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Coming Back (Nothing and Burn)

Joined
Oct 11, 2009
Name: Drew Holcombe
Age: 19
Appearance: about 5' 10" with a muscular body and tanned skin. Has light brown hair and gray-blue eyes
 
Name: Emily Beth Reyhan
Age: 18
Appearance:
anime_girl556.jpg


Hours of travel by bus had finally gotten her here. But culture shock was a bit of an understatement. It had been 10 years since she had last been in this small town, and she had forgotten just how different it was from the city she had lived in this last decade. Her eyes eagerly scanned the bus stop, looking for the person who was supposed to pick her up. She was more than a little excited.
 
Drew fidgeted nervously at the run down old bus stop on the edge of town. He couldn't believe that after 10 years he was finally going to see his best friend again. They had both been heart-broken when she had to move away, and he had never forgotten all the fun they used to have together. The small town of Attick's Hollow didn't provide much for entertainment, so they had spent much of their time entertaining themselves in the acres and acres of open woods that surrounded them. Drew wondered what it would be like seeing her again, if it would be awkward, and what she would look like. He was broken out of his thoughts by the roar of the buses engine as it came closer and closer. Drew took a deep breath, checked his clothes, consisting of jeans, a flannel shirt, boots and a camo cap, and waited for the bus to stop.
 
When finally the bus stopped, Emily could only see one person at the stop. She had to look this person over for a few seconds before she identified him as her old friend. Wow, had he ever changed. She grabbed her bag and when the door to the bus opened, she more got off, remaining calm, as she had been taught to be over the years. When your dad was a top exec, you were always expected to be on the best behaviour, and at this point, it was habit. She stepped off and walked forward, smiling.
 
He watched as one person got up inside the bus and headed for the front. He swallowed nervously, the summer sun shining down on him as he waited for her to emerge. A moment later he saw someone who he assumed was emily Beth, but she had changed so much that he didn't recognize her at all when he first saw her. However, as soon as he saw her smile, he could see the similarities with what he remembered of her. He stepped forward, smiling back. "Hey Emily Beth, nice seein' you again." He said in a strong country accent.
 
She blinked, forgetting the accents. She knew hers was long gone. Now she spoke in a polished, formal sort of way. "Hello, Drew." She said. "Its been so long." She added as she moved over and stood in front of him. The roughed up little girl in overalls, and covered with bandaids was long gone.
 
He was also caught by surprise when she spoke. At one time her accent had been even thicker than his. Now she sounded like she had never lived a day in the little rural town. "Yeah, 10 years I think. Oh, let me get that bag for you." He took her suitcase from her, just like his mama had taught him. "Well, I guess I better get you over to my place, I think mama is gonna pass out from excitement." He smiled and started walking with her towards his home a bit further around the edge of town.
 
She let him take her bag and then smiled graciously. "Thank you very much". When he mentioned his mother, she smiled. For as long as Emily could remember, she had been like her mother too. Emily's mother had passed when she was very little, so until she moved, she had been a total tomboy. "I can't wait to see everyone again." Emily said softly. That was another big difference. Her voice level was very subdued compared to what it used to be.
 
Drew nodded and led her back through a section of the town towards his house. She seemed to be so different than he remembered. When they were little, she had been just as rambunctious and loud as any of the boys he had played with, and had even kicked their asses once or twice when they messed with her. It seemed she had become much more prim and proper. While he was glad to see her after so long, it was almost like he was walking a stranger home. "I told mama to cook up all your old favorites, fried okra, chicken n' dumplings, mashed potatoes, and corn bread. She even made some sweet tea and lemonade. I think she even baked us a pecan pie for dessert." It was no boast when it was said his mama was the best cook in the county.
 
She felt her breath hitch. Oh. Not good. "I-I... I can't eat that... I'm on very strict diet..." She said, sounding remorseful. All that food sounded so good, but her personal trainer was quite insistant that she mainain her diet.
 
He looked back at her, his eyes a bit wider. "Just a little bit won't hurt." He couldn't believe she had just turned down her favorite meal back from when they were kids. Whenever she came over, mama always had it ready for her, and she had always put away all of it every time. He wondered what had happened to that little tomboy in the overalls, pig tails, and the missing front tooth he had grown up with.
 
