Roseberry Falls

Roseberry Falls

Chapter 1
California. When hearing the first utterance of the word people automatically think of Las Vegas or Las Angeles. Never does the average person think of the small towns that are nestled within the huge state. That is, except the people who live there. There is one town in particular that is not very big in size. The name of this town is Bluewater, population 265 people. There’s only one high school in the entire town. The name of this high school is Roseberry Falls. It was built some time in the nineteen hundreds after an earthquake destroyed the other high school. In this small but beautiful town is where our story begins….

It was the last day of summer break, and the last day of freedom. Outside the wind was putting a chill in the air, fighting with the sun that was trying to warm Bluewater. Roxxi took a step out into the bright light of day. Daytime wasn’t really her nature, she was a night owl. But, the gorgeous warmth of the sun drew her outside. She blinked rapidly, getting used to the bright sun on her face. Looking around, Roxxi noticed how deserted her street was. Typical. Not many kids lived near her, not her own age either. Just a few smaller children a few houses down to the right. The quiet soothed her as she walked across the grass of her own front yard.

Flowers danced in the wind, and birds chirped in the trees. It was a perfect day. Tomorrow would be the start of school, but a bigger start than ever. The start of high school. Roxxi crossed the street, always to walk on the side with a sidewalk even though the place was empty. She turned left and walked down the street towards the meadow. It was her favorite spot to go right before school started. She loved the smell of the grass and trees. Everything about the meadow was pleasing. Already the smell was drifting through the air and into her mind.

But there was more than just the meadow there. Behind the meadow were the woods that most people found extremely creepy. Especially at night, when Roxxi normally went. She had always been the different one, and always the one to not follow rules. Roxxi was also known for her way of not being scared by anything. That didn’t bother her, though. She liked being unique, it was better than blending in with everyone else in the world. Another one of her pet peeves, wannabe’s. How much she hated people who would follow others and be exactly the same was indescribable.

Stepping onto the soft, green grass she breathed in. The smell of nature circulated around her, perfect. She crossed the meadow at an unnaturally slow pace, to take everything in. Gliding past every little bug sitting on a flower swiftly but gracefully. Roxxi had always had that graceful touch to her. It was something that came from her grandmother, or so she was told. Her mother would tell her many stories about her grandmother, whom she had never actually met. Death took a hold of her before Roxxi was even born. But Roxxi knew a lot about her, because of how extremely close her mother and grandmother were. Ellen, her mother, had always been the closet to her mother out of all her siblings. It was no wonder she brought up Roxxi’s grandmother so much.

Roxxi had reached the forest, and slipped inside. The forest was a safe house for her, and she wasn’t quite sure why. Clutching her book in her hand, she moved a thorn bush out of her way. It was the same, familiar path she always took. Right along the heart of the forest was the tree house her and her father had built when she was about eight. All her life Roxxi had been confined to Bluewater, and it didn’t bother her much. She cut through the trees, coming to the big clearing. Since nobody ever went into the forest, it was totally hers. Sitting down on her rock bench, Roxxi took in the peace and quiet of the forest. She opened her brand new book that was bought only yesterday. Total and complete tranquility would be hers from now until four thirty.

How to describe Roxxi, let’s see. She was a strong individual who liked to be alone a lot. And I mean all the time, she never let anyone in. It was a main reason that she didn’t date. She had long, dark black hair, perfectly straight except at the bottom. That’s where it curved inward towards herself. Her eyes were green that changed shade with her emotions. When she was happy her eyes were bright green and when she was upset they were dark green. It was actually quite nice to her. Just another thing that nobody would ever really understand about her. Nobody understood her in general, and she liked it that way.

It was the perfect way to read, in total peace and quiet. Until the sound of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy began playing. Soon, the empty, quiet space was filled with music. Roxxi reached for her phone that was ringing. What could it be now? She wondered. Taking a look at her caller I.D. Roxxi noticed that it was just Greg. One of her closet friends in the entire world was Greg. He was the first person Roxxi met at school.

