By Your Side

Chapter 1: First Love

It was the hottest day of the summer, as the sun shined and blanketed the world in its light. The sun remained resilient as it rays continued to beat down on the burning pavement, making it impossible to touch even for a moment. While the warm outside gusts of air were waiting to burn whoever was willing to challenge it, and that individual was none other than James.

He was a young boy, no older than the age of ten and was sitting on the porch of his parents less than impressive house, while his father leaned on the railing beside him and looked over at his son. Waiting. That's all they were doing as James looked out at the street holding on to every last ounce of hope that he had in his body. When a young girl and her father, walked along the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Looking both ways before crossing, the young girl went from a walking pace to a run as she quickly approached James and just as quickly wrapped her arms around him.

"JAMES!"

"Hi Hannah."

In response to the young girl, James wrapped his arms around her. Their fathers looked at them, as they gave off the vibe of being married in a different life. James admired Hannah, she was always full of spirit, and nothing ever got her down. She was amazing in his eyes, and Hannah felt the same way about him. A few moments passed until Hannah finally backed off of James, and the two of them looked into each other's eyes awkwardly before she gave him a subtle smile as her father walked up behind her, which prompted her to look up at him.

"Hello James, I see you and Hannah are still as close as ever."

"Yep, she's my best friend."

"And he's mine."

Hannah's voice was always chipper whenever she talked about James to her father. It was odd that a girl as young as her could display such emotions to a boy who didn't even know who he was as a person yet and vice versa.

"Well that's enough you two, go inside and play for a bit. We'll be in, in a few minutes."

"Okay."

The young girl looked away from her father and back at James, who took her hand and opened the front door of the house. On the inside, it was no different then the outside, nothing was stunning about the house. It was just another average middle-class home with three floors and an under construction basement.

After slipping their shoes off, the kids both ran down the stairs to the third floor and started building a blanket fort on the ground while they waited for their fathers to come down and start a movie like they always did. Working together, James and Hannah put the final blanket on the fort, and to an outsider, it would have appeared that these two kids were meant to be together. With the last blanket now on the fort, the two of them crawled inside and cuddled up in its depths. They were inseparable, as they sat beside each other in the fort giggling while their feet were the only part of them still in the outside world.

"I'm the king of the castle."

"Then I'm the queen."

"Yep, this is our castle."

The two kids started to laugh at the thought. However, something seemed off with Hannah. Her laugh was more of a hesitant one compared to James' now, and she slowly began to trail off before finally falling silent while James' giggle was all that remained. He quickly noticed Hannah's silence and turned to look at her, to make sure she was okay.

"James. Can I ask you something?" Hannah asked quietly while her cheeks began to turn a rosy pink shade. "Have you ever kissed anyone?"
"What? Gross. Just my mom but you have to do that right?"

"Yea but have you ever wanted to kiss someone else? Like a friend?"

"I mean, I don't know, it's not something I really thought about."

James laid down in the fort while Hannah sat over him, seemingly still embarrassed by her question. He might have only been ten at the time, but he could see something was still weighing heavy on her.

"Why do you ask?"

"It's just I watch all those princess movies, and I just wonder what it must be like to feel something magical. Sorry, it's a stupid thought."

"No, it's not, I wish I were magic sometimes too."

"Really?"

Hannah raised her head and looked at the boy beside her; he was the love of her young life, and he was right there beside her. Looking over, James locked eyes with Hannah and smiled.

"Yea but I'm just a kid Hannah, everyone I've seen that's magic is really old."

"You're funny James, but still I can't help but wonder."

"Well I mean if you really wanted to..."

Before James could finish, the sound of wood creaking from the staircase ripped through the third floor as Hannah's head whipped to look back at James, and she quickly started moving forward. Her lips protruded from her face as the soft flesh of her skin met James. The kiss only lasted a second, but to the two of them, it lasted a lifetime as Hannah slowly pulled her head away from him. The ruby colour of James' cheeks set in quickly while Hannah started to giggle.

"Alright kids, are you ready to watch a movie?"

Returning to reality, James and Hannah crawled out of the fort's entrance and looked at their fathers.

"Yep, we're ready."

Giving them their answer, the kids crawled back into the fort and laid down on their stomachs, so their heads were sticking out of the opening. Resting their heads in their hands, looking up at the screen. Their father's had brought down a bowl of popcorn for them to share as the movie began, and one of the bites that James took tasted different than the rest.

The subtle taste of artificial cherry made it's way through the buttery texture, causing him to check his lips since he could now smell the taste that was in his mouth. He looked over at Hannah, as she subtly leaned over and whispered to him after she noticed him checking his lips.

"Cherry."

"It's nice."

The two went back to the movie not saying another word until the end of it. Their hangout came to an end, and the two families were once again outside. James and Hannah were unable to keep their eyes off of each other. As their Dad's said goodbye to each other, James waved goodbye to Hannah who waved back before mouthing the words, Thank you. James began to blush again as he watched the girl turn around and walk away, and deep down James knew he would never forget this day as long as he lived.