Hey, Have You Ever Believed? {Geebs}

The sun was just reaching the horizon when Motel slipped out of bed to face another day with a simple smile. Dressed and equipped with his worn, leather jacket he poked his head into his mother's room to see if she was awake yet. As usual- she wasn't. Counting on his fingers, Motel figured the day- it was special. What was today- the thought nagged at him until finally (after pacing through the front room of his house and scratching behind his ears until the skin was raw) it clicked. A birthday- his mother's to be exact. Well! That calls for a trip to the market!

Taking a few coins the small Hunt family had been saving for food or something else important- the boy set out to buy a shiny object as a present for his mother.

Of course if his mother had been awake she would have been able to tell him that it was, in fact, not her birthday and to stop running off with the saved funds. Yes- just another usual day in the Hunt family.

Stepping outside, Motel took in a deep breath of the morning air. This air was his favorite- the afternoon air was to hot and the evening breaths didn't have the same magic. Jumping off the small, square porch Motel started on his way to the Market- the coins jingling in his pocket. A loud bark made the boy stop and examine the area until the owner of the sound reveled himself. It was a dog- one that looked to be well off. It had long shaggy gray hair that fell over its eyes and a pink tongue that was sticking out. Bending down to the dog's level, Motel snapped for it to come over and it did. Scratching it behind its ear, Motel smiled at his newly acquired friend.

"Would you like to come with me?" he asked the dog. With a woof as a reply, Motel took it as a yes and started off towards the center of the District where booths would be set up selling anything from pastries to haircuts. However, Motel only got a few steps before stopping. "Gosh- you need a name!"

Turning and studying the animal, Motel took great care of flipping through names in his head before settling on one he liked.

"Gary!" Motel said, snapping his fingers at his stroke of naming genius. "Come along, Gary!"

It didn't take long to get to the main square. It was still a little early and only a few people mingled in between the peddlers' setting up their stations.

"Gary- what should I buy?" Motel asked the dog while examining the sea of options. "Gary?"

The dog had vanished- choosing to leave Motel's side once arriving in the square. Distressed, Motel started down a row of booths looking for the shaggy dog- calling out "Gary!" an receiving odd looks from the people starting to fill in the market place.

Running down the various aisles of the marketplace yelling out his newly acquired friend's name, Motel Hunt was not a welcomed site for many sleepy vendors. Turning a corner down a busier row, Motel was forced to slow his pace but only by a little bit. Yelling "Gary" over and over until someone caught his jacket and brought him to a stop. Whirling around, Motel was caught off guard. It was a girl- and a mighty short one too.

Motel had always liked girls, they were just so pretty and nice to look at. This one had very pretty eyes, blue like those pictures of the ocean his mother was so fond of. Already in his mind Motel had named the girl "Eyes." It was easier to match faces to names when they had a nickname helping the memory.

Eyes opened her mouth but no sound came out. Motel leaned in to listen but the only thing that came out was a part of a word. Quirking his head to the side Motel tried to understand why the girl wasn't talking. She stiffly gestured her arm to something even shorter than herself-

"Gary!" spilling onto his knees, Motel took the dog up into an embrace before turning back to Eyes. "Thank you so much!"

Jumping back to his feet, Motel wrapped his arms around the girl in a tight hug.

"Oh I have to do something for you! Mother says always be gracious to people who helped you," finally letting go of the girl, Motel stepped back, a large expecting smile on his face. "What's your name? I'm Motel Hunt- it is very nice to meet you!"

Motel was never one for subtly, or silence, or social manners.

The Hunt boy had always been a talker. Usually the things he had to say were not very important and they annoyed the people around him. He was aware of this problem but sometimes he just could not help himself. His mouth got away from him and soon enough he was talking a mile a minute and no one else could get a word in edge wise. So when the girl only go one word out it was hardly a surprise.

"Savannah? That's a pretty name! I think I knew a girl named Savannah before, or maybe her name was Sarah- either way she wasn't very nice she hit me and said I was stupid. I don't talk to her anymore. I'm sure you're much nicer," he tried to stop there but there were words that wanted to come out and there was no holding them back now. "You have pretty eyes, has anyone ever told you that before? I'm sure someone has. I like the color blue but my eyes aren't blue, they're black. Mother says they're just really dark brown but I think they're black. See?"

Motel stepped forward, brushing his hair out of his face and leaning into Savannah's face, showing off his eye color. He had to bend over pretty far seeing as he had an entire foot on the girl.

