The next morning, Michael got up super early. He couldn't sleep because he was thinking about spending the day with Parker.

He decided to just get up instead of staying in bed until his regular time. When he took a shower, he forgot how great it felt to use hot water. Having a big family had it's inconveniences at times but he loved them.

"You're up early," Katherine said as she made herself some oatmeal. It was about six thirty in the morning and she was about to go to work.

Michael was eating some Corn Flakes at the kitchen table. "Yeah well I couldn't sleep. I'm going to the lake today to hang out with Parker."

Katherine furrowed her eyebrows. "Who's Parker?"

"Oh, she's Mrs. Mayweather's granddaughter."

She sat down next to her son and began to eat her oats. "Well you two have fun but not too much fun," she said as she pinched his cheek.

Michael giggled. "Yes ma'am."

It was about twelve o'clock in the afternoon and Michael was sitting on the couch while the youngsters watched Sesame Street. Everyone else was in the kitchen eating breakfast.

A few minutes later, Michael heard the doorbell ring. He ran to the door but Tito got to it first and opened it.

"Hello are you Parker?"

"Tito move!" Michael said as he tried to push his brother out of the way. Sadly he was failing.

"Um yeah, is Michael here?"

"Yeah he's here," Tito said fighting against his little brother's attempts to push him. "Are you his girlfriend?"

"Parker don't answer that! Tito move please!"

Tito laughed and moved away from the door frame. "I'm just kidding around. You guys have fun."

Michael shot an irritated look to his brother as he walked out the door to meet Parker. She was holding a wicker picnic basket over her forearm. 

"Hey Parker, I'm sorry for my annoying brother. What's in the basket?"

She smiled. "It's okay, I didn't mind. I have an older sister and she always embarrasses me. Oh and this is my polaroid camera and extra film. The lanyard that came with the camera hurts my neck so I keep it in this basket. I wanna take some pictures to take home."

"Oh cool."

They walked down the sidewalk and talked all the way to the park.

"Woah woah wait a minute...you don't like Superman?" she asked.

Michael scrunched his face. "I mean Superman is alright but my favorite comic character is Morph."

"But Superman is Superman. He can fly, he has x-ray vision, he has a cape!"

They laughed.

"Those are all cool but Morph can shapeshift into anybody. He could shapeshift into Superman himself if he wanted to! Morph is the ultimate superhero," Michael said matter-of-factly.

Parker playfully rolled her eyes and they kept on walking.

When they got to the lake, Michael looked around for some flat rocks that were good for skipping. Once he got enough rocks he laid them out at their feet.

"Okay, have you ever skipped rocks before?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

He picked up a flat, smooth grey-ish rock and showed her how to hold it. "Here, you hold it with your index finger on the edge and your thumb on the front and your middle finger on the back. Then you bend your knees and flick your arm. Kinda like you're throwing a ball but instead of overhand, you throw it from the side."

Michael demonstrated and the rock flew gracefully from his hand across the water. The water danced around the rock through beautiful ripples. It hopped about five times across the surface before it sank to the bottom. It almost made its way across the whole lake.

"Wow, it almost made it to the other side!"

Michael beamed. "You wanna try?"

"Totally."

She grabbed one of the rocks he laid out and grasped it the way he demonstrated then flicked her arm from the side. The rock didn't fly far across the surface with grace but sank straight to the bottom a measly two feet away from where she stood with a big plop.

Michael bit his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing but when she looked at him they both burst into a fit of laughter.

"I think that was pretty good for my first try," she said with a pleased look. "Lemme try again."

Parker bent down and grabbed another rock. She grasped it once again like he'd shown her then flicked her arm from the side. This time the rock went farther but it still sank into the water with a plop.

"It went farther that time," she said. "Yet not a single skip. I don't think the rocks like me Michael." She giggled as she picked up another rock and grasped it.

"Here wait," Michael said as he walked up behind her. "May I?"

"Sure."

He put his left hand respectively on her hip and his right hand on hers which was holding the rock.

Having her this close felt amazing. She smelled like something that Michael could only describe as girl.

Parker felt like she could melt right there. There was just something about the way he touched her that sent shivers up and down her spine and gave her a feeling deep inside her gut.

