Rated NC-17 for Violence, coarse language and sexual references.

Disclaimer: I own the storyline. Please do not copy or steal my work. I do not own any of the celebrities in this fic, although I do own the characters they portray.

Note: Please go here and help a nice girl out.



Chance

I have a lot of nightmares. Mostly it's grandma Beth looking for a switch to come and smack me with it. Sometimes it's killer earthworms eating all my limbs off whilst I juggle acorns and drive a tractor at the same time. Sometimes its even me dressed ridiculously reciting Shakespeare. The last one I had no idea was in my subconsious.

Most of the time I wake up screaming. 'Please God let me live!' and then a string of other cuss words I never say in public come rolling after on my tongue like a machine making toffee.

I was seventeen when I left Alabama, and I aint ever going back.



:heartbeat: Pat

Ooooooohh!! This sounds oh so good and I am the first replier and I have helped you out! Can't wait till you pick the cast and more of the story can unfold!
:love:
~Kit-Kat~

:unsure:

Yikes! That is one heck of a scary dream.

I'm intrigued, like always. Such a teaser....

Oooooooohhhh this is going to be good. I love your descriptions of everything its interesting how you bend the words to form these easy flowing sentences. Hope that made sense to you. Anyways, i'm so excited to see how this turns out and all. :shine:

Ciao Bella
~Claire

OOoooooh, boy! am I excited about this! :yes: That was really neat, is the only word I can think of now. Completely relatable. And ... shall we say 'interesting', yes, interesting nightmares this girl has. :blink:

It kinda reminds me of Sweet Home Alabama. LOOOOOVVVEEEE that movie. :kiss:

:x
Samma

AHAHA. Chance is a boy, darling. Orlando Bloom in fact.

:heartbeat: Pat

Squee! I'm really exited about this, yesssss, I am. ^_^

Oh, and thanks for being so supportive. It's been a really hard day. :love:

Yes my precioussss I want to read more :) I really liked the start and I'm excited to read more..!! It touches my curiosity and the fact that it's oh so short..!!! You evil writer..!!

Keep going please!!

Andie :love:

This sounds really intriguing... :)
Please post more!!

:doh:

Yes, I am an idiot.

;)

Thankyou my lovelies! Here's the first chapter! I hope you like it!


Chapter 1
Welcome to the Ranch, Pilgrim.

Mrs. Prichett of Serenity Lane found that although she tended to her petunia's with much more care than Mrs. Walker took hers, the grass was always greener on the other side. Every morning a lovely dew would cover her neighbours' dainty flowers, while a devilish insect would have ravaged hers, a weed choked them, or a freak baseball accident killed them. The latter, an excuse her son had once claimed.

It was customary that every morning, Mrs. Prichett watched in envy at the adjacent petunia's, sheering scissors in hand, ready for the right moment to strike; though she never did. Instead, she smiled politely and uttered a neighbourly 'Mornin' to ya,' to the equally polite Emmylou Walker, who upon emptying her letterbox, waved to the old widow who held her shearing scissors to her like her existance depended on them.

As soon as their mother left the letterbox, and busied herself with her prized pumpkin in the backyard; four children, each clad in clothes more muddier than the next shot out of the adjacent shed, sticks in hand, playing cowboys and Indians. It was customary for the girls to play fearless red Indians, whilst the boys reenacted scenes from various Clint Eastwood movies.

"Die you Injin!" one of the boys shouted as he dived on his youngest sister, who squealed and promtly bit his ankle. Her identical twin frowned, her hands on her hips, too prim and proper to be as muddy or as energetic as her siblings.

"What are you doin?" she asked in a mock tone so similar to their grandmothers'.
"I'm playing a savage! What does it look like?" The grubby brunette looked up to her perfect sister who rose an eyebrow at her.
"Haven't you learnt anything?" the roll of her dark eyes was overdramatic as she took a deep breath, clearly finding pride in knowing more than her brothers and sister. "They're not ALL savages! Pocahontas and John Smith even fell in love!"

