Page 1 of 21 Years of Jane
Chapter One
I was sitting on the front porch of my parents’ split-level ranch house, my hands shielding my eyes from the sun, waiting for… I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper.
Nolan.
His family had just moved to Paris, Ohio, and our parents insisted that we become friends. Mostly my parents, since I was something of a loner.
They wanted to see me out and about doing normal things... but, I wasn’t normal, and they didn’t seem to want to accept it.
I sighed as I shoved the paper back into my pocket and leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes.
Although I didn’t like the sun’s rays blinding me, I didn’t mind the feel of its warmth against my face. I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep, until I felt someone shaking me gently.
“Huh?” I asked, startled.
“You fell asleep, Starr,” my mother said gently.
“Oh. Sorry,” I mumbled, shifting in my chair and running my hands through my mahogany-colored bob. I wasn’t proud of anything on my body, but I especially loved and took care of my hair; to me it was the only pretty thing I had to show off. “Did Nolan show up?”
“Yes,” a semi-deep, smooth voice replied.
I looked at my mother in confusion.
The smile on her face and the wander of her eyes to the left, led me to look around her to who had answered.
While I managed to keep an uninterested look on my face, my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. He had to be the hottest thing walking planet Earth, and he was sitting on my porch. Big, emerald-green eyes, shaggy light-brown hair, and a half-smile that if I saw enough times, I’m sure would command me to get up and walk again.
“I’m going to go inside. You kids have fun today,” my mother said as she walked back into the house.
I groaned inwardly.
I wasn’t a kid. My twenty-first birthday was in three and a half weeks, and she still treated me like I was a baby.
I heard Nolan’s good-natured laughter and forced myself to smile. It was obvious that he wasn’t a kid either. Not with a strong face like his, not with those arms, not with the way that shirt was hugging his chest…
I sighed and folded my hands on my lap.
No reason to daydream about things that can’t happen, Starr.
“So, how long was I out?” I asked with a nervous laugh.
“About ten minutes. At least that’s how long I’ve been sitting here,” he replied with that half-smile. Did he have dimples? Of course he did.
“Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. I didn’t mind. You looked so peaceful that I almost fell asleep just from watching you,” he said with a chuckle.
I smiled and felt a small blush starting to creep across my face, so I cleared my throat and looked away. I turned slightly in my chair when I heard the blinds move, and rolled my eyes when I saw my little brother and sister sitting in the window, watching us with big, goofy grins.
“We should probably go,” I said loudly.
The two of them burst into giggles and I heard my mother chastising them for eavesdropping. More like spying, but I’d let them have this small victory. When I got home, it would be all out Nerf Gun war.
From where Nolan was sitting, I was pretty sure he couldn’t see my chair for what it really was, and I suddenly felt very self-conscious. My parents had a special table built for me to hide the bulk of it, so I would go outside once and a while and get some fresh air.
Nolan got to his feet and smiled. “What did you want to do today?”
“I’m in a wheelchair,” I blurted out.