Life. Love. Time.

September 1st (1)

⚠️TW⚠️ - talk of possible abuse and bullying

   (10 months and 19 days after the accident)

"Life is a gift and disasters are a realization"

I still don't understand why thats so important. As a child my grandmother said those words to me every day. Shed say,

"Harper, every day is a new adventure. Remember Life is a gift and disasters are a realization."

I always remembered that saying. I don't know if it was because of my grandmother repeating the same sentence to me every time I left the house, or the fact that I knew it would eventually mean something to me.

Growing up it was just me, my mom, my grandmother, and Embry. Embry is my little sister, shes 6, she and mom are both Parkers. Emberlynn and Vivian Parker are their names. My grandmothers name is Roxci Reese. She was a performer. She was amazing. But she quit when she fell pregnant with mom. Im the only Dylan in my family. Harper Dylan. Growing up it was always just me and mom. She was a teen parent, 16 years old, and worked hard so she could finish high school and get into Harvard. Two years passed and she ended up going to Yale. Which to her wasnt as good as Harvard but it was good enough, and close to home. Apparently when she went away to college my dad left. I never knew him personally like she did. Mom doesnt talk about dad, neither does my grandmother. All I remember about dad back then is his name is Max Dylan. Hes 32, the same age as mom. I have his ivory black hair and naturally golden tanned skin. I got his height as well. Other than that mom says I look like her. My greenish hazel eyes and slim figure. She says if I wasnt so clumsy, I could be a figure skater like she was at my age, well, before me. Dad tried to come back into our life when I was about 7 or 8. He was nice to me and mom for about a year. Then he became mean and he hurt us. She kicked him out. Mom then met Ace. He was nice. But then he cheated. He left when Embry was 3. He found a new wife, a new kid, a new family. Mom never met anyone else.

"Hey Harpster!"

I walk out my front door, suddenly snapped back into reality, to see my best friend Ash holding his skateboard in place under his foot and two coffees, One in each hand. I make my way down to him, grabbing my skateboard on the way. We've been best friends since before I can even remember. Our earliest memory was in the third grade. I was sitting by myself on the playground after school and these two fifth graders came up to me and took my notebook. They've teased me all year before that and finally Ash came up and got my notebook back. All year after that Ash promised he would never leave my side, and to this day he's kept that promise. He never lets anyone pick on me and I will eternally be his number one friend and will forever have his back. He's always been the cool one out of the two of us. Popular. Attractive. The sweetest guy you will ever meet. Loved and worshiped by everyone. He acts like he doesnt mind it but deep down I know he hates all the attention. But, no matter how popular he got over the years, I've always been his best friend and he's always been mine. I am constantly in his shadow and to be quite honest I dont mind it. I can walk normally beside him and I get waves and smiles like any other average person but never any special attention. At least not from anyone but Ash. To everyone else hes Ashton Owens. Football player. Straight A student. Does loads of community service. But to me hes just Ash, the guy I've known my entire life. Kind. Caring. Never judgmental. Doesnt care about my dad, or lack thereof. He sees me. The real me.

"Hey Ash. You ready for junior year?"

I ask as I hop down the last few steps. I lay my skateboard down next to his and grab the coffee from his outstretched hand.

"Hell yeah! This years going to be epic!"

We make our way to school each with our coffee in hand. I know that this year is going to be the most important year of my life, and I dont know if Im ready for it. It's a new year. Every day, a new adventure, each one better than the last. It's almost been a year since my accident and everything is fine, so why can't I shake the feeling that its not.

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                                                       AUTHORS NOTE

hey guys! thank you for reading my first chapter. this is the first book I've ever written so I'm excited to get some feedback on it. so just a few things,

1. constructive criticism is appreciated, mean comments will be removed.

2. I will try to post updates once a week but I will always let you know if I can't post that week to keep everyone updated.

3. this is for fun so if you have any ideas feel free to let me know in the comments or message me

thank you for reading!