“Hello?” Roxxi asked as she picked up the phone to try and get the music to stop before somebody noticed.

“Hey,” Greg answered, “I was wondering, did we have to fill out a form to get on the school’s football team?”

Typical Greg. He never really paid attention to things. Then he would ask Roxxi about it, no matter how stupid. Like now, waiting until the end of the summer to call and ask. He never really did learn.

“No,” Roxxi answer, giggling at the question, “Football tryouts aren’t until after school starts. What would make you think you had to fill out a form?”

“Well I wasn’t sure,” he responded, “Ben said that you did, so I was just wondering.”

“So,” she recapped, “You believed the only person in Bluewater who’s never been correct in his life?”

“Yes,” Greg replied simply and quietly. He really did crack her up sometimes.

“I’ll talk to you later, okay Greg, bye!” Roxxi said then hung up with out waiting for a reply. “Hello?” she asked clicking the button to answer the other line.

“Hey sweetheart,” my dad said through the phone.

“Oh, hi dad, what’s up?” Roxxi asked, curious that he was calling me so early. Then she realized it wasn’t that early anymore. Where did the time go?

“It’s four thirty,” my dad stated, “it’s time to come home. And hurry up this time.” He chuckled at me. “Bye.”

“Bye, dad,” She said, hanging up.

Roxxi couldn’t believe it was actually four thirty. Had she really been reading for that long? There was no way that was possible, but Roxxi did like to read. It was like the rest of the world wasn’t real. She stepped out of the forest to notice the sun was lower in the sky. Roxxi walked quickly across the meadow, she didn’t want to take too long like last time.

Last time Roxxi was out here she stopped in the meadow to take in her surroundings and didn’t leave. She sat down on the cool grass and let the sun rays soak into her. Roxxi even began to read again. Then her dad called an hour later and she realized how late she really was. That would not happen again. So, she decided to walk fast so that she wouldn’t be likely to stop.

Once she had left the meadow she slowed down to a normal pace. Roxxi felt her phone vibrate. Was her phone on vibrate, it had rang earlier? Then she remembered that she put her texts on vibrate. Roxxi opened up her phone to see who was texting her. Greg, again, what did he want now she wondered?

“R u ok?” He asked her.

“Yeah, im fine….y do u ask?” Roxxi asked Greg, wondering.

“Oh, u just seemed a little tense when u hung up, that’s all,” Greg text back.

Roxxi didn’t reply to him because she was already at her house. She must have sped up again while texting. Oh well she thought, at least I’m home in time. She walked through the front door and smelt the wonderful smell of pizza. She loved her mom’s pizza. It was the most amazing pizza, to her that is.

“Hi mom, dad,” Roxxi said cheerfully, stepping inside, “Am I here in time?”

“I was about to call the police department to look for you,” her father joked.

“Come and sit down, Roxxi,” her mother said, bringing pizza over to the table.

Roxxi sat down at the dinner table, smelling the sweet smell of pizza. She was happy to be eating pizza. She was really in the mood for it. Her parents sat down at the table. Of course it would be quiet again, sort of. Her mom was always either writing or on the phone. And her dad was always watching TV. Roxxi grew use to this and just sat there, looking through a magazine from the mail.


Chapter 2

Roxxi’s alarm clock started to beep repeatedly. She reached over and turned it off. Getting up at five in the morning was horrible. Last year she only had to get up at six thirty, now it was earlier. Terrific. Roxxi jumped out of bed, and looked in her closet. What will I wear today? She thought. She picked through her closet, resting on a light blue top that was covered in stars. That’s what Roxxi wanted to wear. That would look great with the white skinny jeans she was planning on wearing, so she took it out of her closet.

She ran down stairs after getting ready to eat her breakfast. Dropping her backpack on the floor, Roxxi went into the kitchen. Both her parents were already at work. She grabbed a pop tart out of the pantry and ate it. Afterwards she put on her shoes, picked up her backpack, and went outside. She walked down the street to the bus stop. It didn’t surprise her she was the only one there, she was always the first.

