*NOTE: This is the fifth chapter of my new saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place 4-5 years before the end of "Meant To Be"
*If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!!
*Anyway, I hope you like this! Please leave reviews!
A New Life
-Chapter 5: What Happens Next? –
Jimmy Oken had recently turned thirteen years old and was certainly more mature than he had been when he had turned twelve. He was now much thinner. He was slightly taller. And he was a good deal more muscular. He actually weighed more than he had when he was chubby because of the fact that his height and muscle mass had increased. But that was to be expected. And of course he had become much more mature in that he was no longer as overly confrontational. There was one thing that also grew stronger within him day by day. It was his feelings for his best friend Alice. He was only thirteen so he didn't know what love was really. But he was sure that he had strong feelings for Alice and that he had to pursue them. He no longer cared who knew. Most of his friends where now mature enough that they wouldn't ridicule him for being close to a girl. Well he did care who knew, it just wasn't the same people he was concerned with finding out anymore.
Rose was walking down the upstairs hallway. She had just gotten out of the shower and she had a towel wrapped around her head so that her hair could dry. She was nearly eleven and she was looking forward to another day out with her friends, especially her best friend Alex. But unfortunately for her the weather wasn't ideal. It was cloudy, windy, and a bit cold. Overall this was a very atypical day in Malibu. As she walked down the hallway she didn't think anyone was around so she began to sing. Her voice was beautiful. Oh-oh oh ohh-oh oh ohhhhh. It's us against the world. Oh-oh oh ohh-oh oh 's us against the world. I'm never letting go. Come on lets run away. Just take me by the hand. We will make it. Oh-oh oh ohh-oh oh ohhhhh. It's us against the world.
She stopped when she realized that someone was indeed listening to her. "Don't stop on my account. I thought that sounded great little sis." Jimmy said, as he walked into the bathroom in an undershirt. He was not the only one who had overheard her. Her mother came out of her room and said "Rose that sounded amazing. I've got an idea. I was only going to have Jimmy do it, cause I've heard him sing and he's willing to do it. But hearing the way you where just singing, I think you're too good not to ask." Lilly said. "What do you want me to do mom?" Rose asked. "I want you to sing alongside Jimmy at Michael's surprise birthday party tomorrow." Lilly said. "Mooaaamm!" Rose complained. "Oh please? It'll be fun!" Lilly pleaded a little.
"But we don't even know if I'm that good." Rose said. "I thought you where fantastic. Besides even if you're not, who cares? It's just a bunch of eight and nine year olds. Will you do it? Please?" Lilly said. "Oh, ok. But only cause I'm such a nice big sister." Rose said. "Thank you so much Rose. You have no idea how much this'll mean to your little brother." Lilly said.
Rose walked downstairs for breakfast and not even five minutes later Jimmy came down fully dressed. He was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, and an open button up shirt. He yelled up the stairs. "Hey mom I'm gonna go out and catch up with some friends, alright?" "Okay. But come home some time before four so you can help get ready for you know what." Lilly told him, she didn't want Michael to overhear. On that word he bounded out the door. "I wonder why he's in such a rush." Rose thought out loud.
The truth was Jimmy wasn't going to meet his friends. He was going to meet just one friend. This was his best friend Alice. Whenever he was with her he was always in a good mood. No matter how lousy the weather was, and no matter how bad the rest of his day was going he was always happy when he was with Alice. It was one of those things he still could not explain to himself.
They met at the end of the pier. They were not going to go out onto the pier. That was just where they had decided to meet. "So what're we gonna do Jimmy?" Alice asked him as he walked up to her. "I don't know I figured we could take a walk in the park or something. We could talk and stuff." Jimmy said. "Ok, I guess that sounds like a good plan." Alice responded. They walked close together until they got to the park.
They walked along the path in the park for a while. They talked about school and what it was going to be like going into the eighth grade. "So how's your brother been doing lately?" Alice asked. "Michael, oh, he's doing fine…" Jimmy said. "Has he been walking a lot lately?" Alice asked. "Well we've been working on that with him a lot. He's still kind of weak on his feet. He needs the crutches more than he doesn't. And sometimes we have to kind of force him to get out and walk around to rebuild his strength. But most of the time he's pretty serious about the whole thing." Jimmy said.
