Fairy Tale

 Chapter 1

Sophie Johnson

"You don't understand me!" I yelled at my mother, as I stormed out the back door. We had just had our nightly argument, which varied from my grades to what clothes are appropriate for my age.

I stomped through my backyard and into the "forest" outside my house, hoping to find the Fairy Tree.

Ever since my dad died, my mother and I had some type of an argument, and straight after, I would climb the Fairy Tree my dad showed me. He said there were tiny little fairies that lived in the tree, but they never showed themselves. I used to believe it, even through Middle School, even though you would've thought I'd grown out of it by then.

I'm now sixteen, and I don't believe in such childish nonsense anymore, but the tree still brings me comfort. It reminds me of Dad.

I find the tree, and climb a few branches before stopping to sit for awhile. Eventually, I get lost in the thought of my dad, and I have to close my eyes to shut out the memories. It's been three years since I last saw him.

 Suddenly I hear a crackle of leaves not too far off. I open my eyes and stand up, looking around. I soon spot a girl around my age beneath me, climbing. I squint to see if I can tell who it is, and then realize it's a girl in my Algebra and Agriculture class.

"Hey," I say, startling her. She looks up and notices me.

"Hi." She speaks so quietly, I can barely hear her.

"Aren't you that nerdy girl that no one likes? Autumn, maybe?"

Her face turns bright red and she stares down at the ground, and I suddenly feel ashamed. I'm very popular at my school, and that's what everyone always said, so I assumed it was true. I never really paid attention to her.

"I'm sorry," I say sincerely. "I really am. I just..."I trail off.

"It's ok," she says quietly. "I know you have a reputation to keep, and I understand if that's what everyone tells you."

She drops down from a low branch she had stopped on, and starts walking away.

"Wait!" I call. "I guess it'd be okay if you stay awhile."

She looks back and smiles. "That's ok. I should probably get back home anyway. Well..." she looks away, "see ya'."

She walks back through the forest and I realize she's my closets neighbor. We had never really talked or acknowledged each other before, or at least I hadn't noticed her.

Then I realized how rude I really was. How could I just...ignore her? She was my neighbor, and I barely knew her name. Maybe tomorrow I would visit her.

Yes. I think we could become great friends.

Outside of school, at least. 

...

Author's Note: Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy! I'll have more chapters up soon, so please tell me what you think!