Chapter 1: Dirty South
"I think it's...best if it's this way."
"Does it have to be?"
"Look, Remy, I feel the same way too, but..."
Two fuzzy figures paced around the room and a third sat inches away. The conversation continued, but out of earshot as they left the room. And then pink swirls joined the blurry picture. A giggle caught her attention and she looked over to the third blurry figure, smaller than the rest and closer. She felt a connection with this figure, so she moved closer, but before she could go anywhere, she was soon scooped up into someone's arms. It made her feel safe and warm and the smell that filled her nose reminded her of wild daisies...
Ellie LeBeau blinked her eyes open as the blaring of the alarm clock reached her ears. With a small groan, she rolled over on her side and reached out to turn the alarm clock off. However instead of smacking it like she meant to, the entire thing lit on fire.
"Ah shoot!" she exclaimed, leaping out of bed and heading to the closet to grab the fire extinguisher that was always nearby.
Several things toppled over in her rush, but she was able to put out the fire before it grew. And then the door flew open.
"What is goin' on?"
Remy LeBeau appeared in the doorway and she threw her father a crooked, innocent grin. "Morning daddy."
He sighed a little, pushing her aside to see what she'd blown up this time. He picked up the remains of her alarm clock, tossing it into the garbage bin across the room.
"Get dressed. Don't wanna be late for the last day of sixth grade. Annabelle and Jeremiah should be here soon."
She rolled her eyes as he left the room. Honestly, she was thinking about grabbing her things and ditching class today. It wasn't like they were going to actually do anything. Putting the fire extinguisher away, she crossed over her messy room, snatching her best pair of jeans off the floor. They were dirty, but she didn't really care. She and Annabelle were planning on going fishing and shooting later anyway.
After putting on the jeans, she grabbed a random hot pink t-shirt to go with it and then emptied her backpack's contents onto the floor. With an empty backpack, she brought it through the hallway to the kitchen. She and her dad lived in a small motor home, but she wouldn't have it any other way. All she needed was a roof and she would be happy, this was more than enough. Sometimes her dad complained about it, but he told her that he had grown up in something even smaller, so in the end this was alright.
Her dad came into the room and started to shuffle through the cabinets to find something to make her breakfast.
"It's okay if me and Annabelle go out to the creek to go fishing, right?" she asked, sitting down.
"As long as you're back before nine," he answered, pulling out some instant mashed potatoes, eggs, and sausage.
"Awesome! I'll bring back anything I catch."
"Check the traps for crawfish while you're there, would ya?"
"You know it!"
Ever since she was a small child, she'd been taught all of the typical country things people thought stereotypical of country kids. She was taught to fish, to shoot a gun, to play in the mud and everything in between. By far, her favorite thing to do was ride her dirt bike through the woods. Whether it just be a joy ride or showing off stunts with her friends, the feeling of speed always gave her a thrill.
"Do I really even have to go to school today, dad?" she huffed, watching him start cooking up the egg, potato, and sausage mixture on a pan. Last day meant nothing exciting.
"You know I don't ask much of ya Ellie. School's one of 'em. But...you know if ya were to leave school without me knowing...can't stop ya," he replied, turning to shoot a wink over his shoulder.
Ha. That was basically permission. She smirked at him and gave a mock salute. He chuckled and continued cooking. Getting bored of sitting there, she took it upon herself to get the plates and glasses and set the table. She also retrieved the milk and juice from the fridge and set it on the table just as he was finishing up cooking. He placed the pan in the middle of the table on an oven mitt and got out a serving spoon.
"You excited for the summer?" he asked, dishing some of the food onto his plate.
"Yep. All the festivals and freedom. Can't wait," she responded, filling her glass with orange juice and taking the spoon from him once he was done.
"I'm thinkin' of doin' a little sellin' at the farmer's fest this year. Figured I can use some o' the extra crawfish and perch to make a little extra."
"You got my help. Just lemme know when I should start fishing."
