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@savannah_grace2009 @theducktator @grcr @smiley @keilah-h @theshadow
Chapter 1
“Why is it so hot?” Hallie Woodbury tucked a loose strand of ginger hair behind her ear.
“I only have two words that can answer that question: New. Mexico.” Easton straightened and tossed his light brown locks off his forehead with a quick shake of his head.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Are we almost done?” She stepped back and surveyed the front of Pablo’s Diner. In her opinion, their paint job looked pretty good. But in this sweltering heat, she’d be okay with anything.
Her brother dabbed a small spot with paint and stepped back with her. “I think our job here is done.”
“Good. I gotta bounce. Mom might take me on some last minute school shopping this afternoon.” She watched Easton out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t seem like he noticed the hesitation in her voice.
Easton put their paint supplies in the back room of the diner, then hopped onto his dirt bike. Hallie slid behind him, not bothering to hold on. It was too hot outside to be this close to anybody in the first place.
But as they breezed down the dirt road, the crisp wind played with her hair, cooling her off. She hoped by the time they got home that her sweat would have dried and she’d at least look and smell a little better than she felt. As they drove, she went down a mental checklist in her head. Everything should be set for this afternoon.
The only thing left to do was make sure Easton stayed oblivious to the whole thing. Which so far seemed to be going well. Hallie glanced at Easton’s watch. She groaned inwardly. Still twenty minutes until twelve. Not everyone would be there yet.
She had to stall Easton somehow. She leaned close to his ear to make sure he heard her over the sound of the rushing wind. “Hey, didn’t Mom mention she needed more eggs and that we were running out of napkins?”
Easton cocked an eyebrow. “I think so. Why?”
“Maybe we should stop and pick some up real quick. Do you have cash on you?”
“Yeah… but weren’t you going out with Mom this afternoon? You could just pick it up then.”
“But we might not go out this afternoon. Besides, Mom will be grateful for our help.” She smiled, hoping her suggestion didn’t sound as out of character as it felt.
Easton complied, pulling the bike into the grocery’s parking lot once they got farther into town. Hallie led the way inside, making sure to walk a little extra slow. But even after grabbing the eggs and a pack of napkins, they still had about ten minutes.
“You check out. I need to run to the restroom real quick.”
“Can’t you just wait ‘til we get home?” Easton raised an eyebrow again, a small smile forming on his face in suspicion.
“Well, you know what it’s like being on a road trip with me.” She forced a chuckle and rushed towards the ladies’ room before Easton could say anything else. And to keep from telling a lie, she took a quick stop in a stall, lingering by the sink a little longer than she normally would have.
When she exited, she found Easton waiting by the door, chatting with their neighbor. Once she joined them, she hoped they’d continue talking a little longer, but their all-too polite neighbor decided to let them go.
“Your mother had a hip replacement last week, didn’t she?” Hallie said before their neighbor could walk away.
“Um, yeah, she did.”
“How’s she doing?”
Their neighbor gave them a full report on how his mother was doing, and they continued the conversation for another solid five minutes. At this point though, Hallie was almost certain Easton knew something was up. It didn’t matter any more. They’d get home right on time.
She breathed a sigh of relief as they drove home. Now she just hoped everyone had made it to their house on time. She let Easton lead the way to their porch as she looked up and tried to hide a smile, focusing on the bright blue backdrop the New Mexican sky provided their home.
Easton turned the knob… walked inside… and…
“SURPRISE!”
The lights flicked on and Easton took a step back, a huge smile forming on his face. Hallie knew she also must be smiling that big. Everyone came towards him with laughter and happy birthday wishes.
“You got him home just on time!” Mom said, a surprised look on her face.
Hallie laughed. “It wasn’t that easy. I’m sure he knew I was hiding something. I purposely carried on a conversation with Mr. Jennings.” She rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Whatever it takes, Hallie.” Mom gave her a serious look, but finished in laughter. The two followed the rest of the group into the kitchen, where Easton had already been forced towards the table behind a stack of colorful presents.
