On the Way to Somewhere
Everything was beautiful then
I was playing my parent’s baby grand piano early one summer when the doorbell rang.
I opened the front door and our neighbor, the brain surgeon Dr. Genest, stood before me. He was a little out of breath, but then his impressive home was a good hike through the woods from ours.
“Ah, Johnny, I’m glad you’re home. I wanted to ask you a question,” he said.
Dr. Genest didn’t visit our home often. Usually, he threw lavish parties at his estate, and sometimes I got to tag along with my parents. Thus, it was odd that he hiked all the way through the woods to visit me.
“A question?” I said.
“Do you have a girlfriend? I mean, a good-looking young lad like yourself probably has a girlfriend, right?” he said.
“Um, no.”
It was all I could say, somewhat embarrassed. I was fifteen and had danced with a cute girl in an 8th grade musical production, but that was the extent of my romantic experiences.
“Well, my daughter Noelle is visiting from Florida for the summer, and if you don’t have plans, I thought you two could hang out,” Dr. Genest said.
I remembered Noelle from our childhood days. She used to attend birthday parties for my sister and…
