Chapter One
"Home"
Ella rubbed her tired eyes, it was 11pm, it had taken longer than expected because of a small accident on the interstate. Ella yawned and shook her head, trying desprately to wake herself up. She was just outside Cameron when all of a sudden her car made a horrible lurch, her wheels locked up and she skidded off the road. Ella quickly turned her flashers on and the car off, she jumped out and popped the hood, only to be greeted with a face full of white steam and smoke.
"Oh my god, REALLY?" Ella screamed to the sky. "You have got to be freakin' KIDDING me!"
Ella sat down on the side of the road, after kicking her cars tires a few times. She took a deep calming breath, pulled out her cell phone and called Heather. After explaining what was going on, Heather said she was putting on some jeans and a hoodie and was on her way to get her. Ella and Heather hung up and Ella plopped down on the trunk of her car, hitting it again. She saw a car coming towards her, slowing down and then pulling off the side of the road just behind her car. A tall, very well built man stepped out and walked over to Ella.
"Everything okay?" He asked.
"No, I don't know what happened to this death trap on wheels," Ella said, jumping off of the hood. "It lurched forward and my wheels locked up and I just kinda skidded off the road. Then, I was greeted with a nice face full of steam and smoke when I raised the hood." Ella explained to the man, rubbing her forhead.
"I hate to say it but, it sounds like your car pretty much died on you," The man said.
"Oh that's just great, just great!" Ella said, kicking the car so hard the hubcap went flying off like a frizzbe.
"You got quite a kick there," the man laughed.
"I used to take kickboxing," Ella laughed too, then extended her hand. "I'm Ella, by the way, Ella Morris."
"I'm Jeff, Jeff Hardy." The man said, shaking Ella's hand.
The two stood there and talked, the man telling Ella he'd stay there with her until her friend came to get her, that it wouldn't be safe for her to stay there alone. Mainly because they were surrounded by woods, and they could both hear dogs howling. The man, Jeff, asked Ella about where she was from, since her accent was much different than what he was used to, she told him she was from Louisville, Kentucky, and then proceeded to explain to him what had brought her to North Carolina.
"I always called this place my home, ever since my friend Heather and I came here for spring break our first year of college, she moved here right after college, but I took a job in Louisville and never got the chance to come back here like she did...well, that is until now." Ella laughed, looking up at the sky. "You can see the stars, that's what I always loved."
"Sounds like you've had a bad year," Jeff said, leaning against Ella's car with her.
"You could say that," Ella nodded. "But, despite my car dying, everything just feels...right, again."
"Well, I'm glad Cameron can do that for you," Jeff smiled. "I was born and raised here, it's a great place."
Just then, a car pulled up in front of Ella's car, Heather got out and ran over to Ella, hugging her tightly. Jeff helped Ella and Heather load all of Ella's things into Heather's car, once it was all said and done, Ella shook Jeff's hand again and thanked him for keeping her sane while she waited. He smiled at her and thanked her for making his night a lot better too. Ella got into Heather's car and they waited as Jeff drove past them. The steady hum of Heather's tires on the road was slowly putting Ella to sleep, she leaned her head aganst the window, cool from the night air whipping by them outside. Ella closed her eyes and slowly falling asleep.
A few moments later, Ella was being gently awoken by Heather, she smiled at Ella and pointed to her large, three story house.
"Welcome home girl," Heather smiled. "It's about time you realized where you belonged."
Ella smiled and got out of the car, Heather coming over to her and hugged her tightly, saying they'd get her things in the morning, that she needed to get in and get some much needed sleep for once. Ella walked in the house, it smelled like apples and cinnamon, it made her think of Christmas, in the distant she heard Heather's radio playing, ironically, Daughtry's song "Home" was playing. Ella laughed in her mind, the soundtrack of her life had played in the last few hours.
"Well I'm going home, back to the place where I belong.
Where you're love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from, no I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old.
So, I'm going home."
