A/N: Hey all! I am going to be updating regularly for this story (maybe more than one chapter per day) because I am losing my laptop sometime next week and won't be able to type more, so I am going to try and finish this story before then. So if I don't I am sorry. Moving on. Thanks to all who have reviewed and read. Means a lot. The chapters will also vary in size due to each chapter coinciding with a chapter in the book. So now that that's all cleared I hope you enjoy. R&R!! =D
Disclaimer: Same as previous.
And for the first time since leaving Moore, Courtney felt like she belonged.
The next few weeks at Wawanakwa High flew by faster than Courtney could have ever imagined. Especially after the awkward start that she had. Meeting Trent had been like finding a light in a dark place. They now regularly hung out at school, and more often than not Beth would join them, seeing as Beth had a class with Courtney. She was now getting to the point where she could call Trent and Beth her friends. The classes weren't as bad as before. After learning to keep pace with everyone else, Courtney began excelling in most of her classes. And in those she wasn't she was improving fast, well all except biology which had been a problem from the start.
Courtney was slowly getting used to Wawanakwa too. It was much bigger than Moore, but still it wasn't cramped or overcrowded. And thankfully there were plenty of wide open spaces for her to enjoy. Tall pine leaves, and towering trees with leaves the size of saucers, stretched over street corners, with trees growing right in front of the supermarket and pharmacy. The grass throughout the town was thick, cool and lush, and flowers bloomed from the vines that blanketed the walls of many buildings.
On a Friday in early September, Courtney fell into Trent as she made her way out of her last period Spanish class.
"Woah, sorry Courtney." He said, gently steadying her, his hand on her shoulder.
She blushed slightly, readjusting her book bag on her shoulder. "It's fine. I wasn't paying attention."
Her eyes meet Trent's and she smiled shyly, despite herself. She stopped however when she realised she was in his way.
"Oh… I'm sorry." Courtney began, moving out of Trent's way.
Trent nervously scratched the back of his head. "Um… I was looking for you actually."
Courtney's eyes widened slightly. "Well I just have to put this," she said holding up her Spanish textbook, "in my locker."
The two walked to Courtney's locker, where upon arrival she stowed away her textbook. She then turned and looked at Trent expectantly.
"I was just wondering if… maybe you wanted to hang out with me, this afternoon?"
The smile on Courtney's face grew ten-fold.
This will be great!! But… I have no idea what he likes to do… I mean… I only see him at lunch or in class. But… it will be interesting to find out.
"What are you doing?"
He smiled, "There are some woods behind my house. I know you like the outdoors, I thought we could go for a walk. There's this really cool tree I wanted to show you… Well it's more like two trees, but… we'll you'll understand when you see it. I mean… only if you want to."
"Okay."
His smile widened. "Really?"
Courtney beamed at him. "Sure. It sounds like fun."
"Great." He looked down the hallway to the back door. "It's easier if we go out that way."
Courtney followed Trent through the crowded halls and out the back door. The crisp air was a welcome relief to the stuffy air inside the school building. The sun was struggling to break its way through the fog, and the air was slightly chilly, making Courtney's smile even wider. Trent saw her expression and couldn't help but chuckle at the pure joy he saw on her face. He watched her breath in the salty air, brought in by the west wind. He noticed that she seemed more lively, just by being out in the fresh air. It was something he had noticed since meeting her, but he was seeing it in full effect now.
She looks so happy… and pretty. Hopefully she enjoys the walk…
The peaceful silence was broken when Courtney spoke up. "So you live with your mum?"
"Yeah. My dad split from my mum when I was nine. So my mum made me finish up that year, and then moved us here."
"Oh, so what does she do?"
"She's a pharmacist down at the local pharmacy."
Courtney burst out laughing. "Oh. That's ironic."
Trent raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Courtney smiled. "My mum's a master naturopath."
"Huh?"
Courtney laughed at the confusion evident on his face. "It basically means that my mum makes all her own medicine out of herbs. She grows a bunch of her own stuff. I've never had any drugs... Not even Tylenol."
Trent stared gobsmacked. "You're kidding me!"
"Nope." She smiled. "My mum makes stuff that we use. Neither of my parents trust the packeted stuff."
"My mum would freak." Trent exclaimed. "She thinks there's a pill for everything!"
Courtney burst out laughing. "Well my mum thinks doctors are out to kill you."
