Here I am. 18 years old and ready to start my life on my own. I can do this, I can do anything.
Who am I kidding? I can't do this! I'm just not ready! Please God strike me down with lightning..something! Just don't leave me here!
It's been three days now. I'm still here. Where is here, you ask? Good question. From what I gather, its nowhere you want to be. According to the sign, this blink and you miss it town is Paradise. Paradise, Montana. Population:163..make that 164! Yeah, it's small. Why would I leave my hometown of Clearwater, Florida for this place? What else? A boy. A heartthrob with dark brown hair that flopped over into beautiful blue eyes. His name was Calvin. We met at my favorite hangout spot, Meko's Coffee House. He came in for open mic night. Yeah, he was a musician. Could I have gotten any more cliche? He charmed me with an acoustic version of "Made for you".
Just so happened that was my favorite song. Our eyes met during his performance and my heart stopped beating for a second I swear! I kept hoping he would approach me after his performance. He didn't. I ended up staying at the coffee house for five hours trying to catch his attention. About six cups of coffee and 3 croissants later, the only thing I got was the jitters and a very full bladder.
I eventually gave up and with a final glance at him, I left. It might've been my imagination, but I thought I saw him smile at me. Not just any smile, that "I'm your soulmate" smile. I was hooked. I stalked that place every day for the next month, hoping to see him again.
Finally he showed up. This time when he performed, I was sure he was looking directly at me for most of the song. My heart was beating so fast, I thought it was going to burst through my rib cage! It didn't of course.
I finally got up the nerve to talk to him that night. It wasn't much of a conversation though. It was like, "Hey. You're an amazing singer!" he was like, "Thanks." and then I just stood there blushing and staring at him, willing him to say something more. He did. Eventually. Yeah, he said "Can I help you?" I think at that point I mumbled something like "No..I'm good...I'mgoingtogofeedmycat!" and then I ran off. Seriously. I ran out of there so fast I nearly bumped into the waitress, who glared as I slammed the door shut behind me. I'm sure I looked like a complete idiot. I'm also sure you're wondering how I ended up in Paradise because of this. Well it's simple. I followed him. Some might call that stalking. I call it..well stalking.
Now before you call the cops, just hear me out! You see, after I ran off and hid myself from society for about a week, I finally worked up the courage to return to Meko's. I searched desperately for him, hoping to redeem myself. I even went so far as to ask around to see if anyone knew him. It seemed he was a mystery to everyone, everyone that is except the waitress I had nearly bumped into, that day I tried talking to him. I was in the middle of asking someone else, when she interrupted. "You can find him in Paradise." I stared blankly at her. "Paradise? What, did he like die or something?" she laughed. "Its a very small town in Montana. I'm Cassidey by the way..I'm Calvin's sister." I felt a tremor of shock go through my body, as I examined her more thoroughly and discovered she did in fact resemble him. "Paradise, huh?" I plopped myself into one of the plastic yellow chairs. She sat herself gracefully in the chair across from mine. "If you want I can help you get there. I'm headed that way myself, that's why he was here. To try and get me to come home to see our mother before she.." I tried to think of something to say to that, but my mind was blank. "So how about it?" At first I couldn't quite remember what it was she'd asked.. and being so great at answering people's questions anyways, I just said "Sure." without even thinking. "Great! Meet me here Friday at 8am!" With that she'd gotten up and dashed away. That was when it hit me. I just said I would go with her to Montana. Montana! I'd never even left the State of Florida before! I didn't even know her! Too late to back out now though, besides...I'd been thinking about how I needed to get out and have adventures. This would definitely be an adventure. Now the question was what would I tell my parents!
I waited until Saturday night to tell them. Needless to say they weren't very pleased. However I was 18 and there wasn't a thing they could do to stop me. They just stood there watching as I shoved various articles of clothing into my leopard print suitcases (A gift from my aunt, after we'd sat for 5 hours trying to figure out which black suitcase was mine on our last trip.) I didn't sleep much that night. I just lay in bed and counted down the hours left, until finally it was time.
As I pulled up to Meko's, I again questioned just how intelligent it was to leave with this complete stranger, just to see a guy who didn't know I existed. However, before I could turn around Cassidey had opened my passenger side door and had started buckling herself in. "We'll drive to my apartment first, you can leave your car there. We won't be needing it." I just nodded dumbly and followed her directions to her house.
