Chapter Text
There are some people that pass through your life with ease and without any complications. They are rather nice people, but they make no significant impact in your life. They only stop by to say hi and disappear for the rest of your existence.
But then there are some people who are the complete opposite to that. They come into your life without warning, bursting in like a comet, blazing up the sky with its endless light. Hurtling towards you. Yet, they have the potential to burn everything in its path. They have the potential to burn everything in your life. They become a part of your existence.
When I saw your face, I didn’t know you’d end up lighting all the dark corners of my mind. I didn’t realize you would change everything. I didn’t realize you’d become a part of me.
It's been 9 years since I've been back to Los Angeles. The city doesn't have the towering buildings or the fast-pace lifestyle like New York City did. But with its blue sky and palm trees, Los Angeles was beautiful on its own.
"Coley? Honey, are you awake?" I hear my mom question over the sounds of Daughter coming from my headphones.
I turn my face away from the car window and see her eyes still trained on the road ahead while occasionally checking up on me. "Yeah mom I'm awake."
"Good, we'll be at Grandma's house in about five minutes."
"Alrighty."
I look out the window once again, seeing suburban house after suburban house disappear behind us and I hear Mom humming to one of her Fleetwood Mac songs.
As we reach a stop sign at an intersection in my Grandma's neighborhood, a girl appears from the corner of my eye. She is skating on a mint colored penny board and comes to a halt at the stop sign in front of us. She's either waiting for us to move forward or to let her cross the street.
Even though she is a few yards away, she's radiant. Her face is carefully sculpted yet contains a softness to it and she has a slim figure with slightly wavy hair that's colored brown, effortlessly cascading down past her shoulders. Although we are well into January, she's the epitome of summer.
Mom waves her hand, signaling the girl to cross the street first. Before the girl hops on her penny board again, she looks straight at me while giving a small smile and raising her hand as a thank you.
As soon as the girl safely passes us, Mom lightly presses on the gas and moves us forward. But my eyes stays on that summer girl, riding a mint colored penny board, until she or we have moved too far for me to continue searching for her.
I wonder if I’ll ever see her again.
A few moments later we are pulling up to the house I used to spent so much of my childhood years in. It’s a cute suburban house with stone walls and a white patio. And there’s this large tree in the front yard that has a tire strung up by one of the branches, I remember swinging on that tire for hours as Dad pushed me up toward the sky. I always felt like I was flying when I was on that black worn out tire, I always felt like I was free.
Mom parks in Grandma's driveway and takes a large breath out with her hands gripping the steering wheel. "This is it. This is our life now." She's clearly nervous, but I don't blame her, she's finally moving on, we are finally moving on.
I put my hand over hers, giving her a reassuring squeeze and a big convincing smile. "This, is the beginning of a new life."
She eases up on the death grip she was giving the steering wheel and responds to my smile with another. "You're right honey. This is the start." She lets go of the steering wheel and takes another breath out before getting out of the car. "Okay! Let's get the luggage out of the trunk and go inside to see Grandma and Grandpa."
I follow her lead and take my luggage and guitar out of the car first then hand her luggage to her. Mom unlocks the door to the house and the smell of freshly baked cookie comes toward us. "Mom! We're here!" Mom yells into the house.
Grandma pops her head out of the kitchen and gasps. "Look at you!" She exclaims as she heads towards us with a warming smile and open arms. "Cal come down, Helen and Coley are finally here!"
She gives Mom and I a bear hug at the same time and I see Grandpa come running down the stairs. "Well well, the princesses are finally here." He says with the same warm smile Grandma has.
"Hi Dad. I’ve missed you." Mom greets with the largest smile I've seen her have in a while.
He gives her a hug, "I’ve miss you too sweetie." He turns to me with his arms apart waiting for me to give him a hug. "And look at little Coley here, you aren't so little anymore!"
A chuckle comes from my mouth and I go towards him, feeling his large arms wrap around me. "Hey Gramps!"
"But really! Look at how big Coley has come!" He points out again, taking a place by Grandma's side.
"She really is becoming a woman now! A beautiful one at that, I bet she's a real heartbreaker, aren't you?" Grandma laughs out.
