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Prologue

I’ve never been one to hold grudges. For the most part, any enemies I’ve made in the past have been forgiven. The only exception has been Andrew Evers. It’s not that I don’t want to forgive him; it’s that he’s not letting me. My mom often tells me I’m petty and immature when it comes to implementing pleasantries. She also says I tend to dismiss a person whenever he or she gets to a level of seriousness I thing I can’t handle. That probably has to do with the fact that I’ve never been in a relationship longer than six months… don’t you hate it when your mom is right?

Right, so, Andrew Evers—my first enemy. He was the boy who affirmed my belief that boys were muddy, yucky beings who enjoyed tormenting girls with icky scabs and slimy worms. He was the six year old who told me I’d grow a watermelon in my stomach if I ever swallowed a watermelon seed, the seven year old who convinced me that if I held my breath long enough, I would float up like a balloon, the eight year old who said soccer was not for girls, the nine year old who argued that the saxophone was better than the oboe, and the ten year old who said being able to run fast was not as good as being able to swim a full lap in under a minute.

What would he have said when he was eleven? I don’t know.

It was during the summer before my tenth birthday that Mr. and Mrs. Evers decided to move. And I guess that’s when it started.

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“You all set, Matt?” my dad asked as he loaded the last of the boxes into Mr. Evers’ minivan.

“Yup, it’s all in. Just have to make sure it’s all there when we get to Virginia.” Mr. Evers paused to take a drink of water as the moving van pulled out of the driveway. “Susie, get the boys will you?”

I turned from my spot on the Evers’ front lawn to see Mrs. Evers entering the house. My mom followed her in as my dad and Mr. Evers walked towards the porch. Pulling a few blades of grass from the lawn, I began to think about how great the fifth grade would be without Andrew shadowing over me. Being a year older than me, he thought his age automatically granted him the upper hand.

I snapped out of my fifth grade fantasy when the screen door snapped shut. The Evers’ dog, a golden retriever named Rusty, ran towards me with a tennis ball in his mouth. “Hey boy, how are ya? All ready to go?” I asked as I scratched behind his ear. Rusty barked in response before the screen door opened again, this time, permitting my mom, Mrs. Evers, and her two sons.

“It’s almost ten, Matt. We should get going if we want to get there by late afternoon.” Mr. Evers nodded and got up to enter the house to do a final check. “Jack, Sophia. Thank you so much for all of your help. It means a lot to Matt and me.” Mrs. Evers began to tear up as she moved to hug my mom.

“Really Susan, it’s no problem at all. We just hope you and the boys get adjusted as soon as possible. We’re really going to miss you around here, and I know that my—” I couldn’t make out the rest since she broke into sobs. My mom, the emotional landmine.

My dad soothingly patted my mom’s back as she continued embracing Andrew’s mom. Meanwhile, Andrew and his brother tossed around a football—both ignoring me completely. I never understood how Mrs. Evers remained sane in a house full of Evers men; even Rusty was male. I turned my attention back to Rusty who was still sitting before me with the tennis ball. “Sorry boy,” I said as I took the ball out of his mouth and tossed it across the lawn and to the hedges lining the fence. As Rusty went after the ball, I noticed Mrs. Evers motioning Andrew over. Since I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, I started to pull grass again.

This was taking forever. My mom had woken me up at eight in the morning, on a Saturday no less, so that we could help the Evers pack up the remainder of their stuff and see them off. Without even being present, Andrew had managed to ruin my Saturday—for the last time, I reminded myself.

“You know, it’s not nice to pull out grass.” I snapped up at the voice before it’s owner sat down next to me. Though Andrew’s brother and I never really talked all that much, He always seemed friendly at barbecues and school events. Actually, now that I think about it, I was probably too shy to even try to start a conversation with Neil. Neil is three years older than Andrew, making him four years older than yours truly. Andrew noticed my shyness around his brother and manipulated it into a symptom of some girlish crush.