Her house was boringly simple. No real decorations, and a minimal amount of furniture. There was one picture however. It caught my eye almost immediately. It was a picture of a young Calvin holding onto a snoopy doll. A girl stood in the picture too, a little older than Calvin. She had her arms folded across her chest and wore a scowl on her otherwise pretty face. "Is that you and Calvin?" I surprised myself by asking. "Yes." She had answered, as she grabbed the photo from me and shoved it inside her bag. I wanted to ask her more questions about it, but she seemed a little on edge about something and I didn't want to set her off. After a few minutes had gone by, she finally called out to me that she was ready to leave. I followed her out and I noticed that my car had mysteriously turned itself into a brand new black Camaro. "Get in." was all she'd said to me. I did as she asked. I sat there nervously chewing on my bottom lip as she sped through traffic. When we pulled up to the airport I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and got out of the car, legs shaking like jello. Cassidey had already started pulling our luggage out and was motioning for me to help her, as I grabbed for one of my bags however, I tripped and knocked over one of hers. It opened slightly and a picture slid out. Cassidey didn't seem to notice, so I'd bent over to examine it. A familar face stared back at me.
Mine.
Chapter two
With another quick glance at Cassidey, I picked up the picture and flipped it over. My heart fluttered as I saw my name. Gina Kingsley. I couldn't figure out why this strange girl had a picture of me. How long had she had it? The weirdest part was this picture seemed several years old. I'd only known her for a few weeks at most! I realized I was staring at the picture so intently that I had failed to notice that Cassidey had turned around and was now staring at me just as intently. Suddenly very nervous, I began to giggle uncontrollably. "This..uh ..this is a terrible picture of me.." Cassidey just glared. "So sorry. Now if you're done being a nosy litttle snoop, we have to go." I hurridely grabbed for my bags and scurried after her. It was thankfully a short plane ride, though it was intensly awkward. Everytime I tried to start any sort of conversation I was shut down inmmediately with a glare. She did say one thing during out trip..Yeah..She said, "I hope you're worth it." She had said this so quietly I wasn't sure I'd heard her correctly. Either way it wasn't something I could respond to, so I just stared at the back of the seat ahead of me until we landed.After the landing everything became a blur, I was shuffled around here and there. Luggage practically thrown at me, as I was dragged around this unfamilar airport. "I had some friends leave a car for us here." "Oh." I said, distracted momentarily by the large display of taxidermied wildlife on every wall. The wonders of Montana. We loaded our belongings into a faded blue Jeep Cherokee and after an hour and a half long ride in silence, Cassidey finally became more talkative. "Gina." She said in a sugary sweet voice. "Yes?" I asked cautiously. "You sweet little darling you. I know I've probably gotten you all freaked out but everything is going to be just fine now!" "Just fine? I wasn't aware that I was in any sort of danger in the first place!" Cassidey's tone changed. "Then you're an idiot." I just blinked at her in surprise. "Um..Gee thanks?" Changing back into her sugary tone she said, "There are some very bad people who have an interest in you." in me? I thought to myself. What do I have to offer to "bad people?"
I was preparing to ask Cassidey for further information on these so called "bad people", when we arrived at a rundown two story house. The grass was over grown, and it was painted the most visually unappealing shade of pink. The crooked stairs leading to the dilapidated porch looked menacing to someone like me, who is already ridiculously capable of falling face first at the slightest incline.
I managed to make it up the stairs just fine and I admired the flakes of chipped paint on the doorframe as I waited for Cassidey to find her keys and unlock the door.
"You'll be sharing a room with me." she said over her shoulder, as she began tossing luggage on the floor. I tried to help her by grabbing one of the largest pieces of luggage but it was snatched roughly out of my hands by a large older woman who I hadn't noticed previously. She seemed to be in her late 40's to early 50's and she reeked of stale cigarette's. She towered over me at what I'd say was to be about 5'11 and was about twice as big around. "Who is this little twig?" her throaty voice seeming loud and intimidating to my ear. Cassidey was unfazed though, she simply shrugged and said, "Just a friend." without further explanation, she picked up her bag, motioned for me to do the same and walked toward a set of stairs. "My bedroom is up here and to the right."
