Chapter 1

“Hey beautiful,” Eli said as he shut my locker, “hey,” I said flashing him my best smile.

 

“What time should I pick you up tonight?”

 

“Well, I was thinking around 7? It’ll be me, Aly, Ben, Kaylie and Carter.”

 

“Okay, sounds good,” he said as he leaned down and kissed my cheek. “See you tonight.”

 

 I turned around and headed towards the parking lot. Pulling out my keys, I unlocked my car and slid into the driver’s seat. I pulled out my newly acquired IPhone and dialed my dad’s number.

 

“Hello,”

 

“Hey dad, it’s Sutton, I’m on my way home.”

 

“Sounds good, kiddo. Be safe.” He said.

 

          Before I had the chance to pull out of my parking space, I heard a tap on the window. Looking up, I saw my three best friends standing there.

 

 “Hey guys,” I said smiling.

 

“What time should we come over tonight?” they asked.

 

“ Whenever.” I answered.

 

“Okay!” They said waving.

 

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 When I pulled into my driveway I was greeted by my two golden retriever puppies. I smiled, patted their heads, and walked inside.

 

“Hey kiddo how was your day?” my dad asked greeting me.

 

“It was good. I got an A on my Chemistry test.”

 

 “Good job kid!” my dad gave me a high five. “What are your plans for later?”

 

 “Well, the girls are coming over around 5 o’clock to get ready for the party, and then Eli is picking up Ben and then picking us up and driving us there.”

 

 “Whose party is it again?” My dad asked.

 

“Hadley’s,” I answered.

 

“Okay, and what time is Eli coming over?”

 

 “Around 7,” I answered.

 

 “And what time will you be home?”

 

 “I don’t know, midnight maybe?” I said shrugging my shoulders.

 

It was only 4 o’clock, so I began to help my dad with the dishes while he made sandwiches for us. For as long as I remembered, it had always been dad who took care of my older sister, Korrine, and me. My mother left when Korrine was only 7 and I was just 5 years old. I barely had any memories of my mother, so Korrine always told me stories about what she remembered from when we were little. My dad always made sure that Korrine and I knew that we weren’t the reason my mother left, but it sometimes was hard to see it that way. Regardless of my mother’s absence, our little family was closer than ever and I loved them with all my heart.

 

“Look, honey I know that you want to do everything that Eli can do… just because he’s older…” my dad began.

 

“What are you talking about?” I asked, knowing fully that he was about to lecture me.

 

 “Well, we talked about this. I agreed to let you two see each other under the conditions that you don’t grow up too fast. I mean, Eli is 19 and you’re only 17…”

 

 “Dad I…”

 

“No. I’m going to let you and your friends go, but be safe and make smart decisions… I’ll have my phone on all night so if you need me I’ll be here. Don’t hesitate to call.”

 

I smiled and hugged my father. “I won’t dad, and I’ll be home relatively early. Love you.”

  

“Love you too.” He said excusing himself from the table.

 

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           About a half an hour later, the doorbell rang.

 

“I got it,” my older sister Korrine said appearing from her room. Opening the door she greeted my friends saying “Hey, come on in.”

 

My three best friends entered the house and greeted my sister and father.

 

“Come on guys, let’s go upstairs.” I said to them.

 

We filed up the staircase and into my bedroom.

 

“Oh my gosh, so I totally failed that calc test.” Kaylie said.

 

“I didn’t,” Aly said flashing her best and biggest smile.

 

 “Guys, what are we wearing?” Carter said scanning my closet.

 

 “You guys can borrow whatever you want.” I said to them.

 

They all walked over and began raiding my closet and drawers. I picked up my phone and saw a text from Eli, I read the message and smiled.

 

  “You’re so lucky,” Carter said picking up a new yellow shirt of mine and examining it.

 

“Yeah, you guys are totally cute. I wish I had something like that, but the farthest Ben and I have gone is holding hands.”  Aly said laughing.

 

“Thanks guys.” I said to them blushing.

 

“Can I wear this?” Carter said showing me a yellow silk shirt that I had bought last week.

 

“Sure, but it’s new so please don’t ruin it.” I answered back to her. 

 

   I began looking through my drawers and pulled out some new skinny jeans and a light pink tank top with golden chained straps. I slipped the clothes on, and stepped into my knee high black boots.

 

“You look so pretty!” Aly said to me.

 

Blushing, I looked in the mirror and reapplied some makeup. I toyed with my hair for awhile before deciding to pull it into a half up, half down kind of style.  My brown hair was just long enough to fall a few inches above my belly button and I was pleased with what I saw staring back at me in the mirror.

 

          “You’re sure this is okay to wear?” Carter asked me, motioning to the one shoulder, yellow silk shirt of mine.

 

“Positive. It looks great on you. Wear it.” I said to her.

