Crash Into Me.

Waves. Crashing, tumbling, receding, building, it’s all a process. It is a process in which Madison Harrison would never grow old of.

Living next to the ocean her entire life made sure of that. Leaving her window open every night allowed her to fall asleep, and wake up to the noise that she never would grow tired of.
Another noise that she would never grow tired of was her next-door neighbor. Is voice sent shivers down her spine, and made her heart race.

Her phone read Saturday, June 3, 2010, 11:00 a.m. but to her that only read one thing, band practice.

From Madison’s window his sweet melodies floated to her ears, allowing a simple smile to take over her features.

Jake Morris had been her neighbor since they were born. Their mothers had been best friends in high school, and therefore when they both had children pushed them together.

For years neither of the kids minded, they played together and often had fun. When the kids began to get older, they tended to grow apart, but there was always a force that brought these two together.

It’s not that they hated one another, not at all. They just simply grew up, and made other friends. Madison’s passion was writing, and she was always working with the school paper, and photography club. Whereas Jake was into his music and he was often with his band members creating new music.

But every once in awhile, when the waves would fail at putting Madison into a slumber, Jake’s sweet voice could do just the trick.

-*-*-*-*-

In the city of Newport Beach, California, summer had started yesterday. Madison was working at her normal summer job, the coffee shop on the main street of town. She worked everyday, but loved her job.

She always met new people, found out about the best spots in town, and she loved making coffee. It was something she was good at, and it made people happy. The only people at 9 in the morning the day after school let out though were the business people, which she knew.

But when Jake Morris walked in the door, she was confused. His light brown hair often hung in his face while he was in the writing process, or was sometimes covered by a beanie. Today it was uncovered and quite disheveled. His blue eyes looked tired, but full of energy when he caught her glance. Jeans covered his tall stance with a hole in the one knee, and a blue and white plaid shirt. His keys hung from his index finger and his cell-phone was firmly held in his calloused hands.

Coughing, she regained her composure for him to walk right up to the counter.

“Hey Madd, can I get my usual?”

“Yeah, Jake you do know it’s 9:30 in the morning right?”

“Yeah I know; I’ve been up all night. But you probably heard, sorry about that.” Madison lifted a shoulder for ‘it’s okay’ motion.

“You know how I feel about your music,” she mumbled handing him his drink. He smiled and lifted a five-dollar bill from his back pocket.

“Keep the change.” He winked and as he got to the door he stopped, “See you tonight.”

-*-*-*-*-

Jake Morris knew that Madison would be at his door tonight; he just had a feeling. Every time her father left for a trip, she was there. Not that she was nervous to be in her home, but just because she needed someone. And Jake allowed himself to be that someone.

For years she would sneak out of her house, and there he was with an open door and open arms.

At first, when it first happened, he was confused. But as the months past, he realized he enjoyed her company. As he strummed his guitar, and softly sang songs that would become hits with his band, he realized he would do anything for her.

But the one thing he could never do is telling her of his feelings. He would always be her next-door neighbor, the kid she grew up with. He knew a lot of her secrets, all of her passions, and a lot of unknown facts, but it wasn’t enough.

He didn’t know why he went to the coffee shop, maybe because he knew she would be there. He wanted to mess with her mind; it was a game he grew quite well at. He knew just what to say, what motions to do, and he knew them well.

Call it mean, call it horrible, call it whatever you want. But as long as he got a little bit of time with her every so often, he would continue his games. If it kept her interested, he would play a whole new game just to keep her around.

Over the years he perfected what he knew she wanted, he memorized whom she liked and whom she didn’t. Although, he never changed who was for her, he would never do such a thing. But small things he would tweak, small things that a lot of people would never realize. But Jake knew what to do, and he would continue to do it until she saw he was what she needed in life.