"I'm sorry... I can't" She said with a sigh. "My personal trainer will report back to my father, and he'll be mad, which means I get to deal with all the lectures." She said softly. "I'll tell your mother I'm tired from the trip and not hungry." She said. "I'm really very sorry."
 
He nodded, unable to hide his disappointment. "I understand." He walked along silently as they got closer to his home. He looked away for a moment. "You've changed a lot Emily Beth." He said quietly, looking ahead. "I guess ten years is a really long time if you think about it." It had been long enough to change his best friend into someone else.
 
She looked down. "I know..." She said very softly. "But I had to adapt to where I was. There are certain expectations of me, because my father has done so well with his business..." She explained. "If I do things wrong, it reflects poorly on my father and his business."
 
"I guess so." he said. He could sorta understand what she meant, he would never wanna do something that would make his dad look bad. He just wished that she didn't have to do it here too. They reached the house and walked up the steps to the front porch. The front door was open, with only a screen door to keep the bugs out. He opened the door to let Emily Beth in and followed behind her. "Hey Mama! I got somebody here t'seeya!"
 
His mama, a kind, rather soft looking woman named Alice, stepped out. "Well would you look at that?" She said, grinning as she looked as Emily. "Ain't seen ya for so long you went and grown up." She added. She eyed the girl. "But you're all skin and bones. Ain't they feedin' you?" She asked. Before Emily could answer, Alice looked to Drew. "You can go on and show her the room she'll be stayin' in."
 
Drew smiled at his mama as she greeted Emily Beth. She was the sweetest woman around and no one he met her would argue that. "Yes ma'am." He said and led her up the stairs near the front door to where the bedrooms were. The house was large, but simple, with only a few modest decorations that fit in with their farming lifestyle. They reached the second floor and Drew led her into the spare bedroom, which had been tidied up in preparation for her arrival. "This one's all yours while yer stayin here, and I'm sure you remember where the bathrooms and everything else is."
 
She nodded. "I do." She said. She remembered every inch of this house like the back of her hand. She sat down on the bed, and pulled a book and her laptop out of her laptop bag. "I need to do my summer assignments. Do you have internet here?" She asked.
 
His smile dropped a bit when she asked about internet. "Well, sorta. we got a computer downstairs, but the internet is pretty slow. I dunno if you'll be able to do much with it." She had school work? "Why'd someone give ya schoolwork over yer vacation?" The thought seemed cruel to him.
 
She sighed. "I go to an all girls school. A very prestigious one, at that." She explained. "They teach the basic academics, and skills that a girl might need to be married off into a prominent familt." She added. "Things such as music, cooking, and proper ettiquet." She finished. "And we always have summer assignments."
 
Drew couldn't believe what she was saying All girls school? Proper eitquette? Married off into a prominent family? That sounded like hell to him. The Emily Beth he had known would have gone to hell and back just to keep from having a fate such as that. "OK, well you can see if you can get the internet to work, I'll be downstairs if you need me." He walked out of the room and went back downstairs and sat down at the kitchen table. He sighed a little as his mama made some more preparations for dinner.
 
He looked up at his mom. "She ain't the same anymore mama. She used to be like all the other kids around here, but now, she's all prim and proper and it doesn't sound like she knows how to have any fun anymore. She ain't the same Emily Beth I grew up with." He had been excited about her coming abck this morning, but now he thought it might just be a reminder every day that she wasn't the same. "She ain't even gonna eat her favorite dinner tonight."
 
Alice sighed. "I was worried about that. I figured that there would be a problem with this. She's been raised up different that what she used to be." She said. "Just give her time, and in the mean time I'll see if I can't get her down here for dinner."
 
"I dunno Mama, she was pretty determined. She says she's got some diet she's on and said something about her personal trainer gettin mad at her. I don't know what's so great about bein rich, sounds like you just end up bein told you can't do nothin fun anymore." He messed with one of the buttons on his shirt, thinking about what was going to happen with Emily. "By the way, where's Dad at? He out in the barn?"
 
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