Hallie looked around, happy with how the decorations had turned out. All of her favorite people filled this room to celebrate her brother’s seventeenth birthday. Her family of nine, including herself, her grandparents, and their friends from school. It brought a smile to her face to see how this all turned out. Easton was happy. Her family was happy. Her friends were happy.
This was perfect.
If life could always be like this, then she could always be happy. These were her people. This was her world. And she couldn’t think of a better way to end summer vacation than to spend the last day surrounded by her favorite people celebrating one of the best people in the world.
“Yo Hallie!”
Hallie turned her head just in time to avoid a flying ball of wrapping paper.
“You got all spacey for a minute.” Javier made spinning motions with his fingers.
“Sorry, I was—”
“Come on over here. We need a group picture before we get all wet.”
“Wet?” Hallie let Javier drag her over to the rest of the group. She squeezed in between Jennifer and Chelsea, flashing her happiest smile. As soon as Mom declared the picture satisfactory, Hallie turned towards Javier with a confused look. “Wet?”
“Yeah, wet.”
“Didn’t your mom tell you?” Jennifer asked.
“Tell me what?” Hallie felt her frustrations rising.
“Oh you’ll see.” Javier laughed, almost cackled, and ran over to Easton.
“What is this about getting wet?”
Tyler walked by and Hallie noticed he was no longer wearing his jean shorts but swim trunks. “Just chillax Hallie. You might wanna change though.”
Hallie looked down at her outfit. It looked just fine. In fact, it looked too good. If she was going to get wet, she wasn’t going to get wet in her favorite t-shirt.
“You coming, Hallie?” Easton peeked his head in from the back door, where everyone had already exited to the backyard.
“I mean—”
“You’re slowing us down!” Javier called.
Hallie rolled her eyes and joined the rest of them outside. Her sight was greeted by two baby pools stacked to the brim with colorful water balloons.
“Water balloons?!”
“Three! Two! One!”
Hallie could barely shoot Javier a glare before a water balloon was thrown at her and bursted against her arm. “Mom, you didn’t tell me we were going to have water balloons!”
“It was Javier’s idea,” she answered from the safety of the patio.
Another balloon soared through the air and soaked the front of her shirt. Hallie tried not to let her amusement show as she rushed towards the pool. Javier was going to pay for this.
***
By the end of the day, Hallie no longer cared about ruining her t-shirt. All of their friends stretched out in the driveway, unable to dry in the sopping backyard. The water balloon fight had made the high temperatures feel much more bearable though. The group argued over which team had won, never coming to a conclusion, only making fun of each other in good spirits.
“Next time you plan to do anything with water in which I get soaked,” Hallie said, “then tell me ahead of time.”
“Aw, come on. I only thought of it today and didn’t have time to tell you. It worked out great though!” Javier flashed her a smile, droplets of water clinging to his dark skin.
Hallie smirked and didn’t reply. As the sun sank below the horizon, their friends slowly left one by one, again wishing Easton a happy birthday.
Hallie began to clean up in the house, soon joined by Easton. “You don’t have to help. It is your birthday after all.”
Easton only gave her a soft smile and continued to help. “Mom told me this whole party was your idea.”
She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Yeah.”
“Thanks, sis. I loved it.” Easton draped his arm over her shoulders, giving her a side-hug.
“You did?”
“Absolutely.” Easton’s wide smile was all the reward Hallie needed. “Can I tell you a secret though?”
“What? That you hated the water balloon fight? Because we can totally gang up on Javier and bug him about that forever.”
“No.” Easton laughed. He came closer to Hallie and lowered his voice. “I knew all along.”
She stepped back, her spirits dropping. “You did? For how long?”
“Only since this morning. I had my suspicions.”
“I knew I was too obvious.”
He nudged her arm with his. “Don’t worry about it. I was still surprised.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I actually wasn’t sure what to expect when we got home.”
