Built To Last

Ch. 1

Tom's POV:

He heard her before he saw her. Walking down a quiet street he didn't expect to see someone come rustling out from someone's hedge, but out they came. She seemed close enough to his age, maybe around 15, with messy hair and a dazed look on her face. The strange girl looked around as though she didn't know where she was or how she got there.

"And her clothes are funny, too," thought Tom. She had on some rumpled flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt, like she had just woken up. As he was looking her over, she turned and saw him.

"Oh, hi," she started, obviously nervous, "so uh you saw me come out of there didn't you."

"Erm yeah, guess I did"

"Yeah so, uh about that, um I'm a little lost, you see," she spoke quickly, trying not to seems suspicious, but it wasn't helping. "See I don't really know how I got there, right? And like, if I'm being honest with you I don't know where we are."

"Huh?" was all Tom could think to say. The stranger was acting, well, strange. Very strange. What was she going on about? Gainseville wasn't a particularly big place. Surely she would at least have some idea of where she was?

Y/n's POV:

Y/n was panicking. All she could remember was waking up in someone's back yard and trying to get out without being noticed. The only way that could be accomplished was, unfortunately, through the hedge. When she emerged from the leaves, there was a boy standing on the sidewalk, looking at her as if she had two heads. For a minute, she felt a little offended that he would look at her like that, and then she remembered they just crawled out of someone's bushes in her pajamas. That'd explain it.

The first thing y/n noticed was how similar the boy looked to a young Tom Petty. She had seen pictures of him from his junior year, and the resemblance was uncanny. He seemed to be around 16 years old, with striking blue eyes, blonde hair that was just getting long enough to no longer be considered short, and a kind of crooked smile. Y/n was a huge Petty fan, and the resemblance was all she could think about until she realized she needed to explain what the guy just saw.

"Oh, hi" well that was a shitty start. Y/n had a habit of speaking rather quickly when nervous. And she was sure as hell nervous right then.

"Oh fuck I look ridiculous," she thought, "What is he gonna think of me now? I don't think this is salvagable." For whatever reason, y/n hated the idea of the Tom-lookalike leaving. Something about him was just so... She couldn't put their finger on it, but something about him was different, in a very good way. And she wanted him to stay.

"So uh you saw me come out of there didn't you.", she continued.

"Erm yeah, guess I did" he replied. His voice was kind of quiet, almost awkward. Y/n figured he was maybe a bit shy.

"At least he's still here," y/n thought, hoping for the best, "Maybe he'll be too confused to leave? Like this is a mystery he wants to solve?" It was worth trying. To be fair, it was a mystery to y/n, so any help solving it would be nice. Maybe Tom 2.0 would be willing to lend a hand.

"Yeah so, uh about that, um I'm a little lost, you see," she continued on. "See I don't really know how I got there, right? And like, if I'm being honest with you I don't know where we are." Maybe if he understood how confused y/n felt, the boy would want to stick around. It was worth a shot.

"Huh?" he replied.

"Fuckkk" thought y/n. She were just about ready to die. This wasn't looking good.

"Uh, haha, yeah so like," she laughed to try to release the tension but it just felt too awkard, "where am I? Or we I guess. Wait no that would be are. Wait ok so, where are we?"

Just for a second, something flashed across the boy's face. Something between a smile and a look of confusion that settled into a small crease between his eyebrows.

"Uh, the street sign is just up there," he said slowly, unsure. He pointed vaguely to his right, and y/n turned to look to see if she could recognize the name. She didn't.

Tom's POV:

As he pointed to the street sign, Tom noticed the sun beginning to set over the roofs of the houses. He began to panick slightly as he realized his dad would be expecting him to be home when he got back from work. Tom was supposed to have been home hours ago, seeing as school had let out early this Friday, but with his dad in a particularly bad mood that morning he had decided to stay out longer. If Earl Petty got home before Tom, he'd have hell to pay for it.

A voice asking him another question brought him out of his train of thought.

"I'm sorry, I just don't think I recognize that name. What part of the city are we in?"

"Oh yeah sorry, uh we're on the west side, by the resevoir."

"Resevoir? I hadn't heard of one, I'll have to check it out. What's it called, the L.A. resevoir? The names here are so boring," she began to laugh.

"L.A? What do you mean?" This was getting weird. Hell, it was weird already! She showed up out of the fucking bushes! But now she thought she was in L.A? This girl was really strange.

"Uh yeah L.A. Why? Are we," she paused, now it seemed to be her turn to think he was weird, "not in L.A?"