Chapter 2
Tami
Putting my hand on the knob, I turned it.
As the door opened, bright sunlight poured upon my slender figure, covering my in light, which meant that I had to shield my eyes to see clearly.
Out in the distance was a small river, surrounded by trees along the edge. I saw a forest with trees having auburn, yellow, red, orange, and brown leaves strewn upon the branches.
It was a beautiful sight to behold.
And in the distance I could faintly hear the call of a blue jay.
Looking down, I saw a ladder, and thought, "What the heck?" So I climbed down it, excited to see what was beyond the river.
Stepping off the ladder and over some dead leaves, I made my way to the running river. Hearing the calls of birds from far off, the sound of rustling leaves and the running river water, I for once felt content, at peace.
I stopped where the tree line ended and slid down the small hill to the edge of the river.
Rolling my jeans above my hiking boots, I trailed across the river, some of the water sinking into my boots, making me shiver even though the sun was shining brightly.
Finally making my way across the river, I rolled down my jeans again over my boots and continued walking.
Looking to my left I saw an open field of wildflowers. To my right I saw another river, yet this one was smaller.
I kept walking straight ahead.
Suddenly I stopped and listened.
I heard a sound.
No.
Crying.
I looked over behind the nearest trees to see where it was coming from. And behind one of them I saw a girl, about my age, in a comfy green sweater, denim overalls, and cowgirl boots. Her bright carrot orange-red hair hung in long braids over her shoulders, and when she looked up at me, I saw her freckled-face was wet with tears.
"Who're you?" she asked.
"I'm Amber. What's the matter?"
"Nothing is wrong," she lied, wiping her face with her sleeve.
"No, I know something is wrong. You were crying. Now," I said, taking a seat beside her on some dead leaves, "what is the problem?"
"Well, my friends from elementary school don't like me anymore ever since we all started middle school, my teachers all hate me, my parents are divorced, and I'm all alone in this world..." And as her voice trailed off, I looked at her face, and it was covered in wet tears.
"There, there," I said softly, taking the over-sized sleeve of my baggy long-sleeved brown shirt to wipe off her tear-covered face. "It's alright, I'm here now. What's your name?"
She sniffled, "Tami. Tami Thompson,"
"Nice to meet you, Tami! I have a question; would you like to be my friend? I don't have any because I just moved here."
She beamed at me.
"You really mean it?"
I nodded, smiling at her.
"Then I'd love to,"
She wrapped her small arms around my thin waist in an emotional embrace, and I wrapped and arm around her shoulders, smiling.
"Amber, is it?"
"Yeah,"
"Would you like to come over for dinner? My dad's serving his famous pepperoni and sausage pizza he makes," she smiled widely, and I just couldn't resist the offer, especially if it's from a new friend.
"I'd love to!" I smiled at her.
"Great!" she smiled back and stood to her feet, offering me a helping hand to stand. I took her hand and helped myself up.
"We'll meet back here at this tree at six o'clock, right?" I asked.
"How will we know it was this tree?" she asked back, a questioning look on her face.
"By this," I took off my yarn bracelet that I had made with two pieces of blue yarn and one piece of black yarn and tied it to a low branch.
"There we go!" I exclaimed.
"Wow, that's a good idea!" she beamed.
"See you here?" I asked.
"See you here," she said.
We walked our separate ways.