Trent chuckled. "I think our mum's could learn something from each other."
Courtney giggled, her laughter finally dying down. "Probably."
Trent sighed, and readjusted his bag before turning back to Courtney. "So your mum never goes to the doctor?"
"Never."
His brow furrowed in confusion, before asking the question. "So were you like born at home? Or something?"
Courtney sighed. "I was adopted."
"Oh yeah?" He was silent for a few moments, letting the information sink in. "So do you know who your real parents are?"
Courtney snorted. "No."
"Why is it funny?"
Courtney bit her lip before turning to Trent. "Promise not to laugh?"
Trent put his hand to his heart. "I solemnly swear not to laugh."
Courtney bit her lip nervously before telling Trent. "Someone put me in a basket and left me on my parents doorstep."
"No way!" He stopped in his tracks turning to Courtney. "You're messing with me."
She raised an eyebrow at him. Causing him to gape once again. "You're serious?"
Courtney nodded. "I was a basket child. I wasn't a baby. Well you couldn't really count me as one. I was… three I think my mum said." She chuckled. "Mum said I was kicking, and trying to get out of the basket when they answered the door."
Trent gaped at her. "So you were a kid. Could you talk?"
Courtney nodded. "Uh huh. Mum said I had an odd accent that hung around for about a year."
"Woah… So you don't know where you came from?"
Courtney sighed. "Mum says that I knew my name, but that was it. I didn't know where I was, or what had happened… or anything else."
"That's the weirdest thing that I have ever heard."
Courtney nodded. "It made for a massive legal mess. After my parents decided they wanted to adopt me, they had a private investigator trying to find my parents, and all sorts of stuff about temporary custody and stuff. It took over two years before everything was final."
Trent nodded and the two began to walk again. "So did you have to live in a foster home or anything?"
"No. The judge my parents worked with was really good, so I got to live with them throughout the whole ordeal. A social worker came out to see us every week. And my parents weren't allowed to take me out of the state until I was seven."
They turned up another street as Trent spoke up again. "Weird. So… do you ever wonder where you came from?"
"I used to…" Courtney smiled slightly. "But after not getting answers for so long, you just stop trying as hard."
"Wow… If you could find out… would you?"
Courtney stopped for a second before resuming the walk to Trent's. "I… I don't really know." She readjusted the bag on her shoulder. "Probably… but I like my life. I'm not sorry I ended up with my mum and dad."
"That's so cool." He gestured up a driveway. "This is it." He looked up at the sky. "Looks like it'll rain soon. If we drop our bags inside quickly, we'll hopefully have enough time to see the tree."
Courtney stood gazing at the house. "This is yours?" She watched as Trent nodded in return. "It's so pretty."
The house was small and white, and had a bright red door. There were flowerbeds surrounding the house with beautiful, multicoloured flowers.
Trent chuckled opening the front door and letting Courtney in. "Should be. I spent two weeks during the summer painting it."
They left their bags at the front door and Trent led Courtney to the kitchen. "Can I get you anything?" Trent said opening the fridge, pulling out a Sprite and grabbing a bag of crisps from the pantry.
Courtney forced herself to not scrunch her nose in disgust at the crisps. She looked around the kitchen and spotted a fruit bowl full of fresh fruit. She noticed a particularly juicy looking pear at the top of the pile and gestured to it. "Can I have that?"
"Sure." Trent smiled. "Grab it and bring it along." He pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge. "Water?"
She grinned at him. "Sure."
They made their way out the back door and made their way down a neatly kept garden path, until they reached the back fence.
Courtney raised an eyebrow. "Looks like a dead end."
Trent laughed. "To the untrained eye."
Courtney scoffed. "Untrained eye. My eyes aren't…"
Courtney stopped what she was saying as Trent hopped onto the fence, perching himself on the top.
"Oh really?" He chuckled as she stared at him in awe. "Come on. I'll help you up."
He grabbed onto Courtney's outstretched hand and helped her over the fence, before hopping down beside her and leading her into the forest. The forest was damp. The leaves stuck to the bottom of their shoes, and the thick canopy of leaves blocked out the sounds of the traffic. Courtney looked around with a small smile on her face.
"This is really nice."
Trent looked around, scratching his arm. "I spose it is. I've never been a big outdoor person, but there are heaps of plants that I can study under my microscope."
