Hi John,
Do you remember the day we met?
I do.
The summer of 2018, in Avalon. I had just finished a shift at the Children’s Hospital, and I was sitting on the couch with Kingy lying at my feet. Do you remember how scary looking everyone thought he was? I was with him, just exhausted from my shift. I was in my sweats. Tyler was having a birthday party and you know how my sister is, she wanted to have everyone over. They’d take one look at me and Kingy and head upstairs to see everyone. I remember there was this knock on the door, so I got up and went to answer it. And it was you. You had those little brown eyes, and a fohawk. And you just kind of looked at me for a second.
“Hey. I’m Johnny.” You said.
I said, “Hey, your friends are all upstairs.”
I went back to the couch and sat with Kingy. Tyler came down and started guilt tripping me into coming out with everyone. But it’s my birthday!!!! COME ON, YOU GOTTA!!! I really didn’t want to go. I was just beat from my shift and the hour-and-a-half drive back to Avalon. But Tyler had this way about her, and I gave in. We all went to the one bar in town, The Princeton. I wasn’t drinking. I was trying to keep tabs on all the girls and everything that was happening. But it was a huge bar and there was so much going on. I remember how everyone gravitated toward you. Everyone wanted to be near you. To see you. And I was like, Who is this guy? I didn’t know a thing about you. Do you remember ordering 40 vodka sodas for everyone? You handed me one. I think the only thing I said to you that night was, “Thank you.”
But without words, you said so much to me.
