Chapter 1-Naive Little Girl
Have you ever gone through life and thought..well s**t, how did I end up as a side character in my own main story? How was it possible to be one of those people helping the two main characters get together, showing them how pretty and popular they are and how perfect they would be for one another. Well, that would be me..Emery Lewis..but my friends call me Em.
That's how I felt since I was nine years old. That's a pretty hard pill to swallow as a kid. Especially one that was so dedicated and motivated to find her happily ever after. Even at that age, I believed in soul mates and fate. My first crush, Jacob Davison, I was convinced he was the one. My naive little kid heart fluttered every time I laid my eyes on him. My palms sweating and my smile widening to uncomfortable levels. He was absolutely perfect..blonde hair, blue eyes, funny and smart..not to mention the fastest boy in third grade..do you know what that means? He was dubbed the most popular boy in third grade..and me? His trusty sidekick to make him laugh and cheer him up when he was upset or having a bad day.
I was never the fastest girl or the prettiest girl..definitely not the smartest. Let's just say math sucks..I was more artsy and kind. I loved to put on a brave face and be that person who was there for everyone.
Well, guess who he did crush on? The fastest girl in third grade of course... MacKenzie Prescott...my best friend in the whole world. MacKenzie was not only the cute girl, smart girl, and overall popular girl..she was also the most sought-after girl in the whole school and every guy that I ever liked seemed to think that too.
I just so happened to be the chubby girl that was always available to help out and knew everything about MacKenzie..let's just say third grade was the first time I realized my life wasn't the fairytale I thought it would be. My life was meant to be the beloved supporting side character who sacrificed herself for the greater good of the world so the true heroes could get their happily ever after..and it sucked big time. I can still recall the moment Jacob came up to me, saying he had a crush on someone and that I knew who it was.
Of course, being the naive little girl that I was, I thought he was eluding to me being that girl. I never said it out loud, too shy and reserved to even mention my name as a possibility. He never told me that day but I spent hours overanalyzing every laugh, touch, and look on his face for weeks. Little did I know I was focusing on the wrong things..little boys don't do nice things or smile at you broadly when they have a crush, they tend to tease you and make a point to make you flustered and embarrassed.
I should have known that as soon as I saw Jacob with MacKenzie. That was the first time I ever had a small taste of heartache..feeling like I wasn't good enough or knowing I would never be that stick-thin perfect girl. I was always heavier as a kid. With my chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes, I had fair skin and tended to be more on the tomboy side..I can thank my dad for that. My beautiful mother Carrie Lewis died when I was only two years old. It was a car accident that changed our lives forever.
I don't remember much about her, just stories and pictures my dad and grandparents showed me. I had her hair and eyes, but that was pretty much it. I lived in a place called Kentville. It was a small town in the middle of the woods with tall pine trees and a huge river that ran straight through it. My dad, Allen Lewis, and Uncle Jack lived in the house with me. They owned their own auto shop and worked out of their garage. My dad actually remodeled a few classic muscle cars for a couple of high-end clients that helped keep us afloat. Considering he was a single dad, he used those opportunities to save up some money that way he didn't have to have a nine-to-five job. So a lot of times Uncle Jack would take me out fishing and camping.
My Uncle Jack sometimes felt like an older brother to me considering he and my dad were eight years apart. Whenever my father had to go out of town for work my uncle would be the one watching me and in charge. Let's just say he isn't known for being the most responsible adult in the world. My dad wasn't too thrilled one day when he came home to find me, Uncle Jack, and a few of his friends playing poker in the garage. My dad ended up forgiving him when he found out I had won though. Considering I was only eight at the time he gave me a ten and kept the rest for hush money.
Now don't get me wrong, I was in no way an outcast. I had a few trusty friends, they were quite popular too but oddly enough I never fell into that category. I wasn't naive, I knew I would get invited to birthday parties or other types of things because there was one person who always went with me. MacKenzie..she was a different type of girl..she was the type who was scouted for modeling even as a baby. Her golden tan skin and silky black hair weren't her only draw. It was those beautiful clear blue eyes that made her even more mesmerizing. Her whole family had them..even her older brother Carson. I guess the fact that their mom Heather was in fact a model didn't hurt. Their dad Vince on the other hand was a retired football player turned lawyer. It's safe to say they hit the jackpot big time.
