To Nowhere

Chapter 2.1: Signs

In the quiet mid-day of Santee, California, an old, but clean, jeep drove down the road of Prospect Ave, turning into Redwood Dr. The windows were tinted, hiding the identity of the passengers as they wound down the hearty road, passing houses of tight-knit residents. The car stopped at a curb with peeling red paint. For a while, it just panted, the engine running while its contents hesitated to officially enter the world of Prospect View, their new neighborhood.

Laney walked briskly on the sidewalk of a very busy street, looking down at a sign up sheet for student council. She wished she could crumple it up and toss it in front of one of the passing cars. Instead, she slipped out a pen from one of the outer pockets of her backpack and began to fill it out. As she turned another corner, she stopped and leaned up against a bright green tree and waited.

Off in the distance, a platinum blonde head popped up from over a hill, walking towards her, which would reveal to be Sawyer. His backpack hung from one shoulder, as the other strap was ripped, and his clothes were loose, likely being a size or two too big. Even though his eye bags were easy to notice, his genuine smile still managed to conceal how jaded he was.

"Hi, Lay!" Sawyer called out, speeding up upon seeing her waiting. He walked up in front of her and peeked at the paper she was filling out. "Oh, aw, I know you hate council," he raised an arm and scratched the back of his neck.
"It's what it's," she sighed, looking up and smiling at him. Unlike Sawyer's, however, her smile didn't have contentment behind it, and though she had gotten at least 3 more hours of sleep than he, she still appeared just as tired.
"Hehe, it's what it's," Sawyer repeated, "That sounds funny." His eyes drifted, as he struggled to maintain eye contact, which people would often assume was discomfort, when in fact he was just awkwardly natured. He flipped his backpack to his front and dug through it to find a piece of slightly creased paper. "I, em, I drew you in art today!" He excitedly held out a graphite portrait of Laney in the clothing she wore yesterday.

Laney glanced at the paper and her nose twitched a little. She thought the artwork was beautiful, but she hated the subject. "That's nice. Why'd you draw me though?"

"Well... I think you're perfect," Sawyer fidgeted with the page, innocently complimenting her.

"No... no, 'cause if I was perfect," her eyes sank just slightly, "I'd have nothing else left to be." You could tell she had had to specify that before. Sawyer didn't quite understand what she meant by that, but he noted that that wasn't the compliment he thought it was. Strange, tense interactions like this had become the new norm as they had grown older. "But, anyways, we should head in before Nate's gotta go home," Laney patted Sawyer's shoulder, like a big sister.

"Oh, true, let's hurry!" Sawyer mentally moved on quickly, and the two of them chatted about little things on their walk down the longest street of their neighborhood. Once they had finally reached the far end of it, they turned right to get to an unimpressive park. There, Nathanael was hanging from the swings by his legs, his messy, near shoulder length, and brown hair waving with the hot breeze of the afternoon. One half of his white button-up shirt, with gold designs along the edges, was untucked from his black pants, which were rolled up to his knees.

"Guuuuys, what took so long?!" Nathanael shouted, though his friends were only a few feet away. "I swear I been hanging here for an eternity, watching, like, twenty thousand clouds fly by!" His arms flailed up before getting a grasp on the bar, and his body flung down as he hopped onto the weird mesh floor of the park. It would've looked cool if he hadn't done it so slowly to not fall and get his clothes dirty.

"Meh, you're just impatient," Laney teased the younger boy. She put down her backpack and sat down on a swing, kicking her legs until she got it moving. With one hand, she pulled out her hair tie and let the rest of her hair down. Sawyer just stood, laughing as Nathanael started to twist Laney's swing while she tried to push him away. "Nooo! I'm gonna barf all over you if you let me go!" Laney complained, a real grin lifting the ends of her lips.

"Aim for the pants, they're black!" Nathanael retaliated, tugging a final few times to make sure the chains were at max twist. Laney jokingly glared at him as he paused for dramatic effect, before letting her go. Her hair and legs went flying out as she spun faster and faster. Nathanael walked to Sawyer's side and reached his arm up to put it around his shoulder. "Mission accomplished~," he said, snickering. Sawyer giggled at how Nathanael still tried to pretend that they were the same height, when he was on his tips just to get his arm around him.

"You must have a death wish, Nate," Sawyer said daringly, looking up at Laney looming towards them with her hair sprawled in all directions and covering her face. Nathanael turned his head back in her direction and shivers ran down his spine. Laney stopped for a second, getting into a runner's stance, before taking off at Nathanael who was already trying to hop the park fence instead of going through the gate.

"I'll kill you!" Laney laughed, her hair finally flowing out of her face when she dashed. She chased after Nathanael who had run in the direction of the empty house they had claimed as their hangout spot. Just when she was about to reach for the collar of his shirt, he stopped in his place.

"What's wrong?" she said, confused as to why he didn't say anything or move.

"The sign's gone."

"What?"

"The 'For Sale' sign is gone!" Nathanael nearly shouted once again, "Someone's moving in!!" Nathanael spun around and hopped up and down. Sawyer was coming up behind Laney, staring at the two holes in the yard which had once held the worn sign.

"Maybe they're just replacing that banged up thing," Sawyer suggested, not getting his hopes up just yet to avoid disappointment.

"Then who's car is that?" Nathanael rhetorically asked, pointing across the street at the old, but clean jeep.