2Kaiden (December 11, 2007)
My first memories of Rising Falls were when I was ten years old. My family had traveled to the town to visit my grandfather for his birthday. He had been grumpy and defensive, repeatedly telling us he never wanted to celebrate getting older. My grandmother, who had passed away shortly after, had done her best to make the night bearable. That was the last night I remember my family being happy together. Ever since then it had been like a curse had fallen on my parents. They agreed on nothing, ate in separate parts of the house during dinner, and just generally ignored me.
December 01, 2007 is the day my life changed forever. My dad had walked out on us and my mom had finally grown tired of me. It all happened in the same fucking week. He walks out and I get shoved out. She sent me to live with my grandfather in the middle-of-nowhere town, Rising Falls.
Chapter 01 Kaiden
Kaiden leaned his head against the window of the bus. It was hour four of his drive from Colors City to Rising Falls. His ipod was almost dead and he was bored of staring at the same fields of grass. He was one of four people on the bus, proving his point to his mother that sending him to Rising Falls was like sending him to a deserted island. Kaiden daydreamed of his life back in the city. The smog and fussy people weren't going to be missed, but he already longed for the hustle and bustle city life and the smell of the food coming from the street vendors. The tall buildings and the musicians crowding the streets were the best part of Colors. Kaiden would spend hours sitting in the park strumming his guitar and collecting tips from friendly strangers. He threw his head back and groaned out loud. He was going to be bored to death in his new home.
Two hours later he was standing in front of his grandfather at the bus stop. Guitar case hanging from his shoulder and duffle bag in hand, he hadn't brought much in hopes his mother would see reason and let him come home. Kaiden's grandpa had shrunk with age and had a mess of graying hair on his head. He still had a frown on his face and was just as aggressive as Kaiden remembered him. He had cold, blue eyes and a long nose, resembling his mother in a way that made Kaiden want to hop right back on that bus and go back to the city and live as a bum.
His grandfather shoved his bag into his rusty old truck and Kaiden buckled himself up in the passenger seat. They still had not said a word to each other, and if his grandfather had any comments on how tall or how grown up Kaiden had become, he kept them to himself. After a few tries, the truck finally started at the pair drove down the dusty road. It was mid December now, the trees were bare and Christmas decorations were up. The small town had grown some since the last time he was here, more houses and buildings had gone up and maybe things wouldn't be so bad here. He even recognized stores they had in the city. Kaiden shifted his eyes to his grandfather, whose face was as unreadable as ever. The silence was suffocating him.
"So, I'm sorry my mom kind of forced me on you."
He saw his grandfather slightly jump at the sudden words. He glanced at Kaiden, and brought his eyes back to the road.
"How old are you now?" He asked Kaiden in a raspy voice. Even though he was slightly insulted his grandfather didn't know his age, he responded politely.
"I turned sixteen two months ago."
"Old enough to work, then." His grandfather replied with a slight smirk. It was the most emotion Kaiden has seen since he arrived. He didn't know much about what his grandpa did for a living, or if he even worked at all anymore. When he was young, his mother had told him that her father had worked with the ocean. Kaiden took this to mean that he was a fisherman.
"Um, yeah, I suppose." Kaiden mumbled. "My mom said that she had enrolled me in school out here. Did she tell you anything about that?"
"You start on Monday. There's a school not too far from where I live. All of the kids here go there."
"What, all ten of them?" Kaiden scoffed. That smirk reappeared on his grandfather's face.
"I don't think you have the right impression of this place." He said, "It's changed a lot over the years."
Kaiden shrugged and turned his attention back to the window. They had arrived at his grandfather's house. It was a neatly painted beige house, but the plants in the front yard have grown completely out of control; a total opposite of the polished houses surrounding it.
He carefully removed his guitar and his duffle bag from the back of the truck and followed his grandfather into his new home. It hadn't changed at all in the six years since Kaiden had stepped foot in the place. The wallpaper had started to peel and it seemed smaller than he remembered, but other than that, nothing was different at all. There was an air about the house that was almost haunting, as if it was stuck in the past. Judging by all the dishes left on the table and the newspapers piled on the couch, his grandfather didn't take much time to clean up after himself.
"Your room is upstairs."
