Page 14 of Falling for my First Crush

It is a whoa moment, but there isn’t time to dwell on it. Instead, I fling the door open, and hustle to the back of the truck to unload the hoses. Our water truck pulls up, and I see Adam jump out and hurry to attach the hose and get water flowing onto the fire. The shift supervisor, Aaron, pulls up in the fire chief car and heads to the small group of people huddled on the opposite side of the parking lot.

I haul the hose to the nearest fire hydrant and hook everything up. A few of the other guys come over to help. Soon, we have two sources of water spraying at the fire. A few of the others head around the structure to make sure that there aren’t any other points that we should be targeting.

The water pressure in my hose is starting to lag, and when I glance back at the fire hydrant, I notice that the valve has been twisted. I call over a guy whose name I can’t remember, and I hand him the hose. I open the fire hydrant wide open again, just as Julius comes over.

“What are you doing?” he asks over the din of noise all around us.

“The hydrant wasn’t flowing, so I opened it again,” I say.

Julius looks down at the hydrant and says, “Oops.”

Before I can ask what that means, Aaron comes over to us. “Good observation skills, Julius,” he says.

“Thanks, sir,” Julius replies. “We’ve got to make sure every little detail is working.”

As Aaron walks away, I give Julius a stare that I hope he interprets as my anger stabbing through him like a knife. He just shrugs at me and walks away, while I hurry back to my position. He’s too young and cocky to make a good firefighter. My suspicion is that he turned the valve down without realizing what he was doing, and that’s why he took the opportunity to take credit for my attention to detail. If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t care, but since it’s Julius, my blood feels like it’s boiling. I’m going to have to keep an eye on him.

Nine

JACKIE

Ilove Book Club meetings with my dearest friends, “The Lits,” as we’ve nicknamed ourselves. I’ve been especially looking forward to this one, since I’m hoping that it will take my mind off all the Joe drama. Addie is leading the discussion this week, and we are at Violet’s house again. I wish that we were painting, but talking about the book will be nearly as much fun.

“So, does anyone want to summarize the first half of the book?” Addie asks.

I raise my hand like I’m in school. Addie laughs but calls on me. “So the March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy live with their mother, who they call Marmee. Their father is off fighting in the Civil War. The March girls meet Laurie, and their lives get much more…interesting.”

“Okay, good start,” Addie says. “So let’s start our conversation by focusing on the four March sisters. Does anyone relate to any of them? Or, maybe a better question is who do you relate to the most?”

“I feel like I resonate with Meg the most,” Violet says. “I know that she is all about wanting a traditional life with a husband and family, but really what she wants is stability. And I feel like now that I’m married to Robert, that’s what I have found.”

“I feel like I relate the best to Beth,” Kaylee says.

“What about Beth speaks to you?” Addie asks.

Kaylee considers the question for a long moment, and then says, “She is such an unassuming character, but she is also the glue that holds her sisters together. I feel like that has been a role I’ve played a lot in my life.”

“That makes sense. I can see that in you,” Ella says. “I relate to Jo. I like her independent spirit. She makes a lot of sacrifices for the things that are important to her. But she loves her family fiercely.”

“I waffle between Jo and Meg,” Addie says. I feel like I can see aspects of myself in both of them.”

“I feel the same way about Jo and Meg,” Marissa agrees. “Although, for me it’s primarily because of their devotion to their family. It just comes out in different forms.”

“Honestly, I don’t know who I relate to,” I say. “What do you guys think?”

My friends look at each other and practically in unison, they say, “Amy.”

I roll my eyes. “Why? Just because she’s the youngest of four?”

Addie shakes her head. “Not entirely. Of course that does play a part of the connection. But really, it’s because you and the character of Amy do share a lot of qualities. For example, you both love your families, and you want to help wherever you can.”

I can feel the frown tugging at my lips. I know they’re trying to be nice, but Amy is not really the best character in the book to be compared to, in my opinion. She’s selfish and immature. She falls in love with the guy who’s in love with her sister. Good thing I’m not like that. Maybe I’m selfish and immature sometimes, but usually I do think of others first. And I’m definitely not in love with anyone. I’m not even interested in anyone at the moment.

The silence that follows is slightly uncomfortable. I can see my friends glancing at each other, and I wonder what it is that they want to say, but aren’t saying. Finally Addie clears her throat. “Let’s keep this conversation going,” she says. “Why don’t we talk about Marmee for a bit? She plays such a central role in her daughters’ lives. What do you think it is about her that makes her such a central figure to her girls?”

“She supports them as individuals,” Violet says confidently, but softly. We all pause for a moment, because we know how much she misses her own mother.

“Even when they argue,” Marissa says, agreeing. “She doesn’t take sides.”

---