Chapter 1
They say that as time passes, things change. And as things change, people leave. And as people leave, memories fade. But the one thing time cannot touch is the heart, for the heart never forgets.
As Adrianna sat on the small mountain that overlooked her hometown, she couldn’t help but think how true this statement was. It has been ten years since she last seen Jasper City, and in the decade she was gone, the town she grew to love transformed into a beautiful sprawling city. Dozens of skyscrapers that weren’t there before now rose from the ground like the ancient Douglas fir trees scattered around the mountains. The expansion of the city also seemed to clear the outskirt areas of most of its farmland and trees. Unfortunately the old house she once lived in also happened to be part of the area that became demolished a few years ago. Apparently the previous owner decided to sell it to the city to get some profit.
Yet despite the changes made to the metropolitan, the feeling of familiarity overwhelmed her. She couldn’t feel sad for the loss of her old home because the city itself was her home. Everything from the fresh smell of morning rain, to the cawing of the ravens in the sky brought her back to the past. It made her remember forgotten memories. It made her feel at home. She was glad to be back.
Adrianna smiled faintly as she finished reminiscing about her past. Although it was nice to visit the place she once spent hours playing at, she knew that she shouldn’t dwell there for long periods of time to think. It was best not to live in the past when the present is happening right now and then. With one final look around the lush forest, she took her bike and rode it down the mountain, towards the city.
Along the way home, Adrianna saw a group of children playing in a park at the base of the mountain. For a moment her hazel eyes lingered on them, before she quickly looked away. But by the time she did so, it was too late. The image of a girl and boy playing together instantly transported her back to the past. Suddenly, instead of seeing the clear cut pathway that she was riding her bike on, her vision glazed over and she found herself reeling in one of her old memories.
It was her seventh birthday today and it was the day she decided that she did not need her daddy to look after her while she was playing in the tree house he built two years ago. She was a big girl now and she could look after her own safety. So when she gave him a list of reasons on why he should let her play by herself, he gave an amused laugh and agreed. Mommy wasn’t as happy when she heard the news, but somehow he managed to convince her by saying some magical words. After eavesdropping in their conversation, she remembered that he told her mommy that “Kids need the chance to explore their environment and make mistakes while playing without us grownups hindering their curiosity. It’s a way of learning and developing their skills.”
Whatever he meant, Adrianna was just happy that they let her go off into the forest where her tree house was. With that in the back of her mind, she climbed up the ladder excitedly and popped her head through the trap door. What she didn’t expect was someone else to be in her tree house, staring right at her. She huffed angrily as she pulled herself up onto the wooden floors and crossed her arms. She did not like sharing her tree house with random kids she did not know, especially not with boys since they had cooties and all.
“Who are you and why are you in my tree house?” demanded Adrianna as she watched the small boy peak out at her from under the table. For a moment, she almost felt bad for being so mean to him. He looked a little frightened and maybe nervous by her presence. But he did come into her tree house without permission... So maybe she had a tiny right to be mean.
The boy did not speak. He merely cocked his head to the side and stared back at her with emotionless blue eyes. As he continued to study her, all the fear and anxiety vanished from his face. Then with quick speed and agility, he was suddenly in front of Adrianna.
She almost gasped from how fast he was. She had never seen a boy her age this quick before. Suddenly Adrianna became very scared. Maybe she should have brought daddy with her today because he would have sent this boy straight to Jupiter. After all, he did look like he’s from some other world. When he spoke, she almost thought her heart would burst from her chest.
“I don’t see a name written on the tree house, so you can’t just go claiming that this is yours. I have the right to stay here too. It’s a free country you know?” he retorted back with a smirk forming on his small lips and a gleam in his eyes.
Adrianna’s mouth dropped. She couldn’t believe she had just heard that come out from his mouth. The nerve of him! Who did he think he was? Her seven year old brain was about to explode. “Of course this is mine! My daddy built it for me! Not boys that come from outer space! Now as the princess of the castle, I demand you to leave!” she said angrily as she crossed her arms again.
The boy grinned. “No,” he stated before walking to a chair and plopping himself down. “You can’t make me.”
“This isn’t funny!” complained Adrianna. “I think—” she stopped talking when she noticed red stuff dripping on the boy’s left arm. Her eyes widened as she took two steps towards him and grabbed his arm. She nearly fainted from all the sticky liquid that was oozing out from a deep long cut. “You have a...a...a—”
The boy slapped her hand away from him and stood up immediately. He tried to wipe away some of the blood with his black shirt, but more kept dripping down. He winced in pain as he looked away from her. It looked like he was struggling not to cry. “You know what, you’re right, I’m going to leave,” he mumbled before walking around her.
Suddenly Adrianna felt very bad for him. She knew boys who got a paper cut who cried their eyes out, but him, she could tell he was very brave. Despite wanting to kick him out before, she decided that she wanted to help him. So before he could leave through the trap door, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. “Don’t leave... Uh let me fix it for you,” she said quietly.
“Yeah right, what are you going to do? Play fairy doctor?” snorted the boy as he tried to pull his shirt back from her clutches.
Adrianna pursed her lips in anger. “No, I’m in girl scouts you know! They teach first aid to big kids, but I like to watch them sometimes. I can help you!”
The boy grimaced at the thought and shook his dark hair. “Uh no I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’d like to keep my arm attached.”