Kaiden was so startled he let out a small yelp. His grandfather had an awful habit of being way too quiet. He mumbled his thanks and made his way up the stairs. His grandfather called after him, "Oh, be ready in about fifteen minutes. We're going to meet with principle Willow."
He paused. It was eight p.m. on a Saturday night. Surely the school wasn't going to be open. "Now?"
"Willow likes to meet with new students over dinner. He's personable like that." His grandfather replied with a scowl on his face. Meeting with Kaiden's new principle was obviously something neither of them wanted to do.
Kaiden set his guitar against the wall of his new room and took a look around. The room had blatantly belonged to a female before, presumably his mother. The walls were a soft purple and the curtains were made of lace. There was almost nothing in it, save for a small bed and a dainty desk pushed against the wall. He knew nothing of the time his mother spent growing up in Rising Falls. She had never talked about, pretending like she was never from the place. Judging by her old room, his grandfather had either cleaned it out for him, or his mother used to be a very simple young girl. Kaiden shrugged to himself and switched off the lights.
Principle Willow lived ten minutes away from Kaiden's grandfather. They were both stood outside the household, stalling. Neither Kaiden or his grandpa were sociable people, both preferring solitude if they could help it, and Principle Willow seemed to be the exact opposite, if his grandfather's description had been correct.
Just as they were about to ring the doorbell, the door swung open and Kaiden collided with a body. He grabbed his forehead in pain, and Kaiden came face to face with the greenest eyes he had ever seen. He had to admit, that even though he was a guy, the boy was seriously breath-taking. He smiled at Kaiden and brought a finger to his lips. Shh. And with a wink he was gone. Kaiden and his grandfather watched him run down the side walk and out of sight.
When he turned back around, a very tall, very thin man was standing before him. He had thick rimmed glasses and a button down white shirt on. He just oozed professionalism. The man peered down the street and sighed.
"Well, there goes that one." He focused his attention back to Kaiden. "Hello! My name is Alexander Willow, and I'm so pleased you both could make it for dinner tonight."
He shook both their hands and guided them inside. "Mr. Gibbons it's so good to see you again. It's been a while since I had you round for a meal."
The conversation between his grandfather and Mr. Willow faded out to Kaiden as he heard somebody coming down the stairs behind him. The girl was beautiful, breath-taking like the boy he saw earlier, but even more so because she had more feminine features. She had the same green eyes as he did and they were obviously brother and sister. They both had large eyes and up-turned noses, with red hair; but a fire red color that couldn't possibly be natural even though they both wore it so well. The girl smiled at him and stretched out her thin arm.
"Hello, I'm Audrey." Kaiden thought her voice sounded like bells. "You're Kaiden Lane, right? Mr. Gibbon's grandson? You look almost nothing like him, you're so tan."
Audrey Willow liked to ramble, but Kaiden found it too endearing for words. "It's nice to meet you, Audrey. I ran into your brother earlier. He looked like he was in a rush."
"Oh, he's always doing his own thing. Don't worry about him." Audrey smiled. She grabbed his arm and led him into the kitchen. "Sorry he won't be joining us, my brother's not very good company when his mind is elsewhere."
Mr. Willow set a plate in front of Kaiden, grinned widely, and took his own seat at the table. "Yes, I'd like to apologize on behalf of my son for running out on dinner tonight. It's a good thing there's two of them, eh?"
They talked about what Kaiden would have to do to stay in good graces at the Rising Falls School. Went over the usual rules and regulations, and generally had a nice dinner with the Willows. His grandfather didn't say much, but Audrey and Mr. Willow talk enough for the both of them. Mr. Willow told Kaiden all the old stories of Rising Falls, how much it's developed within the last decade and what a vacation spot it's starting to become. Kaiden wondered briefly about if there was a Mrs. Willow, but he caught another one of Audrey's brilliant smiles and he once again lost in train of thought. There was something different about her that he didn't find in the city girls. She was sweet and caring towards her father and just genuinely seemed like a kind person.
"Kaiden," Audrey said, "I want to invite you to come with me to a picnic tomorrow. My friends and I are going to Seaside Park around noon. You should join us."
Kaiden looked to his grandfather, who just gave an approving nod. He was reluctant. Meeting new people wasn't really his thing, but Audrey had this glimmer of hope in her eyes that Kaiden couldn't resist. "Yeah, sure, should I meet you here?"
Audrey's entire face lit up.