Beginning of the End

Chapter 1

When you associate anything with New York City it is usually the extraordinary buildings that pierce the sky or the congested sidewalks with people desperate to shop in the famous stores in which celebrities dwell.

I'm not in that group of desperate 'people.' Well, I used to be until that night... Anyways... I am walking around, in the dreadful place that my mum dragged me in - I know that she did it for my sake and I am forever grateful but I just miss the place I grew up in. I still love her, trust me I do, but there's just a part of me that's still a little irritated since she didn't even ask me where I would like to go. Nonetheless, I am still very happy because I have her and I'm with my best friend, Belgian. She's my dog and I know I named her after a chocolate brand, but hey, she's mine so I can name her whatever I want. Oh, and in my defense, I had her when I was 11! So naming a dog after a chocolate brand was totally fine! I just love the girl so much the way I loved chocolate. She is outgoing, alert, gentle, friendly and intelligent - two words? Siberian Husky. I just feel like she's the only consistent thing in my life, ever since we moved out of Seattle.

Oh Seattle, I just miss the place so much; my childhood and... memories - which had a lot of impact on why we moved.

A lot still doesn't know about my beloved hometown. Well, let me tell you a brief description...

Cosmopolitan yet casual,
Seattle has the cosmopolitan outlook of a port city with its strong civic, cultural and personal relationships abroad. It is open to new influences and perhaps first landing site for those hungry for adventure, or wanting to start a new life - funny how I'm starting a new life somewhere else though... Back to the topic, despite a cosmopolitan outlook, Seattle remains unpretentious, and even low-key. I also believe that people who wear jeans to work rather than dress pants, and prefer backpacks to briefcases are also those who appreciate the finer things in life, and are open to new influences in food and art.

New York City, for some reason, I find boring. I don't know of its just me or what I've been through but I just don't see the point in shopping everyda-

"Ow!" I hiss, looking up to see what I collided with and came face to face with a plastic barbie.

"What the hell!" She screeches in a very nasally whine. "Watch where you're going!"

Barbie furiously wiped her Starbuck's-coffee-stained shirt and Belgian started barking at her causing her to stop and give Belgian a very dirty look.

"What are you looking at you stupid dog!"

I gasped, "excuse me?!"

"Oh, you're excused," she furrows her eyebrows like I'm dumb and starts sashaying away.

I grab her upper arm causing her to abruptly stop. "You don't get to insult my best friend and think that you can just get away with it." I tightened my grip on her arm.

"Ow, ow, ow! Let go of me you weirdo! Plus I wasn't even talking about her," she pauses as I finally release her arm, "I was talking about you," she continues with an evil smile.

"You-" I was about to say a really good comeback when another nasally whine cut me off. I'll use it next time then.

"Michelle! Hurry up come on, we've been waiting for you!" A fake blonde calls her.

"I'm coming!" Barbie yells back at her friend then looks at me. "You," she steps closer to me, "better watch it."

"As if-"

"Now, hush, I don't wanna hear it I'm going. Good dogs," she pats Belgian and I and stalks off.

It took a lot of resistance for me not to pull her hair and slam her on the ground. If only she knew who she is dealing with. I realize that I wasn't alone and I was standing right in the middle of the pathway when Bel barked and stopped my murderous thoughts. I smiled at her and tried my best to forget about killing Barbie.

"Wanna go home?" I ask Belgian even though I know full well that dogs can't talk... Or can they?

After what feels like forever of walking around - even though its only really been fifteen minutes - I decide to seat on a bench at a park and unleash Bel so she could go and play, and I could text my mom and ask her for our address so I could type it into my phone and not get lost, again.

"Hey!"

I ignored the voice and didn't want to look up because what if she wasn't even talking to me? That would totally be embarrassing.

"Hey," she touched my shoulder in which I flinched slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or disturbed you-"

"Huh?" I looked around, is she actually talking to me? Why the heck would she want to talk to a stranger?

"Yeah, I'm talking to you," she smiles confirming my thought. "I just wanted to introduce myself. I figured that you're new because I know most of the teenagers here. So how long have you been here?"

"Just a week," I simply lied like it's a daily habit.

I was tapping my phone, finding this conversation very awkward, waiting for my mum to reply. Before girly got to say anything else my mum finally replied and I used it as an excuse to escape her. I called Belgian and started to walk away, not feeling the need to say goodbye to Friendly. I typed the address in and when the route was about to show up my phone died.

"What the," I scoff. "Ugh!"

"Are you lost?" Friendly asks making me know that she's been watching me.

"No. Yes. Maybe. No," I groaned.

"Maybe I can help you out," she offered. "Where do you live?"

I took a moment to consider my pros and con's - weighing in my options. I'm sure that after this day of her helping me out, I would never see her again. I could just say yes for her to help me then I can just get rid of her in an instant. After a while with just me holding Belgian's leash and Friendly staring at me, I finally nodded.

"Yeah, sure."

I told her my address and she squealed. "Oh my gosh! We're going to be neighbors! I knew you looked familiar. I saw you-"

"We are what?!"

"Neighbors," she smiled. Well. Just great. My plan is ruined.

"Its only a five minute walk from here don't worry," she changed the subject and started walking.

I didn't say anything as I followed her, not bothering to make small talk.

"I don't think I've introduced myself. I'm Rylie. You?" She inquires, not turning to look at me.

I was so close to being rude to her for a moment but she just seemed so nice and I wasn't really in the mood to say rude things so I ended up answering her, "Carter."

"Carter, that's a pretty name," even though I couldn't see her, I knew that she had a smile on her face. I wish I could be this happy but that almost seemed impossible.

I was looking down at Belgian when she spoke again after a couple of minutes.

"Here we are, that is my... well our apartment just right over there," she points across the road.
I mumbled a thank you which I'm sure she didn't even hear as I unlocked the door and got in. I closed the door and once again unleashed Belgian. I took a peek in the window, making sure that she doesn't see me, to see if she's gone when I see her still standing there, in our front yard.

What the hell is she even waiting for? A goodbye!? I rolled my eyes and decided to go back outside to ask her why she's still here.

She simply replied with a, "Oh nothing."

"Okay then goodbye?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Yup! See you around Carter!" She grinned and walked across the road to her house.

Does this mean that we're friends? But I don't want any friends. What have I gotten myself into?

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A/N:

This was pretty boring. I know. But I just got so excited and wanted to update.

Hope you enjoyed reading. ♡