How The Sun Rises

1: Fresh Starts and New Beginnings

dedicated to  fadeawayx for making me a wonderful picspam c: (edited)

There's a saying that claims absence makes the heart grow fonder.

As a child, that saying was more important to me than anything else. The simplistic reasoning of it was that I stubbornly believed it applied to my situation. It was a coping method through and through, used to convince myself that the longer my parents stayed away, the more they would love me when they came back. Eventually, I discovered that it didn't matter whether the saying applied to my own life or not; they would never come back.

The brutal truth of it all was that I had been abandoned.

There isn't really a bright side to that.

The thought came out of nowhere, and I laughed before I could stop myself. Huffs of annoyance and exasperated glares were all sent my way as I pushed my way through the never ending crowd of students, but my erratic giggling never let up.

A new thought came to my mind then-one that only makes my laughter stronger. It was another saying, only this one was made popular by members of my family strictly over phone calls or text messages. I especially heard it in the weeks leading up to today: make this new school year a fresh start. Part of me had wanted to say that my life was perfectly fine, and there was no need for a new start. But honestly speaking, their concern was understandable. Even as a junior in High School-in a small town where change and new students were as common as finding a four-leaf clover-I had no one to call my friend. Such a feat could be considered quite impressive, considering the student body of my High School consisted of about 300 teenagers at the most.

My lack of close friends, despite popular belief, wasn't the result of things like being a social outcast or a victim of bullying. Everyone got along with everyone in my town. Including the anti-social kids. I, despite my bubbly personality, was just too reserved when it came to the more important matters that involve opening up to people beyond the basic understandings of: hey, what's your favorite color?

Everyone already knew the answer is pink.

"Hey," A deep voice bellowed, silencing every chattering student in the hallway along with my wandering thoughts. "Lewis!"

I skidded to a halt at the call of my last name and turned around.

Being one of the few student's - besides incoming freshman - below the height of 5'5", finding whoever had called me in the midst of the tiny, mobbed hallway was hard. Standing on my toes, I was slightly frustrated at how I failed to see over the heads of those surrounding me. Even still, I kept trying. Balancing myself on the tips of my ballet flat's, I stretched my neck as far as I could manage without looking ridiculous or losing my balance, to find the captain of the wrestling team staring directly at me. A wide smile broke out across my face at the success.

The smile downturns when I watched Kyle Evans, said-captain of the wrestling team continue to stare at me. I wiggled through narrow gaps of the populous halls and stumble towards the only somewhat uncongested area in where he was standing, knowing he called me for a reason, not just to say hello. When I managed to be situated before him and his two friends, who were also on the wrestling team, I breathed a sigh of relief and wiped off my clammy hands on the front of my sundress.

While I'm thankful for the fact that it isn't raining, I'm definitely not liking this hundred degree weather.

"Hey, Lewis." Kyle repeated with a smile.

I looked up at him with one of my own as I struggled to fix the loose straps of my backpack. "Hi, Kyle. How are you?"

His smile widened to that of a grin, revealing a full set of braces and a hint of the rubber-bands attached to either side of his jaw. "I'm great! Hey, I was wondering. . . Have you seen Jackson at all this summer? He hasn't returned any of my calls or messages these past few months."