The Truth Never Shows

Chapter 1

"Millie!" The shout brings me out of my slumber and to the real world. I gaze over at my clock to find that it's 7:38 a.m. My dad calls again, although this time it's louder as he approaches my door. "Get up, you've got places to be and things to pack."
I groan and roll out of bed. I follow him to the kitchen where the smells of bacon and cinnamon meet my nose. I close my eyes and cherish the last breakfast my dad will make me.
"How am I supposed to survive without this?" I whine. I don't cook well at all and my dad can't cook for me from home. I'll have to do all the cooking and the grocery shopping myself in college, one of the many responsibilities I'm not looking forward to having.
Taylor walks in typing on his phone with donuts in hand. I leap up and snatch them while he's distracted.
"Hey!" Taylor looks up from his phone with a shocked look on his face. I giggle and open the box. I select a glazed one before handing them back to my brother. "You seem more excited to see the donuts than to see me," he says with a look of mock hurt.
"Maybe that's because I am?" I retort, raising an eyebrow. "You know I'm kidding, Taylor," I laugh. Once I finish my donut and lick the remaining glaze off of my fingers I get up and hug him for the first time in a few months. It's still so hard being away from him for as long as I am, now that he's in college. He just finished his first year and I'm about to begin mine. "How's it been since spring break?"
"Pretty good. Not too much going on. Hopefully we can get all your stuff moved in so I can introduce you to some of mine and Alex's friends." Alex is his girlfriend of two years and I absolutely adore her. She's so different from Taylor but their personalities fit so well.
Taylor picks a chocolate frosted donut before walking with me up to my room to start packing all of my things. He and I quickly get to work and have most of my stuff packed by two o'clock.
"Don't you still have to talk to your friends?" Taylor asks.
"Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me. Do you mind finishing up?" I plead with puppy dog eyes.
He rolls his eyes before replying, "fine."
"Yay!" I leap up to hug him and head downstairs. I grab my keys off the counter before slipping out the door. My silver Toyota Camry sits in the driveway, glistening in the sun. The reflection blinds me as I make my way to the car. The drive to Sean's house is a short one, only a half mile from my home. Brandon and Kim are already there when I fit my car into the driveway like a puzzle piece. Before I even have the engine shut off Kim is running out of the house to meet me.
"Oh my gosh I'm so excited! I mean, we'll get to room together and eat lunch together and maybe have classes with each other! And we have to talk about what you did for break! This was like the first one we spent apart in forever." My excited, brunette friend rambles and tugs my arm until we are inside Sean's home.
"Hi Mills," Ellie, Sean's mom greets.
I bring my hand up for a wave before she pulls me into a tight hug. "We're gonna miss you so much, honey," she states.
"I'll miss you all so much too," I reply sincerely before heading to the living room where both Sean and Brandon are. They're playing some video game I don't know the name of.
Sean pauses the game and they turn around to greet Kim and me.
"Hey," Brandon and Sean wave.
"Hey guys," I reply. "What'd y'all do over break?"
"Sean and I just hung around here, mostly. We went to the pool a couple times," Brandon replies.
"Kim, you should tell us all about Hawaii," Sean's mom suggests.
"Oh my, you won't believe how incredible it was," she gushes. "The weather wasn't too hot or humid but it was so nice. One day my family went to this one bakery and they had the best bread ever!" Kim continues to explain her trip with enthusiasm but my mind wanders to my vacation this year and I smile. I only spent a week at the lake house my family owned, but it was so perfect. The people who live in the lake house next to ours, Holly, Venice, and their parents, became some of my family's closest friends when we first bought the house. When I arrived this summer, Holly and Venice took me to see things I hadn't seen before and we went to the beach with some of their friends. I remember the second day when I first met him. He was at the beach while we were there.

The girls and I were sunbathing, when a volleyball hit the back of my chair.
"Hey!" I shouted, turning around as a tall, brown haired guy ran up and apologized.
"Hey, sorry about that."
"It's all good." I smiled, trying my best not to look as affected by the guy in front of me as I really am.
"My name's Sawyer."
"I'm Millie, and these are my friends Holly, and Venice." The girls waved when I said their names.
"Hey, you guys wanna join me and my friends for a game?"he asked.
I looked to the girls who were giving me smirks.
"Sure!" Venice answered.
We played on Sawyer's team with a couple of his friends. He surprised me. Usually guys who are blessed with as good looks as him have arrogant, self-centered personalities. Sawyer was down-to-earth and one of the kindest people I've ever met.
After winning two games our team decided to reward ourselves with ice cream. The girls and I headed over to the cheap little ice cream vendor with our new friends, and agreed to all meet up at the beach for another game tomorrow. We sat in the sand enjoying our melting ice cream and each other's company.
"You wanna go for a swim?" Sawyer asked me after a while.
"Sure," I said throwing my trash away.
We ran down the beach, and jumped in the warm water. I loved it here and I couldn't imagine spending my vacation anywhere else.
We started a splash war, and Sawyer's friends joined in. The sun set on the horizon, burning orange and red fading into and endless night sky of navy.
I took several pictures of the sunsets and of us with the guys. When the light of the sun faded into the night, the girls and I began gathering our stuff to leave.
Sawyer touched my arm. "Hey, we're having a party tonight at mine. You wanna come?"
I looked at the girls who they were nodding excitedly.
"Ok we're in," I replied.
"Let me get your number so I can text you the details."
I put my contact in his phone and waved a goodbye to everyone as we left. I opened the front door to my lake house and saw my parents eating popcorn on the couch and watching a movie. I smiled and headed upstairs to get ready for the party. I changed out of my damp swimsuit into another. This one had a purple crochet bikini and black high waisted bottoms. I put a simple, black sundress over top as I heard my phone ding with a message.

