For the Love of Trees

Chapter 1: Prologue

Oh no. It is time. Time for the road trip from sunny Southern California to Oregon where trees out number people 10:1 (idk I just made that up now). I can't stand all the trees, the giant towering pine trees that cover everything make me feel claustrophobic and alone. If they were palm trees, it would be an entirely different story, palm trees signify paradise, and paradise is good. I get to go and visit my greek grandparents and my uncle on my mom's side of the family with my mom, brother, and sister. I get to leave my dog and my dad in California. The lucky ones. The part that really stinks is that the trip is at the beginning of summer, right where everyone is hyped up to do everything with everyone, and I miss it because I'm trapped in Oregon with these trees as my friends.

It's like an 16 hour drive all the way through California and halfway through Oregon to reach where I'll be staying at, the small town of Creswell, with a population no more than 15,000 people. There are a couple little shops, restaurants, and a train stop. Other than that it's a 30 minute drive to anywhere. There are no special and cool geographic anomalies, such as like a beach, except for the trees. Too many trees. I'm leaving all my friends back in Cali for the two week "vacation" ...more like torture session. Last year, the highlights of that trip were doing the "History of California" tour as we stayed in Sacramento for a day and explored what it had to offer. There was also the wax museum in Lincoln City, with an extremely cold beach, that gave my brother nightmares.

I am so not excited for this trip to begin. In fact, I want it to end right now, even though it hasn't even started. I do not want to leave my friends, we were planning to go to the movies, the beach, the library, the mall, and In and Out Burger. No. I can't do any of that. I have to give up my struggling social life and spend two weeks in Oregon. By the time I get back everyone will already have done all the cool fun things without me. I won't be able to survive. Seriously, last time we went, my dog died and he was half the reasons why I wasn't going to commit suicide that trip.

Of course looking back on that, my other reason was a pathetic reason that I should not have counted on. Stupid seventh grade mistakes. At least I scared myself silly with this whole suicide idea and swore to myself that I would never under any circumstance even think about it. My other reason to live through the torture was so that I could have a chance with my crush at the time, a stupid video game nerd that never did his school work or actually had a chance in life. The worst part was that I was desperate enough to go out with him, for six months, while technically only four of them counted because he completely ignored me for the last two. But let's not go there. That was almost a year ago.

We are leaving for Oregon, well actually our first rest stop, tomorrow. I am literally two months away from getting my learner's permit to drive, which absolutely stinks because it would have been good practice, just going straight for hours. I kid you not. So I'm stuck with my siblings fighting over who gets to ride shotgun. This is going to be a long drive, and an even longer two weeks. My purple suitcase is packed with my list of things I need to survive the two weeks. Like all my electronics and sources of entertainment. Especially everything for my stupid phone, my one connection to the outside world.

Another thing that stinks about this trip. My mom is only allowing me to bring 10 outfits, including pjs and work out clothes. That's not even close to enough! What if one day I feel like wearing a shirt that I didn't bring to Oregon? I can't wear it because it is stuck in California. I know, girl problems... I'm bringing a week's worth of normal clothes, a set of strict workout clothes, a set of clothes that could be used as pjs or work out clothes, and a set of pjs. My grandma will have to do laundry three times if I get my way. I just hope she doesn't use vinegar as fabric softener again.

Maybe with all the trees I could find a hiking trail. Or like a road to run on because there are no people to drive their cars on the road. So I might as well use it to expel some of my energy and not cause me to explode. There. One thing I'm looking forward too. Working out. It'll make me so tired I'll sleep over half the trip, my body will be fit for a flattering bikini when I get back, and I'll stay away from my family. This may be the thing that saves me.

And with this one happy thought in mind, I can finally coax myself to sleep, only to wake up to the impending doom of Oregon and trees again.