by Lisa Daniels
The different outlook on life and strangers had certainly come as a shock, and one that took a while to get acclimated to, but she had plenty of reasons to grow to appreciate it as well. Through the open and friendly approach to life, Serenity had learned about her favorite hiking places. She still had not made friends as she had been too busy to do anything apart from unpacking, preparing for class, and developing an app for one of her friends back east. Making friends had never been a high priority, mostly because people tended to just include her in stuff. Serenity was aware that she was attractive, but it hadn’t seemed important because it had nothing to do with what interested her. Since people had gravitated to her, there hadn’t been much of a need to put in an effort. With the incredibly friendly mannerisms and gregariousness of the people in the Pacific Northwest, Serenity felt far less lonely than she had thought she might. It was incredibly rare when she felt any twinge of desire to be back on the east coast, and those never lasted more than a few seconds. By simply looking around at the striking Cascades and miles of beautiful land, she had plenty to remind her just how much better things were in her new place. Still, after a month and a half, she was starting to feel a need for a closer relationship than the conversations she had with people when out running errands or hiking.
Despite a lack of a real social life, the first month and a half had been enjoyable, and now it was time to pay for it. School would be starting up soon, and she would need to get her head back into the books. Programming for fun was so much different than doing it for classes. Of course, there was always plenty of room for innovation and creativity, it was just that the assignments always put limitations on her work that Serenity didn’t like. Now that she was working toward a Master’s in a different place, she wondered just how much it was likely to change.
Don’t get your hopes up that you are going to be given the room to be creative. You know that is not the way it works, she thought to herself as she slipped her shoes on. The last thing you need is disappointment to start off the school year. Just focus and get it done.
The cool mid-September air struck her face as she opened the door. The sky was completely cloudy, something that she was not accustomed to yet. Most of the last month and a half had been sunny and nearly too hot. Without AC, she had often found it difficult to make it through the middle of the day. By the next morning, it was hard to believe just how hot it would get because there was about a 40-degree temperature difference between the morning and middle of the day. She learned how to keep her home cool even during the worst part of the heat, and it meant that her power bills were nothing compared to what she had managed on the east coast. A little bit of discomfort was worth it since she had ended up saving a lot of money. What she saved on utilities came as a relief as the price of rent was not any cheaper than it had been at her previous place. Since she didn’t have time to get a job, Serenity was pleased that she wouldn’t have to try to squeeze it into her schedule to pay for essentials. She would just have to be careful with her budget now that she didn’t have scholarships and grants to cover her schooling.
Her steps turned toward a familiar path where she knew she would get an excellent view as her mind turned away from the mundane and to her surroundings. This particular walk was not difficult, but it was a lot more exercise than she usually got walking the same distance near MIT. Living near the base of part of the Cascades created some slopes for walking, and she was only now able to walk up them at her usual pace without getting winded.
About 25 minutes after leaving her home, Serenity had gone much further along the trail than she had gone before. Her eyes were met by the sight that she had most wanted to see after staring at a screen for so long. She had gone far enough up the trail to have a fantastic view out over a shallow valley, something that she probably would have explored more if she had come this far up earlier. Looking out over the mountainous landscape, Serenity’s face spread into a grin. “I’m never going to get used to that.”
“Tell me about it. I grew up here, but living in California for ten years really taught me to appreciate it,” a voice to the side startled her.
Serenity turned and saw a figure leaning over a rail just off to the side of the trail. The man was tall and his shoulders were wide. For the first time in years, Serenity’s mind started to analyze someone based purely on looks. It was a primal response, one that she had repressed since she started college. Nearly as soon as she realized that she was doing it, Serenity tried to shut it down. Chalking up the thoughts to having spent too much time alone, the young woman decided she would need to start making friends soon to stave off that kind of thing. Slightly embarrassed that someone had heard her talking to herself, Serenity fell into her usual cold demeanor for keeping men at arm’s length.
“Seems like an error in judgment to have left it in the first place.”
It was only after she said it that Serenity realized that the man had not been looking at her. He moved a little and looked at her now, and she couldn’t help but see just how attractive he was. His hair was jet black and it appeared that it had been carefully styled to give off the impression that he didn’t care about his looks. The long black eyelashes looked equally touched up to highlight his startling blue eyes. They reminded her of the tip of an iceberg drifting across the ocean. His face was chiseled, and the way he posed appeared to be very practiced. This was someone who knew how to give off a chilled vibe. She was almost impressed because it had taken her years to master her cool attitude. If she had been told the same thing so many times in her life, she would have said that he looked like a model. Saying it about someone else was not something she would do because she never felt like it was the compliment people believed it to be.
He looks about as polished as the guys from New York who thought they were cool. It’s way too casual to be sincere.
For a moment, Serenity wondered just how much of her analysis was accurate, and how much of it was tinged with her experiences in college. When he turned back around to look at the view, she realized that she had spent a lot more time staring at him than he had spent looking at her. It almost bothered her.
