Kiara observed the scenery outside the car window, familiar multi colored beach houses obscuring her vision.
The end of the college semester was a few days earlier, the girl now heading back home for the summer.
However, this place didn't feel like home to her.
At least, not anymore.
Kiara was happy to go to college, yes, she knew she would miss her friends & family, and the memories OBX brought - both good and bad.
But in the end, she found a new beginning exciting, almost like she earned it. A fresh start in a place where no one knew as much as her name, it felt like heaven to her.
Coming to the idea of college, it wasn't her friends or family that made her ultimately decide to move out of the island, in fact, it was just one person.
Sarah Cameron.
The blonde, beautiful, kook princess, turned Kiara's life into a resemblance of hell while she was here.
Starting out as friends, best friends, the girls grew impossibly close to one another. In the end, a little too close for Sarah's liking.
One thing led to another, and the girls shared a moment that now Kiara wishes she could forget even existed, hoping her feelings could be put to the side long enough for them to go away.
But they never did, even after all these years.
The blonde girl clouded her thoughts almost daily, even after trying to force herself into liking other people, boy or girl, Kiara could never rid the image of Sarah from her mind. And she hated it.
"I'm so glad you're back, hunny." A voice pulled her out of her thoughts, turning her attention now to her mom who sat in the driver's seat of the car, "The Wreck hasn't been the same without you."
Kiara let out a soft laugh, nodding her head as she looked out the front windshield, "I can probably assume that, Mom."
The woman hummed, silence taking over the two again as they got closer to the Carrera household.
Pulling into the familiar drive way, Kiara eagerly pulled the handle of the door to let herself out, not wasting any time in rushing up the steps to the glass door she knew all too well.
Not bothering to knock, she burst through, letting herself in
"Dad!" She shouted, a wide smile taken over her face, seeing the person she was looking exactly for.
"There's my girl!" Mike Carrera mused from behind the kitchen counter, dropping the wooden spoon he was holding and making his way to his daughter.
Kiara squealed, her dad's arms wrapping tightly around her waist, picking her up and spinning her around in the process as she held onto his shoulders tightly.
Setting her back down, the two shared a proper hug, Kiara feeling another pair of arms wrap around the two.
Giving a content sigh, she melted into the embrace with her parents, happy to be home.
After a couple of hours the Carrera's had a family dinner together, the dining table filled to the edges with all different kinds of Kiara's favorite food. The family spent the night together with laughter and conversations.
Now, Kiara sat on her bed in her room, back pressed up against the wall, ukulele in hand, the only noise in the room being the mindless strumming the girl was doing.
She wasn't exactly thinking about anything in particular, her mind wandering from thought to thought - how she'd occupy her summer, when she would go see the Pogues, and more.
