Roots

1-the root of it all

It all began with a root. Everything does. Trees, and flowers and even the small yellow weeds must begin somewhere. You began somewhere, too. Your parents and their parents all had a beginning. We all have multiple beginnings. And deep inside, no matter who you are, you want to get to the root of things. You want to know where it all started, how it all started. You want to know where your happiness came from? A root. Your sadness? Again, a root. The only problem with finding the root is, it could be anyone, or anything. You must narrow it down. And that's exactly what caused my downfall. And its exactly what killed me inside. But just maybe, if you can find your root, you can cut it too. Cease the pain, the sorrow and all the bad endings. Well, that's where I step in. And you too Troy. This is where everyone falls into place. They all have a stem on my root, and I need to narrow it down to one. But maybe you should hear about every stem first.

Stem 1: Troy

It was spring. Always my favorite season. Oh and me? I'm Autumn. Yes, like the season. Summer was soon on its way and everything was changing. It was Virginia. That was where I was moving. I had always been in a military family and my father had just decided to move there. Something about better pay and more peaceful neighborhoods. He never liked the neighborhoods here in Oklahoma. He was always talking about how ghetto they were. I didn't care about this move honestly. We hadn't moved much in the past, but I could use a change. I didn't really have any friends at my school. I am in 10th grade, about to go on to 11th grade. I'm what one would consider a loner, I just never really clicked with anyone. But I didn't care, I didn't need friends. We were driving through Tennessee, about to reach Virginia.

We stopped at this sketchy looking gas station to use the restroom and get snacks. And by we, I mean my sister and parents. My sister, Alexa, had called me over to the fruit snacks aisle. I sent her a look of surprise, because she hated all snacks fruity.

"Alexa, I didn't know you were into this kind of thing. What are you gonna get?" I said softly to her.

"Autumn, use your brain! I hate fruit snacks."

"Then...what are you doing over here? You better not be shoplifting."

"Your mad, Autumn. No, look over to your left. By the slushy machine."

That's when I saw him. A hot boy, of course Alexa was by the fruit snacks. She was scoping for boys, as always. She was one of the prettier 9th graders, prettier than most girls in the entire school. She always had a boy falling for her, even though they knew trying to keep a relationship with her was pointless.

I said, "You should talk to him."

"But I bet he doesn't like me. I bet he's seen prettier girls."

I was about to slap her. So fucking hard. But, I didn't. Instead, I pushed her towards the boy and rushed around the corner to watch.

Alexa turned around and made a face at me that made me know she was going to kill me. The boy looked a little bit older than her. He had medium brown skin and a narrow face that outlined his somewhat perfect jaws. He had a nice clean haircut that showed he cared about his hair. His dark skin and black hair were almost perfect. He was wearing a tan hoodie with a army green jacket over, along with blue jeans. He looked a little surprised to see young, blonde 15 year old, who I should mention was blushing really hard, standing in front of him. Lucky for Alexa, the boy struck a conversation.

I didn't hear what they were saying, but the boy kept looking over at me. I was pretending to look at beef jerky. Alexa and the boy both turned to look at me and then he pointed over at me. I bet they were making fun of how ugly I was. I dissed off the looks they were giving me and walked around a bit. I wandered around until I came to the gift shop. There wasn't much to buy, except car accessory's, lighters and pocket knives. My parents were arguing about something by the drinks, like usual. They fight like seven hundred times a week. That's why I never left my room. I crouched down on the pocket knife aisle and picked up a blue turquoise knife. I had just flipped the blade open when a hand touched my shoulder, causing me to jump in shock and cut my hand. The red blood began streaming down the center of my hand. I was about to yell at who ever had touched my shoulder but I stopped.