Okaies, so here's the lowdown...do the hoedown...do the throwdown...OF TOPIC! lol xD

anywhoo! I completely HATED how the last version of this story turned out. So I deleated, Regrouped, re-wrote and snagged myself an amazing beta reader (couldn't do it without cha HeatherT !) and BAM! PUBLISHED! :D

I was so happy with how it turned out, I did my touchdown dance. No freakin lie people :)
SOOOO as alway, read it! REVIEW IT! Us AMUH-ZING writers need reviewers! keeps our self esteem at an all time high and keeps us motivated :D

yep yep.

CHAPTER 1

Vivian's POV

My name is Vivian and I am 17 years young. I was born and raised in San Francisco, California and if you ask, I'll tell you about how much I love anything and everything about the great sprawling city. The cars rushing past my window, the beautiful night lights, the list goes on and on. San Francisco has the ability to make any tired soul feel alive. So why am I going to northern Nevada? If only I knew.

I'm sitting in an old white van with a bouncy red head whose hair is in an extremely tight braid and I don't even remember how I got here. Dang, I space out way too much and that simply cannot be healthy.

Should I ask her? Sighing, I look around for some sign to give me my answer but all I can see is the barren landscape that stretches out as far as I can see. Well there's my sign. Absolutely nothing. So that's a definitely. Start asking.

"Why am I being sent here?" I ask her in a quiet voice. She turns to smile brightly at me with sympathetic eyes. Ugh. I make an honest effort not to roll my eyes at her unnatural cheerfulness.

"I do believe you can answer that better than I can hun, but I'll tell you what HARP told me. They want you to see what it's like to be around a family. You've been through a lot Vivian, and they think that you could benefit well from being around the horses. The program has helped a lot of kids like you." The wattage of her smile increases and I can't help but think she's trying to hard.

"Like you." Why does everyone keep saying that?

I pull my knees up and tuck them under my chin. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the red head glance at me with the same look of pity everyone gives me. Unwilling to see her familiar expression, I turn my head to gaze out the van's dusty window.

When the white van begins to bump over a wooden bridge I look out the windows to see us pulling into a ranch yard. The place is kind of cute; it had that western ranch house homey feel to it. There is pasture that has some good looking horses in it too. The one with the "blue wings" is pretty nifty. A dog runs up to the van barking as I climb out. I smile as I look the dog over. Huh, a border collie. Cool. I let him sniff at my hand before bending down to rumple his soft ears.

The smell of horses, hay and saddle leather surrounds me and I can already fell it clinging to my clothes. I take a deep breath as I stretch and walk over to the pasture fence, pulling out my iPod (a.k.a. my life).

As Sophisticated Lady by Billy Butterfield begins, I see a girl that's about my height with auburn hair walk out of the barn with two tall, tan cowboys striding along beside her.

Wow, the taller one is kinda cute. No, NO, NO, stop right there. Don't even start to think like that. So not getting into that. Nope. I chastise myself.

They all stop not far from me and I study them. The girl seemed ordinary but I was getting a weird sense of déjà vu as I watch her. She seems familiar to me. The shorter of the two boys nods at me and that was it. I was loving it. It's as if he is saying, "Fine. You're here. Whatever. What else needs to get done?" He's my new best friend.

My eyes move to the taller one and the intensity of his gaze pierces right through me. I've never felt so exposed in my life, it's like he can see past everything, taking the direct route straight to my soul. No detours. I can feel his brown eyes luring me in so I quickly break the contact opting to take the safer root of memorizing his face instead. His copper skin stretches smoothly across his high cheekbones and his white wife beater shows off his well defined muscles. The jeans that are slung low on his hips give him a long, lean look.

Save a horse. Ride a cowboy. I feel my face flush in embarrassment the freak show I'm privileged enough to call my thought process.

Okayyy, time to stop drooling. I reprimand myself, still gazing at his eyes.

I have a hard time looking away from him, but I manage. The effort that it cost me is more than am expecting. It's like I have been cooped up inside a house for the longest time without the sun and becoming accustomed to it but I'm suddenly thrust into the light which I've been craving without my knowledge. When I look at him, I am suddenly aware of the warmth tingling across my skin and it is, of course, rushing straight to my face.

Sam's POV

Jake and I, along with his older brother Nate, walk out of the barn so that we can greet the new HARP girl. Next to the fence, gazing at the horses in the pasture, I see my past from San Francisco. My best friend is standing right in front of me. Even though she has changed a lot, I am still easily able to recognize her. No longer claiming ownership of the awkward 12 year old body we all have to put up with, she had definitely filled out over the years, able to pull of the slender but athletic look without bulking up.

She had grown her hair out and left it down so that the brunette curls fell across her back but lifted with the wind as if it commanded the element itself and with the sun on her you can see a few natural blonde highlights here and there. She was wearing a modest white tank top and low-rise jeans that cover her long legs with a pair of converse to complete her outfit. My best friend was dressed simply but she looked awesome.

Just as we were about ten feet away she tilted her head slightly to look at us. Her ice blue eyes startled me. They look so wise and old that I am shocked into silence not even able to open my mouth to say "hello". It is clear that I wasn't looking at any ordinary seventeen year old.

Oh Vivian. Realization hits me as I look at her, worriedly. What happened to change your beautiful eyes so much? I remember that her eyes were always full of laughter and mischief. She has always been kind though. Helping the new kids at school fit in or sharing her lunch when someone couldn't afford it or even standing up to someone from her own "crowd" for bullying the outcast. She was an angel and everyone knew it.

Her eyes slide from looking at me to watching Jake and then stop on to Nate. They stare intensely at each other for what felt to be a lifetime before Vivian turns her gaze back to the horses as her fingers tap out an unknown rhythm on the top board. I take a step closer and her head snaps back up to look at me. I take a step back and hold up my hands to let her know I'm not a threat.

"Vivian it's me, Sam." Her expression never changes. "We had P.E. and lunch together in San Francisco, remember?"

I can see Jake shifting his weight forward out of the corner of my eye. Vivian's eyes fill with recognition. "Sammy?" her quiet voice barely reaches my ears but that was all I need before I launch myself at her, hugging her tightly.

"No way." She whispers. She pats my back before starting to pull away. I look at her in complete confusion. She has never pulled away from me before. "V?"

She smiles softly in understanding before looking away. "Some things have changed since I last saw you Sammy." is all she says before walking to the back of the van to grab her small bag of luggage.

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