Ways to Say Love

Chapter One

When the Johnson’s moved out of their house in Port Hope, my family jumped at the chance to buy it. Growing up we had always moved around a lot, so me and my younger sister Maylie were both seriously excited for a chance to live somewhere for more than three years. We were always moving around to accommodate my mother and her addiction. She would cling to change, and always wanted a change of scenery. I think she worried that if we stayed somewhere too long she would no longer have something new to distract her from the alcohol. I knew that wasn’t true. The reason she stayed sober wasn’t because there was always something new to distract her, it was because she was strong enough to get through this.

“Daddy,” Maylie whined from the back, “I don’t get why we have to leave home. I liked our house and our fun swimming pool. It’s not fair.” I ruffled up Maylie’s hair as she crossed her arms in a pout.

“C’mon Princess,” my dad reached his hand back to squeeze Maylie’s knee, “we’ve had this conversation. Mommy’s got to help out Grandpa, and we’re going to help her help him.”

Dad’s short brown hair was covered by a tongue, and I could see from the way his cheeks looked that he was smiling. I always thought that I looked more like my dad; brown eyes, awkwardly tall, dark brown hair. Only Dad’s hair wasn’t as messy as mine. My hair had a mind of its own.

May and my mom looked identical. They both had lots of freckles, curly hair, green eyes, and freakishly long eyelashes. My mom always makes herself look really nice and professional, even though she doesn’t work. She just stays at home and cares for May and I.

Mom’s dad has gotten sick, so we’re leaving Niagara Falls and moving to Port Hope permanently to help out. I guess Mom thinks taking care of him will be as much of a distraction as moving always is. I’ve only ever met him once when I was four, and he never even called when Maylie was born. Dad says he was always around while I was a kid, but once he found out about Mom being an alcoholic he bolted. He’s a recovering alcoholic too; apparently it runs in the family. My grandfather’s wife passed away from cancer when I was a toddler, so I don’t have any memory of her. Dad always talks about how she was always the life of the party and how everyone always loved her.

“So is Grandpa,” I always referred to him as Mom’s father and it felt weird saying Grandpa, but Mom got mad when I talked about him and said his name, “going to be living with us then once he is out of the hospital? Will there even be enough room for him?”

“Our new house is huge,” my dad smiled back at my sister, “it’s probably double what we had before. Maybe in the summer we can even get a swimming pool, too? How does that sound?”

Maylie smiled up at Dad happily and nodded her head. My dad laughed at my sister’s reaction and turned his attention back to the road.

Dad got a new job at some university, and it’s paying a lot better than his old job was. Mom says that things are going to be good, that everything will be permanent this time. I’m really hoping that she is right, especially for Maylie’s sake. I don’t want her to have to switch schools every other year like I have.

This new school will be my ninth, and Maylie’s first. Mom and Dad kept her home this year, even though she should’ve already had three months of school under her belt. They didn’t want her to make new friends just to rip her away from them. Apparently they don’t care about my social group as much, given the fact that they’re transferring me during the first quarter of my senior year. My friends said that we’ll still be able to see each other since almost all of us have cars now, but I doubt any of us will be excited about a ten hour drive. They’re the first group of friends that have genuinely enjoyed my company, and it’s really going to suck when I have to make a ton of new ones. It took me three weeks just to talk to my best friend, Reese. His parents are divorced, and his dad lives an hour away from Port Hope. Reese visits his dad once a month, and is coming to stay with his dad for winter break in one week, so I’ll get to see him soon. He’ll be driving my car down for me since my parents insisted on all of us being in the same vehicle.

Mom met with the principal yesterday at my new school yesterday, and apparently the school has less than five-hundred students. My old school had almost five-hundred students per grade. When I think of having to meet so many new people it makes my stomach drop. I’m really not good at social situations, and school has already been in session for three months so everyone will definitely be staring at me. The principal told my mom that the school has a really good baseball program that starts up in the spring time, so that’s a plus.

