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[Ashton's POV]

[Senior Year]

You'd think after three and a half years I'd want to make an impression on my classmates. That I should do something prolific for people to remember me by. But I've decided that this is only just the beginning of my life, I don't need to waste any of my time on people who didn't really care.

Senior year. I've realized that people come and go in life and there is no one else to depend on but yourself.

Charlie had been in and out of school a lot lately. For a couple of weeks I wasn't exactly sure as to why that was, until I heard a few girls whispering in the hallway about her.

"Does she really think that someone like her could be famous?" One of the girls snickered to her friend.

"I mean she sounded pretty good in the school musical last year," Her friend added.

"Yeah, but pretty good isn't great," The girl laughed. "Charlie Brennan is a nobody and that is one thing that will never change."

Even after the girls left and the bell had rang, signaling that everyone should be in their classes, I stood there in the empty hallway. So she was trying to become famous. I could see it happening, those girls had no idea what they were talking about. They weren't driven. No one in this school was driven, not like Charlie. You could see it in her eyes. She wanted out of this dump of a town and unlike everyone else who had the same idea, she was actually going to make it. Page, Arizona was no place for a girl like her.

Really, Page wasn't a place for any kid to grow up in. There wasn't much around for you to do as a teenager. Most tried to sneak into bars, but the only problem with that was the fact that everyone knew everyone in a town like this.

The main attractions in Page are the Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend. But growing up here, those few things get boring real quick. The only place that I've come to enjoy no matter what was the overlook of the dam, which all the locals called 'the white house'.

Not many people went there, why I don't know, it's a beautiful view. But I wasn't complaining. It just meant that I could keep it all to myself. On a normal day, I'd climb up over the concrete barricade and metal railing that lined the tiny area, plopping myself down on the hot rocks that jutted out over the side of the cliff. You get the perfect view there. Below you can see the tiny specs that were the boats people liked to rent out to take on the river.

So like most days, I made my way down the stone steps that led to my favorite spot. The air was dry and crisp and I watched as a tourist family of four made their way up the path back toward their car. I smiled sweetly before trekking the rest of the way down the steep incline, only tripping once or twice.

The crumbled rock and sand crunched under my feet as I made my way over to the tiny outpost building, only taking a slight glance toward the round table situated at its center. The tattered notebook caught my eye immediately and I knew exactly whose it was the second I saw it. I had seen Charlie writing in it so many times before this. I couldn't believe that she could forget something so important.

I picked up the notebook, forgetting all about my plans of lying out in the sun to start my spring tan. Curiosity got the best of me as my fingers flipped from page to page, each filled with beautiful cursive handwriting. Sometimes there might just be one or two lines on a page. But those words were pure magic. This girl had such a way with words. It made no sense as to why she could have so much trouble making friends out in the world. But these lyrics stood on their own. They needed anyone's approval.

"You're not going to take away my dream,
Cause I've made up my mind and soon you'll see,
That things will be fine if I try."

Those words were stuck in my head up until I found myself standing in front of the girl whose book I had found yesterday afternoon. All thoughts were wiped from my mind the second I laid eyes on her. How was it possible for me to turn into a blubbering idiot so easily in front of her? I didn't understand it.

"I-I found something of yours yesterday," My eyes were as wide as she stared up at me.

"Of mine?" She questioned. "What?"

"Well, I was at the white house yesterday," I scratched the back of my neck out of nervousness. "And I found your notebook."

With rushed hands, I rummaged through my backpack, nerves building the longer it took me to find it. Once safely in my grasp, I zipped up my bag once again and threw it back over my shoulder before I extended the book out to her.

Her eyes never left the tiny notebook as she paged through it quickly. After a satisfactory look through, she turned her gaze back up to me once again. I swallowed hard, felling my throat start to dry up. Jesus, her eyes were the palest green I had ever seen.

"Did you read any of it?" She questioned curiously after a long pause.

