Jonas Brothers dual story with Kelly

Untitled Part 1

I was woken up early on a Sunday morning in late May to the loud, unmistakable sound of a vehicle being backed up. I stared groggily at the ceiling for a few minutes before sitting up and rubbing my eyes. The clock on the bedside table read 8 a.m., which was about four hours sooner than I would normally wake up. I walked to the window on the east side of my room and gazed down at the source of the noise. A large moving van was backing its way into the gravel drive of the house next door.

So we were getting new neighbors. Finally. I selfishly hoped that whoever was moving in would have a hot son around my age.

Knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep now even if I tried, I decided to go for a jog. I slipped on a pair of running shorts and a sports bra, threw my hair back into a ponytail, and headed downstairs. I found my mom doing dishes in the kitchen.

"Hey mom," I greeted her.

She gave me a funny look and replied; "Morning. What are you doing up so early?"

I pointed to the house next door. "The moving van woke me up. Do you know who's moving in?"

She shook her head. "No. I didn't even know anyone had bought that house." She stood and joined me at the window and we both watched as two burly men began unloading the U-Haul.

"Okay, well I'm going for a jog," I said after a moment.

"In that?" she asked, shooting my outfit a disapproving look.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah Mom, in this. I'll see you later." I grabbed my discman from the counter and headed out the door.

Despite the early hour, the air outside in the small town of Bandon, Oregon was extremely warm and thick with the scent of the ocean. A light breeze whispered through the trees and a marine layer was visible by the sun's rays. I managed to hook my discman to my shorts and turned on the Backstreet Boys before heading left toward the coast.

Today was the first day of summer break and in a few hours time, I would be picking up my best friend Kelly from the airport. We'd met five years ago through a Foreign Friends Pen Pal project for school, and unlike many of our classmates, we continued writing even after the project was over. Eventually we began talking on the phone and still did every night. When we were both freshman, the school board at both of our high schools finally decided to set up a foreign exchange program. After many months of begging, we managed to talk her parents and my mom into letting Kelly live with my family and attend her last year of school with me. Today would be our first time actually meeting in person, and I hoped that everything would go well.

I made it to Bullard's beach in less than ten minutes. Despite Bandon's location along the coast, our town rarely saw tourists, and for this, I was thankful; the beach--and the town, for that matter--was never overcrowded with people. I walked across the parking lot and removed my shoes when I reached the sand. At the shoreline I stopped to admire my view.

The Pacific was calm today but alive with life at the same time. A few small boats were scattered several miles out, bobbing lazily in the waves while a flock of seagulls soared high above the water, squawking and diving into the sea and resurfacing a few minutes later with their breakfast. The tide was surprisingly high for

I enjoyed the feel of the wet sand between my toes as I ran along the shoreline to the Coquille River lighthouse. I watched as the water rose and fell on the sand, creeping closer to my feet with every step I took. When I neared the lighthouse, I veered toward the rocky terrain beneath it. I climbed around on the rocks until I found my favorite spot just below the building. Nestled between tall boulders, the small patch of sand was not visible from anywhere except the ocean and was high enough that the breaking water couldn't reach it. This was often the place where I retreated when I needed to think or be alone; the one place outside of my house that I felt at home. I lovingly referred to it as "my hideout."