She smiled. “Good.” She shoved the last of the drooping decorations into the trash can and blew a flyaway strand of hair out of her face. “I think that’s it. I should probably get to bed since we’ve got church in the morning.”
“Me too.” Easton walked across the room and gave his sister a tight hug. “Thanks so much, Hallie. Today was amazing.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re welcome.” Anything for an amazing brother like you. “Goodnight. I’ll see ya in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Hallie.”
I tried to catch all the italics, but I might have missed a few 😛
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
@esther-c wow, that’s a nice beginning!
"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers
I enjoyed it, but one question.
“Me too.” Easton walked across the room and gave his sister a tight hug. “Thanks so much, Hallie. Today was amazing.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re welcome.” Anything for an amazing brother like you.
Are they always this nice to each other?
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
This was good, nice job. The only thing I would recommend though is using a bit more body language.
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
Thank you!! 😊
Thanks!
Ummm… sort of??? I mean, I based it loosely off of my relationship with my older brother—we tend to get along for the most part and rarely, if ever, actually fight. Of course we do goof off, but half of what we goof off about would look so weird in a book. XDD
I know what you mean though, and I did feel that this part was a little cheesy… Idk, Easton tends to be that way… I’ll think about it. I’m not sure if it’s like that throughout the rest of the book, so I’ll keep my eyes open.
Thank ya!
Ohhh, gotcha. Hybrid pointed that out to me too. For this chapter specifically, I wanted it to feel pretty fast paced, specifically when she got to the party. Do you think that worked?
Let me know if you catch the same thing as I post more chapters. I’m planning to catch things like that while I’m editing, but it’s gonna look different in the eyes of someone reading it for the first time.
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
Hybrid pointed that out to me too. For this chapter specifically, I wanted it to feel pretty fast paced, specifically when she got to the party. Do you think that worked?
Ah, okay then that makes sense. It did work pretty well, the chapter felt fast paced. Not in a bad way though, it introduced the characters and world efficiently.
Let me know if you catch the same thing as I post more chapters. I’m planning to catch things like that while I’m editing, but it’s gonna look different in the eyes of someone reading it for the first time.
Ill try my best 👍
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
Ok, awesome, I’m glad you were able to catch on to what I was doing. :))
Alrighty!! : D
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
My siblings and I have a very different, unhuggy relationship, XD.
I know what you mean though, and I did feel that this part was a little cheesy… Idk, Easton tends to be that way… I’ll think about it. I’m not sure if it’s like that throughout the rest of the book, so I’ll keep my eyes open.
Yeah, it felt realistic through most of the chapter, but that end was kind of cheesy.
I love the summer vibes in this chapter. XD
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
Very interesting! I’ve nothing to say that hasn’t been said by the others. Excited to keep reading!! 😃😄
whopper, whopper, whopper, whopper
junior, double, triple whopper@ESTHER-C
OMC THIS IS GONNA BE LIKE MY COMFORT BOOKI JUST KNOW IT
*curls up in a love seat with a chai latte and gingersnap with a fuzzy blanket and fuzzy socks* (those are the vibes your book gives me)
ALSO I WANT AN OLDER BROTHER SO BAD
This lady thrives on the divine grace of Faith and the rich embrace of caffeine.
Ok! That will be something I’ll add to my notes. 👍
Yay! Thank you!!
Girllll, you’re so sweet!!! 🤪🥰 Seriously, your reaction really means a lot. 😊
That was actually kinda my goal—I wanted this story to be someone’s comfort book, because I loosely based a few aspects of it off of my comfort books. (I’m not stealing any of that author’s ideas, I promise!!! just some of the vibes in certain scenes are similar XD)
ALSO I WANT AN OLDER BROTHER SO BAD
I always wanted a BRUTHAHHHH…
🤣 (Have you seen that trend at all??)
Anywayyy….
