly.

"Ok fine" Rhea said with gritted teeth, as they all continued to walk down the street.

Hello Readers,

Introducing a new story. This one is younger and the characters should be more fun. Please read, comment and let me know how you like it.

Thank you.❤️