They had been walking for a while when they came upon a bench and decided to sit down. For a while they simply sat there talking, either looking at each other or up at the grey-blue clouds above in moments of discomfort. But for the most part they had both matured enough emotionally that they were comfortable being personal. Both in what they said and what they did. They were comfortable enough to talk about how they felt. "Jimmy I think you're really smart, and even cuter. Oh, and you are funny!" Alice said, her hand moving closer. "You're definitely funny Alice," he said, he laughed at things she said all the time when other people didn't find them the least bit funny, "And I can't decide if you're smarter or prettier. It's hard to say, cause you're so pretty, but you're so smart too. Call it a tie." Jimmy said smiling at her. His hand had made its way onto the same place on the bench that hers was on. They were now holding hands and neither of them had actually consciously moved their hands together. But now that they realized what had happened they weren't moving their hands away because they were perfectly comfortable holding hands.
They got up to walk out of the park. As they walked their hands where locked firmly together. "So Alice, we're throwing this surprise party for my little brother's ninth birthday tomorrow, you wanna come?" Jimmy asked. "Yeah, I'd love to. Are you gonna get up and sing for everybody? You know you have such an amazing voice." Alice said. "Yeah, actually me and my sister are gonna both get up and sing. Turns out she's got a good voice too." Jimmy said. "That's cool, should be a lotta fun." Alice said, grinning at him. "It might be a good chance to get him to do some walking without him realizing it." Jimmy said. "That way once he realizes what he's doing he'll be having too much fun and he'll just try harder to keep it up." Alice said. "Exactly, your smart is definitely showing through." Jimmy said as they approached her house. She smiled at him. "But there's the pretty again. You make it so hard to figure out!" Jimmy laughed. As they separated their hands Alice gave him a kiss on the cheek, which made him grin like an idiot. "See you tomorrow Jimmy!" Alice said, smiling back. "See ya." He managed to say quietly, and just a little awkwardly.
It was nearly quarter after four, so he was late to get home. He waited until he was out of site of Alice's house and then took off running towards his house with all the speed he could muster. When he got there he wasn't even out of breath, because he was in such great shape.
When he got there only his father, Oliver, was there. "Where have you been?" Oliver asked him. "I was out with my Sam and Alice. I must've just lost track of time, that's all." Jimmy covered himself with a little fib. "Ok, well grab some stuff and help me take it over to Jackson's house. That's where the party is gonna be." Oliver instructed him. Jimmy did as he was told and picked up a couple of boxes of supplies. "So where's Michael? He must be wondering what's going on." Jimmy asked. "He's in the basement doing leg exercises on that machine that the doctors loaned us." Oliver told him.
They went over to Jackson's house with the things they had gotten together. They couldn't put anything up until the next day because they didn't want anything to get rained on or blown away. "So what did you get for Michael?" Rose asked Jimmy. "Well I got him something good, but I still wanted to get him something that would really say 'Worlds Best Big Brother', you know what I mean?" Jimmy said. "Well you really liked what you got for your birthday right? What did Michael get you?" Rose asked. "You all chipped in and bought me that weight lifting set, remember?" Jimmy asked. "Oh, yeah that's true, I guess that doesn't help." Rose said. "Yeah, besides I don't think he's much into that sort of thing." Jimmy said. "Well I don't know what to tell you." Rose said. "I'll think of something. And if I don't then I've always got what I already have for him." Jimmy said.
Jimmy had gotten his brother the latest hand held video game, but when he had gotten to thinking about it, he figured that that was probably not the best thing to get for a kid that was recovering from not being able to use his legs. He needed to get him something that required the use of his legs, as encouragement to use them. He had been running down the beach all evening trying to think. Running helped to focus him. When he finally came up with what he should get, it was almost time for him to be home, because it was almost ten o'clock. He ran up to the surfing shack formerly known as Rico's. They were getting ready to close. "Can I help you sweetie?" A girl in her twenties asked from behind the counter. "Yeah I need to get a good surf board and a wetsuit that'll fit a nine year old." Jimmy told the girl.
"You don't look nine to me!" The girl said through a confused grin. "I'm not. It's for my little brother, he's turning nine tomorrow and I wanna get it for him cause he wants me to teach him some surfing tricks. He's out grown his old wetsuit since the last time he was able to use it, and I thought he'd like a new board." Jimmy said. "Oh, silly me, why didn't you just say so?" The girl said. "Well I'll help you with the wetsuit first. What's his favorite color?" she asked. "It's blue, he loves blue." Jimmy said. The girl responded by turning around and retrieving a blue and black wetsuit in Michael's size. "That'll be great. What about the board?" Jimmy asked. "Umm here, I think he'll love this one." She said with her hands on a light blue and white surf board, which glistened from a new coat of wax. "That looks awesome, he'll love that. How much do I owe you?" Jimmy asked. "It comes to one hundred and twenty-five dollars." The girl said. "Ok, he better like it, this is almost all of my allowance money." Jimmy said, grudgingly handing over the money. He then tucked the board under his arm holding on to the side facing downwards and picked up the wetsuit in his other hand. He jogged over to Jackson's house. Robbie Rod was outside throwing out the trash. "Hey man. Can I put this in the back, it's for Michael for his birthday tomorrow, and I don't want him seeing it." Jimmy said to Robbie. "Oh wow, nice board Jimmy. He'll love that for sure! Come on in real quick I'm supposed to be in bed already." Robbie said. Jimmy followed him in and hid the board and the wetsuit behind a sofa near all the other birthday stuff.