Girl, I literally love my older brother. Like, I call us best friends. (idk if he’d say the same thing, buuut… XD) I can’t say all older brothers are like that (cuz they’re not), but it literally is the best having an older brother. 😁
You can live through Hallie and pretend Easton’s your brother 🤣
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
Girllll, you’re so sweet!!! 🤪🥰 Seriously, your reaction really means a lot. 😊
Awwww ofccc!!!!
That was actually kinda my goal—I wanted this story to be someone’s comfort book, because I loosely based a few aspects of it off of my comfort books. (I’m not stealing any of that author’s ideas, I promise!!! just some of the vibes in certain scenes are similar XD)
Ohhh I get that!!!!!!!
I always wanted a BRUTHAHHHH…
Now that’s gonna be stuck in my headddd
Those trends are so funnyyyy hahahaha
Girl, I literally love my older brother. Like, I call us best friends. (idk if he’d say the same thing, buuut… XD) I can’t say all older brothers are like that (cuz they’re not), but it literally is the best having an older brother. 😁
Awwww!!!
At least I have a little brother <333 I love him to DEATH…I literally love him so muchhhh
That is so funny that your MC is named Hallie because (I know I’ve told you this before but Imma say it again hahaha) my little sister’s name is Hallie!!! so it’s just really funny to read hahaha
This lady thrives on the divine grace of Faith and the rich embrace of caffeine.
Awwww!!!
But in six months he’s moving to Florida for college…..😭😭
At least I have a little brother <333 I love him to DEATH…I literally love him so muchhhh
That is so funny that your MC is named Hallie because (I know I’ve told you this before but Imma say it again hahaha) my little sister’s name is Hallie!!! so it’s just really funny to read hahaha
Awww, I love that!! 🥰 I have a younger brother and sister too!
That’s so funny! XD I actually have a sort-of friend with the same name, but it’s spelled differently (Halle) and they’re so different that I never really linked them together in my brain, lol!
Next two chapters! @sara @theducktator @grcr @smiley @keilah-h @theshadow
Chapter 2
Easton awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside his window. He sat up in bed, enjoying the stillness of the morning before the rest of the family woke up. With Brandon home and school not having started yet, their house had been pretty loud over the past week.
He read a chapter from the book of John, then a chapter of Proverbs, jotting down a few notes. In Proverbs 14, the twenty-first verse caught his eye, “Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.” He underlined it in his Bible and leaned back in his desk chair. Every time he read a verse like this, he felt this urge to do something great. Maybe that was an exaggeration. He just knew that there were so many people hurting in this world, physically and spiritually, and he wanted to do something about it.
Dig wells in Africa, feed malnourished children, help build homes for the homeless. But none of these opportunities ever came up. Yet every time he thought about it, he felt a longing to do something about it. He wanted to sit there longer to think about it, maybe even finally jotting down some ideas, but he heard people waking up and moving around downstairs. So he threw on a sweatshirt and joined the rest of his family for breakfast.
The smell of bacon beckoned him to the kitchen. He stood beside his mom as she removed sizzling strips of bacon from the pan and put them on a platter. “Smells good.” He reached for one.
“Ah, ah.” She swatted his hand away. “Not yet. We have to wait for everyone. It’s our last breakfast before school starts.”
Easton smiled at his mom and slid into the family room where Cody, Willow, and Courtney had their eyes fixed to the tv, watching some old cartoon.
“‘Sup Easton.”
Easton hadn’t noticed Blake curled up in the corner, a bowl of cereal in his hands. “Why are you eating? I thought we were supposed to all eat together.”
Blake paused where the spoon was already halfway to his mouth. He clambered off the couch and into the kitchen, probably to dump the rest of it down the sink or hide it in the fridge.
Easton shook his head and took Blake’s place on the couch. The timer on the oven beeped through the house and when it turned off, the smooth scent of fresh, buttered biscuits floated into the living room. Within the next two minutes, Mom called everyone to the table for their breakfast.
Everyone rushed into the room, ready to eat. Mom and Dad situated themselves at their normal spots—the two ends of the table—while the seven kids crowded around the table in their usual order, age order—Brandon, Easton, Hallie, Blake, Courtney, Willow, and Cody.
