Chapter One - The Night We Met

Her classmates had a party for her on her last day in her old town, where they had pizza and donuts, and watched a movie, but she knew they would forget about her. But she didn't mind.

23 Years Earlier
March 15th, 2012

 

 

                  The spring air was cold, yet refreshing as it rushed through the car window. Carla absently stared at the landscape rushing before her, the thick bunches of trees occasionally parting to reveal the endless Pacific Ocean. Her foot tapped mindlessly at the tune of some song that she vaguely recognized but couldn't remember the name of, and through the howling of the wind, she could faintly hear her father humming along as he drove.

Carla had underestimated the length of the drive to their new home. She knew that the trip would last at least three hours, but now she sat, bored out of her mind. Alongside a few suitcases and boxes beside her in the back of the van sat a phone and gameboy, both out of battery. A stack of books also sat by her side, all completely read through. A couple books had been victim to the bumpy roads and had fallen to the floor, left to lie amongst old coupon books and candy wrappers. And so, with nothing else to keep herself busy, Carla was forced to rely on the passing scenery as entertainment for the remaining duration of the trip.

It was definitely quite different for her; her old house had been an apartment in the middle of a bustling city, and she had barely traveled as a child. She had no doubt in her mind that she had seen more trees in the past four hours than she had in her whole life.  Though, as far as she knew, that was the point of their move. The city air had been too much for her condition, and the doctor had advised moving somewhere where the air was cleaner, so that her health could improve. Carla knew that her father had been upset to leave the city, but he was also the type to go through any lengths for her. That was just how he was, even before her mother had died. But that didn't stop Carla from feeling somewhat guilty, that he would just leave behind his hometown for her. She knew he had many memories there with mother, yet he had still planned to move to a brand new home without hesitation. Though apparently, he was overjoyed to go to a new place. Perhaps he was happy to leave behind those memories. But Carla would never know; her father was not much of a talker, and neither was she. 

"I think you'll love it there," He had told her one day while they were packing. "It's a small place, but its right next to the ocean. You like the ocean, right?"

She hadn't had the heart to tell him that she, in fact, despised swimming. And being close to any body of water in general. What she was excited to see was the sky at night; in the city, the smog would always prevent her from seeing the night sky. In such a small, hidden-away town, perhaps the stars would be brighter. 
Suddenly, the barrier of trees at the side of the road left her view, revealing the vast ocean in all of its glory. She could see the waves crashing onto the rocky shore, and a distant boat. Seagulls circled in the afternoon sky, and she could hear their distant cries. She took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling the crisp ocean breeze that came to her through the car window.

"Well, Carla, we've arrived!" her father called back to her, a rare hint of excitement in his voice. "This is our new home."

Barely a second later, she caught a glimpse of a large wooden sign that was surrounded by a bed of yellow flowers, the bold gray words easy to read against the pale yellow paint.

'WELCOME TO SUNFLOWER SHORES
THE OCEANSIDE HIDEAWAY'

A charming illustration of a sunflower sat underneath the words. Carla simply hummed in response to her father's statement, leaning back into her seat. 

"I guess so."

 

#

 

The new house wasn’t half bad, in Carla’s opinion. It was definitely much roomier than their apartment in the city, and was a little ways away from any other houses. It was a fairly small house, the perfect size for her and her father. The house was fairly quaint, and was painted white with pale blue accents around the windows and door. The roof was dark gray, and seemed to need some repairing. The yard was also in need of repair, with overgrown weeds and grass, and a monstrous rose bush. Sunflowers grew at the edge of the white picket fence that surrounded the home, untamed and reaching for the sun.

 

The previous owner seemed nice, and had gladly showed them around the new place. She was an older woman named Anabel, probably around 70, with curly gray hair and extravagantly coloured clothing. Apparently, she had lived in the house with her husband for over fifty years. But sadly, the man had died from a heart attack recently, leaving her heartbroken and alone. So now she was moving to some old folk’s home somewhere in Seattle, so that she could live closer to her children and grandchildren. She didn’t seem pleased about leaving Sunflower Shores, but seemed glad that her old house was being passed down to “such a lovely young man, and his beautiful daughter”.

 

Anabel had offered to help them unpack, but Carla’s father had insisted that they were fine on their own. Carla couldn't help but pout; unpacking would take much longer with just the two of them, and she itched to explore her new home. She was twelve years old, but she had still retained her childish curiosity and urge to explore. Then again, she had all the time in the world to explore; Carla had moved to Sunflower Shores shortly after spring break, so there was no point in getting her enrolled in school until the next September.

Carla devoted herself to unpacking, and by the time May rolled around, the house was finally, as her father put it, "presentable". And so, she was finally free to explore Sunflower Shores as much as she liked. The beach was nice, but the water was cold; though Carla had taken a liking to beach combing, and now had a neat pile of sea glass and shells stacked on her dresser. On the edge of town, there was a biking trail that led to an overpass that looked over the whole town. It was truly beautiful, and she occasionally would go there at night as well, and it quickly became her favorite location to stargaze.

