Love Heals All

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  Autumn

  We just moved to our new house in North Carolina from California, and let me tell you, it’s huge! It’s three stories with a pool, trampoline, hot tub, and an enormous backyard.

  Sorry, let me introduce myself. I’m Autumn Brown! I’m thirteen years old, and I’m from Chino, California. My best friend is Cameron Dallas. Yes, the sexy guy on Vine! That Cameron Dallas. He’s like my older brother, since I’m an only child. I tell him everything and I can trust him with my life. We are stuck like glue.

  I have one million subscribers on YouTube and Vine. I guess you could say I’m pretty funny since I have one million subscribers! Or it’s the fact that I’m best friends with Cameron Dallas . . .

  Anywho, my favorite colors are blue and green. I love penny boarding, beanies, Vans, surfing, my precious flower crowns, social media, cheerleading, softball, and I like cuddling at night watching movies with my boyfriend, Mr. Cuddles, the teddy bear!

  I have long light brown hair and green-yellow eyes. I have braces and glasses, but I never wear them because they’re ugly. I’m about five feet three, and I guess you could say I’m pretty, but if you don’t think so, you don’t have to.

  Anyway, when we got to the new house, I jumped out of the car and ran inside. In front of me was a grand staircase leading to the second floor. To my left was the living room with a door that leads to the basement, and to my right were the dining room and a wall with a door in the middle that leads to the kitchen. Then there’s a gargantuan sunroom with a door that leads to the backyard, where the pool, hot tub, and trampoline are.

  My mom called me back outside to help unpack all of our stuff. After we got it all unpacked, I wanted to look around the neighborhood. So I went outside and started down the sidewalk with my penny board. Just as I looked down to put on my sunglasses, I banged into something.

  Autumn

  I fell to the ground with a hard thump.

  “Oh my God! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!” yelled the person I’d collided with.

  “Whatever. The least you could do is help me up so my butt doesn’t bruise!” I said.

  The guy just laughed and held out a strong hand to help me up. When I looked at him, he looked kind of familiar. He had short brown hair, icy blue eyes, and was about six feet tall. He looked at least sixteen.

  “The name’s Grier. Nash Grier. Sixteen-year-old hot rod,” he said with duck lips as he held his hand out for me to shake.

  I shook his hand and laughed as I said, “The name’s Autumn. Just Autumn.”

  “Where do you live?” he asked in a rush.

  “Slow it down! You can’t just run into me, tell me your name, and then I’m supposed to tell you where I live. That’s just not how it works!” I said.

  “No,” he said with a laugh. “What I’m trying to say is that you look new, so if you tell me where you live, I can ask my parents to invite you over for dinner and you can make some new friends!”

  “How am I supposed to look new?”

  “Is that the only thing you got from that sentence?”

  “No, but yeah! That would be fun!”

  “Let’s walk.”

  “Obviously,” I mumbled under my breath. I guess he heard, ’cause he lightly punched me on the shoulder.

  The two of us were walking down the street, getting to know each other and playing around. My mom and dad were in the yard next door, talking to the neighbors. My mom was holding a pie in one hand.

  “Those are my parents, talking to the neighbors,” I said, nodding my head toward the house.

  “Those are my parents talking to yours!” he said.

  I nodded my head and said that I would see him later.

  My parents came home soon after and told me that we were going over to the neighbors’ house for dinner.

  Deciding to make a good first impression, I went into my room to my vanity to do my hair. I don’t wear makeup, but I did my long brown hair in loose curls, and I put on a light pink skater skirt and long-sleeved black-and-white crop top with my black Vans. I grabbed my gold iPhone 5s off my vanity, and my mom, my dad, and I were off. We walked over to the Griers’ house and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Grier opened the door. “You must be Autumn! I’m Elizabeth. Your mom has told me so much about you already. You’re much more beautiful in person!” She smiled.

