The Road To The City, And My Heart

Chapter 1

So we've all heard the story of the girl falling in love with someone way out of her league and then him falling for her, or maybe you've lived it. Well, I just lived it.

You see, nothing is harder to explain than how you truly feel about someone you love. Love isn't just a word, it's a feeling. But it's a feeling that is almost impossible to describe, especially when everyone says it.

Everyone says I love you, even if they don't mean it. So when someone has heard the phrase so many times, and they've felt nothing but heartbreak from it, how do you express your love to someone?

My name is Christina Evans and almost one year ago today, I moved from a small town in South Carolina, to a much bigger town in Florida. You see, I've just finished my first year of high school, and as you could probably guess, I'm in love...but it's with my best friend, Matthew (Mattie) Manuel.

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I just moved in with my dad for the first time since I was six. He had just moved in with his new wife (yes there were old ones, my family doesn't have the best track record with love), and I've only been at this school for about four months. My resident best girl friend, Violet Trace, has just introduced me to a whole new friend group. 'Everyone here seems to be skinnier than me', I thought to myself. To be fair, I'm fairly attractive. Blonde with a nice body, and everyone always says I have beautiful eyes and a smile to match, but I don't really get where they're coming from...anyway, there were three boys and four girls, it was a bit intimidating, but I'm a sucker for making new friends. The boys, Matthew Manuel, Camden Smith, and Coden Brown, were all very different, they all had brown hair and brown eyes, and that was where the similarities ended. Coden was the tallest, he had this...I don't know...thuggish vibe to him. He always seemed a bit nervous, while at the same time being carefree. Strange combination, but it makes sense to an extent. Camden was the shortest of the three, and he always had this stupid, happy look on his face, like he had just won the lottery, but hadn't found out he was only getting the twenty-five dollar prize yet, completely innocent. Then there was Matthew...I'm not quite sure how to describe him, because I'm not sure I'll do him justice. We'll start out with the physical traits. Matthew was fairly tall, about an inch or so taller than I am. Like the other guys, he had brown eyes and brown hair, but his eyes seemed to almost twinkle whenever he was getting into mischief or talk about something he enjoyed. I swear, everything makes him laugh as well, but it's an intelligent laugh, like there's part of the joke he's getting that no-one else is. Along with all those traits is an intense sense of...understanding, about the world and the people around him, and the true nature of life, but also an iron will, and the determination to try to overcome the obstacles in his way. Sorry...I think I went a bit overboard there, but he was, and still is, incredible.

The girls names are Susan Rock, Janie Belle, Jayde Devil, and Veronica Kate. Susan Rock, her hair brown with a red streak and dark brown eyes, she and Veronica tied for the tallest girl. Veronica Kate, light brown hair and hazel eyes, a smile on her face exposing her purple colored braces. Jayde Devil has a habit of practically clinging to Coden, her hair bleach blonde and brown eyes, her face plastered with an obvious fake smile. Janie Belle, her hair a red/brown, obviously dyed, her eyes, brown, a smug look on her face with crossed arms.

I sigh and look at Violet, she knows I'm definitely out of my element with these people. Violet urges me to give them a try, saying, "They're nice people at heart, I swear." So I do, and she was absolutely right. For all their issues, they were nice people at heart...However, Janie and I never really bonded like the rest, seeing as she left as soon as I introduced myself. That pretty much explains itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A week has passed~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had a pep rally today, of course, because the school thinks it's a way to distract us while they search all our lockers and bookbags for drugs. I found it intriguing that during the entire pep rally Coden wasn't looking that comfortable but I'm sure that's juuuust a coincidence... Violet and Coden went to go sit with some of their other friends, and since I felt like even more of an outcast around them I decided to sit near my somewhat new friends. Well...actually it was just Matthew but it's not like I was complaining. I also learned that all his friends call him Mattie which I found ADORABLE. I've also got him in my computer class apparently along with Christina. That was perfectly fine with me since I had people to distract me from my work (I really don't like Computer Classes...)

Once everyone was seated, I decided to try to get to know Mattie better. Even though I was nervous, the pep rally was just a bunch of dumb stuff so I had nothing but time. I learned that Mattie is helplessly in love with Jayde, even though she constantly treats him like garbage. Jayde apparently has a reputation from switching from guy to guy, and in the small breaks between new guys she retreats back with her tail between her legs right back into Mattie's comforting, loving arms. Mattie isn't really happy with the situation, but he isn't the type to give up so he keeps trying. I also leaned that Veronica and Jayde all have this dumb love triangle with Coden. Since Coden was the "bad boy" of the group, it didn't really surprise me that much though. Jayde's father died when she was pretty young, and that probably has something to do with how...friendly she is with boys in the bedroom, which may be a part of why Mattie is so forgiving.

Mattie spent the whole pep rally trying to catch Jayde's eye. He was being desperate but it wasn't his fault, Veronica had told me that Mattie had like Jayde since forever, and Jayde has been leading him on the entire time. That poor guy, getting his feelings taken for granted and being betrayed and used as a toy. He was also extremely loyal apparently, she's been the only girl he's loved the entire time, and he has just been waiting patiently for a chance with her. My respect for Jayde has gone down to about 1%. If you asked me to be stuck in a room with either Jayde or a 45 year old homophobic power puff girl fan, I'd pick the 45 year old, cause at least that way I won't get HIV from punching them.

By the time the rally was over, I was pretty annoyed with Jayde and I was debating bringing up the toying subject with her. By the time computer class rolled around I had decided not to bring it up, seeing as I was a new "friend" and I had only heard from one source, but luckily since Violet is the absolute queen of drama, I figured I could just talk to her about it later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~later that day, AKA after school~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'So today didn't suck that badly. Through all 7 schools this one has been great so far, and their pep rallies do suck, but the people there are pretty cool, I might stay here a while' I thought to myself as I finished up my math homework.

My dad's wife was home about an hour later. His wife Danise is one of those people who seem cool when you're like eight, and once you grow up you realize how annoying they are. It was about six when Danise walked through the door setting her bag down on the couch. The one cool thing about Danise is that she brings me home a book everyday that she can.

I thought about my new friends all through dinner, my mind wouldn't stop racing. They were all so different yet super interesting. Jayde was definitely an air head, but she was actually really funny, and she had some interesting parts of her. Veronica was really sweet and caring, she slowed down to explain everyone's relationships to me, which was super helpful and kind. Coden was apparently a druggie and a thug wanna be. There were a few times he decided to take acid at school which didn't end well, so everyone knew at that point. Camden was a sweet oaf who was a huge slacker but didn't really care, he was extremely childish and innocent. Susan was honestly really cool, she had this tough exterior but she was pretty funny, and kinda touchy. Matthew seemed sweet, and he joked with the others a lot. Maybe tomorrow I'll work up the nerve to talk to him, and hopefully i won't have a panic attack. I guess we will see what happens, only time can tell what is in store for me, good things hopefully.