Holding a Heart

2/21/20 - Start date.

Heads up,

In this story, I'm gonna be touching down on a few sensitive subjects like depression, rape, abuse, anxiety, etc.

I'm not putting these topics into my story to just bring light to the problems, but to help people understand what they can do to a person. To me personally, I think that when these subjects are incorporated into stories, watching the person overcome these horrible things, is amazing. Seeing a person grow that much, especially if you create that character, is just so mind-blowing to just take a step back and think, wow, I created that character that overcame such a difficult time. I'm going to do my best with handling these topics. And not every character overcomes these things, but when they do, there's just no feeling like it.

If you don't want to read about these things, then I don't think this book is for you but thanks for stopping by! I do think you should give my novel a try though. It may surprise you, and it may be just what your looking for, who knows.

Okay, I'll stop rambling.

This is my first book so go easy on me, please... I hope you guys enjoy it!

Ava Nelson

As my mom and I drive to the airport, I try to memorize everything from my childhood city. The buildings, the cracks in the roads, even the color of the grass. I've lived in Houston Texas for my whole life, and now I'm moving. It saddens me that I won't be seeing any of these things that I grew up with. Although I'm sad, there's a good reason for the big move but I'm not going to think about that. A shiver rakes down my spine at even the mere thought. We've been trying to move for a while but something always happened, resulting in us staying longer.

As we drive past the skating rink, I think about my first ever date. It was with Alex Taylor. He was one of those popular kids that never really got invited to any parties. Kind of like me. Except I only had a couple of best friends. He had at least five. I was always dazzled by his beautiful smile and mischievous dimples. He had gorgeous blue eyes that you could get lost in for hours if you weren't careful.

When we got to the skating rink, he went and got my skates for me. He was very kind, I always loved that about him. We skated until our feet were killing us.

Most people have story's of their first dates being brutal and crazy things happening but mine was pretty nice.

We went out to ice cream afterward and he paid--again, he was very kind. He offered to take me home and I agreed. I read so many romance novels and when the man walked the women home, he always gave her a goodnight kiss. I hoped he would, and he did. Just on the cheek because he was a gentleman but it was a big deal to me.

When I got inside, my mom was waiting for me with a massive grin on her face.

"I saw he gave you a kiss! What a gentleman!"

My mom has always been my best friend. I've always told her everything and she makes it easy to do so. I believe she still has a little bit of her teenage self inside her.

"I know! I feel like I'm walking on air right now. I hope he asks me out again."

"He will. I can feel it!"

And he did. We dated for three years, 8th grade through sophomore year. Then he changed and showed me who he really was.

When I come back to reality, I realize that we are already almost to the airport. As the radio switches songs, I recognize it as "Paradise" by Coldplay. It's one of my favorites. I know all the lyrics to it. Since my mom is in the car, I only hum, but in my head, I'm having a full-on rock concert.

By the time the song ends, there are roses on the stage and I'm dripping with sweat.

"Ava?"

I was so occupied with my rockstar fantasy that I didn't even realize that my mom was calling me.

"Yeah? Sorry, I was in my own world."

"It's ok. I was just gonna tell you that we're almost there. You should start putting all your stuff back in your carryon."

"Ok."

As soon as I'm finished putting my books and charger back in my carryon, we arrive at the airport. I'm starting to get butterflies in my stomach since it's been a few years since I've flown on a plane. Washington is pretty far so the flight is a long one.

Mom finally finds a parking spot after 20 minutes of driving around, then we walk into the airport. I grab my flight ticket out and hand it to the women at the desk. She gives me a polite smile and starts typing on her keyboard. I look around the airport and notice how large it is. When the lady is finished with my ticket, she hands it back to me and takes my mother's.

When she's done with her ticket, she tells us to go through security and then if we need help finding our gate number, we can ask one of the security guards.

One of the things I remember from flying on planes is the long security check beforehand.

Since I'm 17, I take my shoes off and put my carryon and suitcase on the table to go through the scan. I miss being 13 and under. I could keep my shoes on. I walk through the large scanner and luckily it doesn't go off. I walk over to the table to grab my bags and wait for my mom. When she comes to the table, we go on our way to our gate. On my ticket, it says our flight is at 5:45 Pm. Right now it's 4:30 Pm so we have some time. My mom and I decided that we'll find our gate and then find something to eat around it.

When we find gate C, we start to look for any restaurants. We see a McDonald's in the distance so we decide to eat there. I choose the Chicken Nugget Meal with fries and a Vanilla shake. My mom chooses the Ceaser salad but I know her too well. I order her a medium fry. She tries to argue and says she doesn't want any but I know she does. Finally, she agrees and we wait for our number to be called. We find a table to sit at. I'm about to ask my mom something when I see my ex, the one I was thinking about earlier.

Alex.

"Oh, god."

"What's wrong?"

"The devil himself, six o'clock"

That's it's! The first chapter of Holding A Heart! I don't know if anyone will read this but I hope people will because I have many things planned! I know it was pretty short but let me know if you liked it.

Please comment on what you think happened with Alex!

Also, if you could vote and follow me that would be amazing.

Much love, xoxo<3