AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m going to Boston, where I’ll be starting college soon. MIT. Mom and Dad have already paid the reservation fee. I’ll find a place of my own, familiarize myself with the city. Thanks to the online programming jobs I’ve taken these past few years, I have quite a bit of cash, and if I run out, I’ll just work some more. I can even study ahead since I already know what subjects I’m taking.
I’m done with high school.
As I zip up my suitcase, my gaze goes past the window, straight into Aster’s. I see her pacing the room, gripping her hair with both hands. Is she still fuming about what I did? Nah. Most likely, she’s back to thinking about Leander, feeling sorry for him.
I turn my gaze away and pull my suitcase off the bed. Yup, I’m done here. There isn’t anything for me here anymore.
I was a fool to think there ever was.
Chapter One ~ You Again
Aster
Present
A breeze rocks the canopy of leaves above me. The shapes painted by the sunlight on the sidewalk quiver before disappearing beneath the soles of my shoes. I lift my head. Past the brim of my cap, I glimpse fragments of turquoise sky and wisps of white through the tapestry of branches. The artist in me smiles.
It’s days like this that make me glad I never left town.
It’s pretty much the same as it was when I first arrived two decades ago. The same houses line the street – large but none too fancy, and all older than me. New houses have risen up on the other side of town, but here the houses bear their faded paint and their dirty chimneys proudly. The same people live in them, too – old couples who have been here all their lives, entrepreneurs who founded and still run the shops on Main Street, families with fathers who still commute to Baltimore and kids who used to play baseball in the park now all grown up and glued to their gadgets.
“Whoa!”
I stop in my tracks as Brian Wells comes running out of the driveway texting, nearly colliding with me and my dogs.
“Sorry,” he mutters, but he only takes his eyes off his phone for a second before he walks off.
I cup my hands over my mouth and shout after him. “You really shouldn’t text while you’re walking!”
He ignores me, of course. I let out a sigh and look at my dogs – my three-year-old Golden Retriever, Copper, and my ten-month-old rescued German Shepherd mix, Dali. They’re both gazing up at me, Copper with his signature smile that tells me it’s all good and Dali with his more serious, inquisitive expression, as if asking me what just happened and what he should do about it. I give them a smile and kneel on the pavement so I can stroke them behind the ears.
“I’m fine, boys.”
I really am so lucky to have these two.
“Are you okay, Aster?” Mrs. Wells asks as she walks briskly towards me. “I saw what happened from my kitchen window, and…”
“It’s fine, Mrs. Wells.” I stand up. “No harm done.”
“Good.” She puts a hand over her chest as she lets out a sigh of relief. “That Brian. I keep telling him to pay more attention to what’s around him than to his phone, but well, he never listens.”
I shrug. “I guess he’s at that age.”
Mrs. Wells snorts. “He hasn’t been listening to me since he was twelve.”
I say nothing. I’m not a mother, so I don’t really have any advice to share.
“I heard Giselle is getting married,” she changes the subject.
“I think everyone has.”
For months now, Mrs. Burke has been talking about nothing but Giselle’s upcoming wedding to a wealthy cardiologist from Chicago. I’m happy for her, for both of them, in fact. I just wish she’d shut up for a minute, or talk about something else, though I doubt there’s any chance of that now that the ceremony is only days away.
“I’m glad she’s doing it here,” Mrs. Wells says. “The stained glass windows of the chapel are beautiful this time of year.”
“Yeah,” I agree.
Some days, I go to church just to stare at them.
“Are you a bridesmaid?” Mrs. Wells asks me.
I nod. “Yup.”
It will be my third time this year. I don’t mind. For now, I’m content to be a bridesmaid. No stress. No vows to make before God and man. Plus the dresses are lovely.
Of course, I plan on being a bride someday, but for that, I have to find a groom, and right now, no one in this town seems to be a good candidate. Not that I have time to entertain any.
“How’s your dad?” Mrs. Wells asks next.
“Good,” I answer. “Though I should be getting back.”
I glance at my watch. It looks like I’ve already been out of the house for fifteen minutes. My dad was asleep when I left, but what if he’s already awake? He was fine yesterday, but who knows when he might have another episode?