Courtney cocked an eyebrow. "You have a microscope?" She snickered at him. "So you're a science geek."
Trent laughed. "Well… everyone thought Clark Kent was a nerd too and look how he turned out."
Courtney chuckled. "So you're saying you're Superman?"
Trent grinned, chaning to a mysterious tone. "You never know."
Courtney laughed, before looking down smiling shyly. As she looked up her eyes met Trent's. The glade seemed silent as they gazed at each other. His eyes were soft and probing, making a small smile form on her face. He seemed to be trying to learn more about her, just from looking at her. After a moment he smiled, gesturing down a faint path while scratching the back of his head.
"The… uh tree's this way."
The path wound back and forth, with what seemed to be no direction. However after a few minutes of walking Trent pointed to a large tree just off the path they were on.
"Wow…" Courtney breathed. "It's wonderful."
The tree was in fact two trees. A fir and an alder that had sprouted close together, resulting in their trunks becoming twisted over time. The two trees now looked like one, which had pine needles on one side and broad leaves on the other.
Trent chuckled at her enthusiasm. "I found it when I moved here."
"So where's your dad?" Courtney asked, sitting down and beginning to eat her pear.
Trent made a low laugh. "He lives in San Francisco. A defence lawyer with a big firm."
"Do you get to see him very often?"
Trent sat by Courtney, pulling out his food. His knee was gently resting against her leg, but she didn't pull away.
"Every few months or so. He's rich though. Private jet and all. He flies in, and takes me places some weekends."
"Sounds good."
Trent sighed heavily. "I guess…"
"Don't you like him?"
Trent shrugged, opening the packet of crisps. "Well enough. But… he left. And he's never tried to get more time with me… I don't feel like a priority to him."
Courtney nodded sadly. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine. We have fun… it's just kinda awkward…"
The two of them sat together in a comfortable silence. The peace was broken when a large rumble of thunder sounded overhead. Trent stood up brushing off his pants, before offering Courtney his hand. "I should take you back now. Looks like it's going to pour."
Courtney took his outstretched hand and got up, before brushing herself down, and beaming at Trent. "Thanks for bringing me here. It's amazing."
"I'm glad you like it." He nervously scratched the back of his head. "But it kinda wasn't the point…"
"Oh…" Courtney blushed lightly at the compliment.
Trent gently took her hand and began leading her down the path back to the house. They made it inside the door just as the rain began to fall.
"Do you want me to call your mum to pick you up?"
Courtney smiled gently. "No thanks."
Trent looked outside and then back at Courtney. "But it's raining… I'll walk you."
"No. It's fine. I like walking in the rain anyway."
Trent paused for a moment. "Well… then can I call you sometime? Tomorrow maybe?"
Courtney giggled. "Sure."
"Awesome."
Courtney smiled and then gestured down the hall. "The door's this way… right?"
Trent chuckled. "Yeah… but I can't call you without your number."
"Oh… sorry" Courtney then neatly wrote her number on a notebook by the phone.
"Can I give you mine?"
"Sure." Courtney began reaching for a scrap of paper when Trent took her hand.
"Don't worry about it." He said scrawling his number on her palm. "You won't lose it this way…"
Courtney beamed at him. "Thanks. I'll talk to you soon."
Courtney let herself out and began walking home. She pushed back the hood on her jacket and lifted her face to the sky, relishing in the feeling of the rain on her skin. She was going to stretch her arms before remembering about the number, and shoving her hands in her pockets. Courtney enjoyed the walk home smiling the whole way.
When she arrived home she heard the phone ringing. Gathering that her mum wasn't home, Courtney rushed to the phone, answering it just before the last dial tone.
"Hello?"
"Oh! Hey… you're home. I was gonna leave a message."
Courtney paused for a second. "Trent?"
"Yeah. Hey. Umm… sorry to call so soon, but I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come over tomorrow and study for bio with me."
"Really?" Courtney exclaimed. "That would be great. I seriously don't get bio. I was stressed that I was going to fail."
"Great." Trent chuckled. "I mean… not great that you're stressed, but great that… yeah."
Courtney chuckled at his embarrassment. "What time?"
"Whenever. I'm home all day tomorrow, and all I'm doing is chores for my mum."
"Great. I'll call you."
"Awesome. See you tomorrow."
Courtney said goodbye and hung up the phone. She beamed and jumped up and down on the spot before skipping up the stairs, two at a time.