Arms and hands flew around the table, passing plates and scooping sausage gravy. More than once scrambled eggs spilled across the table, but eventually everyone managed to get a satisfactory amount of food on their plate without starting a food fight.
After Dad said a quick prayer, everyone dug in, the table falling into silence. Eventually conversations began to swirl around the table and although there were plenty that Easton could have joined in on, he sat in silence, still thinking about that verse that he had read this morning. He repeated it over in his head, hoping that inspiration might just strike him like lightning, but by the end of breakfast, nothing new had come to mind.
Within the next hour, everyone rushed around the house, trying to get ready for church and still be able to leave on time. This included a couple pairs of shoes being thrown down the stairs, someone looking for their shoes, people telling whoever was getting ready in the bathroom to hurry up, and a sister frantically searching her bedroom for a missing earring.
“Why do girls take so long to get ready?” Blake groaned as they piled into their transit van.
Dad gave his thirteen year-old son a smirk from the front seat. “There are some ways of women that will always remain a mystery, Blake.”
Blake just rolled his eyes. “But Courtney’s only a girl.”
Courtney opened her mouth to retort, but Mom cut in. “Is everyone here?”
She was met by a chorus of yes’s and no’s.
“Does everyone have everything?”
That was only met by yes’s.
“Ok good.”
Dad started the van and pulled out of the driveway.
“Is it bad that I’m not going to miss this Sunday morning chaos next week?” Brandon turned his head to look at Easton.
“I don’t blame you,” Easton replied with a chuckle. Brandon was about to be a sophomore at the University of New Mexico. While the rest of the kids started school tomorrow, his school year didn’t start until Thursday.
“I can’t believe you’re about to be a senior.” Brandon nudged Easton with his arm. “Mom told me you called a college yesterday about one of their programs.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t what I was looking for.”
“You’ll know in time. Don’t stress about it.”
“Yeah I know. Thanks. None of the colleges I’ve looked at are even affordable.”
“If God wants you there, He’ll help you find a way to graduate debt-free.”
“Right.”
Their family arrived at the church fifteen minutes before Sunday school. That must have been a personal record. Easton gave the greeters smiles and handshakes, giving a polite chuckle at someone’s comment about the Woodbury army.
He scanned the lobby, not quite finding—
“Easton!”
He smiled at the familiar voice and looked down to see Autumn coming up to him in her wheelchair.
“I’m so sorry I missed your party yesterday! Grandma was in town and I promised I’d spend the day with her.” Autumn’s green eyes carried a look of genuine sincerity.
“Don’t apologize. I’m sure your grandma was grateful for the time she got to spend with you.”
“You’re not disappointed?”
“I am, I’m just trying to be mature about it.” He gave her a playful wink and squeezed her hand.
She smiled up at him, squeezing his hand back. “Well you’re doing very well.”
He laughed. “I’ll tell you what. This weekend or sometime next week we’ll go out together to celebrate my birthday. Just the two of us. To make up for not being able to come to my party. Besides, I believe your birthday was just two weeks ago, wasn’t it? And we didn’t do anything special. So this will be our birthday date. How does that sound?”
“Sounds wonderful.”
With church starting in a few minutes, Easton found his regular seat surrounded by their friend group, stopping to chat with a few people on the way there.
After the service, he found himself strolling down the hallway that was lined with photos and bios of the missionaries their church supported along with any pictures the missionaries sent of their ministries.
He paused in front of a couple that served in Kenya, working in the rural villages and digging wells so that the villages could have clean water. He found himself smiling at a photo of children dancing in a spray of water that spurted from a newly dug well. He could practically hear their laughter through the photo.
Only a few feet away hung another photo of missionaries in Mexico helping in a hospital they had founded for people who couldn’t afford to be taken care of at any of the other hospitals.
Easton could see himself in their shoes. “Dr. Woodbury,” he said silently. That sounded good. Very good.
“Did you say something?”