"The trick is, you gotta bend your knees a little," he said softly into her ear. They both bent their knees. "Then wind back from the side."

He wound back her hand then flicked his arm so that everything he did was mirrored through her. It was like they were one body, mind, and soul. The rock soared and skipped beautifully across the surface of the lake before it sank.

Michael let go of her hand and Parker turned around with a beaming smile and hugged him which caught him by surprise.

He laughed and she felt the vibrations through his chest and it felt good.

When they pulled away, they stared into each other's eyes briefly. All Michael wanted to do was just hug her again.

Parker put her head down shyly and moved away from him. "Sorry, I got excited."

Michael scratched the back of his neck. "It's okay. I enjoyed the hug."

By now Parker was a pro rock-skipper. They've been skipping rocks for well over two hours! They'd once tried to make a contest of who could skip a rock to the other side of the lake. None of them made it fully across but Michael made it closest.

For lunch they walked down to the corner store and bought two hot dogs, some chips, and two cokes.

They walked back to the park and sat across from each other on one of the picnic tables near the lake.

"So, tell me about yourself," Parker said.

"Well," he began. "As you saw, I have eight annoying siblings." He laughed. "Although, I do love big families. My birthday is August twenty-ninth and I love comic books, climbing trees-just nature in general, singing, dancing, and helping people. How about you?"

"That's a lot of cool stuff. I love to read, I also like comic books, learning about new things. One thing I'm very passionate about is nature and the children. I love being outside and hearing the birds chirping away. I love the way that if you're in a forest and you stay quiet, you can hear the trees breathe. It's mesmorizing. Then there's the children. When those commercials for the starving children come on, I literally cry for them. It makes me want to grow up already so I can make money and send it to them so they can get food and have decent homes. Ya know?"

There was a sparkle in her eye as she spoke about the things she was passionate about and it almost brought Michael to tears because those were the very same things he was passionate about. There was nothing more gravitating to him than someone who had the same passions as him. He literally fell in love at that very moment.

Parker had brought her polaroid camera to take pictures of the park to hang in her bedroom once she got back home. She'd taken one when they got there and as they ate, she produced a black sharpie from her pocket and wrote "THE PARK" in capital letters on the bottom of the photo.

"Can I take one of you?" she asked Michael.

Michael blushed. "I don't like pictures of me..."

"Oh why not? You're unbelievably handsome, I must take a picture of you. Please?" she intertwined her fingers together like she was begging.

Michael huffed playfully. "You can take a picture but I won't smile."

"Oh fine. Better than nothing." She took her picture and the film came out of the front. When it dried, she showed it to him. "Cute." She wrote on the bottom in capital letters "MICHAEL".

After they ate, they climbed up into the big oak tree and watched people play in the park. Michael had his arm around her shoulder and even though his arm was getting sweaty because they'd been like that for a while, he dared not move it because he wanted to hold her for as long as possible before they had to go home.

They were so relaxed they fell asleep on the branch. Michael woke up first and saw glanced at his watch: 5:32 P.M.

He gently tapped on Parker's shoulder to wake her up.

"Parker, I think it's time we should be headin' home."

They climbed down from the tree, grabbed Parker's camera and photographs and walked home.

When they got to Mrs. Mayweather's house, Michael walked Parker to the porch. The screen door and regular door were both shut.  

"I had a really nice time Michael."

"I had a nice time too Parker."

They stood there awkwardly for a few moments.

"Um well I better let you go. It's almost dinner time," Parker said.

"Yeah, I should—"

Michael was interrupted by Parker leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.

He felt the blood rush to his cheeks and his eyes widened.

Her kiss was like fire. A good kind of fire...

"Goodnight Michael," she said as she walked inside. "See you tomorrow."

"Uh...y-yeah," he stammered.

Michael stood on the porch for a minute as he tried to regain the use of his brain so he could move his legs to walk. When he finally did, he grinned with the biggest smile ever and bounce-walked home.

He heard some voices ahead of him and saw his brothers and sisters crowded at the window making kissy faces through the living room window.

Michael shook his head at them and readied himself for the noise.