It was amusing how children could understand each other though they spoke nonsense, perhaps it was unfortunate that we lost this trait when we reached adulthood.

At this knowledge, James Walker made a face and leapt off his sister.

"I would never kiss Lizzie!" he exclaimed, wiping grubby hands on his overalls. Whoever believed the absurd idea that Southerners were incestual, clearly hadn't met these children.

"I would never kiss you either! You still pee your bed!" Lizzie replied with a laugh, pulling out the tattered feather that was in her hair and putting it in her pocket.

They continued to berate each other until they began to push and shove and shout and their mother had to intervene.

Entertained by a giant puddle that was always expected to fill up; a remnant of last night's slight downpour, one little Chance Walker played, in an especially animated mood. His head buzzed with new ideas for games he and his siblings would play before they started school again. He mused over a tag game before a pick up reversed into his neighbour's driveway haphazardly, knocking over five potplants.

The License read 'Kentucky, 697 BBM' and when one of the doors opened, three little girls jumped out, two with their hair in pigtails, the other, wearing glasses and a checked shirt, her chucks muddied with chicken poop under the soles.

Chance made a face at the new neighbours and grabbed his slingshot from the back of his overralls, lowering his cowboy hat.

"Sheriff Walker goes in for the kill," he grinned to himself, laughing as only a child would, and aimed. The stone he shot hit with extraordinary presision, and smacked the last girl on the ankle, who fell over into a puddle of mud on impact.

What Chance didn't expect was the girl to get up, brush herself off and continue walking. He was caught off guard, she hadn't cried or rushed to her father who unloaded the truck and seemed oblivious to what had happened. She didn't even tell her sisters who had in record timing started a game of jump rope on their front porch.

Finding no fun in a victim who didn't cry or run off to their parents, Chance turned his back and jumped across the puddle before something whizzed past his ear, hit him on the face when he turned around and made him fall in. The sticky red goo that had his face made him frown deeply, as he looked up at a smiling, freckled face.

"Got ya," the girl grinned, holding another tomato in her hand. "You better watch out...Chance Walker," she added with a laugh, turning her back on the boy who gazed open mouthed at the strange little girl that knew his name.


:heartbeat: Pat

:wub: How adorable was that? I love how its going off of a neighbor's then a child's point of view. You so subtley turned it, and yeah. Lovin' it, darling. :bow: Hehe. That girl was so cute. Aww poor Chance (boy. I got it. Chance = boy = Orlando. :yay: ) must be confuzzled. :lmao:

Beautiful chapter, linda. Post more soon, on anything really. :hug:

Oh man you got me as a kid just right!!! Thats what I was actually like, my clothes were always so filthy you wouldn't believe they'd been clean at the start of the day!!!

This is great, I love that you've begun with them as children, it lets you into their lives so beautifuly, and to see the bond they all share is fantastic!!

Can't wait for more!!!

Chloe xxx

That was a great chapter. The perspective going from the neighbor to the children was great. I enjoyed the children's perspective it was great and alot of fun to read. And i love the name chance. It's just great. Can't wait for more, but i will. Don't want you feeling pressure now do we.

Ciao
~Claire

Very cute chapter :) I liked this new girl's reaction... not crying to her parents and coming up with her revenge, it's smart! :)
Loved it!!
Can't wait for the next one

OMG! That was so cute! And who is this mystery girl, eh? ^_^

AHHHAHAHAHA! Yay! I love that little girl at the end, tomatoes can be used for something good after-all, who knew? That was an excellent beginning, I really like how the story is starting off with the characters as little children, having a background to their lives makes the characters develop so much easier in my mind. A great prologue too!

Oh man, I thought of Wisteria Lane (from the show Desperate Housewives) at the start when Mrs. Prichett was holding the sheering scissors and looking enviously at her neighbour's yard.