What is wrong with you? Are you turning into the hermit people joked you would become living over here? Man, Serenity, stop being an idiot and be happy that he’s not trying to hit on you. At the last thought, she frowned. The man really was attractive. Would it be so bad if he did want to go out with her? There’s something familiar about him, too. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him around. Certainly looks like someone from around here.
With a quick shake of her head, she was about to start walking again when he seemed to try to start a conversation with her. “So, you aren’t from around here. I hope you are finding the west a bit better for your health than the east.”
With a slight frown, Serenity tried to keep the conversation short. “It’s different.” The sun was about on the horizon and she wanted to reach a certain place before turning around – at least that was what she tried to tell herself. Then she realized exactly what he said. “What do you mean from the east?”
He turned and looked at her again, his head cocked to the side and a slight smile on his face. “Judging by… your walk and attitude, you are not from anywhere north of L.A. Judging by the clipped manner of speaking… sounds like someone from New England.”
Serenity scowled, “Are you trying to stereotype me?”
His left eyebrow was raised while the left side of his mouth twitched up, “Only as much as you are stereotyping me.”
She blinked a couple of times in response, not quite certain whether to deny it or be honest. Then she realized that she hadn’t said anything that would sound like she was stereotyping him. For a moment, she wondered if her face was giving away what she was thinking. After the pause, Serenity settled for a shrug, then turned to leave again. This time he didn’t say anything as she walked away.
After walking a few paces, curiosity got the better of her and Serenity walked back.
&nbs
p; “I’m sorry about this, but you look familiar. Have we talked before? If so, I do apologize. Just feeling a little scrambled after spending too much time inside.”
The man looked up at her with a weary smile and shrugged. It was no kind of response to her question, but then Serenity found that she didn’t really need an answer. It was nice just to have someone who looked to be about her age to talk to. Most everyone she had met was either married or a child. The university students were probably all too busy moving back into their places to be out much; still, it made things a little less comfortable since there wasn’t much for her to talk about with the people she encountered. Feeling slightly guilty for her initially cold response, Serenity decided to be at least as sociable with the man as she had been with other strangers.
She put her arms on the rail and looked at what he was watching. Having passed by the area numerous times, she had never managed to stop and look at the viewpoint. It was breathtaking, even though they were not very high up.
“It’s stunning,” she muttered. “You are lucky to have grown up seeing this. Had I grown up out here… I bet I would have gone into a different field than tech. It’s just… indescribable.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. She wanted to say more, but the colors in the sky were phenomenal and she didn’t have anything to say as the sun touched the horizon.
They stood in silence for a while, each engulfed in their own thoughts. Finally, Serenity spoke, “So you really missed this. I thought California was supposed to have a lot of fantastic sights, too.”
“There is plenty to see; the Red Woods are particularly fascinating, but nothing quite beats the sights up here. Then again, I’m partial.”
“Well, I can certainly see why. It’s better than what I saw most of the way up and down the east coast. Granted, I did like some of the viewpoints from Maine where you could see out over the Atlantic. Still never saw a sunset that could compare with here.”
Her words were met with silence. Serenity looked out over the view and let her mind wander.
“I don’t really care for the east coast.” The words shook her out of her reverie, and she turned to look at the man. His eyes were still taking in the beauty below them.
“Have you been up and down the entire thing? If you like cities, New York is great.”
“I have no interest in cities. L.A. and San Francisco were bad enough. Having to go into Seattle is quite enough for me, and that’s something I keep to a minimum now.”
“You want to talk about stereotypical.” Serenity had a slight smile on her face as she said it.
He turned his face so that he could look at her out of the corner of his eyes. “It’s disappointing, but kind of figured that’s what you were thinking.”
“Your words.”
“No, you were the one to bring up stereotyping.”
“You were the first to do it.”
He stood up and looked down at her. In her mind, Serenity was realizing just how tall he had to be to be able to look down on her. At five foot eight, she wasn’t short. That meant he must be well over six feet tall.
The smile was gone from his face. “I didn’t come up here to argue or debate. It will be dark here soon, so I recommend you head back. The trail gets tricky just around the bend up there. Have a pleasant evening.” Without another word, he walked away.
Serenity frowned as she watched his figure disappear into the woods. A part of her mind was aware that he was heading toward a part that was just more woods. Given the time, it was surprising. The sun would set soon, and that meant that the light would be gone. It was a bad idea to be in the woods too late because the wildlife here was quite wild.
“Wait, where are you going?” The man stopped and turned toward her. The fading light cast some interesting colors on his features as he gave her a blank expression. “That’s just more woods. Don’t tell me you are a mountain man.”
The man blinked a couple of times and frowned. He gave out a heavy sigh and turned to walk away.
