A Chance for Change (now published so sample only)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Night descended on the land, crickets chirped as the birds softly carolled heralding the dusk. Chance stood at the window in his room looking out, not quite believing how quickly another week had passed. A smile lit his face at all the fun he had since he has been here.

He had spent nearly every waking moment with Sam. They had gone fishing, went riding around the property and had some tasty picnics. He had never met a girl quite like her, she was so special and unique. So tough on the outside but so very sweet on the inside.

He was so used to pushy girls like Brandy that every day was a surprise with Sam. The only downfall was that she avoided touching him under any circumstances and he missed holding her.

He pushed thoughts of Sam from his mind and moved his thoughts to the following day. His last year of high school was beginning tomorrow, not only in a new but also a different country. Lydia had taken him into town to get his school uniform and he'd received some funny looks from some of the other guys his age.

When they returned though, he found that Sam was avoiding him, which upset him way more than it should. A gentle tap on his door that night as he was pacing restlessly was a welcome relief. He called for them to enter and was surprised to find Sam with a rather distressed expression walk in his door.

"Hey Sammy, what's up?" He asked with a grin. She didn't say anything instead she just looked at him getting more upset "Sam are you alright?

"Not really." She said quietly.

"What's wrong?" He walked closer to him and she stepped away, wrapping her arms around herself tightly.

"I have to tell you something." She muttered resolving to tell him now and get it over and done with "This past week has been great, it's probably been the best week of my life."

"Yeah me too." He enthused with a broad grin.

"Just let me finish. But it can't continue." She told him and he felt his heart clench with anxiety.

"Why not?" He asked staring at her sad aqua eyes.

"Because tomorrow you'll find out about...Look I just need you to ignore me at school tomorrow. You need to pretend that I don't exist, for your own sake. You don't need to know why, I am fairly certain someone will tell you." She finished with a caustic laugh feeling defeated.

"Why?" He asked feeling confused.

"It's what everyone will expect."

"Why?"

"Will you stop that?" Sam ordered "Fine, the reason is due to something I did a while back, something really bad. Nobody has ever forgiven me for it." She said quietly with a deep regret etched into her face.

"Oh Sammy what happened?" He asked with such caring.

She almost blurted everything out with him gazing at her with such sympathy in his eyes. Instead she turned and walked away before she burst into tears. He tried to grab her hand but she pulled from his grasp and rushed out of the room. He was left with the distinct feeling that he had no idea what was going on.

When morning inevitably rolled around and his alarm began ringing Chance shut it off absently. He wasn't surprised that Sam wasn't at breakfast, where she had been every previous day. All he could wonder about was their conversation the previous night

Chance ended up stuck with Brandy as they walked down to catch the school bus. She was babbling away about her friends, not being able to drive and other useless bits of information. He couldn't help but compare her to Sam who talked when she had something important to say, but was otherwise a quiet person.