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Chapter One
Listening to the blue minivan hum beneath us, there was no time to push the rewind button. With the seatbelt strained across my waist, wind seeped through my half-cracked window and brushed against my face. Violet mists trailed into the sky and created the stage for my new galvanic reality. The road sign read 'Welcome to Lakeville Forest' when Kevin shoved his body through the window.
“Woooo! Welcome home, ladies and gentlemen!” He drummed on the hood of the van and gave Ohio the middle finger. Then he stretched his arms far above his head, until the bulk of his sweater lifted high above his waistline. His beady eyes were blue and curious, and his dimpled chin complimented the rest of his features. As he shot me a look through the window, I noticed he was chewing on gum like farmers chewed on tobacco.
Blue arose from her peaceful slumber and spat, 'Kevin, you’re an idiot,' before falling back down again – she obviously believed there was something unique about the guy who carried a knife in his back pocket.
Their names weren’t very hard to memorize. Tre was the attentive black guy with an English accent. Blue was the other girl besides me, who had countless piercings all over her body. Chris was the one who entered my life last night at the La Traviatta operetta. He was rough around the edges and had vibrant black hair that ruffled when the wind hit it.
“Calise, is it?” she asked.
I nodded.
“My boss never meets new people,” she went on, turning in my direction. “If he does, he never brings them here. How did the two of you meet? Was it a stroll in the park?”
Chris adjusted the mirror, shooting her a look.
“I know, Coach,” she added. “We want to hear her side of the story.”
They waited, expecting some long juicy tale, and I certainly had one.
“Well,” I started. “For starters, I caught him watching me at one of my favorite performances,” I admitted. “I thought we must've known each other. So I followed him back to his car and asked him for an explanation. He told me he was in town at the moment, taking care of business, and we ended up talking for hours. By the end of the night, he told me to come away with him to this amazing place called Ohio,” I answered. “Here we are.”
They blinked twice, except for Blue. She rolled her eyes and gave a short laugh. “Oh brother. So what. Are you guys like a thing now? Great. Absolutely perfect. Should I say congratulations?”
“Damn right,” Kevin interrupted in a girlish voice, answering on my behalf. “Chris and I are having such a good time together. He asked me to be here. I couldn't resist.”
After they were done teasing me, I stared outside the window at the empty road. For the next five minutes no one said a word, and my mind wandered to the fantastic night we'd just spent together and how wonderful it was to have someone like him to talk to. He was non-judgmental, and a really great listener. He'd been so kind in the little time we'd known each other; it already felt like an eternity.
It was then that Chris peered at me through the mirror and winked, letting me know we were both on the same page. I was relieved my bogus plan to stay in California and attend my second year of college hadn’t worked out, because now I got to be here, sitting behind this new intriguing individual.
He was, by far, the most interesting person I'd ever met.
Luckily his friends appeared to be around my age, so I didn't feel too incongruous.