"Of course Grandma, I'm following your footsteps."
"Good! Let them boys know who is boss." She responds, following with a hearty laugh. "Oh since all of your stuff came down a couple of days early we have the bed and shelves and what not already set up in your rooms."
"Mom you really didn't have to do that." Mom says guiltily.
Grandma waves her hand nonchalantly, "Oh nonsense it gives your dad and I some much needed exercise."
"Thanks Mama, and really thank for everything."
"Of course sweetie, anything for you two." There was a sadness in Grandma's eyes when she said those words. It looks so familiar now, I've seen it so many times from friends, teachers, acquaintances and I wonder if it'll ever stop.
Grandma claps her hands together and continues, "Okay well if you want you can go to your rooms right now! Your room is on the far left Coley. And Helen, yours is the old guest room."
I give a small nod and head up to my room. When I reach up to it I realize it used to be the game room my cousins and I would play in when we were younger. But the Barbie dream house and race car tracks are no longer here, instead there is a full size bed pushed up against the wall on right side of the room. The bed is set up with baby blue bedding and outlined with a sheer canopy. To the left of the door are drawers with my favorite books stacked on top of it, and on the opposite side of the bed lies a small white desk with a square mirror above it and a baby blue chair in front of it.
There are a few cardboard boxes in the middle of the room, so I decide to start unpacking everything but my clothes. I take my guitar out of its case and put it on a stand next to the foot of my bed, I also start hanging up the posters of my favorite bands/artists. After a couple of hours of decorating my room, it feels slightly more like home.
Exhausted from all the unpacking, I realize I still haven't had one of Grandma's cookies yet. As I walk down the stairs I can hear voices speaking in hushed tones from the kitchen. I hide behind the wall curious as to what they are saying.
"How's Coley doing with everything?" I hear, which sounds like Grandma's voice.
"I don't really know." Mom responds, I hear her take a sip from her drink and then continues, "For a while I thought she was doing better than me. But she didn't cry much you know, after it happened. She sort of went back to normal in a couple of days, she’s become a bit more quiet now though. The poor girl had to take care of me at the beginning. But I'm worried, she tends to bottle things up and I don't know how to make her let go. I'm afraid she's going to blow up one day, and she won't know how to repair herself."
And that's all I need to hear, I go back up the stairs giving up on my quest for cookies. She was wrong though. I'm fine. Yes it hurts sometimes but life goes on and there is no use in sulking over things you can't explain. I let go a long time ago. There wasn't even anything to hold onto in the first place.
I've been in this town for a couple days now and I've yet to go exploring, and I should, at least around the neighborhood. And now is as good as a time as any since I was starting school tomorrow and most of my time will be occupied with social interactions and homework.
I jog down the stairs while checking for my keys and phone in my pockets. "Hey mom, I'm gonna go bike around the neighborhood." I tell her as I'm getting my yellow bike out the door.
"Okay honey, be safe and call me if anything happens." She calls out from the dining room.
I climb on my bike and start pedaling down the road. I really love riding my bike, especially in this town. The multiple cracks on the road are somehow pleasing and the open sky with palm trees adding splashes of green is something I can never get tired of.
When I take a right I recognize this one park I used to play in with the other neighborhood kids. The park was nothing special it just had these two huge slides placed along on a hill and I remember racing down it all the time. It would be nice to go on that slide again.
I set my bike next to a bench on the edge of the park. But as I start to head for the slides on the hill I hear someone giggle on the other side of the bundle of small slides and obstacle courses. It wasn't just any giggle, this giggle was light and effortlessly beautiful, somehow making the air seem a little sweeter. The mere sound of it makes my heart flutter.
I have to know where that came from, I don't know why but I just have to. I round the heap of plastic that separates me from whoever produced such a sound. On the other side stand three teenagers who looks around my age. And the giggling is coming from a brunette girl who is draped over the shoulder of a brunette boy that's spinning in place, probably causing the giggles coming from the girl's mouth. The other teenager has his back towards me and he's tall with short dirty blonde hair, a second later he's starting to laugh along with the brunette girl. His laugh is heavy and doesn't come close to how magnificent the girl sounds in comparison.