He gave her a nod, as his mouth was full of food and she smiled a little. When she was almost done eating, a knock on the door interrupted them. That had to be Annabelle and Jeremiah. Her dad stood, taking his finished plate and dumping it in the sink as he headed to the door. She quickly finished off her food and took her last gulp of juice before standing. He opened to door to reveal her two friends and she smiled brightly, grabbing her empty backpack and placing her dishes in the sink.
"Hey guys!" she greeted, hugging Anna first and then Jer. Jeremiah was two years older than the two girls, but given that he was Anna's sister, he usually stuck around.
"Hey papa LeBeau, is it alright if after we go fishing we head over to my place? The neighbors are shooting off fireworks for the end of the school year around seven," Annabelle asked excitedly.
"Course. Long as she's back by nine like I told 'er," he responded, patting her shoulder and then giving Jeremiah a fist bump.
"Awesome. Thanks so much! We'll see you tomorrow probably."
Ellie turned to give her dad a hug and kiss goodbye and then the three of them were heading down the gravel driveway. She grabbed her bike on the way and rolled it over to theirs sitting at the end of the driveway.
"Let's get our stuff and ditch school for the day. Nothing's gonna happen anyway," Ellie suggested, getting on her bike.
"I'm down," Jer agreed.
"More time for fishing," Annabelle commented with a grin.
The three of them took off peddling down the street at a quick pace toward school. It was fairly hot out today so the breeze felt nice running through her hair. Each of them tried to go the fastest, but it was Jeremiah that beat them to school. Only because he was older and stronger than the two of them.
Panting, she parked her bike and shot a playful glare and Jer. "I think we should just bring our dirt bikes next time. He won't stand a chance."
Annabelle snorted. "Sounds like a plan to me. Get ready to suck it, Jer."
"You're just jealous I'm the best biker around," he snickered. "Hey I'll meet you guys back here in twenty? I might bring Chase and Savannah if that's okay?"
"Yeah sure. As long as you don't mind them smooching every five minutes," Ellie joked, adjusting the backpack on her back.
"Ha ha." He rolled his eyes and started toward the door. Since he was in eighth grade, he'd be in a different wing than the two of them.
Once Annabelle was ready, they headed inside. The hallways seemed pretty barren, but a few students and teachers were wandering about here and there. Lucky for them, they had their lockers close by so they headed straight there to get the rest of their things before sneaking out of school and heading down to the creek for some fun. Or maybe they could head to one of the gas stations down the street to get some sweets.
She quickly put in her combination and opened up the locker to reveal old notebooks and folders from her classes. With haste, she stuffed them into her bag and then closed the door. The bag weighed a bit heavier but not by much and she went to meet up with her best friend on the other side of the hall. Mr. Reyes passed by and she made sure not to make eye contact and look as if she was only talking to her friend. After he was out of sight, the two of them hurried down the hall toward the door.
On the way, they met up with Jeremiah, Chase, and Savannah. Outside, they decided it would just be a better idea to head to the creek since none of them had money on them for snacks.
"First one to get there gets the good chair!" Ellie exclaimed before taking off on her bike.
Each of them had to head back to their houses to get their fishing stuff so it would be a test on who could get their things together first. Jeremiah sped ahead of all of them with Chase not too far behind. Annabelle swerved into the trees, which made her wonder exactly what shortcut she was taking, but she pushed the thought out of her mind and pedaled faster, grinning to herself as she gained speed.
Each of them split their separate ways and she swerved past several cars that drove by. A few she knew and they honked a greeting at her, which she returned with a quick wave. Soon enough, she got to her house and quickly and quietly sneaked to the shed in the back. Her pole and tacklebox sat near the entrance, making it an easy grab. With the two in hand, she hurried back to her bike. Somehow, she managed to hook the handle of the tacklebox onto her handle and hold the fishing pole in a somewhat awkward manner. Nevertheless, she had everything together and hit the road quickly again, deciding that when she turned onto the dirt path through the woods, she'd cheat a little bit.
So as soon as she got onto the dirt path, she let her feet slip from the pedals and she focused her attention on the wheels. A light pink glow emitted from them and she started to speed up. Just recently, she learned she could manipulate the kinetic energy of objects without causing them to explode completely. But it took a lot of focus, which ended up being her downfall.
