Chapter 1
We were moving, all the way to Tennessee. Everything was being left behind. I packed my bag, dreading my high school years at that new school. I was leaving my school. I was leaving Josh. Josh was my best friend, ever since kindergarten. I just couldn't leave him behind. It was official though. We were leaving California, for Tennessee. It was tomorrow, the moving day. I packed my bags, and loaded them down the stairs. It was eleven o' clock, and I was tired. I went to bed, dreaming about all of the memories I've had here, in my home, in my state, California.
I woke up that morning with tears in my eyes. It was a Monday, so everyone was going to school. I couldn't say one last goodbye to Josh or anyone. I got changed, and dragged myself down the wooden staircase one last time. I remember when I was thirteen, my younger brother; John was going down the railing of the stairs. He fell off, and I caught him, but I broke my arm and he got ten stitches that day. I flashed back now, to toady. I'm no longer thirteen, I'm seventeen, and my life is moving to South Carolina.
I went into the kitchen and put my suitcase on the floor. Everything looked so much bigger, without all of the furniture. My mom looked up and smiled, I didn't. "Rosie, please, just look happy, just this once. Please." My mom's voice was shaking. I nodded, and sat down on the floor. John came down the railing, and about ten seconds later my mom screamed for him to get off, and that he will get hurt, blah, blah, blah. He was fourteen now, I couldn't believe how old he got. It seems like he was still two, sliding down the railing.
It was funny. I got up and went over to him. "Hey, watch out, mom's on patrol for railing incidents." I laughed. He smiled at me, and said, "I do it every day. It's not a big deal. I did it when I was two, twelve years later, big whoop mom." "Yeah, I never did it." I admitted. "Then do it quickly, I'll go and distract mom." He said. I walked up to the top of the stairs and sat on the long railing. John gave me thumbs up and I went. The air went in my face and I laughed, before I knew it I was at the bottom. I was surprised that I didn't fall. John came over and he looked at me. "Now you know what you were missing for over fourteen years." He said. "Yeah I guess." I replied and I walked over to my dad. "We'd better get going now, Rosie." We walked out of the door, and I looked back at my house for the last time, leaving all of my memories scattered all over that hard wood floor that I sat on once.
I saw the sign, "Welcome to Kentucky!' and figured that we were almost there. I decided to take a nap in the car; there was nothing better to do. The radio was broken, we had to fix it and John decided to take a nap about two hours ago. I looked out of my window, and saw a stubby little palm tree, someone must've planted it. I looked over at John, his eyes were still closed and he was snoring like I couldn't believe. My mom was watching TV on her little portable thing, and Dad was almost sleeping over the steering wheel. Every five minutes I heard my mom say, "Chris, do you want me to drive?" of course he would shake off his tiredness and say "no, honey I'm fine." It wasn't until about another forty five minutes until we actually reached South Carolina. Then, it took about two hours until we got to this crummy neighborhood. Most of the houses were abandoned, with overgrown weeds and the bits of the yellow patched grass.
We pulled out of the neighborhood when Dad found out that he made the wrong turn on one of the expressways. We had to go all of the way back to the expressway and make the right turn, instead of the left. I punched John so he would wake up, from his almost five hour "nap". "What was that for?" he said. I moved my neck around the seat to get comfortable and said, "Oh, that? That was just a welcome back from your snoring sleep present." I said. My mom shook her head and looked back at us; she gave her "be quiet and behave" look.
We pulled up to our neighborhood called; "Blossom Tree Corners" and I saw one of our neighbors wearing a cowboy hat. I figured that this was a very "country" town. I was waiting for our new house to come up. I hadn't seen it yet. Dad wanted it to be a total surprise. We drove up to this big two story house at about 5 pm at night. It was a tan color, like the beach sand. It was huge; I was wondering how we could afford this. Then it hit me, we were moving because of dad's job, he never wanted to get away from California. Now everything was coming together, they wouldn't tell us the real reason why we were moving. Every time we move, dad's work pays for the house. That's how we can afford it. I was ticked off, I didn't show it though.
It didn't matter anyway. We would have had to move in a matter of time. The house had a huge garden in the front, and that's how I noticed the mailbox. It had a guy on his horse, with a cowboy hat. It looked like he was riding into the sunset. Now I knew that this was definitely a western type town. I didn't have a problem with country towns; I'm just not used to them. My dad parked the car and my mom stepped out and almost took off to the door of the house. It looked like she was real excited. I followed her in, slowly. Unlike her, I was not excited. I stepped up onto the porch and looked inside. There was this wooden staircase that spiraled up to the second floor. The kitchen was big too, it had cherry cabinets.