Baseball has been my favourite sport since I was just six years old. My dad put me in the little league to help me when my mom wasn’t doing too well. She wasn’t around often and my dad wanted me to have some joy in my life; I’ve been playing ever since. Maylie comes to every single game and screams her head off when I hit the ball, even if it’s a foul.

She and I have always been super close. With always moving around, my parents didn’t always have time to watch her, so she and I have spent a lot of time together. She’s surprisingly not annoying for a four year old.

“Okay,” my dad called waving his hand to take my attention away from my phone, “we’ll be at our new home in five minutes. Start packing up your things please.” Maylie had been falling in and out of sleep since we got in the car. Mom and Dad wanted to sight-see, so they took the long route and extended our drive by almost three hours. Dad just rented a moving vehicle to attach to his truck to save money, and since it was so heavy it made our car go extra slow; it felt like we would never get to our new home. I stayed in the car with Maylie and binge-watched the Harry Potter films on my phone; I re-watch the series almost every two weeks. Dad says I do it because I like the feeling of knowing what’s going to happen, but really I’m just another hard core Potterhead.

My parents tend to overanalyze the smallest things; I think they’re worried about the amount of friends I have. Reese is my closest friend for sure, and then there are two other guys I hang out with, Glenn and Jude, but I won’t be seeing them anymore. Reese and his girlfriend Charlotte have been together since freshman year, and Glenn and Jude have had their fair share of girlfriends, but I’ve always shied away from the dating department. The girls at my school were all great, but I’ve never seen the point of getting into a relationship when I didn’t know how long I would be around for. Mom and Dad are hoping that I’ll meet someone at this school, just like they do every time we move.

Dad took a sharp turn and pulled into the court. Our house was the first house on the left, and a huge tree was sprouting from the lawn; it would make for a really good reading spot. My parents seemed really excited for this new home, so did Maylie. She was really happy ever since our real estate agent said he knew of a family in the court with a girl the same age as Maylie. The girls in our old apartment weren’t nice to Maylie, so she never had a chance to make too many friends. Who would’ve known four year olds could be so mean?

I climbed out of the car and took a look around the court. All of the houses looked like they had been built for families of twenty; they were huge. There was an old woman sitting on her porch next door holding hands with who I assume was her husband. She smiled friendly and waved at us, I imagined they would fine Maylie adorable, just like everyone else did.

Across the street from us was a little black girl with curly brown hair playing with a jump rope. I assumed she was the young girl our real estate agent had told Maylie about. I saw her waving in our direction, and I looked over to see Maylie awake and waving excitedly back at her while jumping up and down. She looked so excited to make a new friend, so I was secretly praying to myself that this little girl would be way nicer than the others Maylie knew back in Niagara. Maylie raced over in the little girls’ direction, her sketchers lighting up with each step. I followed after her, checking to make sure no cars were around. The little girl had a huge smile on her face, and already her and Maylie were laughing and playing jump rope together.

Behind the little girl stood another girl, only she looked to be about my age. I stumbled to a stop a few feet in front of her. Her hair bounced up in a mess of curls, lying a little bit below her ears. She was wearing a dark brown tank top and a denim skirt with a sandy cardigan wrapped around her body and combat boots on her feet. Her skin was a deep olive tone, and she had faint freckles covering all of her face. Her eyes were a dark forest green, but you could barely see them through her long eyelashes. Her nose was so small and cute, and her lips looked like a sandy pink. She looked like one of those people that only existed in the movies; there was no way I wasn’t dreaming her up. Yet there she stood, right in front of me. I don’t think that the word beautiful even came close to describing her. I’m not too sure that there was a word to describe her.

“You’re Ian, right? I heard that you and your family would be moving into the Johnson’s new home. To be honest, the whole town has heard.” her voice was like velvet, and my stomach twisted in knots when I heard her speak.