The question you might be asking though, is why were they in such a small town like Kentville? Well, Vince actually grew up here, he was even a friend of my mom and dad's since their grade school days. They lived on ten archers now with a house that was 15,000 square feet. So they weren't exactly slumming it like the rest of us. They had horses and fast cars, even housekeepers. Whenever my dad and uncle had to go out of town for work I would almost look forward to it because I would get to stay the week with MacKenzie and her family.
They were like a second family to me, even though I looked nothing like them and was a little more on the reserved shy side they welcomed me with open arms.
Now..let's get into a whole other thing..Carson Prescott. He was four years older than me and MacKenzie. He and his sister would bicker and fight a lot but I felt like I actually had a pretty awesome relationship with him. The perk of knowing the Prescotts since being a small kid was that I didn't just have a relationship with MacKenzie, I actually would hang out at the house with Carson a lot too.
When MacKenzie would leave for a few hours to do a photo shoot or film a commercial I would hang back and play games with Carson. We would usually play Mario Cart or shoot some hoops on their private basketball court..did I mention they had an indoor pool? No?..well they did..it was another extension to the house. My dad and uncle would even come over sometimes and swim in the summer.
My dad worked for Vince Prescott as his personal mechanic. He even taught Carson how to do basic maintenance like checking his oil and filling his tires, things like that. On the rare occasion that MacKenzie would stay the night at my house, Carson would come and tag along too most times. He really enjoyed my dad and Uncle Jack's company.
They even go on camping trips now and then. Mr. Prescott isn't the most involved parent. He has crazy work hours and tends to miss out on a lot of father-son bonding moments. I guess Carson looked towards my dad for a lot of that. And when he was in high school he and a few friends started coming around more. One friend in particular who I have grown to despise entirely..Asher McNeal..he seemed to hang around the most. Asher and Carson were on the basketball team and Asher just so happened to be the Centre. Meaning he was pretty much the tallest kid in school. Being 6'5 and still growing definitely did something to a kid.. let's just say he was the local celebrity. I will get more into him later..as you can tell, I'm not much of a fan..I might have been a long time ago but now I want nothing to do with the guy..or so I tell myself. There has to be one girl in this town who doesn't want Asher McNeal right? So I made the decision to have it be me..even though that might not be the entire truth.
But anyway, Carson was the power forward and sat at a measly 6'3" poor Carson. With me being my whopping 5' 3" they all looked the same down here so I couldn't really tell the difference. I guess tall genes just run in the Prescott family. MacKenzie was 5'10" and seemed to have legs for days but I guess that's a good thing when you are a legit model. Her dream is to move to Los Angeles and become an actress. Being in the pacific northwest we don't really have a lot of opportunities like that here but she travels to LA every couple of months for work. She just got enrolled to go to the University of California and get into their drama program after this summer.
Me on the other hand..I see no reason to leave Kentville. I am staying right here and will be going into the nursing program at the University of Washington. MacKenzie leaves for college after this summer and now that we are both officially nineteen now we are going to make the summer count. MacKenzie took a year off of school and was traveling to Europe with her mom and cousin. I stayed home helping my dad out in the garage and starting my online prep to get into the nursing program. Considering the last two years I was in high school I pretty much kept to myself and stayed in the library I felt like I missed out on the party scene. As a result of that, MacKenzie and I drifted apart a little. Some things began to change senior year.
She joined the cheer squad and I ended up in art and music. I also started losing weight this past year. I began running in the mornings and picked up new healthier eating habits. This has honestly been the smallest I have ever been in my adult life. It felt weird..to say the least. I was always overweight my whole life so having more energy and being in a size medium was a goal I never thought I would reach. It was the end of July now and I had lost a total of sixty pounds since the beginning of the year.
I don't know what started it but I wasn't complaining. It was hard getting used to my new body..I still had curves but now they were in all the right places. Why did it happen after high school? This would have been nice to have, but I am grateful nonetheless. MacKenzie left for a few weeks and I am meeting up with her tonight at her house for a party her brother is throwing. He just turned twenty-three and I knew there would be alcohol.
This would be my first "adult" party and MacKenzie is on a mission..a mission to get me drunk and have me hook up with a guy..yeah..her plan not mine. I honestly didn't care that I was still a virgin..I wanted to wait, to be with that one person who I knew I was meant to be with..but realistically I knew that was naive of me. I guess I just watched too many Disney movies growing up and always wished there was a Prince Charming waiting for me somewhere out there.