For the record, I never had a crush on Neil; it just wasn’t possible. That didn’t mean he wasn’t crush-worthy. Neil had blondish brown hair, green eyes, and a face that never left him dateless to a school dance. Though I’d never tell him myself, I always preferred Andrew’s darker hair to his brother’s. “I’m sorry, I’m just bored,” I replied somewhat sheepishly.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. This whole moving thing has been one big pain in the neck. I didn’t mind all the packing, but now that we’re actually leaving, I’m kinda sad.” I nodded wistfully as I continued to stare at my shoelaces. “I’ve never moved before. New school, new friends, new town…it’s a big change.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have no problem making friends. I mean, you’re nice enough to talk to a fourth grader, so…um,” I managed to say in response as heat crept up my face. Neil laughed a little before he replied.

“I’m guessing you’re talking about my brother. He always had an I’m-older-than-you-so-I-can’t-talk-to-you complex. Oh well, maybe he’ll grow out of it,” he smiled and said.

“Neil! Put this ball away, and go get Rusty,” Mrs. Evers ordered. Neil nodded, got up, brushed a few blades of grass off of his shorts, and started walking towards his mother before stopping and turning around to say, “Have a good summer, and good luck with soccer tryouts next year.”

I fumbled for a reply but settled on just smiling and nodding.

“Oh please, and you expect me to believe you don’t like him.” I looked to my left to see Andrew standing next to me. His standing and my sitting gave him an unfair height advantage that I didn’t like. As a result, I quickly stood up to meet him eye to eye.

“Fine, say whatever you want. Just because I’m shy doesn’t mean anything!” I huffed. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Uh duh, I live here. What are you doing here?”

I rolled my eyes. It took too much energy to argue with Andrew at ten in the morning. “I had to come. My mom and dad are helping your mom and dad. It’s not like I want to be here.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. You probably begged your mom to come just so you could meet Neil one last time,” Andrew countered while batting his eyelashes.

“Ugh! Good thing you’re leaving today,” I said. “And you still didn’t answer my question. What are you doing here, standing next to me, and talking to me? Trying to get me annoyed one last time? Well, good job! You did.” I was about to storm off when Andrew replied.

“No…my mom sent me here to say bye and to apologize.”

“Your mom? To apologize?” I began to laugh, partly because I wanted to see if I could get him mad one last time. It worked.

“Fine, whatever. I promised my mom,” he paused. “Um, I’m sorry for teasing you all these past years, and I’m sorry if I ever really hurt your feelings. Um…ya, I think that’s it.”

I stared at him as though he had grown a third eye and blinked a few times. Andrew had never apologized to me in the five years we’d known each other. Of course, I had never made it seem as though he needed to; I never cried when he teased me, never whined when it really hurt, never let him know he had actually struck a nerve. “Uhh, it’s okay. As long as you didn’t really mean everything you said.” He smiled in satisfaction and began kicking at the lawn. “I hope you like your new house and school,” I said to end the weird silence.

“Thanks, I hope you like the fifth grade. It’s pretty cool. Oh, make sure you never ask to go the bathroom during music class. Mr. Ghams starts this huge speech about how rude it is to disrupt the class.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” I couldn’t believe how nice Andrew sounded when he wasn’t teasing me about some aspect of my life. The weird silence I cut short earlier had returned; Andrew continued to shuffle his feet as I stared at my fingernails. After a few seconds, I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Okay, why are you still here? You already did what you had to.”

He had a strange expression on his face when he started mumbling, “Not all of it… I still have to—”

“Andrew, come on! We’re leaving,” Mr. Evers called.

“Yeah dad, I’ll be right there,” Andrew yelled back. “Ok, I’ve gotta go. Sorry again, Elsie,” he said as he took a step back. I moved my mouth to say bye when Andrew took a quick step forward, kissed me on the cheek, and then ran toward the minivan.

I walked to where my mom and dad stood and looked blankly on at the Evers’ minivan pulling away. That was eleven years ago.

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