Roxxi put her backpack down at the bus stop and stood there. Her phone vibrated again in her pocket. She forgot she had it on. Roxxi pulled the small silver phone out of her pocket and opened the text. Greg again. He seriously was such a crack up at times. She was about to write back when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Who could that be?

“Hi,” Smiled a guy warmly.

“Hi,” Roxxi responded to the stranger.

“I’m new here,” he started, “My name is Alan.”

“Oh, hi,” she said, trying to keep her excitement inside, “My name is Roxxi.”

“Well hey there Roxxi,” Alan smiled.

“Alan!” yelled a girl running down the street.

“My sister,” Alan explained, noticing the puzzled look on my face. “Her name is Amy.”

“Why did you leave me?” Amy asked Alan, dropping her stuff to the ground.

“We’re twins,” he said, turning back to me, smiling.

“Hi,” Amy said, cutting in, “I’m Amy.” She shook my hand.

“Roxxi,” I stated, smiling and shaking back, “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” she responded with an unexpected look. Amy must have been shocked by my kindness.

“So,” Alan turned towards Roxxi, blocking out his sister, “Are you new here or…”

“No, no,” Roxxi smiled on, “I’ve been here forever, literally.”

“Your pretty funny,” Alan laughed.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool that you’ve lived here your whole life. And what a nice town it is,” Amy smiled, completely cutting off the previous conversation between Alan and Roxxi.

Something was up with her, and Roxxi could tell. It was almost as if Amy didn’t want Alan talking to Roxxi. Was it that she really didn’t like Roxxi? She would never know, because just then Samantha came running up to the bus stop.

“Roxxi! Someone bought the house on the corner!” She shrieked.

“That would be us,” Alan smirked, “Why? What about it?”

“Oh,” Samantha started slowly, “It’s just that the house has a reputation for never being bought, ever. People would go in and come right back out. I wonder if anything weird goes on in there.”

“Yeah Sammy,” Roxxi laughed, “Weird things go on.”

The bus was turning onto their street, you could here it perfectly as it turned. High school. This was the start of it and Roxxi couldn’t believe it. The bus came to a steady halt and the doors swung open in front of them. Amy was the first to get on the bus, and pulled her brother behind her. Samantha sat next to her friend Krissy. So, Roxxi just sat behind Alan and Amy by herself.

“Hey loner,” Alan smiled, turning around in his seat, “You ok?”

“Yeah,” She responded, “I’m just fine.”

The bus to high school was just like it had been all the times before. Kids from different grade levels talking and laughing. Friends sitting together. Younger people getting picked on by their seniors. Everything was a peaceful harmony on the school bus as it always had been.

Roxxi had suddenly remembered the text from Greg and pulled her phone back out. She opened the text and stared blankly at the text on the screen of her phone. So looked at the weird text and then replied.

“I need your help with something top secret” Greg had written.

“Wat’s sooo top secret?” Roxxi inquired.

“I can’t tell u cuz idk if this is secure enough…” he typed back.

“Wat is dat supposed 2 mean?” Roxxi asked, puzzled.

“When u get 2 skool meet me by the front door, k?” He asked casually.

“Sure. C ya then.” She texted and put her phone back in her pocket.

Now she was nervous. Greg had never texted anything like that before. He never talked about anything being top secret or if their conversation was secure or not. Something was definitely up, and Roxxi wanted to know what. Just when she started considering the options her concentration was broken.
“So,” Alan smiled “Do you typically sit alone by yourself like that?”

“Oh, no, I…” Roxxi started, then saw Heather get on the bus.
“What?” He asked, suspiciously.

“Rox!” Heather said “How are you?”

“Im great Heather,” She said then when Alan turned away added “What are you doing?”

Heather wasn’t really Roxxi’s friend. They used to be friends in kindergarten, but as they grew up they grew apart. So now they were like total enemies. Whatever had possessed Heather to sit next to Roxxi seemed evil in intentions.

