Across the Maps

Chapter 3

I wake up to my alarm clock ringing at seven thirty. I roll over and slap the top button on my alarm clock to shut it off. Groaning, I get out of bed and stumble to the bathroom, the floor cold on my bare feet.

I stare in the mirror, the reflection staring back at me. My bright green eyes are dull with the morning and my dirty blond hair is messed up so bad that it looks like I have been in a fight with a bear. I grab my brush and run it through my hair several times, untangling it. When I'm finished, I put it in a high ponytail and stalk back to my room to change.

I end up picking ripped jeans and a neon orange shirt with white lettering after searching my dresser for several minutes. When I am finished changing, I hear a voice outside my window.

Confused, I stride to the window and peer outside. It's Cole.

"What the heck could you possible want at this hour?" I groan.

"I can see you aren't a morning person," Cole infers smiling.

"Why are you even by my window. And why this time. I'm still sleepy," I scowl.

"Well," he says, "My Dad gets up this early to tend to the garden and everything and so I kind of got in the habit of waking up early. Plus I was bored."

"Yeah, but why did you have to stop by my room. Couldn't you have stopped by one of my sister's rooms. And how did you know this was my room."

"I didn't. I was just walking around. Anyway what's with interrogating me?" He narrows his eyes.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"So," he asks. "Do you want to hang out." He stares at me with his large green eyes.

"I haven't had breakfast," I state.

"Okay. So go eat. I'll be by the creek," he exclaims and I nod him a goodbye.

I stride downstairs, not caring how loud I am. When I enter the kitchen, I see Dad sitting at the head of the table, biting into a donut, his other hand holding a newspaper.

"Hey sweetie," he greets.

"Hi," I reply. "Dad can I go to the creek and hang with Cole?" I open the pantry and grab a chocolate chip granola bar.

"Yes but be back for lunch," he instructs and I hug him.

"Thanks Dad," I say and rush out the door and start fast walking toward the creek.

When I arrive, Cole sits at the edge, his eyes closed as he relaxes. When he hears me walking toward him, he opens his eyes.

"Hey," I sit beside him on the grass.

"That was fast," he states.

I pull out the granola bar and speak as I unwrap it. "Actually I just grabbed this to eat." I wave the bar in front of his face and he grins.

"That's cool," he states.

"I am so not ready for Monday," I complain.

"Why?" he asks.

"I have to start school," I explain as I take a large bite into the granola bar. "It's going g to be awful."

"Why do you say that?" he questions, his expression thoughtful. I

"Well," I say, taking another bite into the bar, "as I said yesterday, I suck at making new friends and I'm going to be new so everyone will be staring at me."

"It won't be that bad," he assures me. "What school are you going to go to?"

"Um I'm not sure but it's some private school."

"Oh," his voice is quiet and he turns to face the pond, staring at the unmoving light blue water. He grabs a small pebble from beside him and tosses it into the water. It hits the surface making a quiet sound and then sinks, leaving rings in the water.

"It's so peaceful here. There's no car horns blaring or people talking. I like it here," he comments.

"Yeah I like it here too," I smile.

"It was like this at my old house." I exclaim as I close my eyes an put my head in my lap.

"Where did you live before?" he asks. I can tell he's staring at me even though I can't see him.

"This little community called Era. You wouldn't know it. It's about an hour and a half away," I sigh.

"You really liked it there. Didn't you?" he infers.

"Yeah," I said. "I did. It was a great place. I would always go and sit under the large oak tree by my house and write my story. There were no sounds except the cows mooing and sometimes hunters shooting their guns. Other than that, it was really quiet." I take a deep breath and continue talking. "My friend Rawlei and I would talk and hang out and she would always inspire me." I raise my head and smile at the the memory.

"I wish I had friends like that," he says.

"You don't have any friends?" I question, surprised.

"Not really. I use to hang out with my best friend named Andy. We did everything together and we practically lived at each other's houses, but he moved away when I was nine. Since then, I haven't really had any friends. People would wave to me and try to talk to me, but I wouldn't try to be their friend."

"Why not?" I ask, curious.

He shrugs. "I'm not sure exactly. I just didn't feel like being close with anyone. I was so sad when he left, I guess I didn't want to get hurt again."

"Why me?" I query, gazing at him.

"What do you mean?" he replies as he runs a hand through his perfectly combed hair.

"Why are you being friendly to me?" My voice is so full of emotion that I can barely speak.

"I'm not sure why," Cole states.

"Oh," my voice sounds distant and I sigh.

"But I'm glad I met you. You're really cool and I like hanging out with you." He throws another pebble in the water and it bounces a few times, creating rings in the water. Finally the pebble sinks into the water.

"Me too."

I'm not sure if this is a good chapter, but anyways, please vote and comment.