Picture Perfect

"And just make a left here-" I started and watched the street pass as he made the left.

"It's that house right there," I showed him as I pointed to the cute little house I knew so well. My grandparents had always lived in that perfect white house located right smack in the middle of Oaken Road.

He pulled up to the perfect little curb in front of the perfect little house and turned the key until the car went silent. "Would you like to come inside and meet my lovely grandparents?" I asked him in a sarcastic tone.

"I'd love to," He smiled and extracted himself from the car. I followed suit and he followed me as I walked through the large white door. I threw my bag in on one of the stools that sat adjacent to the island in my grandparents kitchen. Well, I guess it was also my kitchen now, too.

"Ethel? Fred?" I call out. They're usually in the kitchen. Ethel, in her cheery, floral old lady type shirts cooking up something for me from when I get home. She's always got her hands in some sort of food, concocting a delicious snack of some sort. Fred is usually working on something new for the house, despite his age. I think he secretly just wants to be a thirty-five year old construction worker. Sometimes he's sitting on the couch with whatever game is on and the newspaper, though. He always knows random facts about what's going on in the world because of the paper.

"We're in your room, sweetheart," They always use little nicknames like that for me and I absolutely adore it. It makes me feel like a little kid again. I waved my hand for Mitchell to follow. He was currently occupying himself with observing my house.

We walked down the hall to my fairly large bedroom. Fred was painting it my favorite shade of blue when Mitchell and I entered.

"Oh, I didn't know you were doing this today," I told my grandfather as he slopped the paintbrush is the gooey liquid.

"Well, I had nothing to do so I figured I might as well just do it," He shot me the brilliant smile I always knew as his.

"Who is your friend?" Ethel asked, eying up Mitchell. I couldn't help but laugh.

"This is Mitchell. He invited me over to his house, so I just came home to tell you I'm going out. Is that okay?" I asked Ethel as she started walking towards us.

"Oh, that's fine sweetie. You don't have to come home and ask, we trust you. Just give us a call and tell us-" she started, then put up her hand and whispers, "I would say just go, but you know how that old man gets worked up," Mitchell and I let out a hearty laugh.

"And hello Mitchell. I'm Ethel, and that old man is Fred," Ethel said with a wink. Mitchell smiled and shook her hand.

"It's great to meet you two. Harlowe talks about you in the nicest ways," He told them and I smiled widely. They already knew how much I adored them, but I still let them know constantly.

"She's a great girl. I'm glad that you two have become friends," Ethel said as she rubs my arm.

"Well, we're going to get out of here now. I'll see you two later," I gave them both a hug and Mitchell and I walked outside and out to his car.

"Ethel and Fred seem great," He said as we slide into his car.

"They really are the best. And it's so nice to finally be with people that trust me," After I said that, I wish I could've taken it back. Not the part about Ethel and Fred being the best, because they honestly were. They were the people I loved the most in the whole world. But, the part about finally being with people I trust, I wish I could suck that back into my mouth like a vacuum, even if I knew that would never happen.

"What do you mean?" Mitchell asked. I can feel little tears start to poke at my eyes, but I was definitely not about to let them come out now.

"To make an extremely long story short, I moved out of my parents house because we fought a lot, and now I live with my grandparents," I looked away, so he wouldn't see any signs of tears. I really didn't want to sound rude, but I just wasn't in the mood to get into it.

"That's better than my story," Mitchell said in a really small, low voice. I wasn't going to push for a story, just because I knew how I felt about talking about stuff like that. I would just leave that conversation to end.

"So, what are you're grandparents like?" I asked, trying to cheer up the conversation a bit. It seemed to work because Mitchell was instant smiles. You could tell how much Mitchell loved his grandparents. It was obvious in every part of his emotions when he started talking about them.

"They're the best things that have happened to me. I love them with all my heart," I couldn't help but to let out an 'aw' and smile at him. It's so refreshing to see a guy show actual love then try and hide it.

"We're here," He said as he slowed down to a stop. The engine cut and we step out and head up to the cute house he lived in. We walked up the vibrant green grass and entered his house, walking straight toward his room. He put his things down then notioned for me to follow him.

We walked down a narrow path and emerged into his living room. Sitting on the couch was his grandfather and I could see his grandmother sitting at a table in the kitchen.

"Hey Leon. Hey Juanita," Wow, his grandparents had some seriously cool names.

"This is Harlowe. She's new in town," He said as he showed me to his grandparents. Juanita walked into the room to meet me.

"Well aren't you just the cutest little thing," She said giving me a hug. I blushed a bright shade of pink and thanked her.

"Hello there," Leon said, smiling at me from the couch. He shook my hand and then Mitchell lead me back to his room.

"Aw, they are the cutest people ever!" I exclaimed and Mitchell laughed, that trademark laugh he has.

"Yeah, they're great. So, Kyle should be here soon; do you want me to show you the equipment while we wait for him?" He asked and I instantly shook my head affirmative. Film has always intrigued me and the way that you make them.

He went over to his closet and pulled out a video camera, then placed it on his computer desk next to his slick-looking Mac computer. He clicked on some editing icon and brought that up.

"Okay, so this is the camera I use. You turn it on like this..." He said as he pushed the button, making a bright red light turn on that shadowed on his face. "And now it's recording. Say something," He told me. I was never great at impromptu so I thought of the first thing that came to mind.

"You have really nice eyes," Oh wow, did I really just say that? Mitchell turned off the camera as he laughed. Yes, I did just say that. It definitely wasn't a lie, but I didn't want to say it to him. At least, not now... and on camera.

"Thanks," He said as he smiled.

"You're welcome," I mumbled whilst trying to hide my creeping blush.

"Okay, then you click this button on the editing program, and then click this, do whatever you need to do, add music, add annotations, etc, and you're done. It's really all quite simple," And it really was. I always thought it was way more extravagant than just that, but then again, Mitchell seems to always make things easier than they seem to be. Like my first day of school, biology, and even video making.

While I was just about to yell at Mitchell to not upload that video, Kyle burst through the door, a big ball of energy.

"Hey friend and new friend!" He was such a goober, I knew I would love him and his insane personality.

"Are we ready to make a video?" Kyle asked and I looked at Mitchell.

"I guess so. What should we make this one?" Mitchell asked.

"I don't know. Har is the newest one on the boat, why doesn't she choose?" Kyle said while I laughed. Then I finally realized that I have to choose the next video and went blank. I've never made a video before and had no idea what they find funny in a video. I just thought my hardest and finally just pulled up an idea that sounded stupid, but said it anyway.

"Kyle seems like an adventurous guy, so why not 'Adventures With Kyle?'" I suggested and they both looked at each other and burst out into laughter. I knew it was a stupid idea and I shouldn't have said it.

"That's so perfect!" Mitchell cried out. I was shocked. Since when are my ideas perfect? The last time I checked, it was never.

"We are so doing that. But it's going to be Adventures with Kyle and Harlowe because she makes amazing video ideas!" I smiled from ear to ear and couldn't wait to make this.

"Well, what're we waiting for? We've got a video to make!" I excitedly exclaimed.