"Thanks man, see you all tomorrow!" Jimmy said, and then left out the front door. He ran up the steps to his house and through the front door. Then straight up to his room where he slipped into his pajamas and fell asleep promptly. Almost immediately thoughts of Alice entered his sleeping mind. Even though it was his brother's birthday he was looking forward to seeing her there. Although he was mainly there for Michael, so he told himself he wasn't going to get too worked up about Alice.
"Wake up Jimmy…come on… wake up!" Rose pleaded with him. It was eight o'clock in the morning. She was shaking him, trying to wake him up. "Easy little sis, I'm up… I'm up." Jimmy sighed, rolling out of bed. He pulled off his shirt to get changed into something for the day. "Eww wait till I'm outta the room. Geez!" Rose whined. "What? You've seen me at the beach." Jimmy said. "Yeah, but not in the house." Rose said, heading for the door. "Well that'll teach you to wake me up in the middle of a good dream." Jimmy said sarcastically. Then he pulled on a shirt with a v-neck and changed into some dark blue jeans.
He walked down the stairs and ate some breakfast quickly and then joined the rest of them as they headed over to Jackson's house to set up for the party. They hung banners and set up games. And lastly they set up the area where Jimmy and Rose would be singing.
Two hours later they returned home for Michael. They found him fully dressed in the living room. He had limped down the stairs all by his self by using the railing for support the whole way down. "Where's everybody been?" Michael asked curiously. "The real question is where've you been little bro? Wah-huh." Jimmy said, making a funny face and sticking his tongue out. Michael laughed. "We want you to come with us, but you have to walk all the way over there." Lilly told him. "No problem just let me get my crutches." Michael said, pulling himself up out of the chair he was sitting in. "No, you have to walk without them Mikey." Rose said. "But I can't!" Michael pouted. "Yes you can! You're just being stubborn." Jimmy told him. "No I'm not, I'm serious." Michael insisted. "You got down the stairs without them." Oliver said pointing at the crutches that where next to the front door. "You can't come if you don't walk there without the crutches. And trust me you'll be missing out big time if you don't come." Jimmy said, trying not to drop too big of a hint. "Ok, fine I'll try! But somebody better catch me if I fall!" Michael said, agreeing reluctantly.
They walked over to Jackson's house. Michael limped most of the way. His legs where still stiff and he had not regained all of the strength it took to walk normally. That's why he was reluctant to walk without the support he enjoyed from his crutches. But before long they had arrived. They walked through the house and into the back yard. "Wow, this is great!" Michael said appreciatively. "Happy Birthday Michael!" Everyone said. Besides the Okens, there was Robbie Rod and his parents, Miley and Susan, and some of their friends from school.
The games they played did not require a lot of running around, because even though they were encouraging Michael to exercise his leg muscles he was still far too weak to do anything that called for his usual hyperactive level of energy. So they did things like throwing contests, where they saw who could throw a softball the farthest. They used softballs because not too long ago Robbie Rod had broken the neighbors' window pitching a baseball in the back yard.
After about an hour of games they decided it was time for presents. Robbie went first. "Wow a baseball glove. Cool we can go out and practice when my legs are better!" Michael said. Robbie had gotten him that because he was very much into baseball and wanted Michael and Susan to practice with him. Susan handed him her present next. "Oh cool a skateboard kit. I can use this with that new skateboard I got right before my…uh… accident, yeah. Thanks!" Michael grinned. He had bought a new skateboard with all of his saved up allowance money, and he'd never been able to use it because of the accident, but now he definitely would as soon as he was strong enough. Next Rose gave him what she had gotten for him. "Neat a karaoke microphone, but…?" Michael trailed off. "I figured if Jimmy and I have good singing voices, you probably do too Mikey!" Rose said smiling. "Yeah, I hope so!" Michael said. He'd probably feel left out if he didn't have a decent singing voice like they did. His parents gave him a savings bond that they and all the Stewarts (adults) had chipped in for. "Thanks you guys." Michael said, smiling rather unenthusiastically. It was one of those gifts only parents gave, and they knew their kids wouldn't appreciate at the moment.