Ellie barely realized that a tree root was in her path and she rammed right into it, causing her and the bike to go flying. Luckily she managed to stay on, but she went flying down the path with little to no control.
"Crap, crap, crap!" she shouted, slamming on the brakes as hard as she could.
The bike continued to skid as it tried to slow down, but the creek was coming up fast and she wasn't slowing down enough... The next thing she knew, she was splashing in the water, her bike landing onto her back. With a groan, she rolled over, looking up to the laughing face of her best friend.
Annabelle snickered and pulled the bike off her, carefully placing it aside on the bank of the river and helping her up.
"Thanks. Did you get here first?" she asked in disbelief.
"I did. I've been getting faster. And I found a secret way. Maybe if you're nice, I'll show you," she said with a grin.
"What? Come on you have to show me!"
"Like I said, we'll see."
At that very moment, Jeremiah came zooming down the path, with Chase on his tail. She could see Savannah way behind on the trail as well, probably complaining about them going so fast. All of them skidded to a stop before they reached the water and she stepped out of the shallows, water dripping off her in waves.
"Ellie? What happened to you?" Jeremiah asked with a snicker.
"Oh you know, decided to take a swim," she quipped, squeezing her wet hair to rid it of excess water.
"Well, who was here first?" Chase asked suddenly.
"I was," Annabelle huffed proudly.
"Seriously?" her brother queried, raising an eyebrow.
"You seriously doubt me? Some brother you are!" She gave him a playful shove.
"Come on, she won fair and square. Let's just get fishing. I'm hungry and I bet I can make the best river-side fish you've ever had," Ellie snickered.
"You better come clean on that brag," Jer chuckled, grabbing his fishing rod.
Given that Anna had gotten there first, she got the honorary comfy chair while the rest of them had folding chairs. The comfy chair was the only one they had with worn-out, rain-ruined cushions. Still more comfortable than a fold out chair.
The five of them spent the rest of the afternoon fishing and occasionally splashing each other with the river water. She surprised them with pretty good back-woods cooked fish cooked over a small fire made of collected twigs. One of them always carried a knife so it was easy to gut it and debone.
After their meal, they did continue fishing for a little while longer, but it was mostly goofing off and they didn't really catch much of anything else. She did make sure to go and check the crawfish traps like her dad told her and was pleasantly surprised to see that they were pretty full. Once she discovered that, she told the rest of them to go onto Jer and Anna's house and she'd meet them there. She had to bring the crawfish back home before she even thought about going.
It was hard to bring her bike, fishing rod, tackle box, and the bucket full of crawfish, but she managed alright. By the time she was getting home, the sun had started to set and she knew she better hurry up and get to her friends' house. She deposited her bike on the driveway like usual and put her fishing gear back in the shed before she headed inside with the crawfish.
"Hey dad! I'm just bringing back the crawfish before I go see the fireworks!" she called, not seeing him in the living room right away. "Dad?"
He didn't answer and she put the bucket of crawfish down and slowly moved forward. Maybe he'd gone out? Everyone around here left their doors unlocked anyway. But as she neared the end of the hallway, she saw that his bedroom door was mostly shut. Cracked.
Curiously, she moved forward, being quiet as she did so. She could make out his voice, almost like he was talking to someone. Who could he even be talking to? The lack of another voice made her believe he was on the phone. He was never on the phone. She moved closer, unable to contain her curiosity.
"We'll have ta see. Things'r alright now. But she's gettin' to that age. I'm keepin' an eye on 'er. I'm just afraid she'll be like I was... Outta control... How's...how's he doin'?"
What? Who was he even talking about? And who was "he?" She pressed her ear against the door to try and hear more as his voice became lower, but the cracked door moved enough to creak. Her eyes widened she took a step back, mind immediately reeling. Her first instinct was to play it off as she was oblivious. So she knocked on the door.
Her father's voice grew silent and she just barely heard the click of the phone being put down on the receiver.
"Dad?" she asked, opening the door slightly. "I just brought back the crawfish. I'm heading to Jer and Anna's house now."
