Chapter 1 – Briarwood

Nick took a sharp turn around the bend in the road and I screamed hiding my face in his shoulder.

"Ha! Are you scared?" He asked "What happened to 'I'm not scared of anything'?"

"It evaporated as soon as you started the bike." I screamed as I felt the bike tilt sideways, and I knew we had swerved around another turn.

"Relax, Xylie. I've never crashed." Darn you, Nick, and your arrogant attitude!

"Not yet, you haven't. But, like Grandpa always says 'There's always a first for everything'!" I screamed, head still buried in Nick's shoulder, as we slide to a stop. I peeked my head out of Nick's shoulder and saw a sign that read 'Briarwood'. Behind it was a cliff and in the valley behind the cliff was Briarwood.

"There it is. Briarwood." Nick picked up his feet and we were once again on our way to Briarwood.

I had once again hidden my face in Nick's shoulder and he was still swerving around the twisting and turning corners. I made a promise to myself. I was NEVER going to ride with Nick on a bike again. I would save up and buy a car. An old one that didn't go over 70 miles per hour.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and Nick lost control over the bike. It skidded across the road and into the ditch, flinging Nick and me away. Nick farther into the ditch and me into a tree.

Nick coughed and stood up. "What the crap was that?" he saw me fighting with the ground to stand up and limped over to help me up.

"I hate trees!" I growled as I dusted myself off. "If I ever get my own house it is going to be in the middle of a clearing where there are no trees for 800 miles!"

"What happens if your future husband loves trees?" Nick asked.

"Too bad. He can either deal with it, like a real man, or get a divorce." I walked over to his stupid bike and jerked it into an upright position. I snapped my head towards him.

"Can we please get going. I wish to take a bath and relive my aching muscles." He chuckled as we hopped onto the bike and sped off down the road. He always found my suffering funny. Or maybe it was just the way I handled my suffering that he found funny.