Chapter 1: The Beginning
Elsie lived in Germany up until the age of about 16. Around age 9 her parents adopted a 2 year old little boy named Benjamin. Elsie and Benjamin fell in love for each other, they were inseparable. Elsie called him Benji. As the years went by Benji and Elsie started to act like real siblings. Just when everything seemed to be going perfect Elsie's father, Jonathan, got called to Iraq. Elsie's father and her mother, Maybelle, knew it wouldn't be safe for Maybelle and the children to stay in Germany alone. So they decided to move to Texas. It took about a year to find a house and to purchase it and to move it. Elsie and Benjamin didn't know exactly where they were going but they knew that their father was not going with them. After many hours of traveling, they reached their destination. Maybelle and the movers unpacked the vehicles while Elsie and Benjamin slept. After they got unpacked Maybelle got Elsie and Benjamin inside. Elsie was now 16 and Benjamin was now 10. Once Maybelle and the children got in the house they all went to sleep as it was already 11.
The next morning Elsie wakes up before everyone else and she is eager to explore. She walks out of her room and walks into the dining room, still in her pajamas. She stops before the table, a gorgeous oak wood table, coated in a deep red coat of stain, topped with a thick coat of polyurethane. She looks up at the magnificent Chandelier, coated in gold. It had beautiful lights with beautiful glass cups around them. The sunrises rays shown in through the window and danced of the table and onto the chairs made of cherry tree and coated in the same deep red stain. She walked into the kitchen to see new appliances and red marble countertops atop mahogany cabinets. "This house is way nicer than my home back in Germany" she thinks to herself as She walks into the living room . As she entered she saw fur couches, bear skin rugs, there was deer and boar heads decorating the walls. There was a huge fireplace and above it stood a huge 50' TV screen. she looked outside the door and saw a beautiful gated and yard from a fairy tale book. There was a beautiful pool and it had gorgeous tiles in the bottom. There was marvelous stepping stones leading through the garden. Elsie layer down and felt the soft grass, she smelled the fresh scent of flowers and blooming trees. Suddenly she heard her name being called, she looked around but no one was there, she looked beside her and there was a rose calling her. She sat up quickly staring at the rose. "Elsie. Elsie wake up!" Elsie was confused then a bush behind her started shaking her.
Suddenly she woke up to see it was her mother. She was shaking her and telling her to get up. Elsie sat up and looked around, and quickly realized it was all a dream. The house she stayed in was really old. Her room had cracked paint and marks all over. She walked out and there was one bathroom in the whole house. There was a total of three rooms in the house, hers, Benjamin's and Maybelle's. The dining room was tiny and ugly too. There was one little wooden table that looked to be 50 years old. The kitchen looked like it hadn't ben touched in years. The living room was even worse it was very small and it stank so bad. There was one couch in the room and a small old TV. She looked outside the back door and saw the yard was super tiny and ugly, and covered in weeds. Maybelle told Elsie that the house was a good price and that they could fix it up, Elsie didn't believe that could actually happen. Maybelle forbade Elsie and Benjamin from going to the basement. All she said was it's dangerous. After they finished unpacking Maybelle told Elsie that they were in Texas and that Elsie would love the school there. Elsie was not so sure that she would "love" it. To Elsie's horror she had to go to school that day. Maybelle walked Elsie to the school, which was only a few blocks away.
The school looked better than the house for sure but it wasn't exactly nice. "Ok this is it. Elsie do you think you can make it back to the house by yourself or should I come and get you?" Maybelle asked. "Mom. I'm going to be 17 tomorrow, I think I can make it home by myself." Elsie replied. " Ok dear, I'll see you later then. Love you sweetie" Maybelle said as she kissed Elsie's cheek. "Love you too Mom" Elsie says. Elsie watches as her mom walks back to the house. After Maybelle is out if Elsie's sight, Elsie turns towards the school and sighs "Well, here goes nothing". Elsie walks toward the school. As she approached the school she saw lots of students, many ages. All over the age of 15 of course. She looked over at the little kids school and saw Benjamin sitting by a tree by himself. "Hey, Benji!" she yelled to him, waving her hands in the air. Benjamin stands up and waves at her as she walks into the school. Elsie walks down the hall and sees that there's only one classroom, that takes care of everything. Elsie walks into the classroom and sits near the back of the room.
