Take It Up With Somebody That Cares

Chapter 4: Cierra

Aldie, Virginia is a tiny little town that you could pass without even knowing it. There is an Elementary, Middle, and High school. There is an inn, a few restaurants, and a few convenient stores. All the houses are old, with rotting wooden walls, creaky floorboards, and ceilings that leak when it rains. It's practically impossible to get lost here if you've lived here. There is about eleven thousand five hundred people living her. We are a tiny town. It's hard to believe that anything dramatic or bad could happen here.

But, I was wrong. On the surface, this is just a small town. Underneath, well, I don't even know how to explain it. It's just, every person always seems to be hiding something, or they all have something life changing going on.

It's weird, and I just realized that a few weeks after Vivian was gone. It was like having so much time on my hands, and so much to think about gave me a whole new perspective on life. I saw the world differently than before.

But not many people realize this. I know that Vivian does, but who else does? Probably most of the adults, but not many kids. Well, maybe Cade, but still. That's barely anyone.

And seeing the world in a totally different perspective got me thinking. What would happen if it never happened? What would life be like if Vivian never got sent away? What would happen if Miles wasn't the bad guy. What would happen if Miles wasn't even here?

The more I thought about it, the more it got me angry. Enraged. Furious with him of what he did with my best friend. Making sure that she was locked away for a crime that he committed, making her feel like she deserved every second of it. Driving her insane.

I shudder at the thought of being there. Locked in a cell. Minute after minute. Hour after hour. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year. Slowly going mad. Regretting everything in life. My mind filling with depression. Thinking I was worthless. Thinking of all the lies. The stories. The horrors they did. Thinking that I deserved everything that I had, or even less.

That's how Vivian felt. That's what she was forced to feel. That's what she was like for over a year. Nobody should be innocent and go through that. She didn't do anything wrong!

This is all Miles's fault. If he never did this, my world wouldn't have been ripped apart. If he was the good guy, he wouldn't have done it. If he weren't alive, then we wouldn't even have to deal with him.

I walk down a huge hill. It's grass scratched at my bare ankles, but I don't care. I turn my head, and look at all the beautiful wildflowers that cover the field. To my right is the elementary school, and the playground.

I loved that playground. I would spend hours there just playing with Vivian, and sometimes even Cade.

I wish that we could just go back. Go back to when we were little kids, and we didn't have to worry about things. I wish we could go back to the time when things weren't as complicated. When things were good.

I run down the hill into the middle of a huge field. About two hundred feet in front of me is a forest. I've never been there except a few times for a picnic.

To be honest, it frightened me. It was the outside world. Aldie was this cute little town where it seemed like nothing exciting happened. That's because people knew when to stop. People knew when to turn around. They knew not to give any children any ideas. They didn't. And they won't.

I stood in the middle of the field. I was the only one there. And what I did, I never thought I would do.

I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could. At Miles. The judge. My parents. Everyone who judged Vivian. Just anyone who did things wrong to hurt other people.

I closed my eyes, and spread my arms out like a bird. A tear started rolling down my cheek. Another. I squeezed my eyes tight, and fell to the ground.

She didn't deserve it. None of us deserved it.