Better Than The Books

Chapter One

~SAMANTHA~

We say people choose instinctively the book they want to read, certain people choose by the cover, others by reading the summary. What matters is you chose to read this book, and I'll say it to you, I don't know why. Because, spoiler: my life is at no point like the fictional characters' one. I'm just a hopeless romantic and I guess I will stay all my life.

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Landscapes pass before my eyes as the car runs, changing from meadows inhabited by horses to villages and bigger cities. The song switches on the radio, and "Enchanted" starts playing.

In the back of the car, Ivy sings along. Because of her addiction to Taylor Swift's songs, I know at least fifty of her songs by heart. She is without a doubt the biggest swiftie I have ever met, and the biggest one you can ever meet.

"I was enchanted to meet you" Ivy continues singing. Her brown hair flies as the wind goes through the open windows. She turns towards me, her beautiful eyes looking at me. Those eyes somehow always understand how I feel.

"Sam, you okay?"

I nod: "Yes, I just can't believe you're coming with us."

I notice mom smiling at me in the rearview mirror.

"I know you wanted to invite her a while ago already", she declares. "Plus this year is your eighteenth birthday, I thought you could use some more company other than your mother."

"Thanks again, mom", I smile back at her.

Leaning against the car seat, I let my look wander on the landscapes.

Yet my mind isn't here, but so far away.

Every summer since I was three years old, we have gone to Wilmington, mom and I. The city is on the seaside and I always loved going there. I can't count the number of sunsets I watched on the beach with mom, the hours I spent swimming with my best friend from there. His name was Phineas, but he moved a few years ago and we haven't seen each other since then.

"We're staying there two months", Ivy says, pensive. "You'll have to show me the whole town, Sammey"

"Of course I will", I reply.

I can't help but smile at the thought of these perfect vacations.

Who won't be happy to spend their whole summer with their best friend on the seaside?

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After hours of driving for mom and talking and sleeping for us in the back, I finally see the sign I look for since we left the house, the sign that announces the real beginning of the summer.

'Welcome to Wilmington', I read, a smile stuck on my face.

We go past a few houses. I know the city by heart; we'll turn on the right at the next intersection, then I'll have the time to count up to twenty before mom stops the engine.

We turn right.

One...two...

Each time we come back here, it just feels right. All my childhood is here, and in this same city, in just one month and a few days, I'll celebrate my eighteenth birthday.

Fifteen...Sixteen...

Ivy wakes up next to me, yawning.

"We're already there?"

Twenty.

"We are", I reply as mom stops the car.

Our holiday home is big enough for six people, with its three bedrooms and the attic I transformed into a real library.