Our Road Back to the Sunny Days

Chapter 1: College Drama and Bullshit

Sabrina

Bonfires. I loved almost everything about them. The scent they'd give off most of all. Sitting around it with friends and family, telling stories, cracking jokes, sharing moments with those you love around something almost equally warm feeling. Those were good memories for me, but then, things just seemed to get colder for me. I felt cold and empty like I was just a shell or a doll even. I didn't know what my goals were anymore. So I sat. I waited for something to happen. Not the most productive thing, I know, but it's all I could do at the time. I always believed in the saying "good things happen to those who wait." Although, I guess it doesn't quite work literally. I still waited. Alone.

I took a seat on one of the logs placed beside the pit I had set up further in my backyard, towards the fields. I dug into the pocket of my hoodie and grabbed a few matches, lighting them and setting them inside the fire pit. As the fire gets started I reached over to the space beside me taking a couple of logs from a pile I had set up earlier. Tossing them in I sat and watched the fire build up for a few minutes before looking up at the darkening sky. A few stars were starting to show up but not many. I turned my head towards the direction of noise coming from the wooden fence located by the woods a little ways back. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding as a familiar face with a mop of black hair came into view over the top of the fence. It only took moments before he was sitting next to me and a few more familiar faces popped up. Watching it sort of reminded me of a pack gathering. We all grew up together in this very neighborhood, even though it was more spread out due to it being in the countryside, and it was normal to have bonfires while most of our parents were asleep.

I turned towards my parents' bedroom window and saw that their light was still off. They honestly didn't care when I had friends over for the bonfire as long as we were all quiet. Looking around I went through my mental checklist of who usually shows up. The guy next to me on my right was one of my best friends, Ethan Shane. He had a wide, handsome, grin on his face as he chatted with the dirty blonde across from him. He was Eric Renning, and on his lap was a blonde girl named Alana Jewel. They've been dating for almost 4 years now, ever since we got into high school. Eric treats her like a treasure, and honestly, she deserves it after all she's been through. She grew up with a rough childhood and had a hard time in school until Eric found her. They've been inseparable since a week after they met.

On my other side were two of my other guy friends. Ben and Jackson Woods. They're twin brothers, both have the same curly black hair and dark almost cold black eyes that you can easily get lost in. I waited a moment to see if anyone else would show up, but I guess it was just us tonight. There were only a couple of friends missing, which I'm not too surprised.

After a while, we were all quietly watching the bonfire, minus Eric and Alana having their own quiet conversation. Ben took notice to this and leaned forward, smirking as he decided to tease them a bit, " hey love birds, enough flirting," he then turned to me and gave me a serious look, "you gonna tell us what's on your mind? You've been off the radar for a few days now, and all of a sudden you started a bonfire.."

I sighed, Ben had a knack for keeping tabs on everyone. The others turned their attention to me. I grimaced at their calculating looks. "Oh back off, I'm perfectly fine, I've just been stressed out... My parents are trying to get me to apply to all of these colleges, and now my older brothers are trying to get me to visit their colleges as well."

"Wait, Sabrina, aren't you just gonna go to a trade-school though?" Alana spoke up, turning her body towards me, still situated on Eric's lap.

"Well yeah, college isn't that worth it for the career I'm aiming towards." I poked at the fire, and took a small sheet of copper, tossing it into it.