“Uh, no,” I stuttered, sounding like an i***t compared to her soft, velvet voice, “it’s Aaron, actually. Aaron Benson. That’s Maylie, my little sister.”

“Oh, sorry, my bad. Nice to meet you, Aaron. I’m Aspen Quinn. That’s Lacey, I’m her babysitter.” She smiled faintly, showing two cute dimples on her cheeks.

Lacey was counting out loudly while Maylie jumped up and down with the rope. She switched from foot to foot and it looked more like she was running rather than actually jumping.

“Yeah, you too.” I attempted a flustered smile, but I probably looked constipated; she was probably already thinking of what may be wrong with me.

“So, Aaron, will you be going to Stephen St. James?” I nodded yes. “Awesome, that’s where I go. If you want, I could show you around? The principal is kind of annoying, but I can show you which teachers are the best and which are the worst.”

I smiled shyly, “Oh, uh, yeah. That would be great. The principal already emailed me my schedule, actually. I don’t have a clue where any of my classes are.” I pulled out my phone and opened up the email, showing it to her.

She looked at the email as a smile grew, “Hey! We have fourth period together. Ms. Hazel is great; she’s always bringing us in donuts.”

I laughed, “Sounds awesome! Anyways, I should probably head back and help my parents out with the boxes. I’ll see you around though? I’ll be starting school right away, tomorrow.”

She nodded and her hair bounced with her, “Definitely. My friends and I always eat lunch outside at the patio tables when the weather is nice. Although I suppose that now that it’s starting to snow we’ll be inside; today was a rare, warm day. Either way, you should join us.”

“Alright, thanks, that sounds great.” I turned to Maylie and took her hand, “Come on Maylie, let’s go help Mom and Dad! Bye, Aspen.” She waved goodbye as I walked away with Maylie following me. My feet got caught in front of each other, and I almost fell on my face. When I turned around, I saw that Aspen thankfully wasn’t looking.

Maylie tugged on my jeans as we crossed the street, “Aaron! Lacey and I are going to be best friends! She told me she’s adopted, isn’t that cool?” I chuckled and ruffled her hair. Mom had put it in braids last night, but at this point it was sticking out everywhere and looked like Maylie had done them herself.

“That’s great kiddo. Why don’t you go tell Mom and Dad the good news?” Maylie trudged off happily while I went to carry in boxes. Our house had eight steps before you reached the front door; it seemed a little much to me. I dropped two boxes off in our front door and headed back out for more. I checked for Aspen, but she was gone and so was Lacey. I grabbed more boxes and headed inside to unload.

We spent an hour or so unloading to the moving truck and unpacking the boxes and setting up our kitchen for dinner. Dad ordered in pizza and we all sat around the new table eating.

“I made a new friend!” Maylie spit half of her pizza out as she talked with her mouth full.

Mom smiled at Dad and he squeezed Maylie’s hand, “Wow kid! That was fast! Was it that nice girl I saw you talking to across the street?”

Maylie nodded, “Yep! Her name is Lacey, and Aaron made a new friend too! She was pretty. Is she your girlfriend now, Aaron?”

I choked on my pizza and spit it into a napkin, “What? Maylie, what are you talking about? No, she’s not my girlfriend. That’s not how it works. I don’t even know her.” I could feel the heat in my cheeks, and knew I must look like an i***t. Mom and Dad were eyeing me with curiosity, and Maylie didn’t even understand what she had just started. “She’s just Lacey’s babysitter. That’s all.”

Dad gave me a suspicious look, “Just Lacey’s babysitter?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes dramatically, “Yes, Dad, I just met her less than two hours ago. Her name is Aspen, and she goes to Stephen St. James so she’s going to show me around tomorrow.”

Mom nudged my shoulder, “Look at you! We haven’t even been here for a full day and already you’ve made a new friend!”

Maylie jumped up from her seat at Mom, “Me too! I’ve made a new friend too!”