I immediately shook my head, thinking it best to keep the fact that I did indeed look through her personal notebook a secret. I didn't need to have her angry with me before we even got to know each other, if we ever got to know each other.

"No, no I didn't," I paused looking toward the ceiling. "I've just noticed you writing in it a lot, so I knew it was yours."

"You noticed, huh?" A smile crept up onto her lips.

I didn't say anything, but instead just stared down at her dumbly. I had no idea what to do now. And as if the world was telling me my time was up, the bell rang, signaling that we were now late for our classes. But neither of us made a move.

"Thanks for this," She gestured toward the notebook, finally turning to leave, but quickly turned back to me and added. "You know, Ashton, you're a really great guy."

And without another word, she turned and left, but not in the direction I knew her class was in. When I finally got to my own class, the teacher reprimanded me for being so late, but I didn't care. I had been trying so long to get Charlie to notice me and it seems as though she finally had. This was the sign I had been waiting for. Now was my chance to finally make a move.

I had been pining after the same girl for years now and I had no idea if she had even known my name, but after today all that was going to change. I was going to take my chances and ask her out. I just needed everything to go as planned.

I waited for her after school, but as the minutes ticked by I realized that there was no one left in the building. How could I have missed her? I made my way as quickly as I could to my car, starting the engine up immediately and pealing out of the parking lot.

I knew where she lived. Freshman year we were in the same group for a History assignment and we all met at her house to work on the project together. After getting lost once, I finally turned down her block, letting my eyes wonder from one side of the street to the other to make sure I didn't miss it. It took me mere second to park at the curb and walk up to the front door of her house.

A wave of insecurity washed over me as I ran my fingers subconsciously through the mop of curls on my head in hopes of fixing them. Shutting my eyes tightly and taking a deep breath, I reached out and knocked swiftly on the wooden door. I bounced on my toes with anticipation as I waited.

The door opened and I was faced with who I assumed was her father. The tall man with dark brown hair, that contrasted Charlie's blonde waves, gave me a polite smile before asking who I was.

"My names Ashton, I go to school with Charlie."

The second her name left my lips, his smile fell and I instantly knew that there was something I didn't know.

"You've just missed her," He spoke sadly.

"That's alright," I paused in thought, all the confidence I had gone. "I-I can just talk to her tomorrow at school."

"Actually that wont be possible," He shook his head.

"I don't understand," My heart started to race. Had something happened to her?

"You see, Charlie left for LA this afternoon. We don't know when she's coming back,"He furrowed his eyebrows. "If at all."

The drive back to my house felt like a dream. I paid zero attention to the world around me. By the time I got home, the sun had started to set over the vast canyon in the distance. I trudged up the stairs to the third floor apartment that I shared with my grandmother.

I threw my backpack down on my bed after saying a halfhearted hello to my gran. Without a second thought, I climbed up onto my desk, scattering papers and magazines onto the ground as I did so. Pushing up on the wooden frame, I opened the window, maneuvering my way out and onto the fire escape. I took the rickety metal steps two at a time, making it up to the roof in a matter of seconds.

I heaved a heavy sigh as I looked out over the tops of the buildings in the surrounding area. This was the only good part of this crappy apartment - the roof access. Much like the overlook, this was the only other place I liked to spend my time. You could see out over our tiny town to where it reached the dam. The sun reflected off the red rocks in the distance as I took a seat on the tattered couch that had been up here since before I had even moved in.

This was it. All the courage I had earlier was gone and all that was left was regret. Why hadn't I just talked to her sooner? I had years to talk to her and I waited until the last few weeks of school to finally get my shit together. Now she was gone and there was nothing I could do about it.

In some ways I was proud of her. She was doing what no one else in this town had the balls to do and that was following her dreams. I just prayed to any god that would listen, that they came true.

. . . . .

A/N: Yaaay! That is the end of the backstory chapters! Next chapter will be now times and probably in Charlie's POV. Thanks for reading!

This one goes out to the awesome Tristful_ for making the cover above! Thank you.

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