Counting Stars

let's begin, shall we?

Avery

"This is all your fau- " I jammed one of my tangled earbuds into my ear to drown out the sound of my parents' crumbling marriage. They had been fighting everyday and every night, and even though they tried to look like they were getting along when I was around, there was no mistaking the death glares they shot each other from across the room as 'looks of love'. 

Bon Iver's 'Skinny Love' could only mask some of their bickering, and occasionally I would catch the slam of a door or my mother's aggrivated nagging through the hum of the guitar chords. Sighing, I pryed open a random book from my shelf, praying that reading would help me escape, if only for a moment. 

Though my peace only lasted for a split second, before a loud, urgent knocking interrupted me, causing a groan to escape my lips. 

"Listen, mom, if this is about you and da- " I shouted, before another hard rap cut me off. Annoyed, I paused the song and pushed myself up from my comfortable seat in bed. Twisting the gold knob and swinging open the door, I was greeted with nothing but the sound of my parents in their usual verbal brawl downstairs. 

"Avery!" I heard a muffled, male voice call from across the room. Furrowing my eyebrows together, I cast my gaze to the other side of my bedroom and almost stumbled backwards when I saw a pair of clear blue eyes staring back.

"Ahh," I let out a squealish scream before I realized who those striking eyes belonged to. "Wes, you scared the crap out of me!" 

I scurried over to my window sill and unlatched the locks before hoisting up the white frame. There, panting, with the widest grin on his face, was Wesley or Wes, the neighbor's dreamy idiot of a son. 

He was a sweet guy, a little too spacy though. His parents were one of the only reasons the town church was running, his dad being the paster and his mom always organizing one fundraiser or another. Wes was the middle child, so naturally he'd be this way. His older brother was the closest thing to a legend we had down here, being the local highschool's star football player-come-top student. And his little sister was always in and out of the hospital, so naturally she got the other portion of attention that already wasn't being fed to Wes's brother. 

And then there was Wes. Good-spirited, friendly, but always seemed to have his head stuck in the clouds. And he was the middle child, so by default, he wasn't given much of a chance. 

"What are you doing here?" I whisper-shouted to him, even though my parents were far too preoccupied to notice that the neighbor's son was danging on a tree outside their daughter's window.

After a moment's pause, Wes's pink lips tugged up into a grin and a twinkle came across his clear, baby blue eyes. Extending out a large hand from my tree branch, he quirked up an eyebrow and casually asked,

"Do you want to go on an adventure?" 

And at the time, I didn't know the meaning of that question. I didn't know that it held so much more behind it than eight simple words, than just one question. 

But at the time, all I could hear was the sound of my parents's shouts getting louder and louder and our family slowly crumbling to the ground, so I replied,

"Yes." 

i hope you guys are enjoying this as much as i am. c:

oh i am oh so excited to keep writing this, it's helping me get my writing mojo back & i just love this idea and writing it and oh sweet baby jesus i'm getting too excited. :3

okay, so, if you comment and leave your opinions that'd be rad. & if you happen to vote too, i'll love you forever. 

best commenter gets a dedication! <3

kisses :* & have a cool beans day ahead of youuu. 

-zoya