Thank You for Visiting Charming
Her eyelids closed as the yellow checkered cab took her out of the town she had grown up in. The town she had fallen in love with. Charming, California was the town Tara Knowles fell in love in. It had been a love full of faults and mistakes; hardships littered her memory. That feeling of doubt buried itself in the pit of her stomach, the way it did when she was doing something mischievous with Jax. Her senses heightened as those memories swept through her; the smell of whiskey, the prickling of a needle etching a tattoo against her skin, his breath against her neck. Her forehead hit the window; a slight grimace as a small 'thud' is heard. "Good thing you're getting out of here girl." The taxi driver couldn't be more right.
"That obvious huh?" Her lips were curled despite the thoughts on her mind. Her eyes popped open, the road already a one lane highway. It didn't take long once outside of Charming to hit nothing but tall grasses and mountains in the not-too-far distance. "Never really thought I'd be one of those girls who'd up and leave after high school." Then again, she seemed like the only one in her school who'd accomplish much of anything. "I'm not one to say no to a college education though," Her eyes followed the uneven stalks of grass outside the car before closing. "Mom wouldn't like that much."
The taxi driver gripped the steering wheel as the speedometer hit close to 80. He'd never been to college and didn't have much to add, but he could appreciate the young woman's enthusiasm. "World always needs more professionals. But don't grow up too fast now. Being an adult isn't all that fun. There has to be some fond memories you've got from growing up in Charming." The older man didn't like seeing Tara depressed. He wasn't from Charming, but had shuttled enough of the city's citizens over the years. He'd seen most of the kids in that town grow up just outside his window.
She shrugs with a sense of defeat in her actions. "Hardly," she blurts out at first, her eyelids refusing to open. Though she wishes she would, Jax's devilish grin, puppy dog blue eyes, and luscious sandy locks were plastered on her eyelids. "Well, I have – had – some good friends." If by 'good' she meant people who share the experiences of being arrested and getting drunk almost nightly then she had the best of friends. "We had fun." That statement was true. Their choices were poor, the consequences poorer, but she'd be lying if it hadn't of been a hoot.
Tara hears the driver poke and prod her for more details. She's not really in the mood to divulge much to the gray-haired driver. She knows he's familiar with the town, has been for years, but that didn't really give him the right to hear about the life she was running from. "It's a long way to San Diego girl," she hears him all but hum. It was recollect on the past few years or listen to him sing along to oldies on the radio. She'd take her chances on exposing her emotions.
"Alright, alright." She lifts her head off the glass and lets it fall onto the head rest behind her. "There's only one place to start when talking about Charming, and that'd be Jax."