As the teacher walked in Elsie secretly wished to herself "Please don't introduce me." But sadly, to Elsie's unfortunate luck, the teacher did. "Elsie, would you like to introduce yourself?" she says. "Didn't you just do that?" Elsie says back. The teacher, dumbfounded, clears her throat and says "Oh, yes it seems I did. Well in that case, I'm Vanessa Bloom, you can call me Mrs. Bloom or Mrs. Vanessa." She says. "Ok" Elsie replied in a quick tone. Mrs. Vanessa goes straight into the lesson. About 20 minutes into it Elsie gets a note on her desk. Elsie looks around her and no one is looking at her like they gave her the note. Elsie opens it up and reads it. "Hey, Elsie right? I think that you cute and pretty cool. Got a cell? My number is 354-565-676. Text me cutie." Elsie looks up and sees a guy that looks to be at least 7 years older than her. He isn't bad looking but he isn't good looking either. He's also really tall and Elsie is only 5'1. Elsie puts the number in her phone then puts her phone and the note in her bag. After class she goes to her locker to put her books away.
Before Elsie could open her locker a hand stops her from opening it. She looks beside her and there stands the guy from class. "Hey cutie." He says while grinning. "Hi." Elsie says unimpressed. "The names Jason." He says. " Congratulations. You have a name." Elsie says. "Can I get into my locker now?" Elsie asks. "Ok, fine." Jason says and removed his hand from her locker and still stands there. Elsie grabs her backpack and shut her locker then turns and walks away. Jason stops her. "Don't you remember me?" he asks. "No..Should I?" Elsie asks a little scared. "I'm Jason. The guy you dated last year, over texting." He says. Elsie immediately knows who he is. " You're Jason? The guy who had a FIANCE while dating ME?!" Elsie exclaims. " well, yeah, but I loved you not her." Jason says holding Elsie's hand. Elsie slaps his hand away. "Don't touch me." She says turning to walk away but Jason stops her and turns her around while grabbing her waste pulling her into a kiss "I love you Elsie." Elsie pushes him away and kicks him. "I DO NOT LOVE YOU!" Elsie says and turns to walk away again. Jason chases after her half limping. Jason grabs her shoulder and stops her. "Elsie I'm sorry." Jason runs his fingers through her hair. Elsie stares at him "No Jason. Your not." Elsie says. Jason looks around and then picks up Elsie and starts walking out of the school with her. Elsie struggles and try to punch him. "Jason put me down now!" Elsie screams. "No Elsie. Your coming with me." Jason says.
Suddenly a voice yells across the school. "Hey! Put her down!" Elsie looks behind and sees a bulky guy, little shorter than Jason but a lot stronger and cuter. Jason ignored the guy and continues walking. The guy runs up and grabs Jason's shoulder turning him around. He grabs Elsie and puts her gently on the ground then he punches Jason's face and Jason falls to the ground. "I said leave her alone" he says then goes to Elsie and picks Elsie up and starts walking to the exit. Elsie wraps her arms around him and hugs him. "Are you ok?" the guy asks. "Yeah, I'm ok. Thank you." Elsie says. "No thanks needed. My name is Damien by the way." He says. "My name is Elsie." Damien holds her tightly trying to comfort her. " I'm sorry Jason was such a jerk. I saw everything that happened." Damien says. " It's ok. He is a jerk, I never actually thought I'd met him in person. Thankfully I'm ok, thanks to you." Elsie says smiling at Damien. Elsie hugs him and Damien hugs her while walking. "Your welcome Elsie. Do you want to tell me where you live and I'll give you a lift?" he asks walking towards his truck. "Oh, yeah sure. Thank you. I live just down the road." Elsie says pointing at her house. Damien puts Elsie in the truck then climbs in and throws his bag in the back and drives to Elsie's.