Serenity began to follow him. “Don’t get me wrong, I can see why someone would want to live remotely, but–”
“Why are you following me?” The man turned and looked at her as he folded his arms across his chest.
“I–I’m not following you.”
“I am quite certain you do not live this way. If nothing else, you have basically just said so yourself.”
“I didn’t–look, I’m sorry if I came across as a bit standoffish. Years of… I am sorry.”
He titled his head to the side. “You don’t need to be sorry, just be more honest. Years of hiding who you are is unhealthy.”
“I’m Serenity.” She held out her hand.
The man looked down at her hand for a second before reaching out to shake it. “It’s nice to meet you, Serenity. Good luck with everything.”
“Um,” she wasn’t quite sure what to say as he flashed a quick smile and turned to leave.
Dumfounded that he showed no interest in talking to her after getting her attention, Serenity stood in silence watching his figure disappear into the woods. There were several things about the interaction that really bothered her, but she wasn’t quite sure what. Usually she would have been happy for such a brief exchange where the guy didn’t try to ask her out. This time, though, she felt almost slighted. For all of the friendliness, the people out here really don’t do close relationships, do they? It’s all surface level. The idea was a bit chilling because Serenity had figured she would make friends quickly once she was interested in doing so. Now, she was beginning to realize that things may not always be on her terms.
Shaking her head, Serenity tried to get some focus. What did she care if a guy wasn’t interested in her? He wasn’t the first, and she doubted he would be the last. If he wants to stop strangers so that he can give them the cold shoulder, that wasn’t any of her business. Her mind tried to figure out exactly what was bothering her as she walked back home. On the way, she encountered several people that she had talked to over the course of a month and a half. It was only after the encounter with the man that she realized that the conversations were never very deep.
Several hours later Serenity was getting ready for bed, thinking about how she needed someone to talk to. She had tried to talk with a couple of her friends back east, but they were too busy. If she wanted someone to talk to, it appeared she was going to have to put some effort into it.
Why did she have to be thinking about this right before classes started? Serenity rolled over on her bed, pulling the blanket up to her face. A different type of frustration was keeping her awake when she really did not have time for it. She needed to be focusing on going back to class and getting her mind on what mattered – not worry about some random guy’s opinion of her. No, it’s not just the way he treated you. It’s the way everyone around here acts. It’s a bizarre kind of friendly. I probably should have tried to persuade a couple of people to move out here, too. Eva would have been able to charm him into – no, stop that. Serenity rolled over again and let out a frustrated sigh. The day had not gone at all well, and now she found it nearly impossible to sleep. If only she had set a timer going and walked earlier, none of this would have happened and she would have been able to mentally prepare.
Oh, just go to sleep. You’ve got a lot tomorrow and that encounter was nothing special. You’ll probably never see him again anyway. The thoughts did little to settle her mind as she tried to go to sleep. Her dreams that night did little to help her as they were full of strange men menacing her with guns while the guy she had met stood off to the side telling her how she should act in that kind of situation. When she woke the next morning, she wished that she had one more day before school started because she did not feel well rested at all.
Chapter 2
A Rocky Start
Serenity made it to her first class on time, but found it difficult to focus on what the professor was saying. It didn’t help that she knew that everything would be on his website, inc
luding the notes. It was also unfortunate that the class was one of the few generic ones she would have to take to get her degree – the subject did not interest her and wouldn’t do much to further the things that did interest her. No matter how she tried, Serenity simply could not get her mind to focus on anything that was being said. Fortunately, the class was shorter than the allotted time as there wasn’t much to go over on the first day. Going forward, much of the work would be done outside of class. Picking up her stuff, Serenity headed out to take a quick stroll around the campus. She was feeling incredibly tired, something a nice, quick-paced walk might be able to cure.
I’m too tired for this, her thoughts were fuzzy as she tried to focus on enjoying the scenery. It wasn’t normal for her to be this unfocused, and it unnerved her. She had her entire day literally mapped out on her phone, so Serenity did not have to worry about getting lost, regardless of how tired she was. Dimly aware that she was missing a good bit of interesting things in her current mindset, Serenity decided to head home after her second class to take a nap, especially given that she was finally tired enough to sleep. Now it was just a matter of making it through a class so that she could sleep. It was a shame because she had planned to spend time looking around the campus. As much as she had enjoyed spending time alone, yesterday proved that Serenity was feeling a little too lonely. Instead of being able to do something about it, though, she was going to have to get some sleep. It added just another layer of frustration to her dour mood.
She may not have been a social butterfly, but she had always had friends who would come around periodically or drag her out to do stuff on the weekends. It had never occurred to her that it had helped her to focus better when she got time alone, something that was becoming increasingly more obvious. Apart from the regular chats with strangers, Serenity had not really spent much time talking with anyone since the move. After over a month of casual conversations with random people, she wanted to spend time hanging out with people without having to go to the other side of the country. In her current state of mind, there wasn’t much chance of that happening, though.