And Then We Danced

Have you ever had everyone you know, friends, family, just suddenly turn their back on you and walk away without ever looking back? Well I'm going to tell you from personal experience that there is truly nothing worse then being abandoned, no worse feeling than feeling hated and forgotten. And do you want to know the worst part of it all? The worst part is that no matter how hard you try, there's nothing you can do to change it. You'll always have that ache in your chest that reminds you every day, every hour, every minute, that nobody cares about you. That you're not loved.

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Chapter One 'Just A Dream'

1 Week Ago, September 15.

My eyes followed the drops of rain that rolled down the outside of the car window, occasionally shifting from one drop to another. I pressed my palm against the cool glass and watched as the trails of water slowly disappeared behind my hand.

A flash of lighting struck in the distance, lighting up the dark sky overhead. The large storm clouds lit up and revealed themselves, but almost instantly hid back into the night.

I took my hand off the window and replaced it with my head. I closed my eyes and tried to let the soft sound of rain falling against glass lead me to sleep. I pinched my eyelids closer together, trying to clear my clouded head, but it remained foggy.

I opened my eyes, all ideas of sleep put aside, and decided to gaze out of the window instead. It was hard to see anything outside, the light rainfall and and the almost pitch black night working together to form a blanket for the world outside of the car, but I could still manage to see anything that bordered the side of the road.

My eyes passed over every tree and read every street sign we passed, until one stood out from the rest. I had to squint my eyes and lean my head closer to the window to see it clearly, but I finally managed to read what was written on it.

Welcome To Maine

The Way Life Should Be

I sighed and looked over to person in the drivers seat. "Mom, why are we moving to Maine?", I asked. I already knew the answer, but I still couldn't accept the fact that we were moving.

My mom looked over at me, a dangerous move to make in this weather, and raised her eyebrows. "How many more times are you gonna ask me that before we get there?", she asked.

"I'll answer that question if you return your line of sight to road", I said nervously.

"Oh, sorry", she said, looking back at the road.

"Thank you", I said, relieved. "And to answer you're question, 13, because that number can either be lucky or unlucky, and to me, its usually lucky", I said with a slight smile.

My mom sighed. "Well, to answer you're question, we're moving to Maine because I think it'll be fun. And everyone likes fun, right?"

I laughed. "Mom, a teenagers idea of fun isn't moving. I don't think that's anyone's idea of fun besides yours."

My mom rolled her eyes. "Well, I think you're gonna like it in Maine. It's on the coast, which means an ocean, and the town that we're moving to only has one dance studio, not four, so you'll actually be able to do something besides dance this year."

That caught my attention. Back in my hometown in Michigan, the only athletically available thing was dance. And I can't dance. After taking two years with no success, my mom finally let me drop out. Thank God. But in Maine, I might have a chance to try something besides dance. Something new.

A took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll try to give Maine a chance", I said, looking at my mom. "Besides, I don't have a choice, do I?", I asked.

My mom shook her head. "Nope, not really", she said, smiling.

"I didn't think so", I said, biting my lip.

I always bite my lip when I'm nervous. And although deep down I've always kinda wanted to visit Maine, the idea of living there filled my stomach with butterflies.

My mom yawned. "Peyton, you should probably get some sleep while you can. We're almost there, and it'll take awhile to unpack and get settled into the new house. We probably won't get a lot of time to sleep once we're finished."

All the thinking and talking about moving did make my eyelids kinda heavy, so I leaned my head back against my seat.

I yawned. "Wake me up when we get to the way life should be", I said to my mom.

I closed my eyes, and let the soft arms of sleep embrace me.

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Cold salt water rolled over my bare feet, causing me to curl my toes into the wet sand.

I took a deep breath, and the scent of the ocean and fresh air filled my nose.

The wind blew my hair into my face, and a smile met my lips. I left my hair in front of my eyes and looked out at the ocean.

The water was a shade of crystal blue, and I could see through the waves that rolled onto the beach.

I took a deep breath. If this wasn't paradise, I didn't know what was. I couldn't thing of a place that could be better than this.

The sound of footsteps behind me found its way into my thoughts, and I tensed up. Why was this person invading my paradise? The footsteps stopped, and I bit my lip.

"Be strong, Peyton", said a female voice.

The sound of footsteps continued, and I quickly turned around. My eyes caught a glimpse of a long brown hair, but before they could see anything else, the girl disappeared.

I slowly turned back towards the ocean, but before I could think about anything, a giant wave hit me, surrounding me with cold water.

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My eyes jolted open, and I woke up to the light of a porch light. I rubbed my eyes, unaware of where I was, and yawned.

I suddenly remembered my dream, and wondered why a girl I didn't know would tell me to be strong on a beach. I shook off my confusion and put the dream in the back of my mind. It was just a dream.

I looked over at my mom and she gave me a smile.

"I was just about to wake you up", she said. "We're here."

Realization hit me like a tidal wave, and I instantly knew where I was.

I took a deep breath. "So this is our new house, huh?", I asked.

My mom nodded. "Yup. And if we want to sleep in it tonight, we might want to start unpacking."

She got out of the car and started unloading the trunk.

I opened my door and stepped onto the driveway, taking my first step onto Maine. I breathed in the fresh air and stretched my arms and legs.

Before I shut the car door, I grabbed my backpack from the back seat and slung it over my shoulder. All the furniture was with the moving fan that should arrive in the morning, so we were only bringing our personal items into the house for tonight.

I shut my door the same moment my mom shut the trunk, and I followed her to the front porch of our new house.

She fumbled with the keys a little before unlocking the door and pushing it open. She instantly walked into the house, but I stood on the front porch by myself for awhile.

"Are you coming?", I heard her yell from inside.

I took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing", I muttered to myself. And with that, I took a step into the doorway and into my new life.

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Ok, finished chapter one! It took me awhile to write this because I was always changing something about it, but its finally done! If you like it, drop a vote and comment.:)

The inspiration for this story comes from #californiaadventure's 'Black And White Converse. Its an amazing story, you should really check out her work. :)