Easton turned to see Tyler walking towards him, his hands resting comfortably in his back pockets.
“Nothing important. Just talking to myself.”
“Ok. Well some of us were about to head out to lunch. You wanna come with?”
“I think Mom wants us to go out as a family since Brandon’s in town.”
“Alright. I’ll see ya then.”
“See ya, Tyler.”
Tyler gave Easton his trademark high-five as he left. Easton was so grateful for him. They had been friends since as long as he could remember and Tyler had been there for him through all the ups and downs he had gone through over his short seventeen years of life. Their friendship was something Easton didn’t want to take for granted.
As their family piled back into the transit and drove to their favorite restaurant, Easton still couldn’t get the images of the children dancing in the clean water and the doctors serving the underprivileged out of his head. Along with that, the verse he had read that morning kept floating through his thoughts. Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
All day thoughts like that kept swirling through his head, not letting him go. He finally wrote his thoughts down to get them to stop bothering him, but that didn’t take away the nudge to do something special for those who needed it the most.
So that evening, with an extra prayer for an opportunity to change the world, Easton fell into a restless sleep.
Chapter 3 ( @hybridlore , I changed this chapter…does it sound better?)
Hallie took one last look at herself in the mirror, making sure every ginger strand was in place and that her mascara was even. Finally satisfied with her appearance, she hurried down the stairs, grabbed her backpack off the table, and slid into Easton’s car. “I’m here.”
“I was about to leave without you,” Easton said with a smirk, pulling out of the driveway.
Hallie ignored his teasing and smoothed down her acid-wash jeans. She readjusted her belt, making sure her shirt was tucked in just right, then reached down to adjust the laces on her Converse.
“Hallie, you look great.”
She sat up. “Yeah, and?”
“But that’s what you’re worried about, isn’t it?”
She smiled sheepishly and shrugged.
“It’s alright. You look great.”
“You already said that.”
“And you still look worried.”
Hallie leaned her head against the headrest and let a sigh escape through her lips. “Okay. You’re right.” She resisted the urge to check her hair in the side mirror.
Within a few minutes, Easton pulled into his painted parking spot that Hallie had helped him with last week. With a deep breath, Hallie climbed out of the car and followed him into Rio Rancho High School*.
She greeted familiar faces as she made her way to her locker, chatting with classmates from last year and even saying hi to a few of Easton’s friends. She finally made it to her locker and put away the books she didn’t need for the first two bells.
“You ready for sophomore year?”
Hallie closed her locker and faced Jennifer, whose locker was conveniently right next to hers. The two had been friends since sixth grade, almost immediately forming a strong friendship by the first week of school. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She slung her backpack over her shoulder.
“There’s a new student…” Jennifer’s light blue eyes sparkled as she leaned closer.
“Yeah. We get new students every year. What’s so special about this one?”
“Well for one, it’s a he.”
Hallie cocked an eyebrow at Jen’s tucked-chin, raised-eyebrows look. “And why are you looking at me like that?”
Jen rolled her eyes. “Secondly, he’s Mexican.”
Still not convinced, Hallie tilted her head, holding back a smirk. Jen always seemed to be on the lookout for guys for Hallie.
“Have you met him yet?”
“Not yet… But! It’s just our luck that Tyler was the one assigned to show him around the school today. We’d better hurry though.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “We’ve got less than ten minutes before class starts.”
“And we need ten minutes to meet one guy?” Hallie stumbled over her own feet as Jen grabbed her hand and yanked her through the crowded hallway. They wove through the students, avoiding backpacks and trying not to step on new Nikes.
“Ok stop.”
Hallie came to a wobbling halt, trying not to trample over Jennifer. “Why?”
She tossed her head back, her dark silky hair flying over her shoulder. “Don’t you think it would look weird to come running just to meet someone?”
Hallie shrugged in agreement. With Jen leading the way, they made their way over to Tyler, whose back faced them as he spoke with someone else. Hallie stifled a laugh as Jen stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a look at the new boy, but with no luck.
