All The Pretty Girls

Part 1

I grew up in Start, Louisiana. I was raised by my mom, my grandmother and for a time my stepdad Horace. Growing up in a small town like Start gives you a lot of perspective on life and what you want to do with it. All through school I had this core group of friends with Byron, Missi, Blake, Sandra, Miles, Jeff, Sam and Faith. Faith. God I think I loved her from the day she sat next to me in pre-K. She's a southern girl through and through. On our first date she dipped her her fries in my milkshake and I was a goner, we were 12. Faith was going to become an interior designer and move to LA. All the pretty girls say they're moving to LA. I was going to go to law school here in Louisiana and then work in any major firm that would take me. We broke up once when we were 14 for about a month, then again when we 16 and then we got back together at senior prom. It's funny though because we both knew we were heading off in different directions but it's almost like we thought it would sort itself out. It didn't. Even when we were broken up we spent everyday together. We never stopped being friends. But eventually our schedules got fuller and the distance between LA and Nashville got bigger. It's been 8 years since we graduated high school and now I'm a senior partner at Holland Beckett Law in Nashville. My mom still lives in Start and I go back to see her every summer. Faith's parents still live in start too, and it's like whenever we head back we pick up right where we left off. No questions asked. I mean we haven't committed to each other or anything and I'm sure we both have relationships in our respective cities but every summer we indulge in our summer fling and I love it. I'm heading back home for a month tomorrow and once I pull into town I'll pick Faith up like I always do on the first day summer.