A Trip to Remember

Living the Dream Life

Chapter 1

Natalie Willis slumped her shoulders and tapped her desk impatiently. Her eyes drifted to the clock at the front of the classroom, counting exactly thirteen minutes until the bell rang. Thirteen minutes until summer officially started and she could wave goodbye the burdens of school.

The minute hand of the clock was moving tortuously slow. She was itching to jump out of her seat and move it herself. Please just let summer come.

Natalie smiled immediately at the thought of the bright sunny two months of vacation before her senior year began. This summer would be the perfect summer. The perfect start of a perfect senior year. The summer would be full of parties, tanning and sleepovers with her best friend Reyna Johnston and the rest of their troupe.

Natalie sighed with satisfaction every time she thought of where she was in high school. She had worked so very hard to get where she was. The friends, the social status and of course the perfect boyfriend. Matthew Carson, a Jonah McDale High A-list senior and in just a couple of months, a freshman at Stanford.

She held in a little squeal thinking about spending summer with him. They'd been dating for a little over a year now and she still couldn't believe how lucky she was.

The very last bell of the school year rang loud and clear and startled Natalie out of her daydreams. A grin spread on her face and she felt like she could burst out in song just like in High School Musical. Suddenly the thought of singing brought a small frown. She quickly shook her head and brightened up again before  picking up her bag and rushing out the door while straightening her clothes from sitting so long.

Natalie headed straight for the front doors where she knew everyone was waiting. As she floated through the halls with confidence she bit back a smile at the looks of admiration and envy from other girls. At the doors of the school she adjusted her Kate Spade bag and subtly checked her teeth in the glass before stepping out into the warm Los Angeles sunshine.

"Natalie there you are!" Reyna noticed her and pulled her into their circle.

"Hey!" Natalie smiled at her beautiful blonde friend.

"We were just talking about the party tonight at Justin's." Reyna said, filling her in.

"Yeah so we're all gonna meet at my house at like 7, so we can get there at like 9. Kay?" Hannah informed.

"That sounds great! I'll be there." Natalie replied ignoring Hannah's annoying overuse of like as usual.

"What do you think I should wear Nat?" Reyna asked, turning to Natalie.

"You should totally wear that new black mini you got from Guess the other day. Your legs will look amazing!" Natalie said, grinning.

"With your nude Jimmy Choos!" Alia piped in.

Soon all the other girls joined in with suggestions.

"Thanks girls, but I asked Nat didn't I?" Reyna smiled. Natalie noticed though, that her smile wasn't exactly nice.

This shut the other girls up and they moved off of the topic.

Suddenly Alia, who was standing to the left of Natalie, poked her arm. A bit harder than necessary.

"Ooh Nat look who's coming!"

She looked up as she rubbed her arm. But then the slight pain was forgotten and her heart skipped a beat as she saw Matthew walk towards them with that heart melting smile of his.

 "Hey babe." He greeted, walking around the group to drape his arm over Natalie's shoulders. She looked adoringly up at him as he leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips.

"You guys are seriously the cutest ever!" Reyna gushed. The others nodded agreeingly.

Natalie couldn't help but feel pleased when she saw the jealousy in their eyes. Other than Reyna of course. Reyna would never even think of stealing Natalie's boyfriend. In addition to being insanely lucky to have Matthew she was beyond elated to have Reyna as her best friend. Reyna Johnston was the golden girl of their grade and would no doubt rule the school when they were seniors.

Reyna was the type of girl who basically woke up with perfect hair and a clear face. She hardly had to try but she always looked stunning with her shampoo commercial worthy blond curls and big sparkling blue eyes that were identical to the Californian beach waves.

On the contrary, Natalie woke up everyday one hour early to carefully apply makeup, religiously straighten her brown hair to perfection and pick out a stunning outfit.

"Hey babe can we talk in private?" Matthew asked pulling her hand.

She nodded and he led them to a corner.

"What's up?" She inquired.

"Hey I know we planned to spend as much time as possible together until September but this family thing came up." He looked apologetic.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked, concerned.

"My parents want to take me on some family vacation for a week or so in Portland." he rolled his eyes then looked at her sympathetically again.

"I'm so sorry babe that we're gonna miss the first week of summer together but I'll make it up to you ok?"

Natalie felt disappointed but straightened herself up. It was only one week and it wasn't like Matthew had a choice. Anyway they had plenty of time over the summer.

"Don't worry about Matt, it's only a week! I'll miss you though." She smiled understandingly.

"I'll miss you too Nattie." He smiled easily. She giggled at his use of his pet name for her. 

He bent his head down to kiss her and she eagerly reached her arms up to wrap around his neck.

After a bit, they seperated and leaned against each other.

"I love you." Natalie murmured. He smiled.

"Love you too babe."

They stood back from each other and Matthew started backing away.

"I'll see you at Justin's tonight though right?" He asked.

Natalie nodded in confirmation and walked back to her friends with a bounce in her step.

"You are so lucky to have him Nat! You guys are like, perfect." everyone babbled at her when she got back.

She smiled. "Thanks."

After a few more minutes of chatting, Natalie reluctantly said her goodbyes and see you tonights. She had a bus to catch since her Audi was currently at the repairman. As she walked down the steps of Johah McDale she spotted a black mess of hair on the head of a very familiar boy putting his guitar case into his old worn Ford van.

She watched as he very carefully placed his guitar into the back before shutting the trunk door. He walked to the driver door and opened it. Just as he was about to get in, he looked up and caught Natalie's eyes.

For that split second she locked eyes with Devon Taylor, she felt he was peering into everything inside her. But that moment vanished as he continued to get in and start the car. Pretending she hadn't been standing there at all.

She looked away and quickly walked the other way to the bus stop. She was embarassed to be even caught looking at him.

Devon Taylor was old, old history. Way back from the days she even winced to think about. Back when her world was frizzy hair, hand-me-downs and bad music.

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my first attempt in writing something on wattpad ! so sorry if it disappoints :$

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