Heart on Fire (Chandler Riggs)

chapter 1 - anxious

"Therefore, causing the division of cells." my Biology teacher, Mrs. Carona, droned on.

I propped my head up onto the desk, letting my chocolate colored hair cascade down on my arm. My eyes wandered off to the clock, which was reminding me of the 2 minutes I had left before freedom of the 8th grade. The rest of my class was pretty anxious, too, as many students tapped their pencils on the desks and shook their legs up and down. Every second felt like an eternity. Finally, the bell rang, interrupting Mrs. Carona on her lesson. My fellow classmates speeded from the classroom, leaving papers flying in the air as Mrs. Carona sighed tiredly. I gathered my books not long afterwards in a now vacant classroom. I ran down to my locker, putting the combination in the lock sloppily and throwing all my books inside. Shutting my locker, I ran outside to catch up with Danielle. I spotted her curly blonde locks flying in the late Spring wind as I made my way, shouting her name.

"Dani!" Her head whipped around, and she smiled at the sight of me.

"Oh, hey Hadley! Aren't you just super glad that this school year is finally over?"

I nodded eagerly, causing her to giggle. We followed the sidewalk on our way to our subdivision.

"Mrs. Carona was in the middle of a sentence when the bell rang," I giggled to myself, letting her know due to our seperation in our last period.

"That's no surprise. That lady loves to talk," Danielle remarked and I agreed.

Danielle Engstrom had been my friend since the beginning of the year. It hasn't been that long, but it feels like I've known her forever. She was a transfer to this school, moving all the way from Ohio to Georgia. She was talkative and bubbly- anyone that knew her would know.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, we reached Danielle's house. She gave me a swift hug before disappearing off into her house. It wasn't a goodbye hug because we both knew we'd be hanging out this Summer. Usually we'd walk to eachothers' houses without any notice. I lived five minutes away from Danielle so I ran to my house to get their as soon as possible. I arrived at my small house, with a wooden exterior and a slanted roof. Slipping my key out of my pocket, I unlocked the back door. I was instantly surprised with how quiet it was.

"Mom?" I called, lowering my bookbag down by the living room couch. I was greeted by my dad's stern voice calling my name from the kitchen. My eyebrows furrowed as I made my way to my dimly lit kitchen. Both my mom and dad were sitting in gloss stools, making eye contact with me as soon as I walked into the room.

"Hey guys?" I said in an itchy tone. My dad was only home at night, so I was confused as to why he was here.

"Sit, Hadley." My mom commanded, and I obliged, sitting beside my father.

I nodded, picking at them to go on.

"Your father and I just got a divorce."

This chapter sort of sucked but first chapters are always boring. It gets better, I promise!

(Chandler will start to appear in Chapter 3 or 4. I don't know yet. I know you probably read this for Chandler, but I do not encourage you to skip to Chapter 4 to see if Chandler's in there. The first chapters hold vital information for this story and really set the book off. Thanks!)