My Own Personal Hell
By: LightHope1
I have been obsessed with the new CW show Hart of Dixie and my mind has been swarming with story plots. So I figured I'd try this out.
Feel free to leave me comments and any advice or story direction. I have a path of where I'd like to see this to go but I am always open to suggestions :)
BTW: I gave Ms. Hart the first name of Elizabeth (if its revealed in the show I'll make the proper changes)
Things I own: 1.5 Liter of Publix Spring Water Things I don't own: Hart of Dixie
What if Zoe Hart spent her senior year of high school in Bluebell, Alabama? How would it lead her to be a doctor and the choices and places she went because of it? How do Lavon, Wade, George and Lemon play into the equation?
Chapter One: Long Hot Summer
It was hot. Hotter than it was supposed to be for August in Bluebell.
Zoe Hart was having none of it. Even after her cold shower, she could feel the sweat materializing at the edges of her hairline. She changed into shorts and a tank top and used her towel to dry her hair.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Zoe grumbled as she collapsed onto her queen size bed.
She hated the humidity in the south almost as much as she hated her mother for making her stay in Bluebell.
It had been exactly 87 days since she boarded the plan from New York to Montgomery.
Zoe in that moment thought about her mother. How she had ended up in this predicament with no escape and with a one year sentence.
When she was 10, her mother told her that Zoe's real father lived in Bluebell, Alabama and went by the name of Dr. Harvey Wilks.
Her mother told her that Harvey had been awarded visiting rights and that they had come to an agreement about how those visitations would play out.
So every summer after her 10th birthday, Zoe Hart made the journey to Bluebell.
It wasn't exactly the worst circumstances. Zoe got to know her real father and to fall in love with being a doctor. In the early years, coming to Bluebell was a vacation. She made friends with the local kids but never got attached because she knew that come August 1st she would go back home.
As Zoe reached high school, she wanted to stay in New York. During her junior year, Zoe took a part time job to avoid going to Bluebell. Ms. Hart got concerned when her daughter's grades began to slip and she stopped coming home at night.
Zoe had fallen into the wrong crowd.
Then the cops showed up with Zoe at Ms. Hart's front door one morning at the end of junior year.
They warned her of Zoe's bad associations and how it could end up with her daughter in jail.
Ms. Hart tried to take her daughter to therapy but it failed miserably.
As a last ditch effort, Elizabeth (Ms. Hart) called Harvey. She told him about the situation and they agreed that Zoe should spend her senior year in Bluebell.
So it was decided that Zoe would ended up in Bluebell, Alabama for more than a summer.
It was her version of a personal hell.
Zoe stretched, got up from her bed and finished doing her makeup. As she took the stairs in twos she could hear her father on the kitchen phone.
"No Liz, Zoe didn't ask about you yesterday."
There was a long pause.
"She won't be angry forever. She's just being a teenager. I'll pass along your message. Have a good day Liz. " Harvey said.
Zoe ducked under the telephone cord and opened the food pantry. She grabbed a box of cereal and milk from the fridge. As she poured, her father cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Zoe that was your mother on the phone and She…"
"She wanted to say I could come home?" Zoe interrupted.
"Well no, not that but rather she hoped you wouldn't stay mad at her." He said while rubbing his hands together. "You know she is your mother."
"She sent me to Bluebell for a whole year! I don't get to be with my friends for my senior year, I think I can be angry for a while. I have to start all over at a new school and somehow get accepted at a respectable university far away from here." Zoe said while putting the milk away and grabbing her bowl. "I'll be eating on the porch."
Harvey frowned and sighed. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.
Zoe sat staring at the pond and toying with the idea of going swimming. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a white blur. She pretended not to notice and counted till ten.
"BOO" shouted Wade Kinsella from behind Zoe's rocking chair.
Zoe smirked and leapt out of the rocking chair into Wade's arms. He caught her in mid jump and swung her around till she landed on her feet.
She barely reached Wade's arm pit. A few years back, Wade had been shorter than Zoe. Now he had filled out and grown up.