I was still waiting to be formally introduced to the glaring figure before me but decided it would be in my best interest to follow her to what I hoped would be my sanctuary. We were halfway up when Calvin appeared at the top. "Sis! You did decide to come home." He threw his arms around his sister, who returned his embrace happily. Shock registered over his face when he stepped back and noticed me standing timidly behind her. "Cass, what did you do? Why is she here?" "I'll explain later, it was in our best interest that she come with me." He raised his eyebrows at her, obviously communicating they needed to talk about this as soon as possible. Worried that I'd somehow offended him by my being there, I awkwardly began fidgeting with the strap on my luggage. Somehow I managed to lose my grip on it completely and both myself and my leopard printed luggage, went tumbling down the stairs. My bumps and bruises were forgotten quickly however, when Calvin's peircing blue eyes were staring concernedly at me as he reached down to help me up. "Are you alright Gina?" Startled that he knew my name, I mumbled something like "um.." and then began nodding like a bobblehead. "Here, I'll take this for you." He picked up the suicidal suitcase and guided me up the stairs and into the bedroom. Setting the suitcase by the door, he leaned against a nearby dresser. Cassidy, who was already unpacking her bags, glanced up momentarily only to point towards the dresser he was leaning on. "You can put your things in there." As I moved towards the dresser, Calvin stood up straight and brushed past me out of the room. His arm just grazing my own and causing me to swoon a little. My eyes darted quickly to Cassidey to see if she'd noticed but she still seemed preoccupied. Then suddenly she said, "My mother isn't really dying." "Well..that's good news then." I said, not really knowing how I should respond. "They were just trying to get me to come home again, or at least Cal was.. Mom couldn't care less where I am."
I managed to make it up the stairs just fine and I admired the flakes of chipped paint on the doorframe as I waited for Cassidey to find her keys and unlock the door.
"You'll be sharing a room with me." she said over her shoulder, as she began tossing luggage on the floor. I tried to help her by grabbing one of the largest pieces of luggage but it was snatched roughly out of my hands by a large older woman who I hadn't noticed previously. She seemed to be in her late 40's to early 50's and she reeked of stale cigarette's. She towered over me at what I'd say was to be about 5'11 and was about twice as big around. "Who is this little twig?" her throaty voice seeming loud and intimidating to my ear. Cassidey was unfazed though, she simply shrugged and said, "Just a friend." without further explanation, she picked up her bag, motioned for me to do the same and walked toward a set of stairs. "My bedroom is up here and to the right."
I was still waiting to be formally introduced to the glaring figure before me but decided it would be in my best interest to follow her to what I hoped would be my sanctuary. We were halfway up when Calvin appeared at the top. "Sis! You did decide to come home." He threw his arms around his sister, who returned his embrace happily. Shock registered over his face when he stepped back and noticed me standing timidly behind her. "Cass, what did you do? Why is she here?" "I'll explain later, it was in our best interest that she come with me." He raised his eyebrows at her, obviously communicating they needed to talk about this as soon as possible. Worried that I'd somehow offended him by my being there, I awkwardly began fidgeting with the strap on my luggage. Somehow I managed to lose my grip on it completely and both myself and my leopard printed luggage, went tumbling down the stairs. My bumps and bruises were forgotten quickly however, when Calvin's peircing blue eyes were staring concernedly at me as he reached down to help me up. "Are you alright Gina?" Startled that he knew my name, I mumbled something like "um.." and then began nodding like a bobblehead. "Here, I'll take this for you." He picked up the suicidal suitcase and guided me up the stairs and into the bedroom. Setting the suitcase by the door, he leaned against a nearby dresser. Cassidy, who was already unpacking her bags, glanced up momentarily only to point towards the dresser he was leaning on. "You can put your things in there." As I moved towards the dresser, Calvin stood up straight and brushed past me out of the room. His arm just grazing my own and causing me to swoon a little. My eyes darted quickly to Cassidey to see if she'd noticed but she still seemed preoccupied. Then suddenly she said, "My mother isn't really dying." "Well..that's good news then." I said, not really knowing how I should respond. "They were just trying to get me to come home again, or at least Cal was.. Mom couldn't care less where I am."
