All Improvviso Amore

Part 1. Alone

Hello! thank you for taking the time to read my book. I'd just like to say that all chapters are unedited, so please excuse spelling or grammar mistakes. Thank you!!

Some things happen for a reason. Other things happen purely to screw us over. I'm fairly certain this nightmare scenario was one of the latter. One second I was popular, had lots of friends, and was loving life in London. The next second I was popped onto a farm in Tennessee.

In London my parents, older brother and I had lived in a cozy flat above a bakery. The old house facing me now was easy four times the size of our old flat. It was surrounded by fenced in fields, and a barn say behind it. The two-lane road I was standing on yielded nothing in the way of civilization in either direction.

"Oh come on, Natalie! this will be great for you." my mum said, putting an arm across the back of my shoulders and gently pushing me towards the house. I reluctantly picked up my huge suitcase and trudged up the gravel driveway.

Inside, the three story house was creepy and mostly made of wood. Mum showed me a large, square room that had a bed and desk and bookcase. I unpacked my things, straightening all of my clothes in the closet. That night while I tossed and turned, trying to go to sleep, all I could think about was how much I dreaded going to school the next morning.

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"Natalie.." my mom's gentle voice woke me up the next morning. I was tempted to feign sickness, and was even more tempted to somehow contract some deadly disease so that I wouldn't ever have to face this. But I didn't.

Dragging myself into the shower was something is gotten used to. When I got out I dressed in skinny jeans, a floral purple shirt, and a black cardigan. I slid my feet into camel colored ankle boots and went into the bathroom.

I'd pinning up my wavy brown hair, so it wasn't wet. I brushed it out and left it natural. I took off my glasses to put on a little concealer and mascara. Then I slipped the frames back on. They were over-sized nerdy-chick brown Ray Bans. I had horrible vision, so they were thick and when I put them on they magnified my eyes, giving the slight impression of a mouse. I shook my head and skipped every other stair on the way down to breakfast.

In the kitchen, there were still boxes everywhere. I say at the huge breakfast table, chewing my cereal all by myself. The flat would have been buzzing with energy as everyone hurriedly got ready for school and work. There would have been a fire in the hearth and the entire place would have been warm from it. But this giant, echoey house just felt dreary. I hadn't seen or heard anybody since I woke up, and the grey rain drizzling outside was depressing.

I put my bowl in the sink and stepped outside. As I walked down the road to the bus stop, shouldering my messenger bag, I began to feel nostalgic even for the busy, grey streets of London. The buildings would have been pressing together, people rushing to work, cabs rushing too and from their destinations. It sounds a bit hellish when described, but it was my home. You were never lonely in our flat. Even if the rest of our family was out, you could hear cabs honking, people shouting, and a general hubbub of the city.

But out here by the crossroads, half a mile from "home", I felt something I never had before. I felt so terribly alone.

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The yellow schoolbus pulled up and I reluctantly climbed in. High schoolers were throwing paper airplanes back and forth, hitting eachother, and causing a lot of noise. i rolled my eyes. Honestly, I thought, American teenagers behave worse than second graders back home. Somebody stuck a foot out into the aisle of the bus as I tried to walk past. I stumbled, but righted myself and shot a furtive glance at the offender.

I sat down on an empty bench toward the back of the bus. I leaned my elbow on the window and did my best to block out all the notice around me.

"Excuse me, can I sit here?" a deep and distinctly masculine voice interrupted my brooding thoughts.

Without turning around, I shrugged my shoulders. The guy sat down, and only when I was sure he was preoccupied on his phone did I sneak a glance at his face.

And oh, my gosh.