(EDITING SLOWLY) Kingdoms of the Galaxy: The Elemental Stones #Wattys2016

The Dreaded Road Trip

I walk out of school, ready to start my fall break, when one of my best friends walks up to me. Her round glasses frame her large, emerald eyes, both complimented by her black-and-bright blue hair. She stands a few inches above me when makes it to where I am.

"Hey, Val. What are you doing over break?" Karrie asks me.

"I'm stuck going on my family's road trip to the Grand Canyon. Talk about boring," I reply, rolling my eyes at her.

"Man, I feel bad for you, girl. I get to go to a PokeCon in California. I'll be sure to give you all the deets!" Her phone vibrates in her pocket and she reads the notification on the screen. "Sorry, I gotta go. My mom is calling me," she says quickly, running towards her mom's car.

'She's so lucky. I wish I could go to PokeCon, too. Maybe this year's trip will be better," I think, 'Nah, that's not gonna happen.'

"Hey, Jake! What are you doing over break?" I ask my best male friend as he walks up to me after talking to one of his other friends. Like Karrie, he's a bit taller than I am, but his shoulder length, blond hair is longer than my thick, brown mess of hair.

"Oh, hey Valerie. I'm headed to Legoland this break. I've been waiting for so long to go there!" Jake says excitedly. "What are you doing?"

"Road trip," I sigh.

"Road trips aren't that bad. You get to sing songs in the car with your family and other cool stuff," he replies.

"Only you would think that's fun, Jake. You don't know the pain of sitting in between my little sisters for days, you're an only child," I smile, "Anyways, I hope you'll have more fun than I will."

"Right back at you!" Jake winks at me and walks off in the opposite direction as I head in the direction of my house.

•••

I'm about halfway to my house when this guy bumps into me and knocks me over. I land hard on the ground and all of my books fall out of my bag. He finally notices after I finish putting all my stuff back and comes over to help me.

"Whoops, I wasn't looking at where I was going," he says, taking my hand and pulling me up, "I've got a lot on my mind right now."

This guy has tan skin, curly black hair and chocolatey brown eyes. He's a little taller than I am, but not by much, maybe 2 inches. On his face is a shocked expression with a hint of sadness behind it, but I don't ask about it. Especially because I don't have any idea who this guy is.

We stand there awkwardly for a few seconds before he breaks the silence, "I am sorry about that, I should have been paying more attention."

"No, it's fine. I was just lost in my thoughts. Anyways, thanks for helping me up, but I have to get home," I weigh the pros and cons of telling this guy my name, but the pros win out, "I'm Valerie, by the way."

"I would tell you my name, but I don't want to spoil anything for you just yet. I'm a friend of yours, you just don't know it, sweetheart," he smirks and walks away, "It was nice seeing you again."

'That guy's weird,' I think before brushing myself off and walking the rest of the way home.

•••