And so, 10 years have passed (it was 1985) and... Well, Samantha, now 16 years old, went to the town, as punishment, where her grandparents lived. This was because, according to her parents, she had neglected her studies (she was studying in a private school)... Although, in reality, she had only failed one subject, math.

For that reason, they sent her to the town where her brother lived, although this is already known. She went alone, in a bus.

It was a day in July, around the end of the month. Samantha arrived at three in the afternoon, carrying only a pink suitcase and a green backpack, which belonged to her brother Christopher. Around her neck was the wooden necklace that Mat had given her, though... It wasn't very noticeable.

image [https://i.imgur.com/7vxmPBz.png]

"So here we are again..." she said to herself, still standing at the bus stop. "Well..."

The thing is, Samantha didn't go back to her grandparents' house (her maternal grandparents, by the way) all those years because... they got into a fight with her parents over the way they were raising their children. This happened a year after Sam left town. Samantha's parents decided not to take this case any further, as Andrew preferred to be with his grandparents, and they respected that decision.

"Afternoon!"

Samantha had just arrived at her grandparents' house, after getting lost for about five minutes. It was a two-story, wooden house. It was painted blue with glass windows. The door to the house (which was white) was open.

"Oh... Isn't there any...?"

"Sam, dear!"

  After opening the door to the right (to the left was the living room), a few feet from the entrance, her grandmother came out of the room and hugged her. Her grandmother was a woman of slender build. She appeared to be a little over 60 years old and, at that moment, she was wearing a blouse and a large brown skirt.

image [https://i.imgur.com/nOcBAID.png]

"Grandma!" Samantha said, smiling, as she hugged her grandmother. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, fine..." her grandmother replied. "And you, my dear?"

"Me? Fine! I guess..." Samantha was a little nervous.

"Sam, are you all right?" her grandmother asked, looking her in the eyes.

"Yeah, yeah! I-I'm okay. Really!" She felt a little uncomfortable with her grandmother's manner.

"If you say so..."

"And where's grandpa?"

"Ah, he's working in his store."

"Store? I-I didn't know you had one..."

"We do! It's a hardware store, a few blocks from here."

"I see, and Andrew?"

"Drew?"

"Drew?" Samantha looked confused and surprised, as she'd never heard anyone call him that before.

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"He knew you were coming, that he was going to see you after years, yet he's not here. God, that boy... He left a while ago, but I don't know where he went. Wait for him here, if you want. Oh, yeah. Your room is on the second floor, down the hall."

"Okay." She answered and went up the stairs, saying, "I'll be right back, I'm going to leave my things."

.

..

...

Samantha settled into her new room, which was somewhat cozy. It had been arranged so that she could stay there for a while. The room had a bed, a table next to it, a closet, a mirror, and a window, through which she could see part of the forest and the town. After putting her things away, she lay on the bed.

"So... This is like starting all over again, isn't it?" she said to herself. "It feels strange... But... I suppose it’s better."

And it was, though... In the city, she had no friends (she was kind of shy, but she tried not to be). At school, she only had one friend with whom she got along well, but not that well. They only talked about class, ate together, and occasionally chatted about trivial things. Other than that... she was sometimes teased and made fun of. Once, they laughed at something she had written on a piece of paper and tore it up. Despite these things, she was happy that they didn’t take it further, unlike some of her classmates, who had it worse. She was never hurt physically, unlike others.

"Wait, if they knew I was coming, then why the heck didn't they welcome me? Uff... Never mind... I think it's better..."

She grabbed a green book from the table, one she hadn’t finished reading. After a while of reading, she thought:

"Hmm... I don't feel like reading, I don't know why... Should I go into town to look for Andrew? I haven’t seen him in a long time... But what if I get lost again? Oh no... No, no, no... I got scared. But... Yes, I'm going to go out for a while to get to know the town better, but... Should I wait for Andrew? No... Or should I? Oh... I’d better go alone."

Sam left her room and went to her grandmother.

"Grandma, I’m going out."

"Okay, but don't be late."

"Okay!"

She went out.

.

..

...

After walking for ten minutes, she got lost.

This town is bigger than I remembered... she thought as she wandered around aimlessly, always looking at the ground. Eventually, she reached a park where a group of children were playing. She sat down on a bench and thought, Now what do I do? I shouldn't have gone out alone... I'm afraid to ask for directions... I want to cry.

She sat there, doing nothing, for twenty minutes. It was nearly five o'clock, and the kids had gone somewhere else.

"I-I think I'm going to go back home."

She tried to retrace her steps, still looking at the ground, and then...

*clank*

"Eck! Ouch!"

Samantha hit a pole and fell, unbelievably.

...I hope no one saw me...

"Hey, are you okay?"

"!?"

Samantha turned to see a tall, blond-haired, black-eyed boy. He was somewhat stocky, wearing a white t-shirt with light blue stripes and jeans. He held out his hand to her. In a scene straight out of a badly done shōjo manga, Samantha took his hand.

"I-I..." she extended her hand, and the boy lifted her up. Sam then said, shyly, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, I think..."

"I see." He smiled at her... And they stared at each other for a while.

"Hey, Mat." A boy standing nearby said. He had orange hair, part of which covered his left eye. He wore a white t-shirt and jeans. "W-why are you staring at her like a fool? W-wait, she... Sam? Sam?"

"Huh? Sam? She's your sister, Andrew, isn't she?" said a girl with black, frizzy hair and brunette skin. She wore a gray tank top and baggy jeans. Samantha noticed long red eyes, vertically, in Andrew's shadow, but didn’t think much of it. "You said she'd be here today and... Well, she's pretty much the same, I think. Only now she's taller than me. And her hair is short, too."

"Wait, that guy is Andrew, and the girl is... I-I don’t know her... And he's... Mat... Mathias?"

"Oh, you're Sam?" Mat said, surprised, still holding her hand. Andrew stared at him funny. "Welcome." He smiled again, and Sam blushed.

"Y-yes." Sam noticed that they’d been holding hands for a while and instantly let go. Mat didn’t seem to notice. "(S-Sorry...)"

Andrew, looking somewhat nervous, said, "W-well... I-I don’t know what to say..."

He approached the black-haired girl. "O-Oi, Erin, help. Say something..."

"Agh... 'Erin this, Erin that,'" Erin replied furiously. "Can't you do anything on your own? Agh, well. Let’s go to your house."

They were heading there when they found Sam.

Her name was Erin... I think I did know her... Samantha thought.

"Okay, let's go!" Mat said as he started walking away.

"Hey." Andrew approached Mat. "Couldn’t you try to be more... normal?"

"Huh? Why?"

"We tell you almost every day, and you're still like that. You're like a child," Erin said as she also approached.

"All right, I’ll stop now."

"H-hey, wait for me!" shouted Sam, stunned until she realized they were leaving her. So, they headed to Sam’s grandparents' house.

It looks like being here is going to be interesting... and fun, yes. Although... I hope I didn’t leave a bad impression.

This was kinda weird. Help.