Mom squeezed Maylie’s hand, “Yes sweetie, you too.” She reached over and kissed my dad’s cheek. “Oh, Bailey! We’ve done such a good job.” Maylie covered her eyes and squealed at my parents’ affection for one another. My parents have been married for twenty years and my dad still gets flustered when my mom kisses him. “Aaron, why don’t you go and help your sister unpack her bedroom while your dad and I get things set up down here.”

Maylie hopped on my back and I gave her a piggyback upstairs; her giggles filled the whole house as I ran up the stairs. I let her down in her bedroom and she ran and jumped around. The walls were painted a light violet from the previous family, and Maylie loved it. Her old room was a lot smaller, and was a hideous green, so this was like heaven for her. I set up her dresser and bed while she took out her twenty stuffed animals and threw them around her room. Maylie pulled out all of her Barbie dolls and set up her doll house how she liked while I folded and put away all of her clothes into her dresser. Maylie sat down with her toys so I went to go set up my new room.

It was painted a deep blue, almost exactly like my old room. I set up and made my bed first, then moved onto my dresser and closet. I had way more clothes than Maylie, and I barely had enough room for all of them. The rest of my family had gotten rid of plenty of their belongings before we moved, but I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of too much. Moving around so much made me cling on to some things. I like having something that I know will be there every day in the same place, and won’t disappear, like my clothes. They give me comfort.

I pulled out all of the pieces for my bookshelf and started rebuilding it. Dad had suggested I just take it apart instead of having to haul out a huge bookshelf and then carry it up the stairs. I used to have a smaller one, but I outgrew that when I was probably nine years old. If there’s one thing I love as much as baseball, its books. Escaping into a new dimension always seemed like the coolest thing in the world; there were a million possibilities.

By the time I finished my room is was 11:00. My bookshelf was rebuilt and fully organized exactly how I wanted it, my baseball posters were hung up around the walls, and my TV was mounted to the wall in front of my bed. It looked great.

I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and change. I threw on an old t shirt and pair of boxers before climbing into bed. Mom and Dad had put Maylie to sleep three hours ago, and were now downstairs setting up Dad’s exercise equipment in the basement. I double checked that my alarm was set on my phone before flipping it over facedown and throwing my head on the pillow. Considering the fact that I had been in a car for the majority of the day, I was dead tired.

I wondered how tomorrow would go. I was curious as to how people would react; if people would try to talk to me, or if they would ignore me completely. I’ve been the new kid in plenty of schools, but never in such a small town. I assumed it would be a bigger deal here, since everyone has known each other practically their whole lives. They’ve seen everyone grow up and stuck to their friend groups for years, and now I’m just going to be intruding their final year together. I’m going to stick out like a sore thumb. I’ll probably trip in the halls and be known as the new clumsy kid; that won’t be a first. I thought of if I would see Aspen before school starts. Maybe we walk the same route.

I woke up half an hour before my alarm, so I decided I would go outside and drink some hot cocoa on the porch. I drink hot cocoa as if it is coffee; I can’t survive without it. I made myself a cup and headed out to the porch. There was a porch swing built by the old family, and there was a perfect view of the sunset. It was really quiet and peaceful outside. The most noise I could hear was the birds chirping and the rustling of tree leaves. I decided I would wake up half an hour earlier every day, and this would be my new hot cocoa spot. At our old house I had a spot for everything. I had a spot for star-gazing, for reading, for drinking hot cocoa, even for just sitting on my phone watching baseball videos for hours. It made everything more memorable, not that watching baseball wasn’t memorable enough.

I watched as an old car pulled into Lacey’s driveway, and Aspen came out of the car and hurriedly ran in the house. Thirty seconds later, two women came running out of the house and got into a red sports car before quickly driving away. I assumed they were all in a great rush. It seemed odd that Aspen would have to babysit so early; was she not going to school?

