Boundless

Chapter 02

It's Thursday morning, and I'm woken up by the sound of dishes clanging together. It's past the time that my dad would have left for work, but my mom, Amy or I don't usually get up for at least another hour (it's 6:00 a.m. right now). I figure that it's Amy, getting an early start to the day so that she can be there the second Zach arrives. We both know that everybody in town will be all over him, so I'm guessing she hopes to see him before everyone else does.

I climb sleepily out of bed, dragging myself out of bed and putting on a pair of jean shorts and a flannel with three-quarter length sleeves. Hopefully it's not too warm.

Amy is already dressed and eating a bowl of cereal when I get downstairs. She's wearing a short dress she bought during our shopping trip to Atlanta. I've decided that I really don't want to be there when she first meets Zach. I wouldn't be surprised if she proposed to him right on the spot.

I'll just meet him with the rest of the town, at the bonfire tomorrow. Or maybe earlier, knowing Hillvale. Everybody is already going crazy.

We'd had newcomers before, and it had been similar to this. But never before had they come from somewhere like New York City. Atlanta was the closest we'd ever gotten to that in my lifetime.

***

Amy is not sure before what to do with herself, now that she is all ready for Zach's arrival but he won't be coming for another five hours or so. I decide to grab a quick breakfast and then head out for some horseback riding.

I take my usual path through the woods and into my clearing. I dismount as usual, and sit cross-legged on the grass, staring out at the beautiful view before me. As I sit there, content but alone, I can't help but wonder if I'll ever share this with a special guy.

That's the biggest turnoff of living in such a small town in the middle of nowhere. There aren't a lot of option when it comes to guys. Some girls are lucky enough to fall for one who lies them back, but I haven't gotten there yet. Actually, I hadn't even had a serious crush. There were only twenty guys in my grade to begin with, and half of them were already taken.

I've always worried about that. I'm not interested at all in any of the guys here, but I absolutely love the rest of the small, mountain-town life. I've set my sights on living here my whole life, minus college, and I'm not planning on moving away.

I keep telling myself that I'll meet some guy during college and fall in love. We'll want to get married and he will be thrilled with the idea of moving to a tiny little mountain town.

But I know that that is just a fantasy. Just some fairytale dream that won't ever come true. Still, I hope that someday, somehow, I can find the right guy and still live out my days in Hillvale.

***

After sitting there, enjoying the view and feeling the sun on my face, I mount Serenity and head back toward the house. Amy is sitting at the table, eyes glued to her iPhone. Probably looking up what city guys want in a girl or something.

Mom is eating breakfast, reading one of her romance novels, but she glances up when I come in.

"Morning, Ally," she greets, going back to her book.

My parents never have trouble teling us apart. In fact, no one does anymore. But it's not because of our personalities, or tastes in clothing, it's because Amy decided to dye her hair blonde. Although my parents don't really approve of that sort of thing, they understood why Amy wanted it. People were always mistaking her for me, and she hated it. So, while my hair stayed it's natural dark brown, hers became a fashionable blonde.

The time before Zach's arrival passes by quickly as I do my chores (dishes, cleaning the stable, collecting eggs from the hens) and practic with Amy for the bonfire. See, it's become a tradition for us to sing together for entertainment at every bonfire. After we won the school's talent show in sixth grade, the town had insisted that we perform at the next bonfire, and so we did. Apparently, we won over the crowd, as they've made sure we sing at every one.

I usually write the lyrics, and Amy and I expiriment with different harmonies until it sounds good. Then we both sing a duet, a cappella, in front of everyone. It made me nervous when we first started out, but I've gotten used to it by now.

We play traditional, feel good mountain-style, and I really enjoy doing it. Even Amy, who's obsessed with pop, has to admit that she likes our music.

***

Before I know it, it's 12:30, Zach's scheduled arrival time. How on earth she knows that, I haven't a clue. Really, I'm honestly not sure how he could know his exact arrival time.

Amy begs to go over to the house he and his dad bought, but Mom refuses. She tells Amy to give him some space, as it's got to be a hard move. Finally, with a loud sigh, Amy gives in to visiting him later, once he's a bit more settled in, and eats lunch with Mom and I.

Afterwards, though, she's restless again, and I'm starting to get really annoyed with her. I already went horseback riding, so I decide to visit my best friend Cheyenne (after jokingly giving Amy the suggestion to bake something for Zach, which she takes seriously and starts doing).

***

Cheyenne has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. Our houses are in easy walking distance of each other, so it's easy to see her all the time.

When I arrive, (I didn't even bother calling her; if she's not available, I'll just walk back to my house) I ring the doorbell and Cheyenne comes to the door. Before she even opens it, though, she smiles at me and stuffs on some shoes. She knows me too well.

We walk down the street together and to Hillvale's City Park. Basically, our town is surrounded my a giant, mountainous park, but they still felt the need to stick some picnic tables on the grass and call it a park.

I'm not trying to complain, though. Cheyenne and I visit this park often, sit down at the picnic table and chat. Tell each other about our siblings (she has an older brother), parents, thoughts, everything. Literally everything. Today we sit and complain to each other about all the fuss on Zach. I tell her about Amy's obsession, and she informs me on how Mrs. Thompson, the old lady next door and town's gossip queen, (yes, an old lady is the gossip queen) was going on and on and on about Zach Reinhart.

"Most of the things she said, though," Cheyenne tells me, "are probably just things she made up. You know her, she does that a lot. Like, she was telling me how Zach's dad was actually a wanted thief who came to the mountains so he could escape and write a column under some fake name. Like anyone's going to believe that."

"She's getting worse," I say jokingly. Wether it's her age, boredom, our need for attention, Mrs. Thompson seems to come up with unbelievable rumors about people, each getting increasingly more bizarre and clearly fake. Only her three old lady friends, Mrs. Goodrich, Mrs. Jones, and Mrs. Henderson, seemed to actively believe her tall tales. Or at least they act like they believe them.