Loving You

By K. J. Sand

Avery has moved to a new town and starts her final year of high school where she meets Hunter. As their budding friendship develops into more, tragedy befalls the two, changing the life they had planned together.

 

Hunter's love endures but will he get his girl in the end? Is his love enough to conquer the greatest of obstacles?

 

Discover the moving story of Hunter and Avery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: K. J. Sand
• Release date: Nov 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215439678

K. J. Sand

Loving You is the first story written and published by K. J. Sand. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in English. Sand lives in Canada with her husband and two year old son. When she is not picking up toys, doing laundry or changing diapers, she is an elementary school teacher, enjoying the perils of educating young minds. She hopes you will enjoy reading Loving You as much as she enjoyed writing it.

Book preview

Chapter One

I WOKE UP FOR SCHOOL that day like any other day. It was October, a gray and windy day that promised nothing new or exciting. I brushed my teeth and gave my hands a vigorous yet pointless scrubbing trying to get the car grease off that seemed to be permanently painted on my fingers from my part-time job at my dad’s garage.

I put on my school jeans, the ones I don’t wear to work on purpose to ensure I had clean clothes for school. Teenagers are rarely kind to other poorly dressed teenagers. The drive to school was uneventful as I sipped my coffee and ate a pop-tart at the red lights.

I had math with my best friend Steven and science with my other best friend Charlie. I was not the best of students but I wasn’t the worst either, but having good friends in class made them more tolerable. After lunch, I had French. It was during French class that I saw her.

Overall, the female population at Jameston High Public School was the usual scene. The hot girls, the nerds, the band-geeks, the quiet girls, the girls that try too hard and the girls that try to hide. Let me tell you a little secret, for a teenage boy, all girls are fair game, meaning anyone has a chance with us if it is given to us. We just prefer the hot,  popular girls because they are coveted. It has more to do with our image and what it does for us than the girl.

For me, when I first saw her, it was in that awkward way when the teacher introduces the new student. She was average as any girl can be but I found her cute in her embarrassment, fidgeting in her tights and oversized black sweater and boots. My first thought was that there is a girl trying to hide, her head bowed, hands holding her backpack straps, avoiding eye-contact. My second thought was what an odd name for a girl, Avery. She was directed to sit in one of the two empty seats, one was at the front of the class and the other in front of me. Since she was a girl trying to hide, she sat right in front of me, avoiding the front seat that would put her in everyone’s line of sight.

The next day, while copying down ER French verbs (yes I remembered) I saw her shaking her hand. First, I thought she was being exceptionally weird, which to be honest, I found intriguing rather than off-putting. I watched her, waiting to see what she would do next. Then I noticed the pen in her hand, she turned around to look through her backpack hung on the back of her chair and I realized her pen had run out of ink. I took my pencil that I usually keep behind my ear, something that was conditioned in me from working at the garage, and gave it to her. She first looked confused, staring at my outstretched hand before  her eyes met mine for the first time, a chocolate brown. Then she smiled gratefully, took the pencil and turned back around. I remember that first smile, just for me. I didn’t think I’d grow up to be a sappy old man but here we are, I am sappy,  the old part hasn’t happened yet.

Chapter Two

SATURDAY MORNINGS ARE rough for a teenager who just wants to sleep in but can’t. My weekends were spent working at my dad’s garage Jackson’s Auto Shop and Repairs. I liked the job, I just liked sleeping more these days. I planned to take over the garage as soon as I finished school. Learning to fix and maintain cars was a good skill to have and important to my future. It just made sense to get to know the business, so that when I took over, I would be ready. Thankfully, I liked the work and was good at fixing cars so I was pretty much set for life. 

I will forever be thankful to my father for working hard to provide for us while also setting me up for life. My father was excited to finally hand off the torch. He said the day I had my own children, I would understand the desire to have something to pass on, to set my children up in some way. Let me tell you, he was right, because that day  came, but it didn’t work out the way I hoped.

The day was going slow and dad and I had a tradition of grabbing coffee and bagels from the coffee shop down the street,