Please write more soon, I have a great feeling about this one!
:love: Sarah

LOL! You dont know how long it took me to think of 'Serenity Lane' DH kept popping into my brain and I kept typing 'Wisteria Lane' lol! I'm glad you picked that up! I had no one to laugh about it with! :hug:

:heartbeat: Pat

Yay, I'm glad I picked up on it too! And I'm impressed that it was on purpose, I never usually pick up on things that are actually hidden in stories.

:love: Sarah

Squeee! Oh my gosh. Little Chance (aka little Orlando) is so freaking cute.

The whole chapter was adorable. I love how we are getting to know the characters as children first.

Oooh...the mystery girl. What a firecracker she is! I love it!

As always, your beautiful descriptions leave me speechless. I :love: you and this story!

Wow great start Pat and the little kids were so adorable! I can't wait to read more! I loved how you described me, I actually as a little kid got dirty but I also would start ramdomly going off on history facts growing up with my mom being a history teacher, so when my younger me said that whole pochantas line, I was like "So me!" You did great and I definatly can't wait for more!
:love:
~Kit-Kat~

BAHAHAH!! Yesh!! The slingshot!! Guh, I love slingshots. I want one. I'd run around school shooting people with things and it'd be so much fun!!! I'd be the school loser, and become an outcast... but that'd be okay!! bauahahaha
Buuut I wonder what happens to make Chance all like 'Boo Alabama!' hmm hmm... ponder ponder... I suppose I'll have to wait and see *sigh*
I love it so far though Pat!! Fantab beginning!

hehehhehehe children are the greatest. that was one of the most adorable things i've ever read pat! i don't have much time o review but i just wanted to tell you that. :love: ~alli

I'm so glad you like this fic! At first, I thought it was an incredibly lame idea, but now I'm starting to think it's ok. :)

Thanks guys, you really are good at giving someone confidence! Oh, thanks to my beta Chloe, I promised Chapter 2 and I deliver!



Chapter 2
I double dare you

It always was the worst card to be dealt when you flunked school for the year and had to go to summer classes. Friends would invite you to the local diner to cause havoc or to the barber’s to laugh at the middle aged men who combed their hair over their bald patches, hoping to get female attention. To the Walker boys; summer meant dares at the drop off.

Applebrush County was probably the smallest and inconspicuous county in Alabama, but the great thing about it was its geography. It had a population of about four hundred people, and although it had its own post office it wasn’t the best town for rising superstars to grow up in.

There was no such thing as overprotective parents in Applebrush because everybody knew each other, and everybody had business with someone else. It was a half a mile hike from the centre of Applebrush to the massive acres of land where everybody’s livestock and prized stallions stayed. Everyone knew Applebrush from the huge (and very ironic) red barn; with its massive doors and the stacks and stacks of hay that the Walker boys had to cart in every summer to help their father. The barn’s roof was easily reached from the inside. There were ladders that rarely left their positions and each led to a trapdoor to the roof, which then led to a foot wide balcony that meant a sheer drop into cow manure if you didn’t keep your wits about you.

The balcony was the drop off; and you weren’t cool, or considered one of the boys unless you performed a dare annually. The most common was the ‘bungee’ jump, where although slightly choreographed 9if it was the Walker boys who did it) was also highly dangerous, yet no one seemed to care, and after Elizabeth Walker successfully beat out her brother’s in the amount of dares performed all the teenage boys in the County decided they would rather risk their necks than their reputation.

Unfortunately, this particular summer, and after a very violent verbal berating from their parents; the Walker boys were forced to attend school in the summer and could not initiate the annual dare contest at the drop off, instead they were stuck in hot unconditioned class rooms, watching the sweat trickle down the particularly fat teacher (who doubled as a butcher in the winter) as he explained to them the importance of calculus and the effect it had on the world.