"Alright. Thank you, sweetie," he said quietly with a small smile, though she could see it was strained.
Should she dare ask? Something seemed wrong and...well she hated it when he was upset. He was practically her best friend in some aspects and she loved him more than anything in the world.
"Who was that?" she blurted before she could help herself.
His eyebrows shot up and it seemed like she caught him off guard. He took a glance at the phone and inhaled deeply. "Oh just the solicitors. Gotta make some money too, I wager."
She just knew that wasn't the case, but she wasn't going to push. Besides, she was running late anyway.
"Okay. I left the crawfish in the living room. Love you daddy."
He smiled gently. "Thanks. I love ya too. Have fun."
Returning the smile, she turned and headed down the hallway, making it to the front door. She felt weird about the whole situation, but she wasn't going to dwell on it. So she shook the thoughts from her mind and grabbed her bike. Jeremiah and Annabelle lived a few blocks over, so it was quick to get there.
The two of them were on the driveway with Chase and Savannah there as well. She spotted the neighbors in the yard over setting up the fireworks. If she remembered correctly, they lived next to Will and Tommy, one in their grade and one in seventh. Their father was also out in the yard, most likely supervising, but supervising in the south usually meant encouraging crazy antics. She'd never have it any other way.
"Hey!" she greeted, parking her bike in the driveway and hurrying over to join.
"Took you long enough!" Jer teased, wrapping an arm around her neck and pulling her in.
"Pft," she replied lamely, shrugging her shoulders.
"Hey, Ellie!" Will greeted, moving over to them as his older brother and father set up the rest of the fireworks.
"Hey, Will. Got the good stuff?"
"You know it! My dad even had the brilliant idea of letting us ignite the fireworks with his gun!"
"Seriously? Sweet, that sounds like a good time."
"Good time until someone gets killed," Jeremiah snorted.
"Hey, stop being a party pooper," she chastised, slipping from his grip. "You're just saying that because you probably can't hit the fireworks in the first place."
"And you think you can?"
"Course! Dad taught me how to shoot right." She shot a playful wink at him and cracked her neck. "Think I can have the first shot, Will?"
"As long as it's okay with my dad, sure," he responded, grinning.
"Course it is! Long as yer a good shot!" his father said, coming up behind him. "Ya can give it a go."
He pulled the small hand gun from behind his back and handed it to her. It was a pretty small little revolver, but nothing she couldn't handle. Her favorite thing to shoot was a shotgun and those were a lot bigger.
She checked to make sure it was loaded properly and that nothing was malfunctioning before she took a few steps forward and raised the gun. Everyone stood back, but still close enough to see if she would make it. The darkness was impeding her a little, but as long as she got near enough to the firework part, she could light it.
She looked down the barrel of the gun and aimed it appropriately, steadying herself and taking in a breath. Shooting always exhilarated her. She loved anything that was even slightly explosive and guns fell into that category. Plus there was just something about the pure energy of a bullet being flung out of a gun that made her blood rush. With a smirk, she pulled the trigger and watched the bullet fly.
It went exactly where she wanted it and she let out a whoop as the fireworks ignited. Sprays of color flew into the sky and she grinned, looking up at the hues. Her favorite were the pinks and purples, colliding with the sky every few seconds as they flew up to their maximum height.
"I stand corrected, you're amazing!" Jeremiah cheered, patting her roughly on the shoulder.
She threw him a crooked grin and hopped toward his father's truck, hopping in the bed to take a seat so she could enjoy. Annabelle joined her and she handed off the gun to Will's brother Tommy, who would have the next go once this set of fireworks was done. Bringing her knees to her chest, she brought her pink eyes up to the sky, smiling in content. Those fireworks soon ended, but Tommy took his shot at the fireworks and the sky was soon exploding with more colors. Good bye sixth grade, hello seventh grade.
Just sitting with her friends and enjoying the start of summer brought her so much joy. She hoped this would never end and that she would be here forever, just enjoying herself and goofing off.
But how long would that really last?
A/N: This is yet another roleplay story. Characters not mine will be credited.