The Missing Piece preface How could it come to this? She was the only one to bring me joy in my life but that heartfelt happiness was fading, the farther I watched her head disappear into the distance. I stood, in the light drizzle as I watched just over the hill for her to come running back to me. It was silly of me to think that but my heart was hoping to see her running back into my arms. As hard as it was I knew I needed this, when something good comes along you don't just let it lay, you pick it up and run with it.
Introduction: Harper and Miley, twins who grew up in a small town inside the country all their life but can a secret tear there relationship as best friends apart? Harper, known for her sweet, caring and loving personality. Her warm chocolate hair cascaded to her waist in tiny wavy curls. Her light greenish blue eyes, so light they almost looked gray, beautifully shone like facets in the morning sun. Miley, known as the partier, was the wild child. Her straight dirty blond hair hit the small of her back. She always put a streak of whatever crazy color dye she had left over on her side swept bangs when she dyed underneath her hair, this time it was neon green. Starting back at high school after summer break, Harper and Miley had both just turned seventeen it left them feeling like nothing could stop them. But there was one secret that Miley kept from Harper that could possibly change not only how Harper saw her sister but everything.
Chapter One: How It Began It was a cold January morning and kids were due back to school after their Christmas break. The clouds, gray and dark left them with hopes of snow and a early release. Miley wore a black and blue concert shirt from a group that she adores, Travis Porter. She had on a pair of Boy London leggings and her white and black Air Jordan six. Usually pushing her limit on how short her shorts and skirts could be or how revealing her shirt is, Miley went for comfort today. It wasn't strange, she had done this about once a week. Harper, on the other hand was a different story. Harper wore a pull-over hoodie, dark wash jeans and her old pair of Converse. It was a typical day, the lunch bell rang and Harper and Miley, holding hands rushed to their usual table. "Is Ryder here today?" Miley's eyes wandered around the rapidly over-flowing lunchroom. "I don't think so, she said her driveway was all ice." Harper responded in a sharp tone so Miley could hear. Today they were planing a little trip out to the city. Nothing major of course, just eating, shopping and the typical girl things. Miley had other things in mind, of course, that's her, who she is. It's expected of her to want to cause trouble. Once the clique was all gathered around the table, Harper and Miley began speaking to them about a trip out in the city. First to jump along with them was Halie followed by Zada and Nicole. All they needed was Ryder and her sister Jacey to say yes. Miley wanted to take two cars, hers and Harpers. With this, Miley of course chose the fun ones to ride with her, Jacey, Ryder and Zada. Leaving Harper with the rest, she was fine with that, at least we assumed, she never said anything in protest. The trip was stuck in everyone's head, not everyone got the chance to see the city when you live in Spruce Pine. Of course it would be an all day thing, the city was about a two hour drive, so a late return was in question. None of us knew the time that we would leave or be back, not like it was a problem. Most of the parents didn't care or was too busy bringing home their work to notice. A lot of us needed a trip like this, with the stress at school, home or both, all of us wanted that feeling of not having a single worry and the rush of escaping. The trip was planned for the whenever the warmest day in April was. Around here it typically falls on April twelfth that being a Friday. It was perfect, it fell into place since prom this year was being pushed back to June first due to a school budget problem. Was we all excited? More than prom guarantees one girl to wind up pregnant. Was we scared? For our lives, why? Because a group of teens going to the city smells of trouble and that's something we all knew.
The city was a refined place with gentlemen clubs, upscale clubs and Cabreras. High fashion malls for high life, eateries too fancy for people like us in the country. Of course there was places for teenagers to go, it was just a matter of where to look. The city lights was enough to tempt anyone to venturing out there but no one hardly ever did, knowing the kind of life people live over there disgusted some. Why? It's a question that's been asked since Spruce Pine was found as a county. To us it all seemed like a fairy tale, one we couldn't believe we would be experiencing. Like the first time you tell a child you're going to Disney World, their first reaction is excitement then they settle down and ask "for real?" I had a strange feeling from Miley and Harper the weeks after the big discussion of this trip. I got uneasy, like something wasn't right, almost like it was too good to be true. Who plans a trip to the city just for fun? No one around here would even consider that or even let the thought cross their mind. That's what intrigued us most, the fact that no one spontaneously plans a trip to the city had us all worked up. We were ready for the trip itself more than the popular girls were ready to start prom dress shopping. We wanted April and we wanted it now.