 

She smiled, her long black hair was pulled into a side braid and she had on dark blue skinny jeans and black high heels. Carter looked like she could be in her twenties, even though she had just turned 18 last week.

 

“Thanks, I owe you.” She said, pulling me into a hug.

 

   Just then, Kaylie and Aly walked up behind me. “Do we look okay?” they asked me.

 

I looked at Kaylie first, her brown hair was completely straight and she wore a little white dress with tan boots. She looked gorgeous. Next, I looked at Aly. She was wearing a simple blue t -shirt and jeans. Her dark blonde hair was wavy around her face and she wore my pink scarf around her neck. My pink converse tied her whole outfit together and it really made her blue eyes pop.

 

 “I hope you don’t mind, I borrowed some of your stuff.”  She said to me.

 

“I don’t care, you both look great!” I replied.

 

 “Thanks, do you think that Ben will think so?” Aly asked me,

 

“YES!” we all shouted.

 

Just then the doorbell rang and I anxiously glanced at the clock. “The boys are here, it’s already 5:10 pm.”

 

We scrambled around my room, spraying perfume and clasping on earrings. We all rushed downstairs only to find Ben and Eli standing in the foyer talking to my dad and Korrine. 

 

          “Hey.” I said to Eli as I walked down the stairs.

 

“You look amazing.” He said hugging me.

 

I just blushed, “you look amazing too.” I said to him. 

 

 Eli wore a black button down shirt and khakis; he also had on black and white striped shoes and the bracelet I got him for our 5 month anniversary. Eli’s black hair was perfectly aligned and his green eyes were piercingly beautiful. I walked up underneath his arm and stood where I belonged. The rest of the girls crowded around and Aly and Ben stood awkwardly next to each other.

 

“Well,” my dad said “Have fun, but not too much fun. And be home at a decent time. After all, she’s only 17.”

 

 My dad made eye contact with Eli and I reached up and squeezed his hand. 

 

“Call me if you need anything kiddo.” My dad said to me. I walked over and hugged him.

 

“Ok, love you dad. See you later tonight. Bye Korrine.” I said as we filed out the door.

 

My dad yelled after us “Call me if you need anything, anything at all.”

 

“I will.” I said waving as we filed into Eli’s parent’s blue SUV.

          Eli was driving, Ben was in the passenger seat, and in the middle row sat me and Carter. In the way back was Aly and Kaylie and we all had music was blaring from the speakers. I pulled out my IPhone and my friends and I began taking pictures. The car ride there was filled with laughter, jokes, and lots of obnoxious singing and laughing.

          Finally, after 15 minutes in the car we arrived at Hadley’s house. There were cars parked down the street and you could hear the music from all the way in the back field where we pulled up to park the car. We parked, got out and I hopped up on Eli’s back, he gave me a piggy-back ride all the way to the entrance as we waited for the rest of our friends. The rest of our car filed into the party and we all walked around. Eli held my hand and he introduced me to a bunch of his friends that I didn’t know.

 

“Guys, this is my amazing girlfriend Sutton.” He would say.

 

 I would just smile awkwardly and answer “hey.”

 

            After about an hour of dancing and meeting new people, Eli grabbed my hand and led me out into the back lot.

 

“I’m really happy you could hang out tonight.” He said to me,.

 

“Me too.” I said smiling at him.

 

Eli leaned down and removed a piece of hair from my face. He brushed itt over my shoulder, and then he leaned down and kissed me. Eli and I stood there embracing in the same position for what seemed like forever. After, this we pulled away and he looked me in the eyes.

 

“Sutton, I love you.”

 

 I stood there frozen, comprehending what Eli just said to me.

 

“I- I love you too, Eli.” I smiled up at him as he leaned down and kissed me once more.

 

 “Shall we go and join the party?” he asked me smiling.

 

 “Sure.” I answered.

 

 He grabbed my hand and we proudly strolled back into the party.

 

 “I’m going to find Ben; I’ll catch up with you in second.” Eli said,

 

“Okay,” I said back to him.  

 

He smiled as he turned away.

 

I ran up to my friends, “Guys, Eli just told me he LOVED me!” I said to them, murmurs and gasps went around and after a moment of silence Carter spoke up.

She said “Well, what did you say?”

 

“I said I loved him too, because I do.” All I wanted to do was smile.

 

“Sutton, that’s great. Should be celebrate?” She asked motioning to the living room where a bunch of people were dancing. We all gathered around and began taking pictures, laughing, singing and enjoying what was supposed an amazing memory.

 

            It seemed as if the world was perfect and nothing could go wrong. Little did I know, things can change in the blink of an eye. 

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good beginning. Hope begin and the night begin too. I liked the characters and the story line. You made the people come alive and feel real. Thank you Kasey for sharing the good chapter.
Coyote