Chapter One

Small Towns Are For Wandering

Yavonne

Ethelwets West Virginia was a quiet lazy town, a pace you felt immediately upon arrival. the biggest store was Walmart, and one long road could take you from the start of town to the finish. Yvonne had walked it numerous times in the early hours before the sun would rise and people would start to meander out into their busy days. in total it took maybe 2 hours to get from one end of the highway to the other, both leading to opposite ends of the county where curvy roads lead to Holler roads and everyone knew everyone.

In some ways she loved it, and in others it was torture. on one hand there was the lake, always free and open, whereas in the city she had grown up in, you had to pay to swim or be fortunate enough to own a pool.

on the other hand, this was the Bible belt, and she was a raging Heathen, now cut off from a small community she had grown up in.

It always fascinated her that a town surrounded by so much natural beauty and wilderness could fall so far from the root of the Magic that clung to the air and the trees. People here hunted, and fished, swam at the lake, walked through the woods, and in many cases lived out in the small forests, yet. Somehow still managed to not hear the call of the gods in any of it, not instead they went to church and shut down the town every Sunday to worship a god which stated very clearly that animals were like walking empty shells.

Today however, she couldn't think about any of that.

Today, she had to be careful and thoughtful. she sat in the uncomfortable straight-backed chair in the principal’s office, waiting patiently on the round somewhat ditsy office attendant to come question her further. Things always moved so painfully slow here, even teachers would be perpetually late to class because they got caught up in the hall talking. gossip flourished better than the highway wildflowers. Yavonne however had become very adept at blending in, even as a newcomer.

the older woman wobbled in with a huff and settled down into her chair, her glasses half slid down her nose as she regarded Yavonne, no doubt trying to remember her, but she wouldn't. after a moment she smiled and looked down at the paper work she had left carelessly scattered on the desk "Yavonne Porter" she said with a nod obviously still trying to dig up some unavailable memory "Your parents haven't returned our calls about your information?" she took a deep breath "We understand moving can be difficult but we do need some more medical paper work and such."

Yavonne smiled and knew by the look of the woman the expression didn't at all come out as she had hopped "I actually have the rest of it with me, signed and dated. I guess our phones don't get service here, so they have to go to the cell phone company here."

the woman laughed quietly and Yavonne knew she had struck yet another cord that seemed to resonate with most towns people here. "Oh yes, it's so inconvenient, and they can charge whatever they want to, limited options and all." Yavonne gave a nod and handed over her remaining paperwork eager for the interaction to end.

the woman hummed as the took it and shooed Yavonne away with her hands "Alright then, go on back to class, thanks for this." Yavonne nodded, wasting no time in leaving, though she had no intention of returning to class at all.

Why would she? there was 10 minutes left which meant by now the students were packing up their things, waiting for the bell while the teacher undoubtedly drawled on in conversation. only a few classes were an exception to this model, and those teachers who led them were considered strict. to be honest Yavonne preferred those fewer personal classes, but today her goal was simple, make him see her. she didn't know why she wanted to get a good look at him, or..rather for him to get a good look at her. she avoided most other people, talked when she needed to.

the point of all of this was to coast through the middle, which meant being quiet and not standing out, but also not standing out due to her quietness. it was a tricky balancing act, as people here had the habit of drawing out what could be short hellos into unwanted long interactions. All of her plans aside she couldn't help but want to know him. whoever he was. she didn't even know his name yet, just his face. that wonderful expressive face always set in a frown even when he laughed. He was never alone it seemed, but looked rather lonely, never fully happy but also not sad. she always saw him, picked his face out of a crowd as if he were a source of light, though there was nothing overtly positive about him. her early morning walks were spent thinking of him, and so now she was breaking her own rules. Not with any intention of cultivating a blossoming romance fit for a novel, but to fill this void of curiosity surrounding the stranger. Yavonne of course believed in Fate, in omens and destiny and all that went with it, but maybe her only job here was to ride him until that handsome smile met his eyes. A duty she could undoubtedly get behind.

So, with that mental image she positioned herself right outside the door she often saw him come out of after this period. she leaned her shoulders back against the wall, propped one foot up behind her and got out her phone to play on it. it felt like years before the bell rang, even as she reminded herself that it couldn't be more than 5 minutes, she fought the urge to go wander the halls while she waited.

Sure enough when the annoying chimes sounded, students flooded the halls, and she practiced scanning the faces while pretending to look at her phone. There he was, tall and dark haired with earthy looking blue green eyes, swirls of brown marking a path around his deep Iris's. he looked best in black, which is what he wore today. she smiled a bit to herself but could not help the initial flood of panic that coursed through her as he strolled to the locker she stood beside. she knew he had been tall, but up close she realized he was truly a perfect size, she came right up to his chest. the panic subsided as she took the opportunity to really get a good look at him, the curve of his big lips and the way his eyebrow raised in question..a question for her..as to why she was staring.