• Chapter 1

    The image of orchard scenery was going past Jamie’s window. Wondering how long the road trip would take, she was enjoying the beautiful sunset. What am I going to do all summer? This trip is going to take forever especially cause we are driving.
    “Waaaaa!” The pitch of Jamie’s little brother, Bruce, broke her thoughts.
    “Jamie, could you help hush your brother?” asked Mrs.Lovington, Jamie’s mom.
    “Sure thing, Mom.” replied Jamie.
    “Thanks honey.”
    “Mom, how much longer?”
    “A couple hours. We’ll make it there by tomorrow afternoon.”
    Jamie went back to her thoughts as the sunset continued. She kept wondering about what to do with her time during the summer she was going to spend in Bearcreek, Montana. Mrs.Lovington was going on a business trip for the first two weeks that they were there. Then they were going to spend the rest of the summer in Bearcreek. It was going to be a long, boring summer.
    Jamie was a fourteen year old girl who was into photography and horses. Her long dark brown hair made her true blue eyes stand out vibrantly. Jamie was just an average teen going through life. She lived in Hartford, South Dakota. Jamie was going to be a sophmore the coming up school year. She was excited about going into her second year of high school. The town of Hartford was a small town so Jamie knew everyone in her grade. Her best friend, Lora, was on vacation all summer in Hawaii. Jamie was disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to spend the summer together. They promised each other that they would email as much as possible.
    Mrs.Lovington pulled over to a rest stop where Bruce and Jamie could stretch out their legs and run around. Jamie unbuckled Bruce and let him out. He darted off to the nearest patch of grass. Jamie went off to check out the rest stop while Mrs.Lovington chased Bruce around the barbeque area. Jamie walked into the bathroom to fix her long hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. When Jamie walked out of the bathroom, her mom was calling her, telling her it was time to go.
    “Jamie, come on! Breaks over!”
    “Jame-, Jame-, Jamie!” called Bruce, “Go now! Go bye-bye NOW!” Bruce was now yelling at the top of his lungs.
    “I’m coming!”, Jamie replied.
    Jamie started to jog over to the car when she lost her footing and tripped. Jamie lay on the ground, thinking to herself, Great! Now I’ve made a complete fool of myself! I hope nobody saw that.All I have to do is get up as slow and as smooth as poss-
    “Jamie, are you okay?”, Mrs.Lovington was running over. “Jamie? Are you hurt?”
    “I’m fi-”, Jamie tried to speak but her mom wouldn’t let her.
    “Do you need a band-aid sweetie? Ace-Bandage? Neosporin? Vaseline? A pack of - “
    “MOM, I’M FINE!”, Jamie finally shouted.
    Jamie was now up on her feet noticing that people were staring at her. She wouldn’t have brought so much attention to herself had her mom not over exaggerated. Mrs.Lovington usually did this to Jamie on a regular day basis. Jamie had been careful around her mom the last couple of weeks so she had forgotten that her mom over exaggerated.
    Jamie slowly started walking back to the car looking at the ground so she wouldn’t trip. Also so she could avoid the deep stares. As she was walking, a boy her age, maybe a year older, came up to her. He had black hair that was perfectly flipped out at the sides. His eyes were a flashy green and probably the most beautiful eyes Jamie had ever seen. He was a couple inches taller then Jamie and was wearing a green T-shirt with white swim trunks that had green Hawaiian flowers. His shoes were flip flops that were a brownish color. Jamie thought he was good looking, but she was to stubborn and rejected the thought.
    “Are you alright? That was a pretty nasty fall.”, said the boy.
    “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”, said Jamie realizing that was the dumbest thing she could have said.
    “Not even friendly ones who are trying to make sure your okay after a fall like that?”, he said jokingly.
    “Not even.”, she replied as she started walking at a slightly faster pace.
    Noticing her hurry, he blocked her path, so he was almost touching her. “Then I guess I have to introduce myself. My name is Blake. Now that we are acquainted, are you okay?”
    “Like I said earlier, I’m fine. Could you please let me by so I may carry on with my journey to my car?” Jamie said, pushing past Blake. As Jamie climbed into the passenger seat, Blake shouted, “By the way what’s your name?” But it was too late. The car door had already slammed shut and was now driving way. Jamie was glad that her little incident was over.
    Jamie sat back and sighed. She closed her eyes and breathed lightly. Wow! What a sight that must have been! Me tripping over air. That was definitely a Kodak moment. Blake seemed like he was trying to hard to get to know who I am. The image of Blake stopping her in her tracks came to her mind. It was kind of cute how he stopped her and got close enough to look into her eyes.
    Jamie opened her eyes, realizing the car had stopped. She looked out the window and saw they were in front of glass doors that looked like the wings of birds. Inside Jamie saw a desk, and a seating area with a chandaleer hanging overhead. The place was delicately decorated with brown and green wall decor. There was a bouquet of flowers on the coffee table in the seating area. All in all the inside looked pretty nice.
    “Jamie we are going to stay here at this hotel far a couple of days so we can rest.”, Mrs.Lovington said.
    “But why? We are only a couple hours away from where we need to go.”
    “There is just too much drivning for us to do. We’ll stay here for three or four days. We are ahead of schedule anyway.”
    “Fine, but don’t expect me to be excited.”, Jamie said, reluctantly.
    As Mrs.Lovington went into the hotel to get a room, Jamie got out and walked around the car to let Bruce out. She opened the door to find Bruce fast asleep. So Jamie closed the door and walked a couple paces away from the car. She looked up at the hotel’s sign which read:

    Early Bird
    Inn
    Where the early birds and the late birds get the worm!

    What a sign. I bet it brings in the customers. Hahaha! NOT! Whoever came up with that must of been a kid. This place is pretty nice, except for the sign. I love the doors.
    “Jamie, I got a room for us. Room 261 on the second floor. Could you get Bruce out without waking him up?”, asked Mrs.Lovington.
    “Sure thing , Mom.”, answered Jamie. She unbuckled Bruce and gently lifted him out of his car seat. While Mrs.Lovington unpacked the luggage from the car, Jamie walked into the lobby.
    The lobby was even more detailed when you walked inside. There were actually two chandeliers that were brightly lit. In the seating area there was a computer, a plasma TV, and a huge aquarium. Jamie walked over to the aquarium to look at the fish. In the tank there were brightly colored fish swimming around frantically. The tank had a small replica sign of the one out side.
    Mrs.Lovington walked in with luggage. Her hair was a mess and she had huge bags under her eyes. In the light she looked like she needed a rest. Jamie realized it was probably a good idea to rest a few days and relax.
    Mrs.Lovington lead the way to their room. When she opened the door, the room smelled of fresh flowers. The room had two beds, a bathroom, plasma TV, two night stands, and a huge balcony. The color scheme throughout the room was blue. The two queens had beautiful bright blue linen cloths. The bathroom was massive with a enormous bath tub. Surely they couldn’t afford a suite like this for even a one night.
    Jamie gently laid Bruce down on the bed closest to her. Then Jamie went to get her bag and change into her pajamas when her mom stopped her in her tracks. “Here honey. If your gonna explore later on in the morning you will need a room key.”, Mrs.Lovington handed Jamie a key with the Early Bird Inn logo on it. Jamie put the key in her camera case.
    When Jamie was changed, her mom was already lying down in bed next to Bruce. Jamie looked around for something to do. She decided to take out her camera and go around the hotel to take pictures. She looked at the clock. It was already nine-thirty, and she was pretty tired. So she decided to put her camera away and get an early start for the next morning when there would be better lighting for pictures. Jamie turned off the lights and slipped into the bed closest to the window. She sighed and dozed off to sleep.