“Hey, Tyler,” Hallie said for the both of them.
Tyler turned to face them, flashing his signature smile. “Hey Jennifer, Hallie. ‘Sup?”
Hallie didn’t know it was physically possible for her heart to actually skip a beat until she caught a glimpse of the new boy’s face. Like a mixtape**, her brain immediately started recording the features that caught her eye. He had a strong, square jaw, complemented by his deep set eyes under thick eyebrows. His eyes were a deep brown, so dark they were almost black, and the ceiling lights reflected the gold specks that danced throughout them. His hair was lighter than his eyes, the color of dark chestnut, and was swept to the side. Hallie even noticed accents of caramel on the tips.
“Awesome. This is Antonio. Antonio, these are some of my friends, Hallie and Jennifer.”
Tyler’s introduction snapped Hallie’s mind back to the moment. Not bothering to try to figure out what part of the conversation she had missed, she flashed a smile and gave Antonio a friendly nod.
“It’s fabuloso to meet you both,” he said with a nod in return.
Hallie knew she had fallen for him—and fallen hard—as soon as she heard his smooth but excited accent paired with his wide smile.
“Did you just move to the area?” Jen asked.
“Sí. I used to live in Albuquerque, and before that, México.”
Jen shot Hallie a subtle side eye. “What brought you to Rio Rancho?”
“My máma’s job. She is a nurse. The local hospital here offered her a good position, so we moved.”
“How do you like our little high school so far?”
“It is muy fabuloso. The people here are wonderful.”
“I’m glad we’ve all been able to make you feel welcome.” Jen kept signaling with her eyes that Hallie should take over the conversation, but Hallie struggled to put together a comprehensible sentence in her brain and was afraid of what would come out if she opened her mouth. She silently reprimanded herself for getting so caught up over this one guy. He was just another human being. Maybe if she studied his face long enough she’d find something to not like.
Hallie! She took a silent deep breath. Get a hold of yourself, girlfriend.
“Is Easton your brother?” Antonio asked, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen on the group.
“Um, yes. Have you met him?”
“Sí, just a few moments ago. I can tell you are brother and sister. You have the same smile. And the same eyes. The color of a silver moon.”
Hallie was sure she physically melted under Antonio’s gentle gaze, but maybe it was just her cheeks growing hot. “Thank you.” She suddenly found it very difficult to keep eye contact.
The warning bell rang, signaling five minutes before class. “We should probably get going,” Jennifer said, “but it was wonderful to meet you.”
“You too.”
“Bye!”
“Adíos, Jennifer and Hallie!”
Hallie gave him one last smile before turning to leave. The two girls walked in silence until out of earshot, then Hallie finally spoke. “You did just hear the same thing I did, right?”
“The color of a silver moon,” Jen repeated, mimicking his accent.
Hallie let out a short laugh. “Ok good. I thought I was imagining it.”
“Maybe he’ll sit by you in class today.”
Hallie ignored Jen’s mischievous smirk. If Jen had anything to do with it, Antonio would be conveniently forced to sit next to her. “Jen, chillax.”
“The guy loves you already, what are you talking about?”
Hallie’s eyes widened. “J-e-n-n-i-f-e-r…” she drew out her name, making sure she was paying attention.
Jen let out a pleased giggle. “I’m just clowning.”
As the two continued down the hall, Hallie got to thinking. “Wait, Jen, how do you know if he’ll be in our class? Wouldn’t he be a senior since Tyler was the one showing him around?”
Jen’s face fell. “Oh, you might be right.
“It’s all good.” Hallie ignored the little feeling of disappointment in her gut. “He could be in one of the other sophomore classes… I guess we’ll just have to find out.”
Jen tried to catch her expression, but Hallie did her best to conceal a little smile.
“And if we don’t?” Jen asked slowly.
“Then the topic conveniently comes up in a conversation with Easton.” Hallie finally let out a little laugh and hurried into the classroom.
