In a weak attempt to run from her past, Valley moves away from home after she graduates high school. She keeps to herself in this new small town like she plans and she thinks she is doing fine this way. That is until she comes across a boy who won't...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
❀𓅰❀
I drove along the little road lined with the colorful autumn trees as the wind swept their orange, red, and yellow leaves across my window. My shift at Jerry's ended and I didn't have classes for a couple hours so I figured I would do some sight seeing. It's a small state, even smaller town but it was beautiful. The color here was like nothing I remembered on the West Coast. We didn't have seasons; the months and weather ran together messily. I remembered winters were full of cold rainy mornings with sunny afternoons. California just couldn't decide what she wanted to be, so more often than not, she decided to be every season at once.
We never had color, either. Our years were full of evergreens, their dueling dark needles washed everything out. Occasionally I found a seasonal tree on the side of the street. But here, here there was an enchanting array of colors and trees. The foliage swaying in the wind until it was ripped from its haven to fly with the breeze until gliding softly to the earth.
It was a foreign sight.
I could see a pond in the distance as I approached it. When I got nearer, I pulled off to the right and parked. I sat in the car for a little while, admiring the view.
I reached into my backseat and pulled my tablet out from my bag before I stepped out of the car. I walked to a little picnic table under a tree of colors and I propped the tablet on the bench after I cleaned the wooden table of the damp leaves. I saw it wasn't too late to call Ivy, she didn't have a class for another hour or so. I pulled up the app on the tablet to call her. My image popped up in the corner of the screen as the dial tone rang out. After a moment her face appeared on the screen with an excited smile gracing her face.
"Hey, V," she said cheerily.
"Hey," I smiled.
"What's up?"
"Nothing," I shrugged, resting my chin in my hand. "I'm-"
"Oh, my god, V," Ivy gasped, startling me. "It's gorgeous there." Her face grew larger on the screen as she tried to see more of the scenery.
I chuckled. "Isn't it?" I picked up the tablet and faced the camera so she could have more of a view, giving her a full three-sixty.
"Wow, I'm jealous. But I have palm trees so..." She trailed off smugly.
I set the tablet back down on the table, positioning it so I don't have to hold it up for her to see me. "Yeah, and the freaking ocean."
"You live on an island too," she squinted at me mockingly.
"It's different. You're on a tropical island with warm waters and shirtless boys. I get water crashing down on the shores, old people and the preppy quacks," I laughed.
"I don't know," she shrugged, "older guys can be hot."
"We're not talking about lumberjacks here with manly beards and flannels. I'm talking about actual old people." I laughed loudly at my best friend, throwing my head back. I snapped my head back down at the camera when I heard a click. "Did you just take a picture of me?"