"I almost forgot! I have to thank you! What do you want to do? I have some money I can buy you something! Or I can help you with something. I have the time for anything- just tell me what you want me to do, I can do it."

For all his flaws, there are certain things you can admire about Motel Hunt, like the fact that he never thought anything was out of the ordinary about Savannah's voice.

The way Savannah giggled made Motel's stomach do flip flops. He really liked hearing girls laugh like that, all.... girlish like. Giving a goofy grin in return, Motel shoved his hands into his pockets, slouching over so that he wouldn't have to bend over so far to see Savannah's eyes. They were so pretty and the skin around them crinkled when she laughed. Dreamy Motel Hunt, caught up again in the highs and lows of puppy love.

He was severely disappointed when she stopped giggling and returned back to the sort of scared expression that someone was actually speaking to her. Motel liked it better when she smiled and he vowed to try and evoke a laugh, a grin- something out of the girl as much as possible. She opened her mouth to speak, muttered a few words Motel could not understand and promptly fell into a coughing fit. Although Motel didn't recognize this a just a "coughing fit" and more of a "OH GOD SHE'S DYING" situation. Flailing his hands around, Motel tried to figure out what to do. His feet jumped from side to side, itching to run to the rescue but unsure of what to do once there. Finally, he stepped forward and put a hand on her back- the closest thing to him. Jumping back as she stood up again, the girl spoke- her voice hoarse from coughing (of course). She said an entire sentence but all Motel's mind hung onto was "water."

"Water? I can do that!" he started off running down an aisle of vendors before digging his heels into the dirt paths and jogging back to Savannah. "Come with me!"

So insistent on her companionship to get the water, Motel grabbed her wrist and started off in the valley between the towering booths of the vendors before he could hear her answer.

Shoes kicking up dirt to make a brown cloud of dust that many vendors did not appreciate, Motel was happier than he had been right before Sarah had punched him in the face. Savannah was laughing again and his heart warmed in his chest, a smile stretching across his voice as he skidded around corners looking for water. Letting out a chuckle of his own, Motel grinned back at Savannah before facing forward to avoid running into a butcher's stall.

"Stop!" her voice was still scratchy from thirst, he could tell that but a quick glance at all the vendors proved fruitless. No water anywhere. The girl came to a stop behind him and let go of his hand. Motel liked how her hand had fit in his and was disappointed not to be able to hold it anymore. Bent over, trying to catch her breath, Savannah's face was hidden from Motel. Looking at the booths again, the boy spotted a stall filled with flowers. All bright and colorful. Some were potted and others had been freshly cut that morning and placed in twisted, glass vases. His eyes caught on the colorful spectacle, Motel took a few steps towards the counter. The coins in his pocket suddenly grew heavy and he had no choice but to remove one and slap it onto the wooden board being used as a counter. The vendor looked at him, holding a few roses he had just been cutting. The man's eyes went from Motel to Savannah and smiled knowingly.

Returning to his newly made friend, roses in hand, Motel held them out for her. A blush filled his cheeks and he quickly tacked on a "For you."

Thank you. Motel's heart swelled at the words. The smile she gave him- he could not put into words how it made him feel. Usually when he gave girls flowers they did not look like they wanted them and handed them off to their friends or something. Motel liked this girl, she was nice and did not think he was stupid. She pulled the flowers close to her and he wished, for the first time in his life, that he was a bouquet of flowers so that Savannah would hold him like that.

His shoulder sagged under the weight of young love and his head tilted in a dreamy sigh. Motel Hunt was, yet again, caught in the net of love. He was often tangled in such things but never for this long. Usually the object of his affection would have hit him, called him a name or gotten their very large older brother to take care of the situation already. A smile grew across Motel's face as he watched Savannah look down at her shoes.

He decided to try something he had seen couples do before. His hand left his side and took Savannah's chin in his palm. Gently- you can not go fast, they think you're going to punch them or something and start screaming "PERVERT" or something- Motel lifted her face so that he could see her eyes. Oh those eyes, it made him smile even more. So easily swayed by physical appearance, Motel could not help himself!

Leaning in, he pursed his lips together and connected them with Savannah's.

It was strange, Motel had wanted to kiss a girl for so long and yet never had managed to do it before. Now that he did not have to dodge fists or other projectiles he was finally allowed to fulfill his life long dream.