A/N: I'm back! I've got a bunch of stories in the making and I'm so excited to get them finished and posted. Let me know what ya'll think about this new story. : )

Chapter 1

I stepped outside my small farmhouse, breathing in the crisp morning air. The sun was starting to rise giving the sky an orange hue as the wind blew gently. Smiling, I headed towards the pasture where my horse, Gatsby, was sticking his head out of his stall. Yeah, I'm a fan of the book "The Great Gatsby". I thought the movie was great too. Plus, Leonardo Dicaprio was perfect for the role of Jay Gatsby!

"Gatsby!" I called out to the Chestnut horse as I grabbed some hay. Tossing the hay into his stall, he dove for the pile munching on it happily. I laughed and patted his neck. "There you go, buddy. How about after I eat, we go to Casey's place?" Yeah, I know, I'm talking to a horse, but I live alone and it keeps me sane.

I'm living on this farmhouse by myself and without the help of Casey Jones and his fiancé, April O'Neil, I wouldn't be here. They helped my, financially, get the house and keep Gatsby. Originally, I lived in the town's foster home and they let us go wherever we wanted, well, the kids were. As for the rest of us, teenagers, we had to sneak out. Doesn't make any sense really, but their reasoning was that the kids wouldn't be hooligans in public. If they were, it was cute to everyone. Anyway, that's when I found this place. Gatsby was in the pasture grazing, but he was incredibly thin, due to the fact that a large portion of the grass was gone. So I snuck back into the foster home and started researching some places to get hay or oats for cheap. The workers there gave us an allowance for doing chores and I was saving it up. The next day I picked up some hay and fed Gatsby. Every day I would go and feed him, pet him, and started to take a fascination in drawing and photography. With permission, I started to sell my photos and made even more money. Casey and April were one of my customers and spoke to me about the house that Gatsby was at. I found out that it was abandoned, so they helped me buy it on my eighteenth birthday. I was able to leave the foster home because I aged out and now I'm paying April and Casey back for the house bit by bit and they're extremely lenient about it. If I don't have the money by the end of the week, they shrug it off. To top that off they pay for a majority of my supplies for Gatsby. I had to talk them out of buying me my own saddle. They are amazing people, so caring, and if they ever need me for anything I'll jump on it.

I walked back into the house and grabbed an apple before walking back out to Gatsby. I let his stall open, which was attached to the pasture. We both ate breakfast together as the sun snuck over the treetops. When he finished his hay, he trotted up to me for some attention. From the top of the fence, I put my hand on his nose and his warm breath brushed against my skin. He then pulled his nose back so he could rub his head against my leg. I scratched him between his ears.

"Ready to go?" I walked away to go get his bridle and Gatsby followed. After bridling up, I used the fence to swing myself onto him. Moving him up to a trot, we jumped and dodged all of the branches and obstacles of the woods. A few minutes later, I was traveling across Casey's yard. I tied Gatsby to the railing of the porch and knocked on the door. As I waited I looked around and noticed a large tank-like truck. Odd…

"Dakota!" Casey shouted as he punched my shoulder lightly.

"Hey, Case, how you doing?" I smiled.

"Good, good."

"Where's April?" I asked peeking over his shoulder.

"Uh, uh, she's out. You know, buying wedding stuff." Case shifted towards the spot I was looking at.

"Well, when she gets back tell her I was here. She wanted some pictures of you and her for the wedding. April still has to tell me when she wants them done."

"Uh y-yeah sure thing, DJ."

"Casey, are you okay?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Uh, yup, good, I'm good."

"Okay…" I scratched the back of my head then pointed at the tank. "You have guests?"

"Uh, nope."

"Well, cool car…I'm gonna head home then. Have April call me, okay?"

With that he slammed the door in my face. I was about to get back on Gatsby when a loud bang came from inside the house. After jumping about ten feet, I listened to see if Casey was just being Casey, aka the knucklehead tripped. Instead, I heard another voice arguing with Casey. He said he didn't have any guests. I knocked on the door again, and the yelling subsided.

Casey opened the door. "You need something?"

"I heard some voices inside, and I thought…never mind, I'll see you later." I turned and got on Gatsby before riding off. Well, then that was strange.

I let Gatsby loose in his pasture before going inside to clean up. It didn't take me long to finish up because literally my home was three main rooms; kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and the living room, which was connected to the kitchen. The rooms were all hardwood floors other than the bathroom, which was tile. So I swept, mopped, and dusted taking me past lunchtime. Still April hasn't called. Off to the boots, then. Sighing, I played my mix CD of all my favorite country songs and artists. "Break Up in a Small Town" by Sam Hunt started as I started cleaning my boots.

Singing and humming along to the song as I scrubbed my boots, I was cut off by my phone ringing. I sprayed my boots and lowered the music before answering. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kota, can we do our pictures without our ceremony clothes?" April asked.

"Yeah, whatever you like." I turned off my CD. "When do you want me to come over?"

"Well, we have time now."

"I'll be over in five." I hung up and pulled my boots on. With the weather still warm, I grabbed my camera and laptop before I headed for Casey's house once again. This time I left Gatsby in his pasture and walked through the woods. The sun shone through the branches of the trees and a smile spread across my face as the sun sprinkled on my face. This place was awesome. So peaceful, so mysterious, but then you step out of the woods and reality is back. I paused by Casey's farmhouse, taking a breath. I walked up to the door and knocked. Let's get to work.