The End - Andy Fowler (Completed)

One

I am an artist, please God forgive me - Art Is Dead - Bo Burnham

28th October 2008

"Don't go too far, Kenzie. We've only just got here, we don't know our way around yet." My mum said to me, wrapping me up in my coat and scarf. I didn't want to come on this holiday. A useless trip to some campsite in the middle of nowhere. What was the point? I was twelve years old. I wanted to go to the beach and build sandcastles and play in the sea. I wanted to go to games arcades and mess around on the two pence machines. I wanted to go to a water park and play on the slides. However, my parents decided that we should come to a field in the middle of nowhere and camp in a tent that's far too small. My dad was trying to put the tent up but was struggling greatly due to the wind and rain.

I'd asked my mum if I could go and play by the river that'd I'd seen at the bottom of the campsite. She was reluctant at first but she let me go. My dad didn't say anything. He rarely said much these days. I knew that things weren't going great with him and mum. I knew that my dad had had other girlfriends that weren't my mum. I knew that he came home very late at night sometimes. I knew that because I stay awake until he gets back every night. I worry until I feel physically sick that he's not going to come home. He's my dad.

I walked through the grass until I reached the river.
"Hello." I heard someone say. It made me jump so much that I nearly toppled into the river.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" They said. I looked at the person. It was a boy with light brown hair that was slightly spiked. His eyes were blue and bright and his smile was full of mischief.
"Sorry, I'll go somewhere else." I said, walking away to find another part of the river.
"You don't need to go somewhere​ else. I could do with the company." The boy said.
"Are you on your own?" I asked him. He shook his head at me.
"No, my mum's up there somewhere. She's probably trying to keep the tent up. It's been falling for a couple of days, now." The boy laughed.
"I didn't think there would be other kids here. I thought I'd be the only one." I said, smiling at the boy.
"I'm not a kid." The boy laughed.
"Oh, you're not?" I asked. My mum always told me not to talk to strangers. Although, she always encouraged me to make friends. I'd gathered that strangers usually meant adults that I didn't know. I thought this boy could be my friend. I didn't think he was a stranger.
"No, I'm fourteen." He laughed.
"That's still a kid. I thought you were a kid until you're eighteen?" I asked.
"You're a kid until you get adult responsibilities. Then you're an adult. I have adult responsibilities. That makes me an adult." He said.
"But you're a kid's age?" I asked, making sure that I was still allowed to be friends with him.
"Yes. How old are you?" He asked me.
"I turned twelve last month." I said. The boy smiled at me and then looked me up and down.
"I like your eyes." He told me.
"My eyes?" I laughed. Nobody had ever said that they liked my eyes before. It was a rather funny thing to like about somebody. Your eyes aren't important. You just use them to see with.
"Yes, they're a pretty shade of brown." He said, his smile getting wider.
"Thank you...? I... It's not my fault. They've just always been there." I said, still slightly confused.
"What's your name?" He asked me.
"Kenzie." I told him.
"That's a pretty name, Kenzie. I'm Andy Fowler." He told me, holding his hand out to me. I shook it politely.
"Hello, Andy Fowler."
"I've had an idea, Miss Kenzie." Andy laughed.
"What's your idea?" I asked.
"All rivers lead to the sea. If there's a sea, there's a beach. Do you want to go to the beach?" He asked me. His smile was even more mischievous than before. His eyes were wide. He looked excited.
"I don't think that my mum would let me." I admitted, slightly disappointed. I'd have liked to go to the beach with Andy Fowler. It sounded like fun. More fun than watching mum and dad put up the tent in the rain and then shouting at each other when it didn't go right.
"Nobody said you have to tell them." Andy smirked, winking at me.
"But they need to know that I'm safe." I told Andy.
"Of course you'll be safe. You're with me." Andy laughed.
"Okay. I'll go to the beach." I smiled. I was nervous but I also had a nice feeling in my tummy. It was like a load of butterflies were flying around in my stomach.
"Great. Follow me, Miss Kenzie." Andy laughed.
"Which way is it?" I asked him.
"I have absolutely no idea. There might not even be a beach. There might just be a bit more water. But it's an adventure either way, isn't it?" He laughed. Andy Fowler didn't seem to care if things went wrong. He seemed so brave. He was the kind of boy that I read books about. So surely everything was going to be fine because books always have happy endings. He was adventurous and curious and I liked that he was my friend now.
"What if we don't find the beach, Andy?" I asked him. I was slightly worried now. I was scared that we'd never find the way back and I would never see my mum or dad again.
"If we don't find the beach, Miss Kenzie, we'll just walk to the end of the river. Yes. We'll just go to the end and back again."

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Hey guys!! New story, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. I'm so excited to write this book, I've had this idea for a while.

Thank you for all the support on my other two Andy Fowler books 'Skinny Love' and 'Don't Hurt Yourself'. I hope you guys like this one just as much as those two!

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-Emily xx