James Walker made faces at the teacher whilst Chance scribbled down notes in his diary. It was customary for Chance to do this, and one rule in the Walker house was no one besides Chance was ever allowed to read his diary. He hid it well enough, in a box behind the space behind his bed, and the key was always around his neck.

Now a boy of seventeen, Chance was definitely the talk of the town. He had curly brown locks that unless his mother came down on him with the wrath of God, he would never cut because of sheer laziness; and always had to tie them back when going to Church.
His brother James, who was a year younger also inherited their father’s unruly dark hair and the same chocolate eyes that made girls swoon. James, though less ‘deep’ than his elder brother was the one who would be seen hanging about the diner; playing with a lighter to seem cool to the girls who walked past and giggled and blushed when they past him. His brother was the only one who knew the lighter didn’t work, and James hated the smell of smoke.

Chance drew a portrait in his diary; the face of an angel, tamable mass of curly black hair that put his unruly tresses to shame framed the face. Under arched eyebrows were eyes that had not been coloured yet, but he knew what they would be. They would mirror his own; dark and mysterious. Somewhere Chance remembered reading how people fell in love with people who looked similar to them, which was why so many couples looked alike, they went well together; like the same two pieces of a puzzle.

This was totally different, never in a million years would he had even dreamed, no, nightmares didn’t even hint to him that he would one day like skinny little Evie Parish. But, over the school year, while he had been flunking class and she had been cooped up in her house studying like a maniac; Evelyn Parish had grown up, she had filled out.

The pain of the sharp corner of a piece of paper hit the back of Chance’s neck and he swatted it, crushing the paper airplane his brother had made, intent on getting Chance’s attention with.

“Earth to Ching ching ching a ling,” James called to him; chuckling softly at the utterly disgusted expression his brother now sported.

“I told you not to call me that,” Chance hissed back, the memory of who gave him that nickname burning into him as he stared back at that face in his diary. It was hopeless, they’re relationship had been built on hate and rivalry; nothing could change now.

He snapped the book shut as James leaned across in his chair, obstructing the view for the children behind him, then letting out a yell as his chair slid out and he landed on the floor, getting Mr. Butcher’s attention.

“Get off the floor!!” he roared, his mop of straw coloured hair drenched in sweat. Chance’s expression was set again into the disgusted face as he looked away from his teacher. James got up and bowed to the other students who applauded him for bringing fun to their afternoon. Chance proceeded to pack up his things, watching the clock on the wall. The applause caught his attention and he raised an eyebrow at his brother.

“Idiot,” Chance said under his breath as the bell rang, dismissing them.

“Queer!” James retored, laughing like a hyena as he bolted out the classroom door, Chance in tow.




:heartbeat: Pat

I can't believe I didn't comment about this before but I'll make up for it now...
THERE'S A JAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *dies* bahahaha
Ahem, Seriously now. I'm so glad he likes Evie!! Yay!! Conflict!! I'm so excited for it ^_^
Buah. I love James though, but I've always prefered shallow arrogant men to the 'deep' ones lool.

:bow: Love it. :love:

That was one of my favorite parts.

Then also the whole bit while he's drawing an angel in his diary (love how he calls it his diary instead of a journal :bow: ) How, couples usually look alike, even though people often say its opposites that attract. And then going into about how Evie Parish filled out past ihis expectations. :lol:

ahaha yes, he likes Evie...but WHO said she liked him??? NO ONE AHA! lol.

lol. Chance is kind of like Eli from Once and Again where he wears the key around his neck, except Shane West wears a padlock. lol.

Ahaha, yes. *is shamed* I stole that line from Sin City aha.

I have decided this fic is now a cross between Elizabethtown, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook and Walking Tall (You'll get this part as the story progresses and this gets darker...trust me there's sooo much stuff happening in this fic lol)

:heartbeat: Pat

OOOH I LOVE IT!!!! Bella you are so amazingly talented!!! You describe each and every detail so beautifully!
And the way you described chance's hair *dies* I got the best image EVER!! (well you know aside from my images of Nate lol)
Can't wait for more, don't be afraid to get me to beta the next one!!!