  I smiled and said, “Thank you so much! So are you! My mom told me about you while we were walking over—she said you were very nice.”

  “Oh, Miranda, she’s a sweetheart,” Elizabeth said to my mom.

  “Thank you, Elizabeth. I’ll bet Hayes, Nash, Will, and Skylynn are nicer than you let on, too!” my mom said with a wink.

  Nash and three other people came rushing down the stairs. One boy stood out, though. He had long brown hair and bright blue eyes that could make you melt. He looked about my age.

  “Autumn!” Nash screamed my name as he ran down the stairs toward me. He tackled me in a huge hug, and I hugged back. “I missed you.”

  “Nash, I saw you an hour ago,” I said, laughing.

  Nash looked back at the kids on the stairs. “Autumn, this is Will, Skylynn, and, last but always least, Hayes,” Nash said. Will said hi, and Skylynn ran up to me and gave me a huge hug like Nash.

  “Um, hi,” Hayes said.

  “Hi,” I said back. We just stared at each other and smiled. It wasn’t awkward at all; it was nice.

  “Ahem”—Nash coughed awkwardly—“want to go watch a movie in the basement?”

  “Sure!” we all said excitedly. But then Skylynn decided to stay upstairs with her mom so she could play with her horses.

  The boys and I walked quietly down to the basement, the only sound our footsteps on the stairs. While they fought over which movie to watch, I sat on the couch, taking in the parts of the room that made it feel like an actual movie theater.

  “You like it?”

  I looked up and saw Hayes standing in front of me.

  “Yeah. It’s so cool! I love the TV!”

  Hayes replied, “I know, it’s pretty cool, right? We just got it.”

  “Really?”

  “Really!”

  He sat next to me, and we started to talk. I shivered, hoping I was being discreet. I think he noticed, though, because he took off his sweatshirt and handed it to me. “No,” I said, “you keep it. I don’t want you to be cold.”

  “No, it’s fine. I’d rather you be warm—it’s the least I can do,” he said. I thanked him and pulled on his sweatshirt. It was about three p.m., so we had hours to kill before dinner.

  “We found a movie!” Nash and Will yelled.

  “It’s about time,” I mumbled. They put in the movie and sat down. The previews started, and, seeing what was on the screen, I thought I was going to die. We were watching a scary movie.

  Autumn

  Oh God, we were going to watch a scary movie. I couldn’t do this. I was gonna die. I sat motionless in my spot.

  “You okay?” Hayes asked. I shook my head, being honest with him.

  He put his arm around me and pulled me close. “I won’t let anything get you. You have nothing to be scared of,” he whispered into my ear. With my luck, every time I looked up at the sc
reen, it was a really scary part. I screamed, and while Nash and Will just laughed, Hayes pulled me close and whispered soothing things into my ear.

  Hayes

  She is so unique—her hair, her eyes, her personality, just her in general. She’s just so original, and I like that. She’s her own person.

  By the time the movie was over, it was dinnertime, so we went upstairs. I kept my arm around Autumn because she was still scared to death. I heard Nash and Will taking pictures behind us. I just smiled ’cause I knew they’d be really good. My phone vibrated and I think Autumn’s did, too—she took hers out at the same time I did. I saw that I had a Twitter notification and that Nash had posted a photo of Autumn and me. I just smiled and retweeted it. I clicked on Autumn’s profile and saw she had over 900,000 followers. I would have to ask her about that later. I noticed that she had made Nash’s photo of us a favorite and retweeted it. She was also texting someone under the table and smiling. She told me she’d never had a boyfriend. I sat down next to her and picked up my fork. I wondered who she was texting.

  Autumn

  While we were walking upstairs to go to dinner, Hayes put his arm around me. When we walked outside, I saw how beautiful their backyard is. I can’t even explain how pretty it is. It’s like the perfect backyard. Next thing ya know, my butt was vibrating with a Twitter notification. I checked to see what it was and saw that it was a picture of Hayes and me that Nash had taken and had captioned “The lovely couple.” I blushed and retweeted it. Then I went on Nash’s and Hayes’s profiles and saw they each had over one million followers! I needed to remember to ask them how they have that many followers later.

