Phoenix

Chapter One

'Guess what?'

'For the record, you're the broken one.'

'Tried to sing-along, but we got stuck.'

'So, we turned it over and over again.'

For a mid-November morning, the air wasn't nearly as chilly as usual. Sweat still rolled down my face as I panted, rounding a corner at a steady jog. My Nike clad feet propelled me forward on the grassy trail as I quickly maneuvered my favorite running place—a tranquil woodland area in my hometown of Dawson, Missouri, called State Park.

My long blonde hair flopped around wildly in the messy bun that sat at the top of my head as I ran. A grey headband secured my fly-aways and a pair of AirPods sat snugly in my ears, filtering music from my Apple Watch that was wrapped around my right wrist.

'This will be the last time that I spin our life.'

'Never gonna play again.'

'You're not the one I was in my bed.'

'I'm not the song you want in your head.'

An older woman was walking her Shi'Tzu a few paces ahead of me, so I moved over to one side out of respect and a little precaution as well. I'd never met an animal that didn't like me—yet—but it never hurt to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I passed unscathed and jogged about a half mile before my feet met the concrete sidewalk of Harper Street, where I proceeded to slow to a steady walk. A car here and there passed by me as I made my way to the small single-story house that I rented with my best friend Autumn.

She and I have known each other since we were in diapers. Our parents were best friends, so naturally her, her older brother Austin, and I all became as thick as thieves as well. The Lockhart's were my family away from family. Autumn, Austin, and I all caused so much trouble together that our parents named us the 'Three Diablos.'

A smile spread across my face just at the reminder.

It's nice to be home again.

I'd been living with my Aunt Lyza and Uncle Henry in Nevada up until recently due to losing both of my parents seven years ago. I had just graduated from high school at the time, had a full ride to Wayne State University in Nevada for Pre-Veterinary Medicine, and was all set to move into my dorm in a few weeks when the accident happened and changed everything. WSU tried to reach out to me a couple of times, but I was still too engulfed in my grief to be bothered to answer or return their calls.

Aunt Lyza and Uncle Henry took great care of me in the years of me living with them, and I couldn't have asked for anything better. It took me a while to come to terms with the accident, but once I did, I started being more like myself again. I even found a boyfriend, but he just ended up being a significant waste of time and a total creepazoid. Things went south with him after being together for six months and just continued to get worse until I couldn't stand it anymore, so I decided it was time to move back home and start over.

Autumn was ecstatic when I told her the news one night over the phone. She had been asking me for months when I was going to come home. She missed me—her exact words were, 'I'll go crazy if another year goes by without seeing you,' like the drama queen she is. And almost a week later, I drove nine and a half hours back home and honestly haven't looked back since.

It's been a year and a half now since all of that went down.

My breaths spewed in and out of me as I heaved. I raised my arms above my head to help draw in more air while placing two fingers on the pulse that was pounding at my left wrist. It thudded steadily against my fingertips while my legs ached dully.