Looking at the time, I realized I needed to start getting ready, so I headed back inside to get ready for school. Maylie was awake and running around in her pjs; I never understood how she could possibly have so much energy before noon. Mom made us her famous chocolate chip pancakes to help start our first day off well. She’s been making me chocolate chip pancakes since my first time being the new kid; it’s become a tradition now. I finished my three pancakes before Maylie even finished her first. She was still trying to drown the pancakes in syrup when I headed upstairs. I brushed my teeth and attempted to pat down my hair, but of course it defied gravity as it always does. I threw on a pair of jeans and an old striped sweater my mom bought me at the thrift store. Shutting my bedroom door behind me, I walked downstairs and grabbed my bag and house keys from the kitchen. I threw on my coat, hat, and scarf and kissed my mother and sister goodbye before I headed out the door on my way to school.

Since my car was left in Niagara Falls I have to walk to school for the next two weeks. Mom said if I bundle up I’ll be fine, but I’m a pretty slow walker and I think I read something about freezing rain. As I was walking down the driveway Aspen’s car was pulling into the court. She saw me and waved as she rolled down the window.

“Hey,” she pulled her car up closer so I could hear her, “are you walking? It’s freezing out. Hop in.” I was going to argue, but she reached over and opened the passenger car door. I could feel the heat coming from her car, so I decided it wouldn’t hurt me to get a drive. I climbed into her car and shut the door.

Aspen was wearing an orange plaid wrap skirt, with a matching knit pullover sweater and a black fall coat. In no means was she dressed for this weather; she had doc martins on her feet and black thigh socks under her skirt. Her cheeks were rosy pink and somehow her hair looked messier and curlier than it did yesterday. She looked like a model for a fall fashion magazine.

“I can drive you every morning if you want. I was driving past and I saw you walking, so I figured that you could use a lift. Were you planning to walk every day?” I turned to look behind me, and Lacey was sitting there in a car seat. I hadn’t even noticed her.

“My car is in Niagara, and my friend is driving it up in a week, so yeah. Thanks. I really wasn’t looking forward to walking in this weather.” It was a big relief to not have to walk. I was already clumsy enough, so sidewalks and I were not a good mix.

Aspen pulled out of the court, and soon we were driving into the parking lot of Stephen St. James. There were barely any parking spots compared to my school; I suppose not many people drive when you live in such a small town. I thought about how people may react to me showing up with Aspen on my first day.

“Are you ready?” her voice brought me out of my thoughts. Her voice could probably lead sailors to crash; she sounded like an angel.

“Do you want me to go in a few minutes after you? Aren’t people going to assume things or something? Back in Niagara people gossiped about everything and it was so annoying and difficult to avoid.” Aspen laughed and shoved my arm playfully; I knew she was laughing at me but all I could focus on was her touch. Her skin burned in the best way possible.

“Aaron, this isn’t a huge city. Everyone is friends, and everyone hangs out with everyone. There are barely any rumours or gossip surfing the halls. You’re no longer starring in a cheesy sitcom, now you’re facing the real, normal world. We welcome you, with open arms.” She said the oddest things, yet she had this huge, genuine smile directed at me which completely made up for the fact that she was slightly weird. “Also, prepare yourself. We haven’t had a new kid in three years, so you’re huge news, and since you showed up with me, this is going to score me some brownie points. Maybe you’ll even be Stephen St. James’ first gossip! Gosh, could you imagine? You show up here and instantly change the school. Wouldn’t that be a story? It would be absolutely hilarious!” I forced a chuckle as she stepped out of her vehicle and I followed.

I could already feel everyone’s eyes on us, or more specifically, me. I knew I was back at square one; I had been here way too many times before. I was the shiny new toy that everyone wanted to get their hands on. Yet again, the whole school would soon know my name, and I would have to suffer through meeting and embarrassing myself in front of new people. I was the new kid once again, and I hated it.