You To Miss

chapter 1

               I walked into the house and the first thing I did was turn on the radio. It'd been such a long day at work but it was the last day of school, which explains why the students were so riled up. I wasn't really surprised it was like this every year. I really need a life. I have plenty of friends but ever since moving to California to take this teaching position three years ago I longed for the type of friendships I'd had growing up. The people here were interested in things like shopping, and margaritas, night clubs and dancing to hip hop or pop, and of course acting. One of their favorite subjects were actors. I missed the simple life of riding horses and going fishing with my dad, having a few good friends sitting around a bonfire at a dilapitated old beach, and country music. I even missed sitting for hours in the cold waiting for a deer to show up during hunting season. I felt so alone here in the big city where people were always strangers. Most of all though I miss my friends but none of them live back home anymore either. Kennedy and Jason live in Nashville with their son Lucas. Kennedy and Jason are my best friends in the world. Jason is a big shot country star these days. I grabbed the mail off the table and started sorting through it. Most of it was bills, junk mail, or magazines for my live in boyfriend of two years Justin. Justin was a great guy but more and more lately I was wondering if he was really the one for me. There was a post card from my parents. They had decided recently to go into retirement and do some traveling. They send me post cards from various destinations. This time the card came from Miami, Florida. Talk about a flood of memories. I have to stop thinking about him that was one summer 5 years ago it didn't really mean anything. The song on the radio ends and the DJ announces "Now for our new music spotlight of the day we bring you the new single from Love and Theft  - If You Ever Get Lonely"  I dropped the mail and as it fell to the floor I suddenly can't breathe as all these thoughts and memories come to mind and the last words Stephen had spoke to me came out of the radio "You know where to find me, If you ever get lonely"

       It had been a lot harder leaving Stephen behind than I originally thought it would be. Of course that made it easier to return to Georgia because the memories of my ex fiance Mike were no longer as painful. All I could think about was Stephen Barker Liles and that smile of his. Sometimes I'd get sad and miss him but we had only spent 4 weeks together not like it was long enough to fall in love or anything. Yet I couldn't get him out of my mind. As the summer came to a close I was happy to return to school and finish my last year of college. Even though Stephen had been a Florida thing I still couldn't help but see his face everywhere I looked. Standing at the end of a crowded hallway, Sitting in the car next to mine at a redlight, across the street from the coffee shop where I was studying. Of course it was never really him only an illusion. Stephen was really my sectret I didn't want to tell my college friends about him in fear they wouldn't believe me. Who gets dumped days before their wedding then goes out and has this magical story-like summer fling? I do, but it's still not believeable. Unless you were there. eventually I convinced myself that it was all in my head. I stopped seeing Stephen on every corner. Kennedy kept me posted though. I don't think she knew how painful it was to hear. I mean I had been the one to leave. Stephen ended up following Jason back to Nashville where he met some other musicians and started another band. they called themselves Love And Theft and eventually they got signed to a record deal. I was happy for Stephen I really was. I graduated from college the next summer and moved back home where I got a teaching job at the local school but after only a year I got bored with the small town teaching thing and all the towns people who looked at me with pity. I know what they were thinking that I was giving up and I guess I was. So I applied for a job in California and moved out West.

        The first time I saw Stephen's face since Florida I was walking down the street talking to some of my new friends when I glanced over at a magazine rack stopped ead in my tracks when I saw that familiar smile. Always that damn smile. Stephen Barker Liles of Love And Theft. None of my friends would believe me if I told them. They'd all think I'd gone crazy. Maybe I had. I didn't tell any of them about my connections to Jason either I was afraid they'd treat me differently. and besides they didn't really like country music anyway. When they saw where my gaze had landed one of my friends sarcastically made a comment about "The good looking one with the sexy smile" being just my type. They had no idea. Eventually I met Justin and he was a great guy so we moved in together. He wasn't Stephen though. I had to get that thought out of my head. Stephen was an illusion my brain made him out to be better than what he really is. That had to be it. No one would ever be Stephen. If I kept thinking that way I'd never find anyone. Thoughts like that got pushed to the back of my mind. I always quickly pushed thoughts of Stephen out of my mind but they were never far off.