When the Leaves Fall

1

Moving away is scary. Moving away without anyone you know is scarier. Moving away without anyone you know and having no clue where you are going is even scarier. As I sat on the bus, my mind drifted back to Illinois. The house robbery. The gunshots. The yelling. The hospital. All the orphanages. A glimmer of hope. An aunt, in Alabama. No more orphanages. All of it led up to this cold bus ride. A wave of tiredness came over me, I let it take me away into my dreamless sleep.

"Lil missy," a mans voice spoke. "Time ta wake up. You're here." I woke up, slowly opening my eyes. "Thank you sir." The man nodded and walked away, and I grabbed my bag and hopped off the bus. As I walked down the crowded streets of Guntersville, I pulled out the card with my aunt's address on it.
Caroline Jonas
8342 Lakeview Rd.
Guntersville Al, 35487

I looked around for Lakeview, not finding it, so I asked a man walking down the street. He looked taken aback by the address, pointing north of the river, then running off, scared. What was his problem?

As I walked down the street, coming up to the house, I looked at my watch, deciding it was still early, and the smell of the lake basically pulled me to it. I sat on the pier, watching waves roll in. It was calming. Everything was calm for once. It felt good. Then of course, no more calm. A group of boys had come onto the pier.
"This is our pier. Off it. Now."
"Why should I? Public property. It's mine just as much as it is yours. Beat it."
"Never seen you 'round here," the tallest one spoke. "Boys, wanna give her a lesson on how it works?"

I aimed for the crotch, punching the older boy, aiming perfect. He gasped and fell down, rolling off the pier. The other boys looked at me in astonishment before the boy swam up for air. "GET THAT BRAT!" I might be able to take one guy, but not six. I got into a defensive position, arms covering my face. I prepared for the punches and kicking, but it never came. I opened my eyes, wondering why they didn't punch. I only saw a brown haired boy sitting on the pier.
"You ok?"
"Who are you!?! Why would you even help me?"
"Well, when I see a little fine lady sitting on a pier, bout to get beat to death by the Rockies boys, I try to help."
"Rockies boys? Who are they?"
"You don't know who the Rockies boys are! Wait.....never seen you here before. You must be new to Guntersville. What's your name?"
"Autumn. Autumn Jonas. What's yours?"
"Oakley. Oakley Gaines. Nice to meet you, Autumn."