The next day, I was sitting at home alone. I had planned my own sanctuary but didn't have resources to accommodate myself. Cassandra left me money for whatever I needed and I had the mustang for transportation, but I still didn't want to leave. I did go out to the car though. I claimed the boxes Oliver left for me and intended to open them, but once I saw "Albert Everton" on a plaque that once resided in my dad's office, I set it back down in its box.

Suddenly, my phone started ringing and I saw it to be Cassandra.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ash!" she greeted enthusiastically as usual. "What'cha been up to?"

"Oh nothing," I sighed. "I think later I'm gonna go for a run."

She replied to me and suggested things to keep me busy, but I eventually just tuned her out while I reopened the boxes and distracted myself. When she hung up, I was too focused onto the leather-covered journal I had never seen before. I didn't know if it was Andrew's or my father's, but after briefly visiting my room, I retrieved my box cutter and sliced the piece of duct tape wrapped around it a couple times. I then, opened the latch that was in no way destroyed after peeling off the tape. Then, I read the first page:

Albert Everton, 1991

4253 Obsidian Pass

Before I could turn the page, they were all conjoined together somehow with a note on top, warning that the journal was only for the eyes of an Everton. The sides of the pages were golden, but I couldn't run my fingers along them. There was a gem on top of the page just small enough to be an anchor that was pulled through from the back. By the time I even tried to undo the circular, complex sequence of knots and ties in the back, a picture of a house fell out and I was remembering the same house on the side of the road in my mind as if I had been there before. It reminded me solely of the area between the city lines.

I looked up the address on the computer and it wasn't found. I frowned, but my mind insisted that I had seen the huge house before. I put on my shoes, put my necessities in my pocket and intended to go out for a run.

***

"Can I help you?" a voice asked me. I pulled the earphones out of my ears and looked up from the book I read from the history of this town of Tyriette. I was sitting right outside of small café. I had indeed gone running, but my aching body didn't make it to where I thought my mind saw the house.

"Uh no; I'm good," I said and then looked up to see a boy with styled blonde hair. He was tall and thin, but nicely dressed. I actually questioned why he was questioning me.

"Teens don't usually spend their time reading in town here," he expressed, looking around briefly.

"I wouldn't really know," I said. He took a seat across from me. I looked over at him with an interested glare and he smiled lightly and finally extended a hand.

"Evan," he introduced.

"Ashlynn," I returned, taking his hand.

"So, Ashlynn," he began. "Where are you from, since you're new here?"

"Florida," I replied and he gave me a look.

"So are you visiting for the summer or were you banished here?" he asked, making me wonder of his own status.

"Banished," I decided to repeat and he presented me with a grin.

"As was I a few years ago," he nodded.

"How do you like it?" I asked him.

"Who says I do?" he replied with a smile, but I felt as though I could sense some truth to that. "And you. Do you like it here?"

"I don't really know yet," I said. "I've only been here since Saturday...you're the only one I've met."

"Lucky you," he winked and then the door to the café opened and a blonde lady appeared, looking exasperated.

"Evan, I'm not paying you to sit and fraternize," she said.

"Mom, you're barely paying me at all," he snickered. She threw her towel at him and gestured inside. Evan looked over at me and smiled. "I'll catch you around."

He went back inside after quickly teasing his mom and I smiled to myself. I was under the impression that teens were crazy by the sights of one standing on the back of a truck on the road, but I much rather them be like Evan. As if I needed anymore teen exposure, a trio of them was walking up the sidewalk. The petite girl walking in the front had straightened dark black hair and high cheekbones. She wore a white tank top with cuffed khaki shorts that weren't very long. The two in the back were familiar. The other girl was of average or maybe taller height with most-likely naturally flipped, beautiful brunette hair that fell past her shoulders. She wore a gray t-shirt with some jean shorts that stopped right above her mid-thigh. She was freaking gorgeous. They both were. And beside the brunette was a familiar looking hooligan. Though he wasn't planted to the bed of a moving truck, the tall boy had semi-curly light brown hair that still failed to touch his ears on the sides. He had an adorable beauty mark under the right side of his mouth, but other than that and his lips, his face was covered by dark sunglasses.