 

There were quite a few children her age in the town, but Carla had barely attempted interacting with them. She would always see them walking home from school, or standing in groups outside of stores, chatting and laughing amongst themselves. Some would glance at her with curiosity, but Carla would always turn her head away abruptly, and avoid eye contact. It wasn’t that she was shy; she had always been fairly unsociable, ever since she was little. Maybe that’s why the move hadn’t been such a big change for her. She hadn’t been very close with many people in her old school, and she had been fine with that. Her classmates had a party for her on her last day in her old town, where they had pizza and donuts, and watched a movie. She exchanged email addresses and phone numbers with a few of her classmates, but she knew for a fact that she would most likely never hear from them again. She doubted that she left much of a dent in the class, or that many of them had even known her name.

 

It was a lonely realization, but a true one. And she didn’t mind.

 

Her father had suggested for Carla to take advantage of the move and start over, and try to open up a bit more to others. He most likely didn’t want her to be the same as he was; her father had also been very quiet and sociable, and had graduated without a single close friend. But it wasn’t that easy. Sure, it was easy to become acquaintanced with others, and have people who would smile at her in the hallways and say good morning. But Carla never had anyone who she felt extremely close to. She didn’t have anyone who she would have a sleepover with, and share all of her deepest secrets with at 3 in the morning. She didn’t have anyone who would send her funny pictures, or to remember her birthday. Carla would see those kinds of people interact with others, or in movies and TV shows, but they didn’t seem to exist for her.

 

She couldn’t imagine someone being that close with her. It scared her. So she didn’t bother trying to make that sort of connection. And besides, Sunflower Shores seemed like the kind of town where everybody knew each other. Carla was an outsider, and hadn’t grown up with these people. She didn’t want to barge into their friendships when they’ve probably had them for many years. And so, she spent her first few weeks in Sunflower Shores by herself, wandering the town on her bike and familiarizing herself with the town.

 

It was June when Carla met Mallory.

 

It was just another night for Carla; she had fallen into a routine throughout the slow, lazy days. She would sleep in, play on her Gameboy, eat lunch with her father, explore a bit, eat dinner, and then continue exploring. When the sun set, she would head to the lookout on the cliff, and watch as the stars came out. On that day, it was much warmer than usual. She had hidden away inside her house with the air conditioning. It was only when the sun started to set that she decided to finally leave the coolness of her home, and go biking. The air still felt heavy and warm, but it was definitely not as unbearable as the heat from the afternoon.

 

"Going out now?" Her father called from the living room as Carla slipped her shoes on, retrieving her helmet from the hallway closet.

 

"Yeah," She called back shortly. "I'll be back in a little bit."

 

"Remember, you still need to do the dishes." He huffed. She squinted in the direction of the kitchen, where she caught a glimpse of a small tower of pots and pans from the stir-fry they had for dinner.

 

"I'll do them when I get home," She reasoned. "I want to go out before it gets dark!"

 

Her father switched his glance from the television to Carla, and looked as though he was about to argue. Carla made eye contact and gave him a sad, pleading look. He sighed, and glanced back at the television.

 

"Fine. Don't be out to late." He surrendered. Carla grinned and slung her bag over her shoulder, and leapt for the door before he could have the chance to change his mind.

 

"I won't be! See you later!" She called out before slamming the door behind her, and hopping down the porch steps, picking her bike up from where she had left it on their lawn. It was old and she was starting to grow a bit too big for it, but it was her main mode of transportation during her adventures. After one more adjustment with her helmet, she was off.

 

The sky burst with many colors as the sun seemed to melt into the ocean. The day had been mostly clear, though a few strands of cloud were touched by the warm colors of sunset. As Carla pedaled along a small trail that sat near the ocean, she decided that maybe she would quickly look over the beach, and see if she could find any nice shells or driftwood. The path was quiet, besides a single man walking some small dog with an immense amount of fur. She smiled and waved as she rode towards him, and he did the same as she passed by. She pedaled onwards, until she reached the sandy shore, where she briskly hopped off her slightly rusty bike, and leaned it against a sturdy tree with twisted roots that poked out of the sand. Discarding her socks and shoes, she carefully stepped from the shrubs onto the sand. It felt good beneath her feet, warmed up by the summer sun that slowly began to disappear in the horizon.

 

Taking a deep breath, Carla made her way to the water as the warm sand slowly became scorching and unbearably hot. She hissed in pain as she hopped to where the ocean waves had touched the beach, and let the coolness of the damp sand return her feet to a comfortable temperature. Adjusting her bag that hung from her shoulder, she took in the sight of the beach, stained by sunset, with no one else in sight.

 

At least, that's how her beachcombing usually went. It took a simple glance ahead for Carla to realize that she wasn't alone this time. A figure stood in the ocean, about knee-deep, facing the setting sun.

 

'A girl,' Carla realized faintly. She was quite a distance away, but Carla could make out long blonde hair that was tied in a waist-length braid, and a short, light-colored sundress. She bit her lip. She didn't want to skip beachcombing, but the girl was close enough that she might notice Carla if she walked by. Which meant there was a chance that Carla would be forced to interact with the girl. And in her mind, that certainly wasn't ideal.