"I cannot believe you're back Wade!" Zoe said as she adjusted her tank top.
"Well, I couldn't stay away from you Zoe Hart." He said while winking at her.
She punched his arm and smiled. "I've been living a personal hell all summer and you were up in the North Carolina mountains for 2 ½ months. "
"Darling, I was working hard."
"At an all girl's summer camp, I think you managed just fine. You didn't have to stay in Bluebell!"
He smirked, "There wasn't a girl half as pretty as you."
" The flattery means nothing to me Wade just as much as your attempts to scare me."
"Hell, it's worth trying. I know you ain't 11 anymore but when I do scare you it's a funny sight."
Zoe smirked and placed her hands on her hips. Wade's eyes did a once over at that moment. He noted to himself that turning seventeen had been good to Zoe Hart.
"Well, what are you doing here so early? I know it's not to see your friend from New York."
"Momma sent me over to ask if your father would make a house call. She's not feeling very well and doesn't want the town to know. You know how the gossip chain starts." He stated.
Zoe nodded in understanding. She had been the victim of a certain Lemon Breeland's gossip chain that very summer.
"Well, we should get my dad."
The two teenagers walked into the house and found Harvey in his study. Pictures lined the walls of the study; most of the photos were of patients and Zoe. Medical books were crammed in everywhere and spilling over his large desk. Dr. Harvey was a very unique general practitioner. He always said it was better to know a little bit of everything rather than only knowing about one thing.
Wade explained his mother's situation and the doctor agreed immediately to help.
"I'm leaving you in charge of the house Zoe." Harvey said as he gathered his medical supplies.
"I got it covered. Wade, are you going with my dad?" she asked hoping he would stay.
Wade smirked and nodded.
It was a simple fact. Zoe liked Wade Kinsella. Everyone knew but Wade.
But there was a very big problem; he was her oldest friend in Bluebell which automatically sabotaged any chance of them ever dating.
Besides, Wade liked tall southern blonde girls with no IQ.
Zoe Hart would never fit that bill.
"I got to go with your dad to check in with my momma and then I got my first day at the Rammer Jammer." Wade said.
Zoe sighed. "I guess I'll see you on Monday at school."
"Sounds about right Zoe, hopefully this heat wave will break before then."
Harvey watched his daughter talk with Wade. He knew there was something between them that was obvious. But he didn't know how he felt about the whole situation just yet.
"Well Wade, we best be going and heading out to your place. I'll see you at supper Zoe." Harvey interrupted and placed his hand on Wade's shoulder.
Zoe nodded at her father abrupt comment and watched the two men walk out the front door.
As Wade slowly closed the door and he gave one last lingering look at Zoe Hart standing alone in the empty room.
"That rain better come soon." He said to himself.
Zoe was lost in a trance till she heard a rustle come from the back to the house. She fallowed the sound to the back porch where she was greeted by the prettiest blue eyed creature on four legs.
"Where did you come from?" she asked the puppy.
The pup barked and went back to her cereal bowl that she had forgotten on the porch when Wade had arrived.
"You found my food. Is that why your still here?" she asked while picking up the bowl. "Well, let me see if I can find something for you."
She opened the screen door and the puppy dashed inside.
"NO!" Zoe screamed as she attempted to chase the puppy around the house. "You have got to be kidding me!"
Zoe had no experience with animals. Her mother despised them.
Finally, Zoe stopped in the kitchen and pulled chicken out of the fridge.
"I am going to outsmart you puppy."
The dog stopped in the living room and watched Zoe take the chicken from its container.
"Here, puppy puppy puppy."
Zoe placed the chicken on the floor and the dog dashed towards it. As he finished eating, Zoe scooped him up and promptly placed him on the back porch.
"You're going to have to wait on my father. Trust me puppy, it could be a while."
The dog tilled his head and licked his chops.
"There ain't more chicken either."
Zoe collapsed into the rocking chair and the puppy lay down next to her feet. She could feel it getting hotter by the second.
"Could it get any worse?" she asked while closing her eyes. "All I want to do is go back to New York."