The past months were slow but filled with the final details of our trip. It finally became real, real to me and to us. It had finally set in that this was serious and Miley and Harper weren't joking. Once March had approached we could barely keep this trip a secret between us. Halie, Zada, Miley and I all went out to shop for some summer like clothes. Mostly tank tops and shorts and a swim suit or two for just in case. With excitement causing us about to burst open with confetti and streamers we had already packed our over night bag. All that was left was to wait for Aprils arrival and we were hitting the road. Nobody could stop us, the thrill of having freedom with no one around to tell us no we was not going to let nothing stand in our way.
Chapter Two: The Trip Friday morning came slow that previous night. Halie called me to talk all night due to her excitement. She mentioned that Ryder and Miley hasn't been getting along, I knew that. Miley and Ryder's arguments, disagreements or fights, whatever you choose to call them happened periodically and quite often. Never over the typical things, just from one of them being moody. With our bags all packed we set out on the road, not worried we were missing school. On the way there Miley and Ryder got into a heated argument, sitting there with blank expressions we had no idea as to what to do. As the drive got shorter the tension got higher. Miley wasn't letting up on Ryder, bringing up embarrassing moments that Ryder went through was only making it worse. "Well, at least I'm a virgin. I know I'm clean unlike you, Miley. Having sex with anything that moves." In that one moment we witnessed Ryder finally stand up for herself and Miley get extremely angry. With the rest of us afraid to do anything with fear that Miley would snap at us too. We just sat, kept quiet and watched, knowing Miley couldn't physically attack her because she was driving we thought everything would be okay. We never knew Miley would drag this argument out for the whole trip and didn't see why, the fight wasn't over anything to stop a friendship. They may have argued several times before and Miley may have been sick of it, so could have Ryder. It was too much to handle but Miley was overreacting.
Thanks for your viewpoint, Charlie. My original plan for this story is to sound pretty boring at first because I haven't got to the interesting part, but I am about to. If you keep reading you'll see whose telling this story and to who, what really happened and is going on.
Arriving in the city, we had realized that we had finally did it, we actually done something that people would shun you for and didn't care. All our life we were taught and told to never step foot in the city unless we truly needed to go there for something. Everybody made the city sound like it was filled with crime and mischief. Well, with all due respect, we thought otherwise, it was breathtakingly beautiful. The air was humid and smelled sweet, almost like you were at the beach. Miley followed Harpers black SUV as it turned into a Holiday Inn, the only low end hotel cheap enough for us for one night. Was it a waste of time and money to stay one night just two hours from our hometown? Most people, better yet, everyone would agree. To us, it was a just a break from the stress that high school reality was giving us. For you to understand our reasoning, everybody has been to high school, you know the drill; becoming an independent adult is around the corner waiting after graduation, add that on top of where to apply for college, tests that count for fifty percent your grade plus state tests where a strip of paper decides if you get closer to graduation or not- what do you have? Stress. All we wanted was a break, sound fair? Probably not, it didn't matter if your grandmother was on her death bed, if she lives in the city and you go to visit her, once you come back people will hate you. The hotel, room 250, smelled clean, it was spacious enough for all of us to have one room. The balcony, where Nicole, Halie, Miley and Ryder would spend most of their time smoking a cigarette, overlooked the skyline. The hotel provided a trolley, cheaper to use that than a cab or your own car to get you to and from anywhere had Nicole, Harper and I ready to see the city and all it offered. Where was Miley and Ryder? In Miley's car going to do the same thing. Miley and Ryder left before the trolley arrived, too caught up in where we were excited to go, we didn't care it sounded fishy.
Not over the river and through the woods. (Jokes) You were closer on the first guess. But keep it a secret.
Sorry for not having an update yesterday. I was at a drag race all day. Will be working and updating today. Sorry for the delay.