chapter one; 

                 memories

» College wasn't fun.  Everyone had told Paige it would be the time of her life, the best thing that ever happened to her.  They were wrong. College really hadn't done anything for her, except separate her from what was most important.  Everything that mattered was back home in New Jersey, not out in middle-of-nowhere Wyoming.  Northwest College was not the one for Paige.  Sure Yellowstone park was just a skip away and the mountains to the east made for a fantastic view, but Paige was a city girl. Born and raised just a puddle away from the Big Apple, crazy drivers, constant police sirens, crowded sidewalks, and thousands of restaurants to chose from was the type of life she knew and loved.  It seemed like a totally different world being able to hear birds chirping and knowing just about everyone in town, but it wasn't a lifestyle Paige wanted to get used to.  The only reason she was stuck going this cheapo college was because it had offered her a full scholarship.  Money definitely didn't grow on trees in the Vale household and the second that offer had been made, Paige knew she would be attending the college of her nightmares.  Alright, maybe that was an exaggeration.  It definitely wasn't where she wanted to be, but it wasn't deadly either. She had, after all, survived two years there already.  It wasn't so much the college itself that created the deep hatred inside Paige, it was the distance.  She had never wanted to end up on the east coast.  Family time wasn't Paige's favorite way to spend her days, but she missed home.  She missed everything about New Jersey: the people, the schools, the buses, the theaters, the convenient stores. Even things that she never thought she'd miss, like hobos and liter, found their way into her nostalgia.

Summer break was always the best time of the year. Spending three months at home with nothing to do but enjoy herself proved to be a dream come true.  Family time had slowly worked its way up the ladder of her favorite activities until it sat in second place, topped only by spending a day in the city with friends, and it had proved to have a high potential for endless laughter.  Of course, that just made Paige miss home even more during the school year.  But Paige wasn't a homebody. She loved traveling. Traveling was her greatest pleasure in life, though she was unable to most of the time due to her tight budget. The only difference was that she traveled to places she found interesting. There was nothing interesting about Wyoming.  Where she really wanted to be was Korea.  Something about that country attracted Paige.  Whether it was the culture, the cities, the language, or the people she could never tell, but one thing for certain was the idols. Kpop had its own special place in Paige's heart that could never be replaced, and she owed it all to Scarleth. Scarleth was all that you could want in a friend, she was kind, adorable, a total eomma figure, and she was the one person Paige could talk to about kpop. And they talked constantly.  Sharing the latest news, fangirling over new groups, arguing over who was the hottest member of BigBang and SHINee, you name it, they talked about it.  She was one of the people Paige missed most while at school. Sure they would text and talk on the phone, but it wasn't the same.  Scarleth had managed to stay in New York for college and being on the total opposite side of the country from her was a bit difficult. But life goes on and we have no choice but to go along with it.

The separation along with the endless boredom that enveloped all of Wyoming was slowly driving Paige insane.  She couldn't stand it.  Boredom was the one thing she had never been able to cope with.  Whenever she felt the boredom coming on, she would have to quickly find something to do, a task that wasn't easy at Northwest.  Eventually, she learned to simply resort to going through memories.  Memories of back home to be specific.  And Saturday November 10^th 2012 was one of those days. One of the days when the whole world seemed to be asleep. But finding a memory to reminisce in was no problem.  Just the day before she had been in New Jersey, having the time of her life. BigBang had held a concert in Newark and Paige wouldn't have missed it for the world. Of course, neither would Scarleth so the two of them had made their way back home to watch their all time favorite band perform. It had ended too soon, as all good things do, but the memories would be with them forever. From the members' engrish, their outfits, their faces, and their voices to the screaming fangirls, the tee-shirts, and the light sticks: everything would forever be engraved in their minds.  And that is where our story begins.

 AUTHOR'S NOTES

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