British Showers | h.s.

Chapter 1: Ready to Run

Have you ever had a dream, and prayed and wished on every star or birthday candle for it to come true? It couldn't be just any little dream like becoming prom queen or becoming the school president. It had to be a dream with such a great value to it that many will call improbable.

I have advocated for my dream to the point where I fantasized about it as a means to leave home. No matter how much I would try to bring it to life, life itself got in the way. I graduated high school in hopes of finally finding it, but realizing that it was way out of my budget, I quit on the action, but never the idea.

Imagine me, a dreamer stuck at the ripe age of 18 in the middle of her gap year. I thought that maybe I could work hard to collect a good lump of cash to take the first step... but no one told me that adulthood would be so hard.

There I was, sitting in the middle of the town's library during my lunch break scrolling through pictures of the city of my dreams on my phone. One day, I would tell myself. I couldn't dare to speak those words aloud, let alone in a library. In the middle of my mindless scrolling, it began to vibrate and sound probably one of the most embarrassing ringtones I saved. "Shoot, shoot, shoot," I actually muttered followed by aggressive shushing around me. "Sorry," I apologized to the library staff. I quickly gathered by bag and laptop and scurried out the building. "Hi," I answered a little too irritated.

"Nice to hear from you too! Quick look to your left," the voice commanded.

I did as was asked of me. Walking with a very prideful grin was my best friend since forever. "Shiloh, how dare you embarrass me like that," I complained. Considering the beauty of her name, she was the very opposite. Shiloh, or as I call her, Shi, has been my best friend since her family moved to our town when we were in the 6th grade. She's always been the opposite of what I am which is what makes our friendship work so well. She was the outgoing, spontaneous girl that made friends easily with anyone she met.

"We knew you'd be here," she laughed. "Alaina is right around the corner." I looked at her clueless. "Girl, don't act like you forgot that we have a lunch date today."

My eyes widened. "Oh, yeah! Sorry, I forgot."

"Ella, you gotta start taking vitamins for your memory. You're way too young to be forgetting stuff like that!" She playfully pushed me to direct me to walk in the direction she came. "Lai has amazing news, but I can't spill yet."

I stopped in my tracks. "No, no, you can't just say stuff like that. Last time you said something like this, we got busted for going to that concert all the way on the other side of the county."

She laughed. "No, you got in trouble. Plus, it was your fault for not charging your phone that night. How could you not knowing that we were gonna see the Arctic Monkeys? Plus, this is gonna completely change our lives... but that's all I'm gonna say!"

I shook my head with a grin on my face. These two girls have always been like this with me.

Alaina is my other best friend and next door neighbor. Her family and mine have been very close since our mothers met at a grocery store the week the Goldbergs moved to town. They were both huge and pregnant with us. Alaina's dad, Todd Goldberg, was a big city lawyer. Her mother, Mary, was the small town kinda woman looking for a good place to raise her two girls. She worked for many years at a flower shop which is what led her to open her own successful and popular flower shop in the town square. The Goldbergs have been such a blessing to the town with their big city perspective. They really helped Hidden Meadows make a name for itself.

"Hey girlie," Lai sang as I entered her silver 2009 Honda-CVR.

"Hi," I sang back as I took a seat in the passenger. "So, what's the good news?"