Summer Before Her (Completed)

1-Move in Day

Novak's POV

I walked out of my ratty old Ford 2013 pickup truck unwillingly, while carrying the last box into my new abode, I glanced at my Father, who was already perched on the porch with a half-empty beer bottle. It was past 9 am, the sun was rather harsh but he sat there unbothered and gave me an expectant look to unpack and clean. It seems rather contradictory but if there was one thing I hated more than moving towns and displacing myself, it was unpacking and settling in.

**
By the time I was done unpacking, stuffing the belongings into their respective places and cleaning out the gazillion-year-old floor of the house, I was dead tired and it was high noon. Can someone remind me again why in lords name did we have to move to California of all places? The sun, the people, the humidity that makes you aware of the sweat oozing out of your skin.

"Novi, come here, give me a hand and stop complaining about the sun, you are thinking so hard that I can almost hear your rage. " exclaimed my father who was nursing a beer while trying to fix the cabinet door which was barely hanging on.

I groaned as I felt the heat settling into my head and translating into a nauseating headache. I dragged myself to the cabinet, grabbed the screwdriver and settled on the floor.
I screwed, unscrewed, held the door a bit higher, screwed, unscrewed, settled it little lower, screwed, unscre- "Novi, that's all done now, quit poking it, not everything has to be perfect" father interrupted, now already on his fourth beer for the day.

**
With half the day already gone past, I meticulously planned what new things I have to get used to in this new town, a place to sleep and eat - check.

A school to graduate from - check. Staying out of trouble in a public school of such a district was close to impossible so to lower the chances of me not graduating, I chose to enrol into Bravermen Dutch High, about a mile and half away, located in the district with picket-fenced castles and sprawling lawns.

A route for my morning run- unchecked, A run every morning was my form of therapy, it kept me awake enough to make it through the school day and fit enough to eat without counting calories.

So given this checklist, a run route is the next thing I have to scout BUT oh lord the heat and the headache, how will I ever get used to this place?

Nonetheless, I grabbed helmet and keys, reassured Dad that I wasn't going to 'get lost' in this tiny town and headed out for a scout ride, to find a proper route to run, with roads that weren't covered in potholes. And to grab a pack of cigarettes-it was one of my vices, couldn't live with it, couldn't live without.

I rode into the town, inching closer towards my school, hoping they had an open track that I could run on. The ease and the safety of the track is usually not something I could afford, but as I pulled outside the stadium, I noticed that the tracks in the ground next to it was guarded by a feeble wiry fence that I would have no trouble jumping in and so it was settled, my mornings would be spent here.

Having checked the track out, I ran a lap and lay down on the cool blue paving; letting my eyes wander over the night sky of Bravermen wells, I wondered how this is the place I would be calling home for rest of the year, it would be my last year of school and I would spend it hoping to forget the past.
It already seemed to me like a mistake but I kept thinking about all the more reasons why this move would be regretful and everything that would happen from here onwards would be disappointing in the least.

I then threw caution to the wind, lit a cigarette and decided to take it one day at a time.

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That's all folks! End of Chapter One.
Gah! This was difficult to write, Please vote, comment and let me know what you think.
Spoiler- In the next chapter, Novak and Kirsten meet.

And Thankyou again for reading!
-Elle