Chapter one
“Halley get up!!” Marie yelled impatiently as she shook my shoulders with as much force as an eight year old could muster.
“Ya ya I hear ya kid. I'll be up in a second.” Groaning as the light assaulted my eyes I rolled out of bed at the ungodly hour of 6:30 a.m. “I swear Disney World is the only thing worth getting up this early for.”
Today was the first day of our long awaited Christmas Disney vacation. My family and I had been planning for this trip since March and we were all eager to start our day as soon as possible. Everyone was excited but no one more so than my little cousins. Marie and Luke were my crazy awesome cousins who were almost like my little siblings.
Luke is six years old going on forty-five, and my dad keeps saying that one day he’s gonna rule to world, or at least a very efficient prison gang, we aren't quite sure which one yet. He is too smart for his own good, but also one of the most genuinely amazing kids on the planet.
Marie is his eight year old sister. She is just as amazing, she loves horses and wants to be a scientist when she grows up. While these two aren't my children they mean the world to me and nothing is more rewarding to me than seeing them happily traipse through the world of wonder that awaits them today.
I come from a huge, crazy Italian/Irish family and I love every minute of it. On this trip there were fifteen of us. My family is my world and while sometimes they can be a bit much I wouldn't know what to do without them.
Soon I was dressed in my favorite shirt, a light grey v-neck that said ‘Kiss me Captain’ alongside a cartoon Captain America shield. But, it seemed like I hadn’t been the only one in a patriotic mood that morning, as entered the kid’s room to find them both in the Captain America shirts I bought them for Christmas. Marie’s shirt said ‘LOVE’ in red white and blue font while cap’s shield took the place of the ‘O’. Luke’s was just a simple t-shirt with a shield on the front of it.
“Looks like we all had the same idea today.” I said fondly as I looked at the crazy little people who had me so wrapped it wasn't even funny.
“Yay! We match!” Luke yelled
“That we do little man! Are you guys ready to go?”
“Yep!! Hayley, can we meet Captain America today??”
“Hmm, we’ll have to see dude. I’m not sure where his meet and greet spot is, but we’ll look ok?”
“Ok”
After we were all ready it was time for my crazy family to take Magic Kingdom by storm. The moment I stepped through the gates I became a kid again. Not a care in the world as I took in the beautiful sight before me. The garden right inside the gates is always full of little kids eager to meet one of their favorite characters, all the while munching on cotton candy or ice cream.
Soon we were making our way down the iconic main street searching for all of the hidden mickey heads on the charming and colorful storefronts. I was soon hit by the sweet aroma in the air outside the main street confectionery, and so were the kids. I took them inside and we all got ice cream cones to eat while we were walking. The first stop for my uncle was always Space Mountain, and so while everyone headed that way I volunteered to stay with Luke and Marie while we finished our ice cream.
The three of us wandered around tomorrowland and made a list of all the things they wanted to do once everyone got back from the first thrill ride of the day. Luke kept talking about how much he wanted to do the race cars that he could drive, and Marie wanted to explore all of the futuristic buildings in tomorrowland some more. That kid is gonna make it to mars one day I swear.
Pretty soon the kids were done with their ice cream and I pulled out some wet wipes from their moms bag to clean of all the stickiness. As I was scrubbing Luke’s face clean Marie starts tugging on my sleeve and yells “Halley there’s Captain America!”
“Ok kid, just a second. Let me finish cleaning up your brother and text your mom to tell her where we went and then we can go get in line to meet him. Ok?”
I finished up with Luke and sent my Aunt a quick text, but when I looked up I didn't see what Marie had seen. “Hey Rie, where did you see Cap? I don’t see him or the line to meet him.”
“He’s right there!” She says like it the most obviously thing ever as she points to a group of people a few yards away from where we are. I scanned the crowd over and over and all I saw were other families milling around, the shield was nowhere to be found.
“Im sorry kid I just don’t see him. We’ll have to find him later.”
Rolling her eyes at me like I just told her to to do her homework, she took my hand and dragged me towards the family she had pointed at earlier. Just as I was about to stop her I finally saw what she had seen. Standing in front of me was none other than Chris Evans himself. He was laughing at something one of his family members had just said, and there was no way I could mistake that laugh. I had watched so many interviews over and over just to watch him laugh, it was the most amazing sound I had ever heard. He was even doing the chest grab thing.Before I had time to realize what she was doing Marie stopped right in front of Chris and very matter of factly said “You’re Captain America.”
Chris looked a little surprised by her abrupt appearance but he seemed to recover quickly, and said “Yes I am!” with a smile that rivaled the intense Florida sunshine. He kneeled down to talk to her; “Are you a big fan Cap? I see you have a pretty cool shirt on. I like it a lot.”
She smiled and shook her head yes before she responded. “Yeah, I like the movies, but not as much as my cousin Halley. She loves you!!” Somehow I managed to choke on thin air in that moment as I was brought back to reality. Chris looked up from where he and Marie were standing and saw me standing there holding Luke’s hand and staring like an idiot.
When his eyes met mine every cliche in the book ran through my head. My heart stopped, my breath hitched, and it was like there was no one else around us. Maybe there is a reason so many people use those phrases; it really does happen to you. I had spent countless hours watching his movies and marveling at how beautiful his eyes were, but nothing could have prepared me for actually seeing them in person.
“Like the comet?”