The Search for Serenity

4 - Nature

- Alice -

I leave the school gates and plug in my earphones while I begin my walk home, quietly humming along to the melodic music as I admire the surrounding scenery of bright grass and green hills in the distance behind the array of houses. The smell of freshly cut grass and a grill smoking in someone's backyard reaches my nose, reminding me of the nostalgia of summer.

I stroll leisurely, savouring the walk ahead as the beautiful view blankets me in calmness. I enjoy the atmosphere that settles in the surroundings, the birds flying together in the sky, the grass swaying in the gentle wind and the occasional car rumbling past me.

There's something about nature that touches my soul, grounds me and brings me peace like nothing else. Be it the sound of rolling ocean waves on the coastline of a beach, the drops of snow that cover my dark hair as it gently falls from the sky, or the smell of rain in the early winter evening.

My music is quiet enough so that I can hear the sounds of the birds and the breeze smoothly blowing through the branches and leaves of trees. That also means that I do not miss the sound of shoes rapidly tapping against the sidewalk behind me, gradually coming closer. Before I can pay any mind to it, my name is called out.

I stop and turn at the slightly familiar voice, wondering just how many times this has happened today. Raising a hand to shield my eyes from the beaming sun, I watch as Dante jogs toward me, a boyish grin on his face as he waves a hand at me.

"Hey, Dante, what's up?" I say, pulling out my earphones as he slows to a walk beside me, hands in his pockets as he stares at the ground finding his words.

"Hey," he clears is throat, "I actually just wanted to apologise for Marcus today, I'd hate to have made a bad first impression on you."

His tone is full of sincerity and slight embarrassment. I smile up at him, having an inkling he was just as much as a victim to Marcus' idiocy as I was. I honestly feel a little bad for him.

I give him a small nudge with my elbow, "Don't worry about it. You seem like a nice guy anyways. Word of advice though, Marcus is an ass, you can do better when it comes to finding friends."

"Good to know." He grins down at me.

"How was your first day?" I ask, filling out the silence.

He chuckles, "It was... uneventful. I guess the layout of the school is a little confusing to get around, though. I mean, all science and math classes just scattered around the school? Why not have departments?"

I let out a soft laugh at his rambling, remembering my similar thoughts when I joined Freshman year. "If I had a dollar for every time someone mentioned that, I'd have enough money to build my own school with separate departments."

He laughs, "Damn. You lived here long then?"

I nod, "Since I was born, yeah." I kick a pebble, my hands in my pockets as he hums in response. "So what brings you to Vermont of all places?" I question, feeling easy in his presence. Nathan would like this guy for sure.

"My parents got some new work opportunities that happened to be here, so we packed up and moved out." He clarifies, meeting my gaze.

"And do you like it here so far?"

"It's very different to San Francisco but I think it's warming up to me, yeah." He looks around with a fond expression on his face.

I hum in response and we fall into comfortable silence as we continue walking. I hear Dante clear his throat. "So I'm just around the corner," he nods over to a street across the road, "I'll see you around, Alice."