She rolled her eyes at him and somehow managed the strength to drag him over to the table again. “Stay!” she ordered before going to the side and grabbing the first aid kid her daddy left just in case someone gets hurt in the tree house. Biting her lips she looked through the items until she saw the hello-kitty band aids. She grinned before grabbing a bunch of them out before walking towards him. “Now you’re going to stay still while I put these on...”
The boy stared at the band aids in her hands in horror before shaking his head. “Get that away from me!” he ordered as he pushed her hands away from him. “They won’t even cover a quarter of my cut.”
“No it will, I promise it won’t hurt—”
He immediately pushed Adrianna to the side and walked towards the first aid kit. For a moment, he studied the content in it before he pulled out some alcohol rubs and a packet of white looking cloth with some safety pins attached to it. Then he looked around the tree house to see if there were any water bottles or tissues lying around. Although he couldn’t find any water bottles, he ended up cleaning most of the blood that was running down his arm with the alcohol rubs and the napkins he found on the bookshelf. The hard part came when he had to wrap the white cloth around his arms, but he refused to let the stupid girl in front of him help.
Adrianna frowned as he watched him. He looked like he knew so much more information about first aid then her! It was not fair! He didn’t look like the type of boy to go to boy scouts either! Just as she was about to sit down and wait for him to finish, she noticed that he was having difficulties wrapping the white cloth around his arm. She grinned and immediately snatched it from his hands. “Oh just give it up! I know you can’t do it by yourself,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone as she tried to wrap the gauze around his arms.
The boy nearly snapped at the poor job she was doing, but he managed to stop himself when she looked up into his eyes and smiled when she was done. It was beautiful, something he never really saw on anyone he knew. His father never smiled, or if he did it was always in a mocking manner. Closing his eyes, he shook the thought out of his head before he focused on clipping the safety pin onto the gauze in order to keep it from falling apart.
“You’re welcome!” sung Adrianna as she beamed proudly at what she had accomplished today.
The boy merely rolled his eyes at her. “Whatever...” he mumbled before standing walking to the exit again.
“Hey where are you going?” demanded Adrianna.
“Wherever you’re not.”
She huffed at his reply. “Okay but what’s your name?” she demanded.
“Well that’s for me to know and you not to know,” he replied simply before disappearing through the trap door.
Adrianna’s eyes shot open to the sound of someone shouting and the dull throbbing pain around her body. Looking around, she found herself on the ground, with her arms and knees scrapped. She swore as she shook herself out from her memory and tried to stand up. She nearly fell over when someone wrapped their strong muscular arms around her waist.
“You should really watch where you are going,” spoke the deep masculine voice.
“Yeah I know,” snapped Adrianna. “Oh and thanks for asking how I’m doing, I’m feeling just peachy,” she grumbled sarcastically before looking towards the person that helped her up. Her breath nearly caught in her throat when her eyes connected with the male’s electric blue ones. For a moment, she felt the feeling of familiarity weighing down in her heart, but she ignored it. A migraine was already starting to form in the back of her head from the lack of sleep since moving here this morning. That plus falling down from her bike and losing some blood doesn’t help either.
The male chuckled and let go of her. He was about to say something, but suddenly another person suddenly ran up to her. “Oh my god! I saw you crash! Are you okay?” demanded the blonde haired boy with wide eyes.
Adrianna rolled her eyes and scoffed at the dramatic boy in front of her. What were with all these guys coming to her rescue and worrying about her? Last time she checked, she could handle herself. Heaving a sigh, she picked up the bike that lay on the dirt path and hopped back on. She almost groaned from the sting of her cuts, but brushed it away to reply to him. “Yes I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”
“Do you need help getting home?” asked the blonde haired boy again. “It looks like you took quite an impact with your body when you fell from your bike. What were you thinking?” He inquired curiously.
Now Adrianna just got annoyed from his constant worry about her. “Like I said I’m fine—”
The boy put his hands in the air and grinned sheepishly. “Okay, I get it you’re fine. Anyways I haven’t seen you around the area before, are you new here?” he asked.
“Yes and no.”
“Yes and no?” he asked with a confused look on his face.
Adrianna sighed at the thought of having to explain further. “I lived here before, but I moved. Now I’m back again.”
“Ah I see... Well the name’s Simon and it’s nice to meet you,” he beamed as he stuck his hand out.
“I’m Adrianna,” she replied before shaking his hand. “Now if you will excuse me, I have to go now.”
Simon immediately jumped in front of her bike to stop her from leaving. “Wait will I see you at Crescent Valley High tomorrow?”
She groaned at his persistent personality. “Yes! Now let me leave be.”
Simon grinned sheepishly again before stepping out of the way. “Okay I’ll see you tomorrow then!”
As he walked away, Adrianna turned to look for the other boy that was with her before he got interrupted by Simon, but he was nowhere to be seen. It was almost as if he disappeared into thin air. She frowned at the thought. He had been awfully quiet and didn’t bother to let her know that he was going to leave either. For a few seconds she continued to mull over those thoughts before she shrugged her shoulders and riding off towards the city. Whatever, it was not as if she was going to see him again, plus he seemed like the douche type anyways.
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So how do you guys like the story so far! I'm trying to work on updating the story every 5-7 days.
Comment and vote please! :D