“Look, I feel bad that we don’t talk anymore.” She responded.

“Okay then,” Roxxi said with a shrug.

“So,” Heather smiled.

“So what?” Roxxi asked, raising one eyebrow.

“So, who’s the cutie? Your new beau?” She eyed Roxxi.

“No,” Roxxi smiled, and then lower, “I wish.”

Heather slid closer to Roxxi, “I have an idea.”

So this is what it’s like to talk to the oh-so-popular Heather. Roxxi had never been popular, but Heather. That was a different story entirely. Heather had always been top dog. Roxxi could not believe Heather’s unusual and uncharacteristic kindness towards her. She just shook it off. I’ll find out soon enough she thought.

Then to Heather said, “Idea? About what?”

“You and him,” Heather smiled, “I see a cute couple.”

“Oh, wow, really?” Roxxi asked, totally stunned.

“Oh yeah, Rox,” the other responded, “Don’t worry, when I’m done with you he will love you, I promise.”

“Well, okay,” Roxxi accepted.

The truth was that Roxxi had never been popular or even sort of popular. It was just her and her little crowd, Greg, Samantha, and Ben. This was new. But Roxxi just guessed that that was typical in high school, everything changed.

The bus pulled to a stop as Thomas got on. Heather turned to Roxxi and mouthed don’t look. Roxxi looked back at Heather as Thomas passed. Then, when he sat down Heather laughed. Roxxi laughed with her, not really getting what was going on. Both girls stopped laughing as Heather turned back towards Roxxi.

“My ex,” she rolled her eyes, “He cheated on me, lied about it, then broke up with me in a text.”

“No way,” Roxxi said, “You went out with Thomas?”

“I know right, but now I know why he always goes after the cheerleaders,” she said.

Roxxi remembered that Heather was a cheerleader. Just another thing they did not have in common. Samantha looked back to see something and caught Heather out of the corner of her eye. She turned towards them. Roxxi pretended not to see the shocked look on her friends face as she continued her conversation with Heather.

“So, are you a cheerleader again this year?” Roxxi asked.

“I hope so. I’m going to try out again, yeah. I don’t know if I’ll make it, though,” she half-laughed.

“You will,” Roxxi said, remembering how good she was at it last year, “You’re really good.”

“Aww, really?” she asked, eyes sparkling.

“Totally,” Roxxi nodded.

“You know,” Heather responded, looking at Roxxi, “You could be a cheerleader too. You have the body for it.”

“I do?” Roxxi blushed, “Seriously?”

“Oh yeah,” Heather said, “Are you kidding me? What do you say?”

Roxxi couldn’t believe it, would she really? She had always hated cheerleading, but upon hearing this she couldn’t think straight. Suddenly cheerleading had become a possibility. She smiled to herself until it crept out onto her face. She looked back up at Heather.

“I’ll have to think about it, but why not?” she answered.

“I knew it,” Heather smiled as the bus pulled to a stop outside the school, “I’ll talk to you about it more later. See you!”

Everybody got up and slowly moved off the bus. When Roxxi got off Samantha was waiting for her. Krissy had already left her. Typically they walked into school together. Another high school change. She walked beside her friend until, obviously, Samantha couldn’t take it anymore.

“What was that all about?” she asked casually.

“What? Heather?” Roxxi said, “Nothing, just Heather being her normal self. But, I think we’re friends again.”

“Weird…” Samantha stated.

“Well, I have to go meet Greg for something secret,” Roxxi said, waving.

“Ooh, alone time with Greg?” Samantha cooed.

“No way!” Roxxi protested, sticking out her tongue and making an ‘ick’ face.

Samantha smiled, “Good. Later!”

Roxxi walked to the front doors. Greg was already there. He looked totally different. Roxxi hadn’t seen him all summer and he had changed a lot. She walked over to him and tapped his shoulder.

“Top secret?” she eyed him.

“Rox?” he asked, looking shocked, “Wow I didn’t recognize you.”

