Between Hello and Goodbye

Chapter 1: Incandesently

Here's chapter one sooooo let's gooooooo! Also the above photo is going to be Tristan.

"There are very few who have the heart enough to be really in love without encouragement"

    My eyes scanned over the finely typed words over and over again, the spine of the book creaking as I decided to finally close it, allowing the words to disappear from view. Elizabeth's cousin, Charlotte, really had a way of speaking when it came to being a hopeless romantic, her insight on love becoming something that could only be described in a painfully true way.

    Relatable.

    Painstakingly relatable.

    So relative that I had used Jane Austen's most famous book— and my favorite novel of all time— Pride and Prejudice as a form of escapism, mostly to drown out the fangirls from the other side of the bleachers. The way they constantly swooned and giggled were like nails being run down a chalkboard, and it was all for nothing; they were always ignored. They would point out into the vastness of the soccer fields and point out a guy or two that they thought was hot, making sure to do a grand gesture in hopes they would be noticed. Alas, they still failed.

My eyes followed their fingers, scanning over the sweaty bodies of the soccer players. Hearing the roar, that I had tuned out while I was reading, of the players calling out commands and adhering to the yelling of their coaches. Soccer, on the other hand, was an enigma to me, something that my uncoordinated body would never dare to even try or comprehend. The memories of my failed attempts at the sport flashed through my mind, sending shivers down my spine at the atrocity that had been my so-called 'athleticism'. I had made sure to keep those memories locked away in the deepest darkest parts of my psyche, the key being thrown into a figurative shadowy lake in an unknown far away land.

My younger self never stood a chance.

The giggles of the girls had snapped me out of my train of thought, the image of the players coming back into my field of view. The afternoon sun was beating down on all of us, reminding everyone that fall in Texas was in full swing— better known as Hell's Front Porch. It was the pseudo fall that most Texans had come to know and love, unconsciously reminding the bible thumpers that satan's playground might have been closer than they thought.

A chuckle escaped me as I was reminded of the small mindedness of Brindlewood, the town that I had become too familiar with since birth. The thought tickled me, having known everyone in town for the majority of my life, never having the opportunity for something or someone new. They had made it hard to keep secrets or, better yet, have the ability to maintain a comfortable level of privacy. Escape from Brindlewood, in regards to me, would be into the open embrace of college. A sweet caress that the snickering girls next to me would never experience.

"Who's that, Jodie?" One of the girls pointed out into the soccer field. Her attention focused on the group of guys chasing enthusiastically after the checkered ball.

She pointed at him. 

    He stood tall, slightly peaking over the rest of his teammates. His strawberry blonde hair glowed angelically in the sunlight, large amounts of hair products causing it to stand in many directions towards the sky. Underneath his navy uniform hid a lean muscular body that drove the girls next to me wild; a few guys on the team even stared at it hungrily.

    He was a walking adonis.

    His smile formed on his face slowly as he teased his teammates with the ball, the simple act taking my breath away and making my heart pound in my ears. A subtle heat crept onto my face as I stared at a guy that could compete with the statue of David, his handsomeness standing out amongst the other players. God was he beautiful.