Solstice

Chapter 1

"I wanna get out of here."

We had been silent for half an hour now, so naturally, his words startled me a bit.

"Huh?"

He fell quiet again, the only sound coming from the puff of his breath on the cigarette.

"Ben."

He lifted his eyes to mine. "Yeah?"

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, crouching in on himself against the brick wall. I curled my fingers into the sleeves of my jacket as I waited for him to answer.

"This town," he started slowly, "it's just too boring, you know?"

I nodded.

"I just wanna get out of here."

I nodded again. I understood exactly what he meant. Maysville, Kentucky is not an exiting place to love. It's an average city, with average people, who have average lives. And everyone swears they're going to get out; become someone. They never do. It's like a web; Maysville. It traps people. Myself included.

•••

Ben and I talked a lot about what we were going to do, and where we were going to go after high school. Although we still had to get though the rest of our junior year, it felt like no time at all. I needed to get out of that small, suffocating town as soon as I could.

•••

Ever since I was five, and my mother abandoned me at a fire station, I've wanted more from life. I can still remember our last few minutes together before she drove off in her little blue car.

"Iris. Iris baby, it's all gonna be okay. This isn't the end for us, this isn't it. I love you Iris. I love you baby."

I remember crying as I watched the head lights fade into the darkness, and ever since then, I've always wished for more.

•••

When Ben was done his cigarette, and when he had finished his usual rant about how boring his life was, I ran home.

"How was the movie?" Tina questioned as soon as the door was closed.

"Funny. I'm going to bed. Night Ti." I kissed her cheek before climbing the stairs to the room I shared with Arden.

I went to live with Tina and her daughter Arden when I was seven and Arden was five. They took me in after three foster homes, and it was nice. But, like everything in this town, it was average; boring. The routine always remained the same. Get up; go to school; go home; eat dinner; do your homework; go to sleep; repeat. The only relief from the system was getting to go to boxing class every Monday night. That routine become my normal, but it still wasn't enough.

The next day was Saturday, the day that Ben would come over and we would drink tea while flipping through books about exotic places; amazing countries; 101 things to see before you die.

This particular Saturday wasn't any different at the start. It was 2 o'clock, and we were laying on our stomachs in my bedroom.

All of a sudden, I felt his hand in my hair. He slowly ran his fingers through it, laying the black strands out on my back. I froze, unsure of what to do, as this had never happened before. He felt me tense and his hand paused just above my right shoulder blade.

"Sorry," he stated.

"It's okay."

And we went back to the books.