  Anyway, dinner was awesome. We had steak, mashed potatoes, salad, and green beans. I felt a tap on my leg and looked down.

  “Autumn, will you play horsies with me?” Sky asked in her adorable little voice that you cannot resist, like, ever. I mean, who could say no? We went up to Sky’s pink room—it had a real swing right in the middle and horses everywhere, literally. We were about to play when I got another text from my best friend, Cameron.

  From: Cameron

  I miss you so much already it’s nearly impossible. Please come back, Auttie. I want my cuddle buddy back watching movies with me.

  To: Cameron

  I miss you more, Cam, it’s crazy! I’ll FaceTime you tonight, I promise! I gtg, we are at the neighbors’ house! I love you, “big bro”!

  From: Cameron

  Love you more, “lil sis.”

  I put my phone away and played with Skylynn until Hayes came in and wrecked the tea party we were having with Sky’s horses. He stole me away from her, and we watched Finding Nemo in his room until it was time to go.

  It was already ten p.m. when my mom called me down to go home. Hayes and Nash asked their mom if I could spend the night at their house, and their mom said it was fine. All I had to do was ask mine.

  “Mom, can I please stay at the Griers’ tonight? Please?” I said, looking at her with my world-famous puppy-dog face. She always falls for it.

  “Sure! But you have to come home and change first. Oh, and you have to FaceTime Cameron!”

  Oh my Popsicles! I forgot about Cam. “Okay, guys, I’ll be right back,” I yelled, and ran out the front door and over to my house while my parents strolled slowly behind me.

  I opened the front door and ran up the grand staircase. It took a minute ’cause I was tired, but then I jumped on my bed to FaceTime Cam.

  Cam: Hey, Autumn. What took ya so long?

  Me: Well, we stayed at the neighbors’ till 10, then I came running home to call you. Then I’m going back over to spend the night at the neighbors’.

  Cam: Oh cool. What’s her name?

  Me: What’s whose name?

  Cam: The girl you’re spending the night with.

  Me: Oh, um, about that, yeah, they’re, um, boys.

  Cam: What?!

  Me: Yeah, but they’re really nice. Their names are Nash and Hayes.

  Cam: Nash and Hayes Grier?

  Me: You know them? How?

  Cam: They’re famous! They’re with FAM Tour! The one that you’re gonna join this summer.

  Me: WHAT?

  Cam: STOP SCREAMING!

  Me: YOU STOP SCREAMING!

  Cam: How about we both stop?

  Me: Yeah, that would be good! Well, I’m gonna go with Nash and Hayes! I love and miss you so much, Cammy Boo.

  Cam: I love and miss you so much more, Autumn-Cakes! Night!

  Me: Night, Cam!

  Oh, Nash and Hayes are going to suffer the wrath of Autumn Brown . . .

  Autumn

  I went back over to the Griers’ house and just walked through the front door, since Mrs. Elizabeth had told me that would be okay. Then I climbed the stairs to Hayes’s room. I set down my bag and saw him standing in the room facing his closet, doing God knows what boys do. I’m gonna go scare him, I thought. I ran up behind him and jumped onto his back. “Boo,” I whispered in his ear. He yelped and gripped my thighs.

  “Gosh, Autumn,” he breathed out, looking over his shoulder at me. “I didn’t know you wear glasses. I like them.”

  I said, “Sorry, I just had to do it. And I hate my glasses. They’re ug-ly!”

  Hayes shook his head. “You’re absolutely 100 percent perfect just the way you are.”

  I blushed. Hayes Grier just called me perfect! Hayes called me—Autumn Nicole Brown—perfect! I am not perfect.