“Really?” she asked, “I changed?”

“Yeah, wow, you’re totally hot,” he blushed, “Anyways, um, I need to talk to you.”

“I know,” she smiled, “That’s what you texted.”

“Right, uh, look I’m, well, this is hard to say,” he stuttered.

“Hey,” she said grabbing his chin and making him look at her instead of the ground, “Tell me, whatever it is, I can handle it.” She let go of his chin.

“I really wish you didn’t look so hot right now,” he blushed again, looking back down, “But, I, you see, my dad, he, well, sort of…”

“Sort of what, Greg?” she asked, getting frustrated, “If you don’t tell soon I’m going to leave.”

“My dad was moved up in his job, the real one, and I am to follow in his footsteps,” he looked up, “Rox?”

“The real job? You mean, the whole secret agent thing?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah, I only came here to say goodbye,” he looked her in the eye, “Goodbye.”

Before she could respond, however, he grabbed her. Greg pulled her into a hug. Not a bear hug, but a real, deep hug. The kind a boyfriend and girlfriend would have. It was real.

She hugged him back. Roxxi couldn’t believe this, was she falling for him? No. But was he falling for her? It had to be the reason for what he said and the hug. Right when he was to leave, too. She stroked his hair.

“Don’t go,” she whispered, before knowing that the words had come out.

He pulled away, still holding her “I have to go,” then he smiled, “Be strong.”

Again he pulled her in without warning, but not into a hug. He pulled her into a kiss. He kissed her softly. Roxxi was shocked, but reciprocated. Was she falling for him? It couldn’t be true she thought to herself.

She couldn’t believe her first kiss was with her best friend. There was never anything between them before, or was there? She thought about all they had been through. Could it be that there was something from the beginning? As she thought she realized they were still kissing.

After what seemed like a lifetime he pulled back. He looked her in the eyes and smiled. She smiled back. Suddenly, he pulled away and went out the front door. Roxxi watched as he stepped into the car his mom drove. He turned around one last time, to wave goodbye.

Chapter 3
“Wait, wait, wait,” Samantha glared, “What?”

“It figures he waits until now to let you know he totally loves you,” Ben commented, looking over a football magazine.

“Do you really think you can play football?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah, you completely suck,” Roxxi seconded.

“I really do think I will,” he responded, putting down the magazine, “Besides, I don’t suck. I’m just not great yet.”

“Yet,” Roxxi noted.

“Speaking of yet, what is with you and Greg? Can you really be together? I mean if he’s going to be a secret agent…” Samantha started.

“Stop,” Roxxi said, cutting her friend off, “We are not going to be together.”

“Ever?” Samantha asked.
“Ever,” Roxxi stated bluntly.

“So,” Heather said, standing over their lunch table.

“So?” Roxxi asked as her friends stared at Heather.

“Come with me. If you’re going to try out for the cheerleading squad you need a cheer.” She smiled.

“Oh yeah!” Roxxi remembered, standing up, “I forgot all about that.”

“Well, lucky for you, I’m here,” Heather winked.

“You’re leaving us?” Ben asked.

“To hang out with Heather?” Samantha put in.

“For cheerleading,” Ben finished.

“Sorry guys, I’ll see you later?” Roxxi asked.

“You bet you will” Samantha confirmed, “We have to talk.”

“Let’s go,” Heather said suddenly, linking her arm into Roxxi’s.

“Yeah, oh and do I have something to tell you,” Roxxi started, “Okay, so you know Greg Procowski?”

“She is telling Heather about her and Greg,” Ben noticed.

“This is bad,” Samantha said, looking at Ben, “What should we do?”

“Relax, cutie,” Ben smiled, standing up.

“Cutie?” Samantha stared.

“Yeah,” he said, coming around the table and kissing Samantha on the cheek, “Greg isn’t the only one with a secret.”

“Ben?” Samantha asked.

“Relax,” he comforted her, “Everything will work out eventually.”