Chloe xxx

I loooooooooove A Walk to Remember and The Notebook (I haven't watched Elizabethtown and Walking Town ) and I love this fic!!
Really, I'm definitely hooked!! I love your writing and James and Chance are great characters!! I can't wait to see where the story goes...
Post more soon!! :)

Yay! An update!

I love the little insights you supply about the characters, like the annual dare contests and how Elizabeth beat out her brothers. Tee hee.

I also enjoy the utter dislike for each other that Chance and James share for each other.


Ooooooooh...Chance has the hots for Evie. But something tells me that she might not exactly feel the same way.

More when you can Pat, I am very curious to see what this story all entails.

That was awesome, Pat. Way to go! :yay: I am eagerly awaiting the next installment! :yes:

Pat, I loved it and I love ETOWN and A Walk to Remember, thats so cool how you are making it a mix between those two movies and two others I can't remember you ahd menioned. The whoel chapter was cute and hialrious. I defiantly can't wait for more!
:love:
~Kit-Kat~

YAY an update! I'm so happy it came so soon...I'm so used to people (being me) neglecting fics.

HAHAHAHAHA! Where did you come up with that nick-name, it's so great!

Oh, I have one suggestion...I love the fic and everything but the contrast of orange writing on grey background gave me a headache haha...just a thought.

Please write more soon, this is looking good!
:love: Sarah

I adore your work, Spudkin, you are.. geez... I know I owe you long winded disection but it may need to wait a little longer, but here's teh shorthand

Oh, good opening lines, you're good at that.

Good orientation, it's very clear and iconic. Maybe going further into specifics would fill this out later on in the piecem you've set it in our minds but.. okay, kind of hard to explain, but you know how "Sin City" is realistic, but it really kind of creates it's own world, it's own mythology, so that it is teh real world, and yet distinctive and more kind of .. original in a way if that's the right word? well you can play with that idea a bit more if you like, really making it destinctive, taking it past what is expected. You se yourself a hell of a standard because of how well you write, yet you keep getting better an better, so I'm going to keep flogging you to write more mwaaahahahahahahahaah.

I like your names, I like your dialogue and characterisation, your characters have a good sense of voice.

Over all, incredible. Just, wow.

I love my pretties so much, I was actually an ocean of emotion the other night because I couldn't write a decent update and had this stupid idea that no one liked my fics anyway so I should just flitter off into oblivion, but I am stupid, hence this new chapter. I hope you all like it, I write everything for you guys. Love y'all. :heartbeat:

Chapter 3
Do you remember the time?


Evie watched the bouncy ball from the corner of her eye, knowing that in any moment; it would come hurtling at her to get her attention. Instead of doing anything about it, she continued working on her homework, adjusting her glasses, giving her the almost librarian look as it complimented the bun her hair was in.

If the Walker’s dared disturb her with this bouncy ball there would be hell to pay, and she eyed the half eaten tub of yoghurt next to her, plotting on dousing either one of the boys with it to get any revenge she might need.

Instead of pelting it at her like she thought, the two kept bouncing it; before Evie heard a familiar voice scold them for forgetting to wash the dishes because it was their turn, and when the two reluctantly walked inside their house; Evie looked up and saw Kathleen Walker beaming at her.

“Hey!” she called over her mother’s hedge across the street, as Evie uncrossed her legs and left her book on the porch chair she had been reclining in.

“Hey yaself,” she replied, with an equally animated smile. “So am I expecting another set of twins to ma sleepover or what?” she added, grinning softly. “I can smell cookies! Dad’s made some good ones this time roun’,”

Kathleen’s smile widened. “Well, then I can’t let you eat all those cookies by yaself now can I?” she laughed, opening her gate and crossing the street, walking towards Evie, her hands in her pockets. The two shared a look and then stared back at the Walker house at the sound of dishes smashing and Lizzie scolding her brother’s because she wanted to watch the final Melrose Place episode; and they were making it impossible for her to.

