Etteched in Emerald

Chapter 2: Upon First Sight...

     A/N:SO sorry for the lack of updates! actually writing the sequel to this story on an app, and its been taking up a lot of time. okay, on with the chapter....<3 This may be one of the most important chapters of all. so pay attention! jk, you dont have to if you dont want. But thanks a MILLION for reading and if you really like it, please vote. It would positively mean the world to me(: Any criticism is welcomed, so long as it's constructive<3

-Katie:)

          I jogged home alone, to eager to get my  ideas down on paper in order to hitch a ride from Zach. As I was rounding the corner of my street, I instantly spotted my bright apple-red house. My mom painted it from an elegant off-white, too that color two years ago, when I was almost 14. Ever since mom died, dad gave up his attempts to persuade me to let him repaint it. He hated the color, and I loved it to the fullest extent. It reminded me of my mom, her passionate ways, and how suddenly she was taken from me when I needed her most.

     I practically ran up the driveway, which was strewn with mid-autumn leaves. My hair bobbed lazily behind me as I took the steps two at a time up to the giant entrance to my home. I missed the doorknob a few times when I tried to put my key in, but within a few minutes, I'm inside my room and getting out of my uniform and  into some after-school clothes. I dressed casually, not expecting to see  anyone but dad today. I choose a forest green pair of Converse to match my long-sleeve tee shirt, and the stripe that ran down the side of my jogging pants.

     You should probably take for future reference that I'm a complete and total Chuck Taylor-Enthusiast, because its going to become very important. My closet had upwards of 20 shelves, all wrapping around the walls and leading up to the ceiling, which was two-stories high. On each of those shelves, there were at least one hundred pairs, neatly settled next to each other to form a rainbow effect. I've never had to wear the same pair twice since I was 13... Just to give you an idea of the mass-quantity they were in. Anyways, back to the story.

     I tied my mop of mocha curls into an extremely loose braid, dug through my book-bag for my songbook, found a pen, and burned rubber high-tailing out of the back door of that house. I sprinted across the immaculately trimmed, green lawn, not caring that I was splashing through mud and gathering it on my shoes. My lawn was octagonal, huge, fenced in all white, with the occasional pine tree that was evenly spaced and neatly groomed. There was a large  flower garden in the farthest right corner from the house, and behind that was about thirty feet of land that we owned and the maple trees there were spaced closely together. Near the very back of that piece of land, at the base of the rose trellis that separated our property and the people who lived behind us, was a tiny clearing that the sun always seemed to catch in the perfect way, and the grass always grew greener there than you'd ever see anywhere else. The snow that fell there glistened in the most breath-taking fluorescent way, the leaves turned just the brightest shades of red and gold. Damn, even rainclouds parted over the thing too make way for the sun to shine. My secret place.

     My dad didn't know about this little place of mine. He was always either too busy to care, and let's face it, he wasn't the smartest to begin with.  My dad had a busy social life because he  was a lot younger than most fathers of  near 16 year olds,- only 33. He was always there for me, but he was out a lot, due to his job, as he was a succesful lawyer. Mom did a good job of keeping my secret place a secret from him, too. I would always dissapear  there when I was little, and I named it my secret place, im case you hadn't guessed. Because my mother and I were the only ones who knew the clearing even existed.

      It was gorgeous all-year-round, decorated with either green grass, new flowers, glistening snow, or in this time of year, fiery orange, gold, and red leaves. Perfect place to hang out, just think, sing a song, or, hell, have a date. But the only way I ever used it was to write music or just escape from people. Because I hate people. So a date was an unfamiliar thing to me.