As I cautiously take one more step forward the blonde boy turns around and his laughter dies out, probably from hearing my footsteps. Now that I can see his face I can honestly say he is rather attractive. His dirty blonde hair is swept up to the right and his piercing blue eyes are evenly spaced above sculpted cheekbones.
Somehow he looks strikingly familiar, and I'm trying to remember where I know him from. But as I'm trying to place him, he calls out, "Coley?"
"Um yeah?" I respond, furrowing my brows.
The brunette duo stops spinning and the boy puts the girl down to look in my direction. She regains her balance on the ground and looks straight at me too, and I realize she was the girl I saw riding on that mint penny board from the other day. The giggle that made my heart flutter came from that summer girl.
The blonde takes a step forward in my direction. "Do you not remember me?"
Still trying to remember where I know him from, I end up unsuccessful. "No, sorry."
"It's me, Jake, from like 4th grade or something. We used to play in this park all the time when we were younger."
And I suddenly remember him, recalling all the foot races I used to run against him. "Oh my god yeah! Jake!"
He laughs and opens his arms for a hug which I gladly give since it's been 9 years since I've seen him.
We part but he keeps his hands placed on the middle of my back. "Wow, you've really grown up. I see you finally got those two front teeth and threw out those glasses."
"And look at you! Fixed that mop you called hair and became less lanky and more proportional."
"Well I had to, if I wanted the ladies." He lets go of my back, taking a step back and motioning to his friends to come closer. "Guys, this is Coley. She was my best friend back when I was, what, nine?"
"Yeah, something like that." I reply, giving a small wave to the other two who are now only a few feet away from me.
"This is Trenton, one of my best buddies and this is his girlfriend Sonya." Jake says pointing to them, and Trenton has his arm possessively around Sonya's shoulder.
I go to shake Trenton's hand first, his hand feels rough mirroring his exterior features. He was kind of frightening. But when I turn to Sonya the uneasiness dissipates because she was smiling brightly, seeming genuinely happy to meet me. She takes my hand in hers and lightly squeezes, causing heat to come rushing to my cheeks.
"It's um nice to meet you." I pull my hand away from hers embarrassed by how flustered I'm getting by a simple yet lingering handshake. What the hell is wrong with me?
"What are you doing back here?" Jake asks with an excited smile still on his face
"My mom and I just moved back here with my Grandparents a few days ago."
"What? That's rad as hell!" He says as I nod in reply to his statement. I forgot people say rad over here.
"You look really familiar, have I met you before?” I hear coming from Sonya, and her voice is just as beautiful as everything about her. It sounds like sunshine and flowers. The sound of solely her voice makes my heart flutter again, if anything this is worse than hearing her laugh.
I clench my fists a little, feeling my palms get a bit sweaty. "Um, no I don’t think so." I reply, my voice sounding more like a squeak than anything else.
“Are you sure?” she tilts her head a little to the side, and I hate to admit it, but she looks adorable. “Oh! I think I saw you driving with your mom the other day!”
“Maybe that’s it.” I lie, trying to hide the fact that knowing she remembers me makes me feel giddy and happy.
“Do you live in this neighborhood?”
“Yeah on Chantham street.”
“Oh hey, I only live a few streets away from there.”
“You live near here?”
She gives out a small chuckle, “Yeah. So where are you going to school?” she asks, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Grandview Academy.”
"Really? That's where we all go!" Her pink lips curl up a into a sweet smile. "How old are you?"
"17, I'm a junior."
"Oh, we're all seniors," she says motioning to the other two boys, "but they've already turn 18, I don't turn 18 till the summer. When are you starting?"
"I'm starting tomorr-" My phone starts ringing, interrupting my sentence. I pull it out of my pocket and see it's my mom calling. I answer it and mouth a sorry, walking a little bit away from them.
"Hi mom, what's up?" I say into the phone.
"Hi, just wanted to tell you to come home. We have dinner ready and it's starting to get dark."
"Okay, I'll be home soon. Bye mom." I hang up the phone and walk back to the trio. "Sorry I have to leave, my mom wants me home for dinner."
