The One That Got Away.

Chapter 7: Home.

Everyone has a place that they call home. Whether it's a person place or thing. I had a home. Three homes actually. The small town of Vancouver Washington, Eric, and my dad. Home is different to some people. Sometimes home is where you go when you want to go back to the memories. Sometimes home is just a word. And sometimes home is everything.

When my dad told me we were going back finally, I was too excited. We got the entire house packed in one day, and on the second day, we were on the road.

I was in my Junior year of highschool. A lot changed for me, but I never stopped thinking about Eric. The only thing I was worried about was, would he remember me?

The drive back home was about 2 hours. But I slept pretty much the entire way. 

"Avery, wake up." My dad shook me. "We're home." 

With that, I was already out of the car and running inside. I was too excited, we finished unpacking within one day. 

"I'm surprised you haven't gone to see Eric yet." Said my dad.

"I'm scared that he won't remember me. And besides, I want to surprise him anyway at school tomorrow." I replied.

"Avery, you two were best friends for 3 years. I don't think he'll ever forget you." Said my dad.

I just nodded my head and went upstairs to go to bed.

The next morning, I woke up, and I jumped out of bed. I ran downstairs to see my dad making breakfast.

"DAD DAD TODAY'S THE DAY I GET TO SEE ERIC!" I yelled.

"Well good morning to you too sunshine," My dad said with a laugh.

"I'm gonna go get ready!" I said while running up the stairs.

That day I wore a white tanktop, black skinny jeans, a gray beanie, a gray jacket and black converse. I grabbed my backpack and ran back downstairs. 

"Someone's excited." Said my dad.

"Daddy I haven't seen him in 5 and a half years. So yeah I'm excited!"

"Alright, well eat your breakfast and then we'll get going." 

Said my dad with his back towards me. When he turned around my plate was empty and my face was stuffed. He just looked at me, then the plate, then me again. He just shook his head and laughed.

"Okay then let's get going."

If you didn't remember me mentioning before, we lived kind of far from the school, so instead of walking like I used to, my dad drove me.

Since my dad used to abuse me all the time and he only just stopped a few days ago, my face was still pretty beat up. But I didn't care. All I cared about was seeing Eric. When we finally arrived at the school, I gave my dad a kiss on the cheek and jumped out of the car and ran into the school.

I went into the 11th grade hall, and tried looking for Eric.

Well I finally found him. He was wearing a football jersey and talking to two preppy looking cheerleaders. I felt hurt. I didn't want to bother him so I didn't talk to him. But my locker was pretty close to where he was standing. I started walking in their direction. Eric looked at me, then at his friends, and then a wave of realization took over him.

"Hang on," I heard him say to his friends.

He ran towards me.

"Avery?!" he called.

I looked up at him and smiled. He pulled me into the tightest hug. When we pulled away he looked at my face.

"Avery, what happened?" He asked.

"I'll tell you after school. At our special place."

He nodded.

"So, it seems like you've been making some friends. Looks like a lot's changed since you wrote to me." I said.

Eric just looked at me and smiled. He grabbed my hand and we walked down the hall. Boy did I miss this.

After school that day I waited for Eric at the parking lot. I could see him from a distance talking to those two cheerleaders again. One of them had blonde hair and one of them had brown. He was awfully close to the blonde one. Too close for my liking. I decided I didn't want to bother him so I ran all the way to our secret place without him.

I climbed up, walked in the treehouse and curled up in a ball. I started crying, losing hope that he would show. 

About 10 minutes later, he cam walking in the treehouse and saw me crying.

"Hey, hey what's the matter?" He asked putting his arm around me. 

"Nothing, I just really missed you." I said fitting my head into his shoulder.

All we did was talk. Talk about how much our lives had changed, talked about how much we missed each other. I explained to him why my face was beat up, and then told him that my dad changed and that's why we're back home. 

"So you have a girlfriend now..." I said sounding sad.

"Who Victoria? She's not my girlfriend. We're just friends. I mean she loves flirting but I would never be more than just friends with her. Wait, is that why you ran off without me today after school?"

I felt embarrassed. 

"I'm sorry, I'm so used to it being just me and you and I got really jealous. Considering I still haven't made any friends."

"It is just me and you. Don't mind Victoria. I don't even care about them. I care about you." Eric said reassuring. 

I looked at him, and then hugged him. He held me for a couple of hours, when we finally decided we should head back home before our parents worry. 

Everyday for the next couple of months, we would meet in our special place. And I started to fall in love with him. I didn't want to feel that way about him. So I pushed them away. But the more I pushed them, the stronger the feeling got. I only had two people in my life that I could tell anything to. Eric, and my dad. But since I loved Eric, I couldn't talk to him about how I felt. So I started telling my dad. And he always told me to go for it. But I never did because I was so scared that I would ruin our friendship.

But one day, I decided to take a chance.