Elise Richardson has been head over heels for Kade Dawson since she first laid eyes on him. Twelve years later and Elise is still too timid to act on her adoration towards a guy who barely notices her.
Parker Reynolds will do anything for her best f...
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I miss the time where I was young and oblivious; the only thoughts on my mind being swing sets and ice cream. Real life didn't exist. And by real life I mean having to deal with an ignoramus for a brother, two MIA parents who couldn't give a shit, high school that serves absolutely no purpose, and... Kade.
Peyton, Kade, and I all grew up very close to each other. Peyton and I initially met Kade when we transferred schools, moving from South Carolina to Ohio. Ah, what it was like to run around screaming with laughter and dirt on my feet with Peyton and Kade on my heels. Elise began to join in on the fun but was mostly too shy to have boys chase after her. She merely watched on the sidelines either dangling from a swing or on her knees in the sand building a castle. I guess you can say her crush on Kade began in first grade when they met. And it only grew from there.
Two years later, I met Avery. As third graders, the playground started to grow more controversial. The boys split off from the girls. Of course, there was still some interaction, but that's where Kade and I started to take different paths. We have always been polar opposites from day one: him being the teacher's pet who mostly kept to himself, and me being the rebellious child, my name always sitting proudly at the top of the red light on the board. Kade never wavered from Peyton and I watched as their friendship remained intact.
Peyton started an ammature band in sixth grade with Logan and Tyler, but their music grew with them as they aged and The Pineapples is attracting more attention by the day. I was always the outsider; my parents forced me to attend every concert and performance. They worshiped the ground Peyton walked on and me... well, I've always been too much trouble.
Of course, I've always had Avery and Elise flanking my sides, but that didn't completely fill the hollow hole in my chest. I just wanted my parents to pay a little more attention to me. Looking back on my life since the beginning, I guess that's always how it's been. Me provoking my peers, me stealing someone's toy, me pushing someone out of the way impatiently; and the list goes on. That was the only way to gain my parents' attention, even if they were screaming at me and constantly locking me up in my room. I pushed everyone away even when deep down I wanted them to look inside me and understand. Understand why I'm such a fuck up and why I'm so unlikeable.
By the time I started talking to Kade again, I realized just how much he had morphed into a completely different person right before my eyes. And yet, I was blind. I didn't notice how we had suddenly grown to be more similar but farther apart. I didn't notice how he distanced himself from all humanity; even Peyton. I didn't notice how devilishly good looking he had grown to be. And my lack of attention towards my previous childhood best friend has gotten me in a very sticky situation.
Now, we are playing a dangerous game. Circling around each other like lions in a den, waiting for the other to pounce.
Fastforward and insert Adam into the equation. Adam is my breath of fresh air; the first person I haven't managed to repel despite me pushing and pushing. Adam picked up a shovel the day we met, and started digging a tunnel. A pathway to my deepest darkest secrets cooped up inside. And I'm scared. I'm fucking terrified. But somehow, Adam has slowly started to chip away at my hard exterior which creates an even larger dilemma; I don't want to push him away.