 

But as she stood there weighing her options, she didn't realize that the girl had already noticed her. Snapped out of her thoughts, Carla glanced up at the girl in the distance, who was now facing her and scrambling out of the water towards Carla.

 

"Hello!" The blonde girl exclaimed as she approached the other girl, who was frozen to the spot. "You're the new kid, aren't you? You moved here in March?" As she came closer, Carla could make out more of her features. She was Carla's age, though maybe older, she couldn't tell. Underneath a straw hat, her blonde hair practically glowed in the light of the setting sun. Her eyes were pale and seemed to reflect the ocean before them.

 

"Y-yes," Carla stuttered nervously as the girl made very direct and very intense eye contact. "I just moved here with my dad."

 

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "It's nice to meet you!" She said with a bright smile. "My family and I were pretty close with the lady who used to live in your new house, and she told us that a girl my age moved there too so, well," she moved in closer to Carla, who leaned back a little. "I've been really wanting to meet you!"

 

"O-oh. Well, it's nice to meet you too..?" Carla mumbled, curling her toes in the sand as she finally managed to tear her dark eyes away from her pale ones. "I'm Carla."

 

"That's a lovely name! I'm Mallory." The blonde responded cheerily, and extended her hand out towards Carla. She reluctantly took it, and Mallory proceeded to shake her hand with such enthusiasm that it was almost violent. "How do you like Sunflower Shores so far?"

 

"It's, uh, it's nice," Carla stuttered, her face flushed red. "I like it a lot. It's quiet."

 

Mallory laughed. "Really? A lot of kids our age hate it because of how quiet it is!" She exclaimed, taking a step back. She plopped down in the dry sand, sticking out her bare feet so that the waves could reach them. Carla carefully settled down next to the girl, tucking her legs close to her chest. "A lot of my friends are already thinking of moving away when they graduate."

 

Carla gave Mallory a surprised look. Carla hadn't even considered gradation yet; she was the kind to think of the present, not the future. "Do they really hate it here that much?" She asked, turning her gaze to the vast ocean before them.

 

"I guess they're just bored. And city life just seems more appealing to them, I guess?" Mallory hummed. "But not for me."

 

A seagull flew through the sky above them, letting out a shrill, yet distant cry.

 

"I love it here. I think I could stay here forever."

The two stared out at the ocean before them, the silence between them filled by the crashing of the waves and the calls of the gulls.

 

Carla hesitated as she opened her mouth to speak, but pushed past her uncertainty to form words. "Me too." She replied, her voice quiet.

 

#

 

Carla sat at the beach with Mallory until the sun finally disappeared in the distance, and the sky darkened. She talked with the blonde as though she had known her for years, the conversation flowing steadily as time went on. Mallory was curious and friendly, and quite talkative as well. From what she picked up, she liked dancing and swimming, and lived her mother and father about a block away from Carla. She was the same age as Carla, and had lived in the small town her whole life.

 

"So you're from the big city? What was it like?" Mallory asked with big eyes.

 

Carla shrugged. "It's nothing special." She replied bluntly. "It's crowded and loud and smelly, and the traffic gave my dad the worst road rage." She huffed, recalling all the swear words that she had learned from her father's frustrations on the roads of their old home.

 

She laughed in response. "I know what you mean! My family and I went on a big road trip a few years ago, and you wouldn't believe the words my dad would spout in front of my sister and I!" She lifted a hand to her face to stifle a giggle.

 

"You have a sister?" Carla asked.

 

"Yeah, her name's Sydney! She's two years younger than me, but she likes to think she's older. She's a bit of a brat." Mallory scowled. "Do you have any siblings?"

 

"Nope. It's just me and dad." Carla replied steadily. She chose not to mention her mother.

 

Mallory huffed. "Keep it that way. Siblings are nothing but trouble! Especially when you're the oldest. Then your parents keep telling you that you have to be a good 'example' for them," she then got to her feet, briskly brushing the sand from her sundress. "It's kind of really unfair."

 

Carla stood up as well, only just noticing how the air had drastically cooled down as the sun had set. She gave Mallory a sympathetic smile. "That does sound kinda crappy." She admitted.

 

"Mm." Mallory nodded in response. "Anyways, it's almost dark, I better get home! My mom'll worry if I stay out too long." Carla nodded in understanding.

 

"Yeah, I promised my dad that I wouldn't stay out too late." She laughed as she brushed the sand from her shorts, wiping the sand from her hands onto her t-shirt. "He worries way too much!"

 

"Well, it was great talking to you, Carla!" Mallory said with a warm smile. "We should definitely chat again sometime!"

 

"Yeah," Carla replied with a genuine smile, trying to match hers. "I'd love to!"

 

The two went their separate ways as the sky become darker with every minute that passed. As Carla hopped upon her bike and made her way home, the cool night breeze rushing through her hair. As she pedaled along, she couldn't keep the smile off of her face as the stars finally became clearer above her.

Author's Note

please let me know what you think!! i'm not very confident in my writing, so any kind of encouragement or advice would be lovely!!