Chapter 2
Mom signaled me to go upstairs with her. I climbed the stairwell and looked out the window. That was the first time I saw him. He was wearing a cowboy hat and a button down shirt. He was riding a cherry brown horse. He looked up, into that big window and I think he might have seen me too. He commanded the horse to sprint away, and he disappeared out of sight from that big glass window. "Rosie, what's the matter? Is there something wrong with the window?" "No Mom, I was just looking out." My mom kind of hesitated and then kept walking up the stairs. She led me to this big bedroom with four big windows, all over the room. I said "Wow." And my Mom smiled at me. All of my furniture was already here. I guessed that the moving people got here yesterday, or this morning and set everything up. I walked over to my bathroom. It was about ten steps away from my bed. It had everything that a bathroom really needed, of course. When I stepped back into my bedroom, my mom was gone. I climbed up on my bed and thought about him. I think he was about my age. Maybe even in the same grade. He had blond hair that you could barely see under his hat. One thing that you could see though, from those big windows, were his blue eyes. Even though I didn't know him, I felt like I was supposed to, like I was supposed to know everything about him. He looked like he knew me.
I went downstairs to see John on the couch. "Dad, how did all of our furniture and stuff get here?" I asked. My dad shook his head and he mouthed "magic". I mouthed back, "really." "The moving people picked it up while we were taking a rest at the Comfort Inn. They got here before us, and I told them how to unload everything. What I didn't tell them was to set up the TV, but they did. So, remind me to give them a good tip." I nodded and sat down next to John. "So, did you see your room yet?" I asked him. He nodded yes, and I shook my head. "Well, I'll be back soon. Got to go and pick up some dinner. Rosie, do you want to come?" my dad said. "I guess." I replied.
It was almost two hours since I saw him; it was already 6:30. My dad and I stepped into the car and pulled out of the driving way. I wondered if he lived near here. I wanted to see him again, I just didn't know how. It was surprisingly light out. The sun was still up, and it was setting. The colors of the sky were mixing like a paint brush, when it collides with reds, blues, yellows, and pinks. We were driving when I saw this fair. My dad said that it was a county carnival thing that had games and rides and country competitions. I asked if we could go, and he said that John and I would go tonight.
We pulled up to the restaurant "Groove In Diner". I looked over and saw my dad frantically looking for something. "Rosie, can you go in and get the food while I go to the gas station and get some more gas please?" I looked inside the restaurant and said, "Yeah, sure, I guess, just be back in time to pick me up." My dad nodded, and I stepped out of the car while he pulled away. I walked up to the doors of the restaurant and pulled on the French –like doors. When I looked inside I saw this kind of "retro" place. It was dark and there was this disco ball lighting up the place. There was this dance floor in the middle, and people were dancing to the music.
I walked over to the woman running the front desk. "How can I help you?" the woman asked. I said that I was here to pick up an order under the name of Chris. She said that it would take a few more minutes, so I sat down at an empty booth. I started thinking about the house. I guess I liked it. I didn't get why the road was a horse trail though. It was probably for horses and things. I watched the people dancing to a country tune. It was some kind of throw down.
The guys lined up against the girls. Then, all of a sudden, the restaurant changed. The wallpaper and the floor changed, and the disco ball disappeared. I watched in awe as the caller said something. "Howdy! How y'all doin' tonight? Now listen here, we got us a little competition tonight! Every girl and boy under eighteen must participate! Now grab a partner and I'll explain the rest later!"
Oh no. I tried to get out but I couldn't move. I saw him. He was walking over, to me. My hazel eyes were locked, on him. He tipped his hat slightly and adjusted his belt. He gave a small smile. I smiled back. "Hi, ah, do you got a partner?" he said in the cutest country accent. I said no and he just smiled and let out his hand. I looked at him. He had bright blue eyes and dirty blond hair that just went over his brow. He led me to the floor. "I'm Travis, are you the girl who just moved into the old Bliley's place?" he asked. "Yeah, we just moved from California. I'm Rosie by the way… So, do you live nearby?" I started to chuckle. He smiled and amazing smile and said, "Yeah, right across the street actually. I think I might've seen you when I was riding my horse." I sighed. He saw me, I thought, wow he must think I'm a stalker or something. I just replied, "Oh yeah, really? That was you?" he smiled and grabbed my hand.
We lined up across from each other and I started to follow the other girls on what steps to do. When I kept messing up I finally looked over at Travis and every time he smiled. He shook his head a couple of times. He must've thought I was funny. We swung around and the girls spun into the guys arms. I was so nervous. I spun again and we did a foot pattern. Eventually Travis gave up trying to dance with me so we just sat down. We started talking when I saw my dad enter the place. His face was filled with shock of the change of décor of the restaurant and by me sitting with Travis. He caught on and said, "See ya later, Rosie." He smiled and tilted his hat again. I looked over at my dad. He was going to make me tell the whole story. I just kept wishing that I would see Travis again tomorrow.