"That sucks." Jake pouts, his smile no longer on his face and steps a little closer to give me a goodbye hug. "We'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah." I wave at the other two and walk to the bench my bike is set up against.
"It was nice meeting you Coley!" Sonya yells across the park.
Hearing her say my name makes my heart beat a little faster, and a smile comes creeping on my face. "You too." I reply, more to myself than to her.
Looking in the mirror, I tighten the maroon tie until it is secure at the base of my neck and I check if the rest of my uniform is satisfactory. Since Grandview is a private school, uniforms are required, luckily these aren't hideous. They consist of a loosely fitted white button down blouse with a side pocket, tucked in underneath a gray skater skirt that goes up three inches above the knee. Over the blouse comes a maroon blazer with wide peak lapels which I leave unbutton and a maroon tie tightened to the collar. I finish the ensemble with white knee socks and tan oxfords.
Today was going to be my first day of school, and I was beyond nervous. No one really likes being the new kid in a new school. You have to start over again, find your place there and develop new friendships over again. But I guess this is what it means to move on.
I come down the stairs and see the kitchen is filled with eggs, bacon and coffee. "Hi sweetie." Mom greets as she pours herself a cup of coffee. "Eat some breakfast before you leave. Do you want some coffee?"
"Yes please." I take a plate of eggs and bacon, then proceed to take a seat at the bar.
Mom sets the cup of coffee in front of me. "Here you go honey. So have you been talking to Matty?"
"Yeah, she says she misses us. But she might be able to come down and visit for a weekend or spring break."
"Good. I haven't had a dose of Matty and Ashley in a while."
"Me neither." I take one last bite of my breakfast and give my mom a kiss on the cheek. "Okay I'm going to head out."
"Good luck on your first day!"
Grandview Academy looks like a castle. It is built from stone and has high ceilings with large black gates protecting the perimeter. The parking lot is filled with Mercedes and BMW's with girls and boys giggling and chasing each other out of the parking lot and into the castle looking school.
Grandview are for those who are rather wealthy and are classified to be in the upper class or at least the upper middle class. Even though we are living with my grandparents, it's not for financial reasons, my mom is a well renowned cardiologist and my grandparents are actually big corporate legends, however they've retired and have given the company to my uncle. But believe me, the kids who go to this school are probably the heirs to multiple worldwide industries or the children to old name politicians.
My first class is AP Chemistry, luckily it wasn't too hard to find, I just asked random people if they could give me directions and they didn't seem annoyed to help me out.
There are already a few students in the classroom when I walk in, so I settle on an empty seat at a lab table in the back. I put my headphones in, hoping to pass the time before the teacher starts class.
I didn't notice it at first but someone sits next to me and calls my name faintly, I didn't really hear them until they said my name a third time. I take off my headphones and turn to see who would even know me on my first day of school. And sitting right next to me is that summer girl, smiling at me with sunshine and glittering eyes.
Even though she is still wearing a uniform, it's a variation of it. She isn't wearing a blazer over her tightly fitted blouse but instead she has on a tight low cut maroon vest that is only held together by two buttons on the bottom. Also the collar of her blouse is open and left unbuttoned, revealing a little bit of skin. She has her sleeves rolled up to the midpoint of her forearms and her maroon tie is hanging low, outlining the V shape her unbuttoned collar makes. She looks astonishing. "So I guess we're going to be lab partners for the rest of year huh?"
"Yeah, sure, that'd be great!" I say, more than happy to agree.
She props her chin up on her palm and continues to beam that contagious smile. "Good, you're better than my last lab partner." She tilts her head forward to motion to the blonde girl in front of us who is clearly trying to flirt with the boy next to her.
I feel myself blush and it doesn't go unnoticed. Sonya giggles and continues talking, "No, I'm joking Christine is great, but she's been head over heels for Brett and I told her she can abandon me if she wanted to. Good thing I'm lucky and got you as my lab partner."
"Well in that case you're welcome." I say, ignoring the fact that my cheeks are probably getting pinker.
"You blush easily don't you?"
I tilt my head back and sigh, "Yes, it's really annoying." But honestly, I think it's just you, and I don't know why.
