WILDFIRE

CHAPTER ONE:

(Author's Note

Hello,

I want to let everyone know about any trigger warning. This does have abuse. So if it is a trigger, please don't read the book. I hope if you do read the book, you please enjoy it and let me know what you think.)

CHAPTER ONE:

THIRD PERSON POV:

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Aria Moon. Aria has lived in Tennessee since the day she was born. She lived with her mother and her little sister Tonya. Her father went missing while fighting the war. And her mother moved on with her new stepdad. Her stepdad was named Jack. He was a very cruel man. Jack was an alcoholic and drug-addicted. He was really cruel. Jack had her mother wrapped around his every word. When Aria was in school she had straight A’s. But everything changed when Jack moved into the house. At the beginning, she went to school and worked. But it slowly changed because her mother didn’t want to see her or her little sister. Her teacher got worried because her attendance went from every day to maybe twice a week.The reason why is because she was still working, but she was also taking care of her little sister, while dealing with Jack beating and trying to force himself on her. And when the teacher called her mother for a parent-teacher meeting, that is when her mother took her out of school all together. Her excuse was because they were moving to a different state. But that never happened. Aria was only fifteen, and the only part that was still inside of her was being adventurous, even her warnings from her to her. Despite everything that her mother was putting her through because of Jack, she still loved her mother because, well, she was her mother. One day, it was a beautiful day. Jack was at work and his mother and baby sister were taking a nap. Aria thought it would be a perfect time to go for a hike. Aria grabbed her hiking gear and went into the woods just as she usually did. She was about 30 minutes from her house. She has a great memory where she knows where she is going and how to get back. Well, if she didn’t, her life would depend on it. Anyway, while she was on her journey through the woods, she spotted something very strange and unusual in the distance. It looked like a rock or something bulky on the ground. Because she was so curious about it, she walked towards the unknown object. The thing moved slightly on the ground as she approached it, which Aria definitely was not expecting. After a little movement, she realized that the moving object turned out to be a young man who had been knocked out. Worried for the safety of this poor man. Aria had no idea what had happened, so she was determined to know what happened and if he was okay. After a few minutes of standing over him, he eventually came to and Aria softly spoke to him.

She said“Hello! Are you okay?"

The young man looked up at her from the ground and shook his head. “What? What happened to me?

She responded "I don't know. You have to tell me. I found you laying here on the ground. What is your name?"

The mysterious young man took a minute and finally answered her. "My name is Toby Dodger. What is your name?" He asked her.

"I am Aria Moon. How did you get all the way out here?” Aria pressured him for answers. Toby got up off of the ground and dusted himself off. He said "I was riding my horse, like always. Something spooked her and she bucked me off hard. Then she ran away from me."

Aria spun in a small circle scanning the woods and asked "is that your horse?" She asked, pointing to something off in the distance.

Toby answered "Yep, that's her. She is a mustang,"

"What is her name?" Aria wondered out loud.

Toby answered Aria immediately. "Her name is Skylite."

Aria said "That is a beautiful name. Okay let’s go get your horse, shall we?" Aria walked right up to Skylite, almost like Skylite was her own. She had an apple in her backpack. Toby was surprised that Skylite had just allowed a complete stranger to walk up to her. Skylite put her head on Aria's shoulder the second Aria approached her. Aria grabbed Skylite’s rope and gave her the apple. Skylite ate the apple and then Aria took her back to Toby.

Toby said "She doesn’t ever just let a complete stranger walk up to her. Never before you."

Aria said "I am the lucky one I guess. Um, do you know your way back?"

Toby replied "No, I don’t.”

Aria patted him on the shoulder to reassure him. "You can come with me if you want.”

Toby was relieved. "Thank you, Aria." He then got back on Skylite and put his hand down, reaching for Aria. Aria shook her head no.

Toby said “I will not let a beautiful woman walk.” Toby then put his head back down. Aria then decided to grab his hand. She noticed that her hand fit perfectly inside his hand, like they were made for one another. Toby pulled her on to Skylite, where she sat behind him. They started off slowly. While they were riding, they were talking. Aria felt it was easy to talk to him and she felt comfortable and safe around him. Skylite jumped over a branch and Aria screamed as she held onto Toby as tight as she could.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

Aria replied to him hesitantly. "No, not really."

"What’s wrong?" Toby asked her. She didn’t want to be honest with him.

Aria answered, embarrassed . She said "I have never been on a horse before, so I’m a little terrified by all of this right now."

Toby replied "You're going to be just fine, as long as you hold on to me really really tight.”

"Okay." Aria squeezed him as tight as she could.

They finally made it back to Aria's place after a bit of riding. She hopped off of Skylite with ease. Aria said " Well, this is my house. If you take a left out of my driveway, you will come to a stop sign. Take a right and then keep going straight and you will be back in town. Alright?"

Toby looked down at the ground. "Could you come with me? Can I have my dad drive you home? I promise." He begged Aria.

She looked back at her house behind her. "Yeah, that should be fine. Can you give me a minute to check in with my family please?"

"Yeah, no problem." He said.

Aria went inside and noticed that her mom and little sister Tonya were still sleeping. She thought it would be best if she wrote them a note so that they knew where she was. She found a blank piece of paper and scribbled on the dining room table.

Mom,

I went to town for milk, so I will be home later.

Love you tons,

Aria

Aria hated lying to her mother but there was no other choice. Aria made her way back to Toby and got herself back on Skylite. Both of them rode her into town, and they were having fun enjoying the ride. They eventually made it to town. Toby took her to his dad’s work. When they got to where his dad was, Toby leaned back to Aria. "Well Aria, we are here..."

"Why are we at the police station?" She asked him. Aria had never been to the police station before, and she knew that she had not done anything wrong. She was worried

"My dad is the sheriff." Toby answered her.

Aria stayed silent for a few seconds before she responded to him. "I really need to get home. I can meet your father some other time. You can call me anytime you want to, okay?" Aria quickly wrote down her cell phone number in his hand. Toby liked the thought of seeing her again but he was also confused and asked "I figured that you would like to ride back to your house? Especially since I asked you to come along and help me find my way back to town."

"No, it’s fine. I will see you later, alright Toby?" Aria then turned back, then started to run back home and Toby was watching her leave. His dad came out of his station and noticed that his son was watching her.

"Son, staring is rude!" said the sheriff. He stood behind Toby and placed one hand on his son’s shoulder. Toby then turned around. And said “hey dad, how was work?”

His father said “it was fine. So who is your new friend?”

Toby said “her name is Aria. But how she left was a little weird.”

His father said “nice. And why do you say that , son?”

Toby said “because she was okay, until I told her you were my father. And then she took off.”

His father said "Okay. Let's go home and get some dinner now, okay? Did you have a good day checking out the woods?" The sheriff noticed how dirty his son’s clothes were.

"Yeah, I got bucked off and Aria helped me to my feet. You will never believe this, but Skylite went right up to her without any hesitation. She had never done that before. That is pretty cool, right?" The sheriff nodded his head in agreement. He turned on the radio and started listening to whatever was playing.

Once they arrived back home,his mother came outside and yelled “Toby, why are you all dirty?”

He said “I went riding, that is all mom.”

His mom said “ Well, go get cleaned up and then go do your chores. Dinner will be done in a little bit.” Toby nodded his head. He went to his room, got some clothes, and then went to take a shower.