The Roots of Our Past

Chapter One

September 1999

Sweet Haven, Tennessee

When it comes to the first day of school, there are two types of kids, usually. The ones that hate it with passion and the ones that love it with their whole soul.

My two best friends are on each end of that. Olly Stone, my best friend from the moment we were born, loves school. He even does weird summer projects and stuff for fun. I think he might just run the world someday, but I worry about him taking breaks and having fun sometimes.

Hunter Wilde on the other hand, a new kid that Olly and I took in after he protected us from bullies a year ago, despises school. He says it's just a waste of time, but I think maybe he's a little insecure about how he struggles with it. Hunter doesn't like asking for help, so it'll be up to me to ask Olly to help him out this year.

Then there's me. I'm a mix of excited and nervous and it has nothing to do with actually starting school. It's that it's high school I'm starting! By the end of this year I'll have dated, gone to a dance, maybe even kissed a boy!

That's a big maybe though with these stupid braces I'm sporting. Two weeks before school started, I got a mouth full of metal, fun timing, right? 

I guess on the plus side it'll fix my overbite but what a way to start freshman year.

"Hurry up, Kinsey Girl!"

"Coming, Dad!"

I take one last pitiful glance in the mirror, second-guessing everything.

"I should have worn jeans."

Instead, I spent all my babysitting money on this new dress I saw at Betty's Boutique last weekend. Olly, Hunter and I were in town to get a burger at the diner, and it caught my eye from the store window. Hunter insisted it would look great on me, so I bought it.

It's a baby-blue dress with a pretty white pattern etched into it. It has short, ruffled sleeves and what's supposed to be a fitted bodice. A white belt separates the top from the short flowy skirt, which made the mannequin's legs look long and slender.

I should've tried it on at the store because I do not have the figure that the plastic woman did. The bodice is loose even with the belt cinched as tight as I can, and the short skirt only shows off my skinny legs and knobby knees.

"I look like a little kid," I whine.

My hair is my one saving grace. It smoothed out and lightened some over the summer. It's now a dark honey blonde that falls nearly to my waist. I leave it down and comb it silky smooth. Hopefully, it'll draw attention away from my brand-new metal mouth.

"Kinsey!" Dad hollers louder this time. "We need to go!"

Crap! He's getting annoyed. I don't have time to change now. With a sigh, I slip on my white Keds and run downstairs. Mama is in the kitchen sipping coffee with her long honey blonde hair tied back, she never dresses until after wheel of fortune. She anticipated I would take too long getting ready to have breakfast and has a muffin bagged up and ready for me to take alongside my lunch, and I shove it in my backpack.

"You look so pretty, Honey!" Mama says with a huge smile, and I relax as she embraces me.

"Sure, are growing up fast," Dad agrees as he ruffles my hair. "But we're going to be late, and I'm guessing you don't want to make a grand entrance?"

"No way," I agree as I follow Dad out to his truck. I climb right up, and it comes to a chugging start as he pulls out of our long driveway.

The high school is farther away than the middle school, and since I live out on a farm, I'm not on the bus route. Hunter and Olly get to take the bus, which has a pickup stop right outside the duplexes where the two of them live.