"Ooh, I think Ev's at work," the petite girl cheered with her eyes widening as she neared the café shop and left her friends, much to their dismay, and entered.

"Why does she always act like he'll be anywhere else?" the boy groaned as he retired into a metal seat to the table on the other side of the door than me.

"I think it's cute," the brunette said, playing with her necklace.

"Of course you do. You're a hopeless romantic."

"I am not," she giggled, smacking his shoulder as he smirked.

"Wanna bet? I mean, I can ask Ryder right now—"

She hit him once more and then the door was opening and the petite girl's hand was connected to Evan's while they approached the other two, but then it was dropped. Either way, I was right to not mistake our conversation earlier for flirting.

"Hey, man," Evan greeted to the boy with a reluctant sigh.

"Hey." They shook hands and Evan lightly waved at the girl.

"What are you up to today?" Evan asked them. There was less friendliness in his voice towards them than towards me.

"Nothing right now," the boy answered. "I think there's an impromptu party on the lake later tonight."

"Yeah, so maybe you'll finally go with your girl here," the brunette laughed, glancing at the petite one.

"Maybe next time," Evan reluctantly forged a smile and looked off for a moment while his girlfriend shifted uncomfortably.

"Maybe you'll live up to your word," the boy suddenly responded. Evan looked up at him and winced incredulously. The brunette boy pursed his lips and shrugged. "Next time."

"Well if you hadn't noticed—"

"Babe."

The boy smirked at the fact that he irritated Evan enough to make his girlfriend silence him. It made me sort of mad in a way, for some reason. And then I felt the brunette's eyes on mine. I immediately looked down at my book.

"Who's the book worm?" she asked Evan with more play than malice. Then I saw them start to close our public space through the corner of my eye. I looked up at Evan first. And then the other teens. The boy even took off his glasses and had inquisitive brown eyes.

"This is Ashlynn: banished from Florida," he introduced, gesturing to me and I didn't see his girlfriend's smile falter at his humor. "Ashlynn, this is Stella the Star of the Town, Preston the Prestigious and the beautiful Bailee belonging to none other than my humbled self." He then kissed her briefly and it made me smile.

"Prestigious?" Preston asked with his nose turned up.

"It means important, high-classed...or actually—"

"I know what it means," he silenced Stella with his hand and looked at Evan. "I just would've gone with pompous, or even pretentious if you wanted to stick with your alliteration."

"Pretentious asshole it is," Evan agreed. Preston flashed a perfect smile before looking at me.

"So, since you're banished here and all, wanna make your sentence fun?" he asked. I slightly frowned. "A few of us are gonna go down to the lake and have a little summer fun if you're up for it."

"Uh, sure," I accepted even though I didn't even know there was a lake here...or why I was trusting strangers.

"Great," he smiled and I couldn't help but sense a bit of evil within the boy. "Meet us down there at maybe eight?"

"Where is it, exactly?" I asked, feeling like a child getting into business I knew nothing about. Especially when he laughed at me.

"You really are new here," Stella commented. I didn't know what that meant. Suddenly, the same truck from yesterday pulled up going over the speed limit and stopped near the road-side café abruptly. I looked to see the same driver from before with a fair face covered in a bush of hair looking over the seats and out the rolled down window.

"Ryder's been looking for both of you," he said to maybe Preston and someone else. Then, he glanced at each of us, including me, and sent a goofy smile. "Evan, Bailee...new girl? Who's this?"

"You'll meet her later," Preston assured while he opened the cab door for Stella to climb in. She pulled the squeaky door shut while Preston hopped in the bed and sat with his back pressed to the cab. He sent me a look as he smacked the truck's side to tell the boy to drive off. "Hey, we'll just meet you right here before the party!"

"Okay," I responded even though he probably couldn't hear me from the distance after the driver sped off and rounded the corner down the main street. I looked back to Evan and Bailee. Evan looked down at her like she was the most precious thing in the world and Bailee forcing a smile as if she did something she knew she shouldn't have and tried covering it up.