Once they arrive Elsie climbs out and Damien follows. "Are your parents home?" he asks. "No, my dad's in Iraq and my mom's at work I guess." Elsie replies. "Well do you mind if I stay here till she gets back then? I don't think it's safe right now for you to be here alone." Damien asks. "That's fine, you can stay. Thanks." Elsie smiles at Damien and he smiles back at her as the walk up the steps. Elsie unlocks the door and walks in. "Forgive the mess, we just moved in last night." Elsie says as she walks into the living room. "No, it's fine don't worry about it." He says following her. They sit on the couch and turn on the TV. Elsie gets out her phone and deletes Jason's number from her phone and then hands it to Damien. "Here, put in your number." She says smiling. Damien grabs the phone and puts in his number and then texts himself. Damien types on his phone. "Ta-da! Now I have your number too." He says holding up his phone and smiling. "Great! I want to just say thank you again for saving me." Elsie says . Damien smiles at her. "No thanks needed Elsie." Damien says staring at her with an amazing smile.
Maybelle walks in the house. "Elsie? Are you home?" she calls. Elsie scoots away from Damien. "Hey mom, in here." She says. Maybelle walks in and Damien stands up to introduce himself. "Hello, I'm Damien Nelson." Damien says extending his hand and Maybelle shakes it. "Nice to meet you Damien, I'm Maybelle Smithe." "Nice to meet you too Mrs. Smithe." Damien says. "Please, call me Maybelle." She says to him. Elsie steps in and says, "Mom, this is my friend from school, he saved me from Jason today." " Jason? You mean that creep you dated ?!" Maybelle exclaims. "Yes mom, he lives here apparently." Elsie says. "Well thank you so much for rescuing her Damien. Your welcome over anytime." Maybelle says patting Damien's shoulder. "Thank you Mrs. Maybelle, I mean Maybelle. I'll keep Elsie safe, I don't like Jason anymore than you do." Damien says smiling at Elsie. Elsie smiles back at him, a little red. Maybelle smiles. "I think I'm going to go make dinner, care to eat with us Damien?" Maybelle asks. "Oh, uh. Yeah sure, I'd love to, thank you very much." Damien says.
"Oh you haven't met Benjamin yet, Hey Benji! Come here!" she yells. Benjamin runs into the living room. "Sissy!" Benjamin runs into Elsie's arms giving her a big hug. "Benji, this is my friend Damien." Elsie says pointing at Damien." Hey there Benjamin." Damien says with a kind smile. Benjamin shakes his hand. "Hi, nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you too." Damien says. Benjamin runs back to his. "Your little brother is cute." Damien says. "He's Adorable." Elsie says with a smile. "So, just curious, how old are you?" Elsie asks Damien. "20" he replies. "Oh." Says Elsie. "Why? How old are you?" Damien inquires. " I'm 16. Almost 17, tomorrow." She answers. "Ah, cool. So did you leave your boyfriend back home?" Damien asks. "I don't have one." Elsie says. Damien face brightens slightly. "What about you? Don't you have a girlfriend?" Elsie asks. "I don't have one, I'd love to but I don't." Damien says staring at Elsie. "Oh." Elsie says, her face brightens. Just then Maybelle calls out that dinner is done. Damien and Elsie walk to the kitchen and sat with Maybelle and Benjamin. After dinner Damien thanks Maybelle for the meal and says goodbye than heads home. Elsie helps wash up the dishes then she heads up to her room to do her homework then get to bed.
After Elsie gets done with her homework she gets ready for bed and lays down on her bed and all she can think about is Damien. Just then her phone rings and she looks at the caller ID and it's Damien. Elsie answers it quickly. "Hey" "Hey there, it's me, Damien" "I know, miss me that bad?" "Haha, yeah, sure. Nah, just called to say goodnight." "Awe, how sweet. You know, I was literally just thinking about you when you called." "Oh? Well looks like I called at the right time then." " Yeah, seems like you did." "Well Elsie, I'd love to talk to you all night but we both have to sleep. Goodnight Elsie." "Goodnight Damien, see you tomorrow." "Yep, sleep well." Elsie hangs up the phone with and falls asleep smiling.