Waverly Earp was born and raised in the small town of Purgatory. It was a town where everyone knew one another and no secrets were kept. She was raised mostly by her aunt and uncle, the pair giving her a life she could've only hoped for after the loss of her father and eldest sister. She loved how connected the community was, but she hated how distant she and her sister seemed to get as they aged. As Wynonna got older, she somehow became even more wild than the previous year up until the point that she left to travel or whatever. Waverly had practically begged her not to go, but when Wynonna was hell bent on doing something, she did it anyway.
All through high school, Waverly held the same boyfriend, the one and only Champ. She heard rumors of him cheating, but she hadn't believed a single whisper of it until her senior year when she caught him in the act. He'd been avoiding her for almost a week straight, telling her that he couldn't hang out because of some stupid sickness. It was the middle of August, who the hell got colds? In an attempt to confront him, she found him balls deep in some freshman cheerleader, which was enough for Waverly to lose it. Truth be told, she doesn't really remember actually swinging, but according to Sheriff Nedley, she's lucky no one pressed charges against the nicest girl in Purgatory.
After the incident, Champ seemed to shape up. He did more things for her than he'd ever done before throughout their senior year of high school. So much, in fact, that she almost didn't seem off her applications to multiple colleges, but she did out of pure curiosity. Champ had no plans of leaving Purgatory after graduation and quite honestly, Waverly wasn't sure if she did either. There was so much she wanted to do, so much she wanted to see, but how did she leave behind the people that raised her? She'd watched them mourn the loss of Wynonna, despite how much trouble she was, and Waverly refused to be that selfish.
At least, she'd refused until she received her first acceptance letter into university. She kept it hidden, afraid of what that meant for her future not only with Champ, but with Purgatory. If she left, would she be welcomed back? Would Champ find someone else? Would she even like it at university? Of course, no secret is kept in such a small town. Gus, Waverly's aunt, was the first to find the second acceptance letter that came in. The woman showed pride in her niece and practically begged Waverly to accept the full ride offer. It was a way out of Purgatory that she deserved, and to Waverly's surprise, she agreed.
Which was why she formally accepted the offer on campus a whole month before classes were set to start. It was a late acceptance on her part, but the university was happy to have the youngest Earp to join Knight's Nation and everything it entailed.
Of course, the acceptance had meant an end to her relationship, but it hadn't stopped Champ from tagging along on move in day. He was acting like a male dog trying to mark his territory, despite them not even being together. It was like he wanted everyone to know that Waverly was off-limits, even if they had no ties to one another. "Champ," she huffed, pulling away from his attempt to snake his arm around her. She was tired of being considered property of Purgatory's biggest douche, but she felt as if she owed him the parting goodbye.
Once the last of her stuff was moved in, Waverly couldn't have been happier. She was moving into a dorm room that was over a hundred miles away from the small town she thought owned her. She'd gotten rid of a boyfriend who'd never been good for her anyway, well, almost. "Look, I appreciate you staying after to help me get stuff together, but I'm fine. You should probably head back before it gets dark. I appreciate it, really," she shrugged, standing outside of her dorm room in an attempt to not make things awkward with her roommate who waited inside.
"I'm gonna miss you, Waverly Earp. I love you," he spewed almost genuinely.
"I'll visit, but really, you should go." With that, Waverly pushed open her door, not bothering to give Champ a second's worth of time to snake inside. For once in eighteen years, she was free of everything she'd ever known. Hello, college.