“Bet you’re counting the days till graduation, eh?” Kathleen said with a whimsical expression, looking up at Evie who leaned against one of the timber columns that held up the roof over the balcony. “Y’all can’t wait to get out of here,” Kathleen added, leaning on the opposite one, her hands still stuffed in her pockets.

“There’s nothing for me here, Kit,” she shrugged nonchalantly; staring at the pink sky about the sun that was soon to set.

Kathleen nodded softly, watching the streetlights turn on as if by magic and hearing the protesting shouts of children told to come inside before the mosquitoes came out to play. She drummed her fingers against her thigh and stared up at the tip of the mill in the distance.

“But who’s gonna keep ma brother in line when ya go?” the words veiled her sadness, she would be losing her best friend, and she knew though they disagreed on most things, Lizzie would agree. Evie chuckled softly.

“There’s a whole town of people to do that!” she exclaimed with another chuckle, clearly amused by the statement as one of their neighbours chased their son across the yard with a wooden spoon.

“Oh, you’re wrong! The County’s brainwashed, they think ma brothers are the answers to their prayers or sommin, a second commin',” Kathleen chuckled, her perfectly white teeth gleaming back at Evie.

"They're more like tha plague," Evie replied with a soft snort as Lizzie left the Walker residence in a huff, her face red. She waded through the unkept lawn and then across the street.

"I'ma gonna kill em!" she cried, her hands up in the air as she marched past Evie and Lizzie and into the Parish home, turning on Evie's television and getting comfortable on the sofa.

"We're not related," Kathleen said with a laugh and Evie grinned back, shifting her weight onto the other leg then pulling herself to sit on the edge of the patio railing.

"Do you remember when we were kids, Kit?" Evie said with a nostalgic smile, watching the empty road. "And that time we ran away..."

Kathleen copied Evie's postion on the opposite railing and nodded back.

"We were always runnin', there was always somebody after us,"

"And the time we hid in the barn...and you broke ya arm falling off the roof,"

"And you fractured ya ankle trying to catch me,"

The two grinned softly at each other, finding the memory amusing yet binding. They would have been best friends forever; if only the County hadn't changed.

:heartbeat: Pat

P.S This chapter may be extended with the beginning of Chapter 4 at a later date.

Your ending lines always paralyze me, bella. A bit foreboding much?

And I loved the dialogue. The Southun dialogue. Elizabethtown did ya good dinnit?

:bloom:

I loved that chapter Pat. :yay: You've captured me perfectly. And to let you know I did in real life really break my arm from jumping on the couch when I was 3. :tehee: I was jumping on the cocuch with my brother and I fell off and broke my arm. I loved the dialogue too and how our friendship iss trong and we don't want to leave each other. And Lizzie was so funny. I can't wait for more, update real soon! :hug:
:love:
~Kit-Kat~

I LOVE melrose place...or used to anyway lol.
You already know that I love this chappie, but let me reiterate...I LOVE IT!!! Its so well writen and can't wait for more. Sorry this is short but I just got home from work. I'll try and catch you soon.

Chloe xxx

Awww..I really liked that update, but it seemed rather bittersweet with Kathleen and Evie looking back at memories. *sigh*

Oh and before I forget...shush your mouth up about being a bad writer. You are so talented, look at all the people that rush to read your fics. So no more nonesense talk or I will be forced to do something drastic. And you don't want that. :mistress:

Sorry for the delay in replying i was out of the country and was else. Loved the chapter, it was heart warming yet sad. The little story at the end about the two girls' childhood was undescribable. I can only say that i loved it in a whole. Looking forward to seeing what will happen and what not. Keep up the great work.

Ciao
~Claire