The Runaway | Ashton Irwin AU

Part 3

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[Ashton's POV]

[Senior Year]

You'd think after three and a half years I'd want to make an impression on my classmates. That I should do something prolific for people to remember me by. But I've decided that this is only just the beginning of my life, I don't need to waste any of my time on people who didn't really care.

Senior year. I've realized that people come and go in life and there is no one else to depend on but yourself.

Charlie had been in and out of school a lot lately. For a couple of weeks I wasn't exactly sure as to why that was, until I heard a few girls whispering in the hallway about her.

"Does she really think that someone like her could be famous?" One of the girls snickered to her friend.

"I mean she sounded pretty good in the school musical last year," Her friend added.

"Yeah, but pretty good isn't great," The girl laughed. "Charlie Brennan is a nobody and that is one thing that will never change."

Even after the girls left and the bell had rang, signaling that everyone should be in their classes, I stood there in the empty hallway. So she was trying to become famous. I could see it happening, those girls had no idea what they were talking about. They weren't driven. No one in this school was driven, not like Charlie. You could see it in her eyes. She wanted out of this dump of a town and unlike everyone else who had the same idea, she was actually going to make it. Page, Arizona was no place for a girl like her.

Really, Page wasn't a place for any kid to grow up in. There wasn't much around for you to do as a teenager. Most tried to sneak into bars, but the only problem with that was the fact that everyone knew everyone in a town like this.

The main attractions in Page are the Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend. But growing up here, those few things get boring real quick. The only place that I've come to enjoy no matter what was the overlook of the dam, which all the locals called 'the white house'.

Not many people went there, why I don't know, it's a beautiful view. But I wasn't complaining. It just meant that I could keep it all to myself. On a normal day, I'd climb up over the concrete barricade and metal railing that lined the tiny area, plopping myself down on the hot rocks that jutted out over the side of the cliff. You get the perfect view there. Below you can see the tiny specs that were the boats people liked to rent out to take on the river.

So like most days, I made my way down the stone steps that led to my favorite spot. The air was dry and crisp and I watched as a tourist family of four made their way up the path back toward their car. I smiled sweetly before trekking the rest of the way down the steep incline, only tripping once or twice.

The crumbled rock and sand crunched under my feet as I made my way over to the tiny outpost building, only taking a slight glance toward the round table situated at its center. The tattered notebook caught my eye immediately and I knew exactly whose it was the second I saw it. I had seen Charlie writing in it so many times before this. I couldn't believe that she could forget something so important.

I picked up the notebook, forgetting all about my plans of lying out in the sun to start my spring tan. Curiosity got the best of me as my fingers flipped from page to page, each filled with beautiful cursive handwriting. Sometimes there might just be one or two lines on a page. But those words were pure magic. This girl had such a way with words. It made no sense as to why she could have so much trouble making friends out in the world. But these lyrics stood on their own. They needed anyone's approval.