She laughs again, taking her chin off her palm and places her hand only a couple of inches from mine. "Don't worry, it's cute." She looks into my eyes for a lingering second and retracts her arm close to her chest. "And I'm sure it makes all the guys swoon."
"Of course, it's the only way I know how."
The bell rings and a balding middle aged man in a brown suit comes into the classroom. "Good morning class, if you all haven't noticed we have a new student in our midst." With an opened palm he directs the class to look at me. "Please rise and tell us your name, where you are from and a hobby of yours."
I stand up and place both my hands on the table for support. I feel like a frightened rabbit, since a classroom full of students are staring up at me, waiting for me to say something. "Hi, I'm Colleen Scott, but call me Coley, I actually really hate being called Colleen. I just moved from New York but I used to live here when I was younger, and I like to sing. Occasionally."
"Thank you Ms. Scott, you may be seated."
I sit back down, plant my face in my hands and softly groan, feeling utterly embarrassed. "God, that was the worst. I didn't know teachers actually did the new-kid-introducing-themselves thing. I thought that was only on TV." I tell Sonya in a hushed tone since the lecture was starting.
"Yeah, Mr. Bernich is a real stickler for the teacher stereotypes."
"Kill me now, I don't think I'm going to do very well at this school."
"Sure you are. You've got me. That's all you really need."
And I believe her.
She gives me one of those soft smiles this time, the ones that make you feel safe and warm with only the lips barely curled up. But most of it is said through the eyes, warm brown eyes making me feel like everything thing will be okay, because she'll be there.
"And here's your first tip, you don't nee-" Sonya informs before Mr. Bernich stops her.
"Ms. Li and Ms. Scott. As glad as I am that you are making friends so quickly Ms. Scott, please refrain yourself from speaking any longer so I may conduct my lesson."
"Sorry sir, it's completely my fault." Sonya apologizes, taking all the blame instead of me.
After Mr. Bernich nods his head and continues with his lecture, Sonya slides a note across the table.
In neat contained letters, it reads: Lessons will continue after class.
Sonya stands up and stretches as soon as the dismissal bell rings. "Alright, time for your first lesson. Come with me." She starts walking out of the room and I follow behind her.
She leads me into a very large and exceptionally clean bathroom, which is surprisingly empty. "Okay, even though you pull off this uniform really well with the whole good schoolgirl vibe, you don't have to follow dress code. As you can see, I didn't. When you are a junior or a senior the teachers don't give a fuck anymore."
"Oh thank god." I start loosening up my tie and unbuttoning my collar.
"Exactly," She steps closer in front of me and stands only about a foot away from me. "And you don't need this blazer. I know it can get hot." She slides the blazer off my shoulders and folds it onto the crook of her arm. She inspects me for a second then goes to fold my sleeves up to my elbows. "Oh and you don't need your skirt to sit so low on your hips, don't judge me but I like my skirts a little higher up. If you don't mind..." Sonya takes the hem of skirt and pulls it up to go a few inches above my belly button. She steps back, crosses her arm and looks over my body once again.
She's looking at me with such intensity and it makes me feel so nervous. "Do I look okay?" I ask with my fingers fidgeting against my leg.
As if my voice brings her back out of her trance she looks up into my eyes with a hint of surprise but gives me a sweet smile. She steps closer to me again, this time only leaving a few inches between us. Her fingers go to fix my tie and smooths down my collar. "Yeah. Like I said, cute."
I can feel the heat creep up to my neck at an alarming rate so I force my eyes away from hers and look down to the ground, hoping she doesn't notice.
Sonya clears her throat and takes a couple steps back. "Um, yeah. You look... you look good. I like this better, gives you that edge I'm sure you have, coming from New York and all."
"Yeah, that's me edgy, people call me that all the time." I chuckle out sarcastically. "But thanks, the original uniform was really uncomfortable."
"No problem, and that's not the only thing I can teach you. I've decided I'm going to take you under my wing and teach you the ropes around here. You can call me your Guardian Angel." And she does it again, she smiles softly, causing my head to spin.
I didn't know if she was going to be my heaven or my hell.