***
Easton fell into his rhythm after being at school for only a few bells. It felt natural to walk through these halls, go to the locker that had been his for three whole years, and learn from teachers he had known for a long time. But this being his last year of high school brought upon him a sense of nostalgia. And maybe even a hint of worry since he had no idea what he was doing once he graduated.
He closed a few books, along with any worries, into his locker and walked into his physics class. Dr. Adams was probably the sole reason Easton had grown to enjoy science class. Without his enthusiasm, Easton might not have ever developed an interest in the world of science.
By the end of class, Easton was looking forward to the topics they would cover through the rest of the year. He waited until everyone else had filed out until walking over to Autumn and offering to walk her to lunch.
“Sounds great,” she said with a smile.
“Oh, Easton,” Dr. Adams said from behind his desk. “Could I speak with you for a minute?”
“Yes, sir, what is it?”
Easton was notorious for staying after class to speak with their teachers, normally because of some deep topic he had brought up in class or a question he had asked. This time he couldn’t think of anything he had said that would provoke Dr. Adams to discuss it further.
“I received a call from the University of Albuquerque earlier this week. They give out one full-ride scholarship for a bachelor’s degree to one exceptional high school senior in the United States every year.”
“Yes…”
“They saw your ACT results and were quite impressed. After contacting me and the principal, they decided you will be one of the four students they are considering.”
Easton blinked, his jaw dropping. His heart started pounding. “How do I earn the scholarship? When is it given out? Do I have to—”
“Slow down, Easton.” Dr. Adams smiled. “You have to earn it by writing an essay on your dreams. How you will use this scholarship and the education you’ll receive. They want to hear your aspirations and how you want to change the world.”
A million ideas flew through Easton’s head. He was barely able to grab on to one, much less find words to speak.
“The university sent me an email with all the information. I printed it out so you could read over it and consider it.”
Easton grabbed the papers Dr. Adams handed him. A smile stretched across his face. “I can’t believe it.”
“There’s only one catch.” He caught Easton’s excited gaze. “You can only win this scholarship if you plan to become a doctor. That means you’ll have to be a part of the pre-med program with University of Albuquerque and agree to go to the Albuquerque School of Medicine after graduating. If you pass the MCAT and are accepted of course. If that’s not something you want to do, then they will find someone else to give this opportunity to.”
“No. I mean, yes. Yes, I’ll do it. I’ll become a doctor.”
Dr. Adams raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure? You have time to consider. They want your response by the end of this week.”
“No. I’m sure. I’m going to study to be a doctor.” Easton straightened, liking the sound of the confidence in his voice.
“Very well then. Do you know what kind of doctor?”
“Not yet, but I will.” Easton smiled. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank your good grades and volunteer hours.” Dr. Adams winked.
Easton turned to Autumn, sure his smile must have been the widest it had ever been. “You heard all that, right? I’m not dreaming?”
“No.” She shook her head, also smiling. “Easton, this is real.”
Easton hurried with her down the hall so he could tell everyone at lunch. He felt like letting out a few whoops in the nearly empty halls, but kept his excitement contained to a steady smile and a quick pace.
This was it. Now he finally had a chance to do what he had always wanted to do: change the world. He silently sent up a prayer of thanks and began devising the best way to structure his essay.
This was going to be amazing.
*the name might change. I found out it is the actual name of a high school, lol
**I’ll need to fact-check this to make sure it actually makes sense
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
girllll
i love thissss
Keep writing ✨✨
This lady thrives on the divine grace of Faith and the rich embrace of caffeine.
It looks a lot better! One thing I noticed is that Antonio does say “fabuloso” twice.
“Then the topic conveniently comes up in a conversation with Easton.”
Also, I feel like this might be better if you just change it to “Then I can ask Easton” or something like that. Otherwise, it looks great! I like the way you made Hallie more reasonable, while still obviously having an attraction towards Antonio, and adding more description of her thoughts and the characters’ actions, and the essay for the scholarship. Nice job!
'Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.'
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