New Beginnings

Chapter 1

It's Wednesday and Maya Hart is sitting on the park bench, sketching. She had pretty rough weeks since she started high school, trying to adjust herself to the new environment of high school because it is totally different than what she expected. It's not the new subjects that she had to tackle is bothering her, nor the fact there are seniors and she's just a sophomore. The hardest part was the fact that people change when they get into high school. Friends change; not drastic changes but she can feel the way everyone is acting. It is just different somehow. Maya knows that people grow up and change and that is why she hated growing up, but what she really afraid of is that sometimes in life, when people grow, they grow apart and she really doesn't want that happening in her group of friends. She wants them to stay the same, so they would not grow apart from each other. The last thing that Maya Hart want in her life is people that she really cares about leave.

Maya loves sitting in the park, getting fresh air and listening to the kid's laughter playing in the park and seeing mothers or fathers with their strollers sitting on the park bench watching as their kids play. Those kinds of things, brings her joy, it gives her hope and she wanted to capture that. That's why sometimes when things get all messed up in her life, besides sitting at the bay window with Riley, she would go to the park with her pencil and her sketchbook, she would sit and sketch whatever that can keep her mind off from whatever that is bothering her.

Some days, there would be women bringing their kids to the park, sitting next to her and just watch her sketch. They usually ask her questions about school and then continue talking about their kids and Maya would listen while she continues sketching. Today is not one of the days but instead, she hears someone called out her name.

"Maya?" she heard

She quickly closes her book with the pencil tug in between and looks up, "Charlie," she breaths. It was Charlie Gardner wearing his adorable smile. Maya always wonders if he smiles like that because he knows how adorable his smile is or he just doesn't know about. Maya hasn't seen him since graduation, so she wasn't sure how he'd react but his face lit up when he saw her.

"What are you doing around here?" he asked.

Maya held up her sketchbook with a small smile. "You?"

"I'm with my little sister; she wanted to go to the park. So here I am," he smiled again and putting his hand in his front jeans pocket. "Can I sit?"

Maya nod, "yeah sure." She moved her bag, closer to her and dropped her sketchbook. It landed on his foot. Thank god he's wearing shoes because that would've hurt, Maya thought. "Oh, I'm sorry,"

"It's okay," he said, with a warm chuckle and, bending down to pick it up. As he did, his hair fell forward over his face, so when he straightened, he pulled it back with his hand and Maya could see his eyes. She'd never really looked at him before. She had, of course, but not more than a few seconds, not like now, not like him looking at her and she looking at him.

"Here's your book,"

"Thank you," Maya said and he took a sit next to her. Close, but not so close.

"Do you always come here?" he asks.

"Yeah, sometimes. When I needed to clear my mind,"

"This is my first, usually, we would go to the other park and she wanted to go here because she said her friends usually goes to this park, and now here I am sitting next to you talking about taking my little sister to parks," he chuckles.

"That is very sweet of you, to take your sister to the park," Maya gave him a smile. "I'm the only child, so I don't know how it feels like to take my little sister to the park."