𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚃𝚘𝚘 𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚎 🌙

.001

Chapter One

I never understood why everyone always told me to enjoy my youth and not rush growing up.

It wasn't until this morning when I looked up at the stars with tears in my eyes wishing I was still sixteen roasting s'mores in Ember Cove with the boys. The moment my limbs ached with soreness, my feet couldn't carry me any further, my empty stomach grumbled, my hair itched from the dry shampoo, and my brain ceased to work as hard as it has the past weeks; when I was completely and utterly exhausted.

Not to mention starving; Mom always had dinner ready for me when I got back home.

But this isn't home, this isn't the bonfire, this isn't Ember's Cove, and I'm not a child.

I am a twenty one year old college graduate with a lousy exhausting job in a big city where I felt utterly small.

This is adulthood.

Is it too late to turn back time?

~~~~~~

The city flies past me like time is warping right through me and I'm heading back to Ember's Cove but it's only the train's velocity turning the city into a blur.

I sighed in disappointment as I tore my eyes away from the window. I've become very familiar with disappointment lately, it's in my everyday life. When I was in college being a diligent student I've dreamt of this day, perhaps too much that it became a surreal fantasy. Now, reality's a big punch to my face when I wake in the mornings.

The first day at work was a blast, full of excitement, butterflies and high expectations but now I dread everyday. Every complaint I made in college, I take it all back.

A person stopped by my aisle and slowly occupied the seat beside me, it was a man. I could smell his pungent cologne of sweet vanilla and mahogany, utterly repulsive. I already knew his intent, it radiated off of him.

"Hey, I'm Ste-..." He began before I cut him off.

"No, thank you." I said in a non-abrasive tone, I turned my head back to the window.

I felt his weight lift from the cushion and his figure moved along the reflection of the window, he was gone.

Even my love life was....disappointing. And it's my fault. Even if I read the atmosphere wrong, I simply wasn't in the mood to socialize.

I can't remember the last time my heart fluttered, my stomach twisted into knots with dozens of butterflies, my lips curved ear to ear because of his charm and attraction. When I woke up in the morning and he was my first thought or smiling to myself as I got ready to go out that night.

...but I'd also be lying to myself because I remember exactly the last time my heart beat was full of love and I felt like I was on the clouds.

No matter how hard I try to forget him, he never leaves my mind; in a way he'll always be a piece of my heart, how could he not?

Sometimes when I close my eyes the demons remind me of when his fingers traced over my skin and his lips fit perfectly against mine like a puzzle piece; he could always complete any puzzle I was stuck in— he was my missing puzzle piece.