Memphis Wills wants out of Whitehaven, the tiny village she's lived in her whole life. So aged sixteen she leaves for college in the city and never looks back.
Until five years later when she finally wises up and leaves her dirt bag boyfriend. Fee...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Eli picks me up and drives me to his parent's house on his way home from work mid-day on Saturday. I recognise it straight away. The gravel driveway lined with cherry trees. The bird bath beside the front door; the side's still chipped, I observe, from where Eli had hit it with a football during the summer holidays, somewhere between primary and secondary school.
The nostalgia that hits me leaves me feeling warm with happy memories.
Once inside, the feeling of familiarity continues. The hallway is still adorned with the same wallpaper and the smell of potpourri is strong in my nose like it always used to be when I stepped into Eli's house.
"Mum I'm back," Eli calls as he shuts the door behind me, kicking off his shoes. I add mine to his and he watches me.
"You still do that, huh?"
I follow to where he's pointing to my Doc's, placed right then left.
"Habit," I admit.
When I straighten I see a familiar face standing in the doorway leading from the kitchen.
"Memphis Wills. It's been a while."
"Hey Mrs. French," I reply, accepting her hug and mirroring her welcoming smile. She's the reason for Eli's olive skin and dark hair. Despite it being nearly a decade since I saw her last, she doesn't look to have aged a day, her hair still in the same pixie cut.
I share my thoughts and she bashfully swats my arm, her smile growing even warmer.
I answer all of the questions she has about me and my family, a polite expression on my face, but it's Eli who cuts me off.
"Stop hogging her," he chides his mum, taking my arm and dragging me upstairs.
I wave a quick goodbye to Mrs. French before I concentrate on making my way up the stairs. Not that I need to look where I'm going. This place used to be my second home growing up. I was here most weekends; back then Eli had Sky TV and it was only at his house that I could catch up on the latest cartoons and kids shows.
On the landing I pass a girl heading downstairs and after doing a double take I realise it's Eli's sister. She too inherited the olive skin and dark hair of her mother.
I wait until I'm in Eli's room before I jerk my thumb back behind myself. "No way was that Rosie?" I say, my voice full of disbelief.
Eli sinks down onto his bed, nodding his head.
"But she's like, a woman now."
I'd only got a quick glance at her, but I'd noticed the make-up she'd been wearing and the way she seemed to sashay as she walked.
"Oh don't I know it." Eli sits up, rolling his eyes. "She's like a mini-Mum but she dresses like she's permanently on a night out."
