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Almost a week after Wes came to the diner to ask me to come with him on this stupid hike, I parked across the street from Aidan's house. Wes called a little after noon after I finished getting ready. He said we were all going to meet at Aidan's, then go in Belinda's car because "She's a bitch."

As I got out of my car, I saw Wes pull up a house in front of me. Striding over and swinging an arm over my shoulder he asked, "So you didn't change your mind?'

I shrugged his arm off. "About coming?" He nodded in confirmation so I answered his question, "Someone needed to save your guys' whipped asses."

At that, I think he attempted to nudge my arm but failed miserably. Instead, because of the height difference and because he wasn't looking, he elbowed me in the boob. I whimpered and my face twisted in pain. The look he gave me was one of pure horror.

"Fuck, Valley." He reached towards me but stopped himself, unsure of what to do.

"It's fine. I'm fine." I gave a short huff of a laugh as I clutched my aching boob. When I looked up at his face, he looked guilty. Or concerned. "Wes, I'm fine. It was an accident. It hurts like a bitch but I'll live." 

Damn periods.

As we reached the door, he opened it and let me walk through first. Grumbling under his breath, "Well, if you weren't so damn short-"

"Oh, yes, it's my fault."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. Guys think short's cute," he teased, patting my head.

I rolled my eyes but I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as Wes lead the way towards voices somewhere in the house.

You're going to regret this, Vienna.

Belinda looked up when we walked in. I followed Wes over to Aiden who looked bored out of his skull. "Hi again," I smiled, unsure of myself.

"Hey, Valley."

"Alright," Belinda strode in, "Ready to go now?"

"Yeah. We were just waiting on Wes," Aiden smiled sheepishly at Belinda. 

"Are they coming too?" She asked slowly as Aidan walked towards her. He whispered something in her ear and I watched as her eyes drifted to Wes as her mouth made an 'O' shape. 

I raise an eyebrow at Wes, who was giving me a sheepish smile. 

"That's why you asked to go on a hike," she laughed at Aiden. She turned to Wes and smirked. "You're left without lunch; only have enough for us and Valley."  

"No problem. I came prepared," I gestured to by canvas backpack.

"Alright, great. I like your jacket by the way."

"Thanks," I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing jeans with the cuffs rolled up- as usual- a gray sweater under an olive green fleece vest, and a faded old ball cap I used to wear when I went camping with my dad.

She still seems sweet to me. I couldn't understand what Wes had against her.

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Aidan parked Belinda's car in a dirt lot at the start of the trails she wanted to walk. We all hopped out of the car and Wes closed the door behind me as I shrugged my backpack on my shoulders.

"Okay, y'all ready?" Belinda asked.

"I'm good to go," I informed her. She nodded, throwing one of her feet up on her rear bumper and tightening her boot lace before she walked off with Aidan.

"Come on," I nudged Wes.

He tugged on the straps of his backpack as we walked behind Belinda and Aidan.

It was a nice day, perfect for a hike. The first part of the trial was an open space with trees scattered across the land, but as we walked they became more congested. Every once in awhile I would hear things in the trees or see something dart behind the cover of leaves and branches. As we walked the birds would startle from their places on the ground, launching into the trees in colorful blurs of flapping wings.

"That bird is so yellow!" I hissed at Wes in amazement.

"I think that's a Yellow-Headed Blackbird but don't know I could be wrong."

"No, I think you're right," Aiden said, watching the vibrant bird, perched on its branch.

"Alright, Mr. Boyscouts," I laughed. "Oh my god," I gasped, causing everyone to turn to me and look. "Is that a deer?" I peered through the trees, to get a better look at the beast stood serenely a couple hundred yards away.

"Moose," Wes corrected and my jaw dropped. Before I could step any further into the foliage to see better, I felt a hand wrap around my upper arm, stopping me. I turned around to face Wes who shook his head.

"I just want to look," I pouted.