Hey Millie, you can come whenever, my beach house is the fourth one on the right, lakeview st.

I reply with an 'ok c u there' before heading to Holly and Venice's house. There, the girls curled my hair into beach waves and put an extra coat of waterproof mascara on. We walked the short distance to Sawyer's house hearing the loud music from houses away. It was crowded and a bit intimidating when we walked in but when we saw all of the friends we had met today, we felt like we fit right in.
"Hey girls," Sawyer's friend Dawson, greeted.
We all started dancing and enjoying the party. A few hours later Sawyer looked at me and grabbed my hand, "I wanna show you something." He led me to his backyard where a few of the guests were drinking and talking. He took me to the dock and laid down. I follow suit as he grabbed my hand again. "Do you see them? This is the best view of the stars in the whole area."
It was breathtakingly beautiful. "Wow, it's incredible Sawyer." We continued to talk about anything and everything. We discovered that we'd be going to the same college in a few months. As he talked I watched his face, and his bright blue eyes, his brunette hair that he'd run his fingers through, absentmindedly. It** got later Holly and Venice texted me saying we should probably go back home so our parents wouldn't worry.
"The girls just texted. We have to go but thanks for a great day," I said.
"Thanks for coming tonight. I had a great time," he smiles. He leans in and his breath fans my face. He closes the distance between our lips and gives me a sweet innocent kiss. Even in the gentlest of kisses he still made fireworks explode in my stomach. He pulled away and took my hand to help me up. We walked to where Venice and Holly were stood.
"Goodnight, thank you for coming. I'll see you all tomorrow," Sawyer said.
"Goodnight," the three of us chorused as we waved.
On the walk home I told holly and Venice all that happened. This was exactly the kind of vacation I wanted, something excited but calm, and something sweet but also enticing. Each moment perfect in its own way, fitting together to create and even more perfect story. In that moment, I was sincerely happy.

***
Kim finishes her story by explaining her flight back and the view of the whole world from the sky.
Kim has a way with words. She can make even the most boring things sound more exciting than meeting your celebrity crush.
Kim glances at her watch. "Well, it looks like we better be heading out. We're gonna stop at the cafe, though. Right, Mills?"
"Yep." We hug sean's parents once again and head for the door, the boys following us.
"We're gonna tag-along to the cafe," Sean adds as he and Brandon grab their jackets and shoes.
We wave goodbye to Ellie and her husband before we hop in Kim's car. Sean gets in the passenger seat and Brandon and I get in the back. Kim pulls out of the driveway and heads to the coffee shop.
"So, you excited for OSU?" Brandon asks.
"Yeah, but I'm gonna miss you guys."
"We'll have to visit soon," he laughs.
"You and Sean are such good friends,"
"You're welcome," he smirks. I laugh in response.
Once we arrive at the coffee shop, we find 'our' table, the one we've been sitting at for years. It's a small corner booth next to a large window. Kim takes our orders and heads up to the checkout desk.
"Do you have a dorm yet?" Brandon asks.
I reply, "Yes, all Kim and I have to do is sign the paper and get the keys."
"That's good," Sean says.
"Yeah, it'll take a lot less time so I can go straight to sleeping," I laugh. Kim comes back with our coffees. We talk for a while about anything and everything. Kim and I share information about OSU and our schedules. We relive our best grade school memories, reminiscing all of the great times we've had . We leave the coffee shop and drop the guys off at Sean's house before heading back to mine.
"I'll miss this little town," I admit as we head to my room to get my things.
"Me too," Kim sighs.

***
"Bye, Mom, bye, Dad." I hug them both.
"Come on Mills, I'd like to get there before next year," Taylor jokes.
"Ok, ok I'm coming," I respond. I let my parents go and Kim, Taylor, and I walk out the door with a final 'Goodbye.'
"Here's to new beginnings and college fun!" I pretend toast as we drive out of town. Kim raises her invisible glass in agreement.
"Just wait till you see the campus," Taylor states.
"I'm so excited to finally be college kids," Kim laughs.
"Me neither."