Chapter 2.5 – Ciara – Stories by Zoxell

Moving into the new house has given David’s confidence a huge boost. He has hit it off pretty well with Ciara (KEER-ah), a new girl in school. She has just recently moved to Sunset Valley. Since she and David share a birthday, they naturally gravitate toward each other on their first day of classes with the older kids. He learns immediately that she too loves spending time outdoors.

They spend much of their weekend time together hiking, fishing, or just relaxing on the beach. David shows her the abandoned mine Reid found when they were kids. It seemed much spookier back then.

But the place still radiates eerieness. Ciara comments that it would be fun to go inside to look around. David agrees, but still decides against it. There is something about the place that just doesn’t seem right.

When he is not spending time with Ciara, David is generally found visiting Reid. David and Reid have reconnected and resumed their old friendship. While not a genius, David is better able to keep up with Reid’s intellect now that he is a teen.

And Reid’s kid sister, Kacey, appreciates the homework help from somebody who doesn’t talk like a rocket scientist. She’s a pretty bright kid in her own right, which isn’t really much of a surprise considering she lives with a walking encyclopedia. Plus, Reid is glad to have David around to help him figure out the one thing mathematics and quantum mechanics cannot solve …girls.

While he may have slightly more insight on the subject, David is pretty much clueless himself. He doesn’t quite understand his friendship with Ciara. With Jan and Reid it was simple. They were always doing something, playing some game, or going off on some adventure. But with Ciara it is different. There are times that they just sit next to each other and look at the waves from the bluff, or watch the fire together. It’s not that he’s bored when this happens; at least he would be able to understand that. What confuses him the most is, he enjoys those quiet moments together more than anything.

The more time he spends with her, the more he can sense a deep sadness that she carries. Everything she tries just seems to fail. Although she is still young, she has had some pretty rough times already. Tragedy seems to follow her everywhere she turns. Both her parents died young to household accidents (her father just recently), forcing her to live with her older sister. She tells David that she is sometimes even afraid of being around him. Then quietly adds that she likes him too much to see anything bad happen to him too.

David talks to his parents about her misfortune and expresses his desire to cheer her up. But he doesn’t quite know what to do. The only things he can think of seem of childish. Bebe and Julian can both see the budding romance taking shape, and so suggest taking her to a movie and dinner at the bistro. For some reason, the thought is somehow both terrifying and exciting. Julian convinces him that it will be a lot of fun, so the next day at school, he asks Ciara.