Sparks Fly

"Clara, darling, we're here." My mother's voice took me from my own thoughts as I stared out the tinted windows of our BMW at the passing landscape. I wasn't completely aware of what I had even been thinking about in the first place really. All I really knew was that at some point along the way to the quaint little town of St. Rose, I must have zoned out.

I sent a smile my mother's way before getting out of the car and smoothing out my dress as I looked at the familiar house before me. It was right near the beach and the sound of waves crashing along the shore calmed me almost instantly. It brought back memories of all of the summers I had spent here with my family. We had stopped coming two years ago, but now my father had been promoted and so his office, ironically enough, had been relocated to the little oceanside town from my childhood. It was pretty convenient if you ask me.

I took a deep breath, allowing the sea air to fill my lungs as the cool breeze ruffled my dark hair. It brought a smile to my face. Initially, I wasn't the happiest camper about having to uproot my entire life after living in the same town for seventeen years. I was angry that I would have to change schools, no longer attending the private school I'd always attended in the city roughly three hours away. I wasn't going to see the faces of the people I had grown used to seeing since preschool. Hell, I wasn't even attending a private school here in St. Rose. The town was so small and tight knit that they only had three schools, one for each set of grade levels.

All of my anger had suddenly disappeared though. For whatever reason, there was something about the ocean that instantly calmed me. Maybe it was the fact that I was now recalling all of the great memories I had here in this little town, or maybe I was just beginning to realize that pouting over this whole thing was going to get me next to nowhere. Whatever the reason was, my bad mood had pretty much evaporated completely.

"Why don't you go see if the Werner's still live next-door?" My mother suggested with a smile, causing my walk down memory lane to come to an end.

Brandi Werner and I used to be close friends. Every summer when I came out to St. Rose with my family, we were basically inseparable. I hadn't seen her in nearly half a decade though. For whatever reason, we stopped coming to the seaside town and with the end of summers spent in the sun and surf, my friendship with Brandi seemed to have ended as well.

Merely nodding my head, I turned and walked across the lawn towards my former best friend's home. I was kind of really hoping that her family still lived there, because, well, it would be extremely awkward if I knocked on the door and everything only to have them not live there anymore. Not to mention it would probably be very interesting explaining who I was and why I was standing there, knocking on the front door of some stranger's home in the first place.

"Well, here goes nothing." I muttered to myself with a sigh before I reached out and knocked lightly on the front door.

As I waited, I took the time take everything in. Nothing seemed to have changed, though I had come to the conclusion a while back that the town itself was pretty much timeless. It had always had this sort of classy and maybe even vintage feel to it and in all honesty, that was definitely something I had always loved about St. Rose.

"Can I help you?" Once again I was removed from my own thoughts, though this time obviously not by my mother. No, when I looked back to the door that was now open, a girl who looked to be around my age stood before me. Her hair was down, past her shoulders and it was light brown in color. She wore a simple v-neck t-shirt with some sort of design on it and she had paired it with rather flashy, sparkling pants. Though she clearly had changed, as I studied her face, there was no denying that this girl standing in front of me was my old best friend.

"I know it's been pretty much forever, but I'm kind of hurt that you don't recognize me, B." I said, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of my lips as I used the childhood nickname I had always called her by.

I watched as the somewhat disinterested expression on her face changed to one of realization and slight shock. "No fucking way! Clara Andrews?" She exclaimed, causing a soft laugh to escape my lips.

I nodded my head. "The one and only, darling." I spun around on my heels, causing the skirt of my dress to blow out, moving with me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked as she stepped out of the doorway and pulled me into a tight hug.

"I live here now." I responded with a shrug of my shoulders after I returned her embrace. Noticing the questioning expression on her face, I elaborated. "My dad got a promotion and his office just so happens to be out here now. Since it's like three hours away from the city, we relocated."

"Well, that's convenient." Brandi said after I had finished with my explanation.

I laughed once more and nodded my head. "That's what I thought too. So, I see nothing has changed around here." My eyes took in all of the houses on our street.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Please, when has this place ever been known to change?" She retorted.

"Don't seem too excited." I replied. My tone held evident sarcasm as the smirk returned to my lips.

Brandi rolled her eyes once more. "Please, if you lived here all year long for your entire life, you wouldn't be so ecstatic about the lack of change either."

I was about to open my mouth to send yet another witty comeback her way, but she interrupted me. "Enough with the small talk. There are some people that you have to meet." She grabbed my hand and pulled be down her front steps and towards the road.

"You make it seem like these people are going to change my life or something." I joked. Little did I know that that was probably the biggest understatement of the year. Well, it would be when it came to one person.