Fearless

I walked through the halls of Lancaster High School, and waved to the people I knew, and even ones I didn’t. It was the beginning of my senior year, and I just wanted to enjoy it. I have a close group of friends, and I’m on the color guard team.

There was something missing in my life, and I couldn’t figure out what it was for anything.

“Mika, you coming to our Wii party this weekend?” my best friend Callie asked.

“Maybe, we have a game Friday night and early practice Saturday morning,” I replied.

“Okay, well, there will be a lot of people, plus my new neighbor Matt Lewis.”

“Oh alright.”

We hugged and went onto our classes. I’m not much of a party type person, no matter what kind it is. Even with color guard, it took me awhile to get out of my shell.

That Saturday after practice, Callie texted me and asked if I was coming over. I told her I would as soon as I got a shower and got ready.

After I got ready, I made it over to her house. There were tons of cars out in front of her house, and I was a bit nervous to say the least. I got out of my car, and walked to the front door. I didn’t bother to knock; she probably wouldn’t have heard it anyway.

“Yay, Mikayla is here!” Callie yelled, running over to me. I just laughed at her. I caught a glimpse of the only person I didn’t know here. He was gorgeous, and I blushed when he caught me staring.

“Already making goo-goo eyes at Matt Lewis,” Callie wagged her finger in my face.

“You didn’t tell me he was gorgeous,” I whispered.

“Well, he is! Go say hi.” She then pushed me in his direction, making me bump into some of our classmates. I said sorry, and made my way over to him.

I refrained from biting my lip, “Hi, I’m Mikayla, Callie’s best friend.”

He smiled, and it seemed like his teeth glistened in the light, “Hi, I’m Matt.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too, although, I did notice Callie had to push you over here. Nervous?”

I laughed, “Just a bit.”

He laughed with me, and held out his hand, “Wanna dance for a few minutes?”

“I’d love to dance with you.”

Yeah, this is the beginning of my crush on Matt Lewis. First crush I’ve had on a guy in a long time, and he was definitely deserving of said crush.

We ended up going outside to sit on the porch to get away from all the noise.

“So have you lived here your whole life?” he asked.

“Mhmm. As small as this town is, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. This is my home.”

“Well, I hope I grow to love it, at least until I graduate. I plan on going out of state for college. Did Callie tell you where I was from or why I moved here?”

I shook my head no.

“Oh, well, I moved here from California. My dad is the new pastor in town, and yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

“Oh, preacher’s kid.”

He laughed, “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, but I didn’t picture you as being a preacher’s kid.”

“Everyone says that.”

It’s been three weeks since that get together, and Matt and I are pretty much attached at the hip, it seems. I really like him, he’s the sweetest guy I’ve ever met, and I hope he likes me like I like him.

I had just gotten home from school when my dad called me into the kitchen.

“Yeah?”

“That Matt boy you’ve been hanging out with, what do you really know about him?”

I shrugged, “A lot. I mean, his dad is the new pastor at Wild Springs, and he moved here from California. Why?”

“He just seems off, that’s all. I think there is more to know about the Lewis family. Just keep your eyes and ears open, alright?”

I just raised an eyebrow, “Okay….”

I ended up walking up to my room, and I texted Matt. What if my dad is right? What if there is something about him I should know?

He told me to meet him at the park in town. I got into my car and made my way down there.

Matt was sitting on one of the swings, and I made my way over to him.

“My dad said there seems to be something off about you or your family, what’s going on?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes, “It seems like no one can keep their mouths shut in this town. The pastor position for my dad wasn’t the only reason we moved here. This town is small enough that we knew that things might get better for me here. I’m on probation, Mika.”

“For what?” I asked, curious.

“I got into a fight with some kids that were bullying an ex-girlfriend of mine. It was two guys and girl. They always picked on her, and the girl beat her up one time. She struggled with her home life a lot, and my parents made me break up with her because it didn’t look good for them, but I made a promise to myself that I would help her if she needed it.”

“That’s it? They were making it sound like you did drugs or something. That’s not something to be ashamed about Matt, you helped her. That is something to be proud of doing.”

He looked sad, “Yeah….”

“What?”

“I just thought you wouldn’t want to be around me anymore because you had heard I could be violent or something.”

That made me laugh, “Yeah, you wouldn’t hurt anyone unless you had to do it.”

He pulled me close to him, and wrapped his arms around me.

“These past three weeks with you have been amazing. I really like you Mika, will you be my girlfriend?”

I smiled, “Yes.”

Time seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, it was graduation day. Matt and I had been together for eight months now. My parents weren’t very happy with us at the beginning, but they came to like Matt, thank goodness, because I loved him. I was pretty sure I was going to marry him someday. We even had some of our graduation pictures taken together. My favorite, and actually everyone’s favorite, was the one of us standing on an old truck. He was on top of it, and I was in the bed of the truck leaning against the front. Matt had leaned down and kissed me. The photographer caught it at that moment, and it was just perfect.

I took a deep breath as the row I was sitting in stood up and I followed them to the stage. It wasn’t long before my name was called.

“Mikayla Baker.” I smiled as I shook the principal’s hand and took my diploma.

As I took my seat, I caught Matt’s eye, and he mouthed “I love you”. My whole body calmed down at that point.

Soon Matt’s name was called, and I wanted to get up and scream, but I refrained from doing so, I didn’t want to embarrass him.

We met up with our parents and decided to have dinner with his parents at his house. After dinner, Matt and I ended up on his porch, in the swing, watching the rain. It had started right after we left the ceremony.

“Mika, I have something to tell you.”

I was kind of scared, “Yeah?”

“Well, you know how I applied for tons of schools, and I got accepted to the ones out in California?”

I nodded.

“Well, I also applied to the community college here, and I got in…”

“Wait, why did you do that?”

He nudged my shoulder, “So I could be close to you silly goose. That’s where you’re going, and I didn’t want to leave you.”

I sighed, “But what about your dream to go back to California?”

“You’re my dream now Mika. I know we’re barely adults, and fresh out of high school, but what we have is real, and I don’t want to lose it. You’re too important to me.”

I felt like crying, tears of joy, of course, “I love you Matt, more than you could know.”

“I love you, too, Mika.”

I smiled, “Come dance in the rain with me?”

“Seriously?”
“Duh.”

“You’ll get sick.”

“Be a little fearless will ya?”

He laughed, and took my outstretched hand. I pushed open the screen door, and we danced out in the rain.

That was one of the best nights in my life. I think Matt and I both learned to be a bit fearless that night.