Smoke

Prologue

༝ 7-9-16 ༝
Smoke — Prologue

Location - Maple Valley, Maine
Date - June 20, 2016
Narrator - Alina

Life in Southern Maine is boring, to say the least. Boring towns, boring streets, boring buildings, boring people. It kills me to be a part of that. I'm not boring. I'm sure of it. The only books I ever read are about exciting cities and beautiful places. My favorite subject is geography, I have a huge map placed on my wall...with one red pin.

I'm obsessed with traveling. Actually, scratch that. I'm obsessed with the idea of traveling...I've never been anywhere outside of Maple Valley, Maine. Hell, I've never even been to Portland, a.k.a. the largest city in Maine.

I have a friend, Chloe, who I only know because her parents have a lake house right outside of Maple Valley. We met when she threw a huge party two summers ago, the summer before sophomore year. That night was the best night of my life. Ever since then we've been close friends. Anyway, Chloe actually lives in Boston. She's been all over the place, six continents, twelve countries, and countless cities. She always sends me post cards from her adventures and raves about them when she returns. It's great really, you can tell she loves talking about her travels from the gleam in her eyes, and I certainly love imagining myself in front of the Eiffel Tower or the Great Wall.

I need to get out of this tiny town; it's not made for me. It's made for people like my parents who love the small life, who love knowing everyone in their town, and who love their home sooo much that they can't possibly even leave the county. Definitely not me. I live for adventure, I love taking risks, and I don't play by the rules. Perhaps I would be considered a badass...on another planet.

I snap back to reality, which is uglier than Steve Buscemi, when my phone starts vibrating. I fumble through my black bag, before being greeted by my "Queen of Fucking Everything" glitter waterfall phone case. Ah, Chloe is calling. How predictable.

"Hello?" I answer her call.

"Run away with me." She responds.

Wait...what?!

"Um, who the hell are you and what did you do with Chloe?" I let out a dry and nervous chuckle, nearly choking on my words.

"Stop it, Ali. I'm being serious. I can tell by your constant 'wish I was in who-knows-where' tweets. You're longing for adventure, and I'm here to give it to you!" Chloe says, and I roll my eyes. Okay, she saw my annoying tweets, what else is new?

"Chlo, you know I can't just 'run away with you.' Ever heard of school and strict parents? Wait no, even the most lenient of parents wouldn't let their only child ditch them." I say, a hint of annoyance etched into my tone.

"Just let me finish, okay? I'm coming up to the lake house in two months. When I leave, you come with me. We leave early morning, we drive to Portland, and we fly out to London. You can start over. Think about it, it's your last year of high school, I'm attending college in England, it's all perfect! You could stay with me in my apartment, you could finally live. Don't you want that? Aren't you sick of my cheesy postcards and bad storytelling? I want you with me when I live in Europe. This is your chance to change your life for the better, what do you say?"

Author's Note:
Hey guys! So that's the prologue for my very first book, White Noise. It's a little short, but I hope you like it nevertheless. Hopefully you can give this book a chance. Let me know what you think! Chapter 1 should be up soon!

Kisses,
Rachel