𝙈𝙍𝙎. 𝙈𝘼𝙂𝙄𝘾 ・❥・f. blake

₀₁

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【   chapter ₀₁.  】

⎯⎯ ୨ motel ୧ ⎯⎯
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The motel my dad and i were staying in was small. There was barely enough room for the one eventually messy queen sized bed and a desk covered in papers and thumbtacks. The bathroom was even worse, but we didnt know anybody in the town so we settled for the small motel. Everybody seems knows everybody here, and we've made a couple friends but you cant just trust visitors enough to let them into your home, and you can't trust random townies to b&b with.

Despite some of the gloomy flaws of the town, it was genuinely very pretty. When it wasnt raining you'd find baseball games and drive in movie theatres. Everyone was involved in the town and i'm jealous i'm not a part of it since my dad and I keep more to ourselves.

We're only staying for a week or two longer, since it isn't the ideal vacation for a father and daughter. My dad said we're only here until his sister met up with us so we can all go somewhere nice together, like california or new york or something.

There was no point in getting attached to a town i was going to leave in a couple days.

Surprisingly, right after spring break in the town it was very rainy. It was hard to see from afar and i'd been spending all my time inside the motels lobby, whether i was reading a magazine or newspaper from the display or just looking outside the window.

The lady who owned it was nice, she always had a plate if cookies ready for me by nine am and would spark up conversation when we were the only two inside... which was very often. And so we'd built a small bond throughout the four days i'd been here.

She told me about the school i'd be in if i lived here, the kids and the interesting class options they have. She told me about the boys i'd marry? About the girls i'd become best friends with, the very small variety of houses i couldve been living in. It was nice imagining it all, I almost wished it were all true.

"You know, Carolina... you should talk to some of the kids here, it'll make your little vacation a lot more tolerable." the lady smiled. "They rarely find new friends around here, you'd be the new hot topic."

"Maybe I will, if i could even find some kids." I scoffed.

It was hard finding people in general, the motel was a little more closed off to where everybody else was around. The only kids I had seen around it were toddlers.

"Stop by the grab n' go around 2, they pile up like rats." she said, "My grandson Billy-- very nice boy, he'd love you."

I nodded, "I'll consider it."

A man that was soaking from the rain outside walked in, and the motel lady took it as a cue to go back behind her desk to check what he needed.

It was one-ten at the time, if the rain stopped by one-fourty i'd walk to the grab n' go and hope somebody sparked a conversation with me so I wouldnt have to do it myself.

If I had to endure one more conversation with my dad, and apparently the motel lady... about socializing during my time here i'd go crazy.

I went back up to the motel room after stuffing a few of the ladies cookies inside my bag, which was for when my dad came back from wherever he'd gone.

I layered a button up longsleeve, sweater, and jacket. I wasn't risking getting a cold or anything thatd risk my dad and I's vacation once we left denver.

By the time i'd started walking to the grab n' go, the rain had finally stopped and it was surprisingly pretty sunny. Once I reached the store it had about 20 kids walking in and out from the outside.

Walking in, I definitely grabbed some peoples attention very quickly. A short girl named Amy came up to me while very visibly struggling to hold a couple bags of chips and sodas in her arms.

"I haven't seen you here before?" she said, but not in a rude way. She seemed curious as to who I was. "You're pretty, what's your name? I'm Amy--"

"--Calm down Amy... you'll fright her away." a boy said, smiling nervously as he walked up behind her.

"Oh no, its fine." I assured, "My names Carolina i'm just visiting here."

"Well, It's nice to meet you." the boy said, "I'm Bruce."

"Nice to meet you too, it's so weird finally seeing people around my age in this town."

"Are you staying at the Sinclairs motel? It's pretty far from where everyone hangs out."

"Yeah, i'll make sure to come by more often." I shrugged.

"Pass by the baseball field sometime, I live like across the street and i'm usually there practicing." Bruce said, giving a weird stare towards his sister, like if he was worried she'd say something she shouldn't.

"Yeah for sure, it'd be nice to know somebody." i smiled, grabbing a random pack of candy beside us.

"See ya later Carrie," Bruce said, making a small wave gesture with one hand and using the other to hold his much shorter sisters shoulder.

He was beginning to walk away when he quickly turned back and laughed a little to himself, "Actually, here let give you my house number so you can give me a call if you ever wanna swing by or something."

he quickly grabbed the bag of candy i had in my hand and carefully grabbed a marker from one of the shelves so the cashier wouldn't see.

I smiled as he wrote down the number on the bag, and to his sister who seemed to still be admiring me as well.

"I'll make sure to give you a call, Bruce." I said, giving a small nod to him and his sister as a goodbye.

As i watched the two leave the store, I felt my jaw drop a little.

It was raining.

I paid for the candy and thanked the cashier before preparing myself to walk the fifteen minutes back to the motel.

I pulled my hair back into a low ponytail and tucked it into my jackets hood and made sure my pants were fully covering my shoes so I wouldnt get my socks wet.

Eventually all the kids had scattered and I was completely alone on my way to the motel, except for one car pretty far into the distance.

I'm assuming the boy i'd met was Bruce Yamada, which the motel lady had mentioned as one of my potential future husbands. I felt nervous thinking about actually giving him a call, what if his mom answered...

But nonetheless, it really wasn't so bad deciding to stop by the grab n' go. I'm just not sure if it was worth getting drowned in the rain on my way back.

Somehow, I was most excited to tell the motel lady about my experience at the store.

a/n: omg first chapter! i honestly have big plans for this fic and this is my first one yay bc i got sm motivation from everyone on my tiktok and if i hadnt i dont think i wouldve gone through with this , ily🙏🙏

also keep in mind that i really have no idea what the characters ages are supposed to be, so I made sure characters such as Finney and Robin were fourteen while Bruce was fifteen