Prologue

I first saw her when I was twelve. She was in Mrs. Malautea’s class. She had moved with her family to our town due to her father’s military orders.

The first time I knew I was in love was at school in P.E. class. When we got chosen for the same team, she chose me to be her partner. I was head over heels, but I was too shy to say anything. All I knew, P.E. was my favorite period in school and that was the highlight of my day.

That next summer was one I will never forget, we went to the park by her house often. One Saturday, I got my first bee sting, right on my upper lip, and by the end of the day, half of my face was swollen. One of the only images I have left in my brain from all those years ago, is her looking at me with her big kind eyes, while she gently touched my face, and asked me if it hurt.

Our families would do dinners together. She knew how to play piano, and I would pretend to want to learn so that she could teach me while I was at her house. Once she put her hand on mine to show me the movements. I was in heaven.

I was sure that she was the girl for me, even though I never told her that.

Late in the summer I went to scout camp, and when I got back, she wasn’t at school. Days passed and I began to worry. I asked my mom but she didn’t know where they had gone. It was a quick move, and a few people assumed that her dad had received emergency orders, and the family had to move quickly.

I never told her how I felt. Did she feel the same way?

No one knew where she had gone. How could that be? How I longed for a letter from her. Didn’t she miss me like I missed her?

I guess not.