It was Jimmy's turn. "Here's one thing I got you." Jimmy said. "Thanks Jimmy, I've been wanting this for so long!" Michael said smiling. It was the hand held video game system. The truth was he hadn't wanted it for that long; it had only been available for maybe four months. "…But wait. When I got to thinking. I thought you might want to have something else for when you got all of your strength back. So I got you these." Jimmy said, as he moved the surf board and the wetsuit over in front of Michael. "Oh Man! Thank you so much Jimmy! This is soooo cool! The wetsuit is great, and I even like the color! And the board… Wow!" Michael said, he eased himself up into a standing position and gave Jimmy a big hug.
"Ok, well for one more surprise, Jimmy and Rose are going to provide a little musical entertainment. They're gonna get up and sing for us." Lilly said. Oliver, Jackson, and Miley got up behind them and manned the instruments. They began to sing.
Shout shout shout it out. From the roof top let it out. Shout shout shout it. Till the world can hear it now. I don't know what to say or do. It's so hard to scream it. Shout shout shout it out. From the roof top let it out. Shout shout shout it. Till the world can hear it now. I don't know what to say or do; it's so hard to shout it out to you. (So hard to shout it out to you)
When they finished everyone clapped and applauded. "You guys, that was great!" Michael smiled and hugged them both. Michael was a kid that loved his hugs. Then for a while Michael hung out with Susan, Robbie, and the rest of his friends. Meanwhile Jimmy and Alice walked off for a few minutes, unnoticed.
"I'm gonna go in and get the cake. Oliver come and help me." Lilly told everyone. She and Oliver walked into the house. She began washing her hands in the sink. She looked out of the window, and she saw something that meant her kids singing wasn't the last surprise of the party. There stood Jimmy and his best friend Alice. Their arms where around each others' wastes, their eyes were closed, and their lips where locked. They were sharing a warm, happy kiss. "Oliver, look." Lilly whispered. He walked over to the window. "Oh man, he's livin' up to the smokin' Oken name!" Oliver said, quietly. "Oliver!" Lilly said, giving him a dirty look. He went obediently out of the front door, so he wouldn't create a scene, and came over to them at the side of the house which was out of sight of the party.
"Ok, you two that's enough… I said that's enough!" Oliver shouted. They broke apart. They were both red in the face. Not so much because they where embarrassed about what they were doing, they weren't. It was really embarrassment over having been caught in the act. "Jimmy your mom and I need to talk to you. Alice you can go back to the party, I'll have a word with your parents." Oliver said. Both of Alice's parents worked with Oliver, so it wouldn't be that hard to talk to them at the same time. He had a feeling that they wouldn't be too angry, but then neither where Lilly and he.
"You know why we're mad at you, right?" Lilly said. "Well I think I know why you're mad at me. Dad, not so much." Jimmy said. "Don't get smart Jimmy!" Oliver said. "Cause Alice and I where kissing." Jimmy said, looking down at him feet. "No, it's because you snuck out of your brother's party and started kissing, right when you should have been having a good time with the rest of us." Lilly said. "Well he was having a good time with someone." Oliver said sarcastically. Lilly slugged him in the stomach. He knew she was right, and she wasn't mad about the kissing itself. "Your mom's right. You should have been out with the rest of us. What are you gonna do about it?" Oliver asked. "I'm gonna go back out there and hang out with everybody, and then I'm not gonna see Alice for a week." Jimmy said maturely. "All right then." Lilly said. He went back out and moments later he shouted for them to come out.
"Mom, dad, it's Rose." He said, seriously. "What about her? What's wrong?" Oliver asked. "My side hurts really bad." Rose grumbled. "What kind of pain? Is it a sharp pain?" Lilly asked. "Yeah." Rose said, hazily. Lilly felt her forehead. "She's burning up. How long have you been like this?" Lilly asked. "I've been hot all day, but it didn't bother me that much. The pain just started a couple minutes ago." Rose said. "Ok. Oliver, call the doctor, I've seen this in my kids at school. I think she has appendicitis." Lilly said.
-TO BE CONTINUED-
Notes to the readers:
*Reviews are much appreciated!!
**I hope you enjoyed this fifth chapter of my new saga.
***Again, it might help understanding where the main characters came from if you have read "Meant to Be parts 5-9 or 8-9" or something. Although they are pretty much their own characters, so it might not be that hard to read without knowing where they came from.
****Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is 13. Rose is 10, nearly 11. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all 8-9.
*****There will be more in the near future. So I hope you will continue reading.