"That thing is huge, a hundred times my size, three hundred of you. I can't save you if it tramples you."

My pout deepened as I looked back at the elegant creature. "But it's so cool."

"Have you never seen a moose before?" Wes asked amused.

I'm a city girl. Aside from the camping trips with my dad to the lakes, I don't get much of this.

I ignored Wes' question as I pulled my phone out of my pocket to take a photo. I zoomed in as much as I could without distorting the image and took a couple pictures. When I was satisfied with the documentation of my outing, I shoved my phone back into my pocket and took one last look at the moose, before turning back to the trail. Belinda and Aiden had already continued their walk but Wes was standing off to the side watching me.

"You didn't have to wait for me," I mumbled in embarrassment. They may have seen things like this before but this was all new to me.

"Wanted to make sure you didn't do anything stupid and get yourself killed," he smiled brightly.

"Whatever," I grumbled. Wes lifted his arm to rest on my shoulder but I quickly shrugged him off.

"Don't worry, we'll find something your size," he said, unfazed.

We followed behind Belinda and Aidan down the trail. There were plenty of times I wanted to step off the trail and get lost in the trees, explore my new state, but I knew Wes wouldn't let me.

After a while of walking, we met them where they stopped to wait for us along a rocky shore. I sat down on a large flat rock, dropping my bag in the grainy sand beside me.

"Don't get too comfortable. We're stopping for lunch a little way up the trail," Belinda said as she kept walking.

"Alright," I smiled and laid back on the rock, giving my feet a break. Wes came and sat next to me, surveying the land across the water. Realizing I was missing out by staring up at the blue sky above us, I leaned up so I could admire the view too.

"Hey," Wes whispered, nudging my shoulder with his own.

I looked up at him. He was looking at something on the shore to our right. He glanced at me then nodded his head in the other direction.

"Look."

I peered around him to the rocks piled up on the side of the small beach. I didn't see anything but boulders and trees beyond those, but then I saw movement among the rocks. There was a large white bird standing amongst all of the grays, occasionally hopping to another rock.

My eyes widened, staring at the bird in awe. Without taking my eyes off of it, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned on my camera so I could snap a picture of it. I brought my phone down to continue marveling at the beautiful bird with my own eyes while I could.

"I've never seen one this far south," Wes said quietly. He turned his head to look at me, his face close to mine. "You're pretty lucky."

I grinned, turning back to the bird. "What is it?"

His lips lifted into an easy smile. He was still looking at me when he answered, "A Snowy Owl."

I continued to watch the bird for a few more minutes until it decided this place wasn't enough for it. I gasped in awe as it leaped into the air, flapping its large brown speckled wings. It never did look back.

"This place is pretty cool," I said, looking in the direction the owl had flown and disappeared.

"I'm sure your place is cool too," Wes said, watching the land across the water again.

I thinned my lips, thinking about the place I used to call home. I always thought my childhood home would always be home. It's sad how things work out sometimes. My family changed. My goals changed. My future changed. My entire life was different and I had no clue what path I was headed down.

Fight.

I couldn't help but wonder what brought the Snowy Owl down here.

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a/n

Did you guys notice the cute little symbol things ❀𓅰❀? I don't think the bird in the middle appears on mobile but if you have a laptop or desktop, I'm pretty sure you will see that it's a little bird with a flower on either side of it. Idk, I just thought it was cute. Don't hate me for adding emojis, though, because it's not really an emoji.

so I've gone through and tried to fix the mistakes everyone pointed out to me (thanks btw) but I probably missed a few again. I don't really mind a few grammatical mistakes, through, because it's just a hassle to keep going back to find and fix. So anything before chapter 6 probably won't get fixed unless it's a huge mistake like a plot hole, a contradiction in the text, or something of the sort. But please keep pointing them out to me because I am doing my best to fix them.  

okay, well, there is chapter 9. It's kinda short so I'll give y'all another. (:

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