  Next thing I knew, he was running downstairs to the basement, carrying me piggyback. Like any normal person, I held on for dear life and kept my head shoved into the crook of his neck. When we got down to the basement, Nash, Will, and Skylynn were already there watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Hayes set me on the couch and plopped down next to me. He had his arm around me throughout the movie.

  By the end of the movie, Sky had fallen asleep on my lap. I was tired, too, since it was one in the morning, so I just fell asleep on the couch downstairs, not wanting to do anything else with the boys.

  Autumn

  I woke up in the basement, forgetting where I was for a second.

  “Good morning,” Hayes said in his morning voice.

  “Morning!” I smiled, and sat up.

  “Let’s go make waffles, I’m starving!” Hayes exclaimed.

  “Hon, I can’t cook for my life,” I said in all seriousness. I wasn’t lying, either. I’ll burn the house down just plugging in a toaster.

  “Me, neither.” He smirked. “Call the fire department!”

  We ran up the stairs to the kitchen, having a race to see who was fastest.

  When we got to the kitchen, he yelled in victory, and I started searching for the ingredients the Internet said you need for waffles.

  So the waffles ended up being a good disaster, and I mean good. Hayes and I had a huge food fight, got in trouble, had to take showers, then had to clean the entire kitchen. It was a very eventful morning.

  Autumn

  I decided to ask Hayes about the Twitter thing, because no one in this world has almost one million followers for no reason. And apparently they’re Vine famous. I mean, they’re with 26MGMT. I’m gonna be with 26, and no one told me about Nash and Hayes Grier. Well, they probably have, without me listening to a word they said. I’ve missed a lot of things in many of our meetings.

  I went upstairs to Hayes’s room to find him tapping on his phone. Typical. I guess now’s a good time to ask him.

  “Whatcha doin’?” I asked, leaning on the headboard of his bed and looking down at his screen.

  “Nothing,” he said in a shaky voice.

  “Whoa, you have a lot of followers on Twitter,” I said casually, and played it off like I didn’t already know.

  “Um, yeah, about that. Me, Nash, and partially Will and Skylynn are Vine famous and go
to this thing called FAM Tour. It’s this eve—”

  “Hayes, I know what FAM Tour is,” I said, cutting him off. “I know you’re Vine famous, I know y’all are Internet sensations. I guess I am, too. You could say I’m kinda famous,” I said with a sly grin.

  “Wait, what?” The look on his face was priceless. “That explains why you have that many followers.”

  I smiled, grabbed my bag to get my outfit for the day, and walked out of his room.

  Then I put on white high-waisted shorts, a WILD pullover, and my plain Dr. Martens.

  I went into Sky’s room to play princesses with her, as she’d suggested when she saw me come out of the bathroom.

  “Princess Autumn, do you want to go on the trampoline with me?” Skylynn asked me in her cute little voice.

  “I would be delighted to, Princess Skylynn!”

  We walked down the stairs hand in hand, past the boys, who were playing COD, into the backyard.

  I helped her climb onto the trampoline, and we jumped around till the sun went down. I showed her some flips from cheerleading—like back tucks, fulls, layouts, back handsprings, front handsprings, front fulls, aerials, and my favorite, also the hardest, the triple full step out back handspring double tucks back handspring triple full.

  Yeah, that’s very confusing, and I had to do it on the ground because I couldn’t fit it all on the trampoline.

  It was my pass at World’s last year, and because I had perfected it, we won. That was probably the best moment of my life.

  Anyway, the boys came out and got it on tape. Sky wanted me to do it again, so I did. But something bad happened. And everything went black.

  Hayes

  We are watching Aut do her flipping stuff—then, all of a sudden, she blacked out.

  “What happened to Autumn? Is she sleeping?” Sky asked. Little kids and their questions.

  “Nash, get Mom and call 911. Will, you get Sky. I’ve got Autumn!” I ignored Sky’s question and picked up Autumn.