A/N: I do not own Subway, or any of its sandwiches, though I wish I did. There, does that make people happy to know that I'm not stealing anything from a fast food restaurant?!! Besides Subways, everything else is mine. MINE I TELL YOU!!! Yeah. And Oeher isn't a real place…go figure, so some things about it may not be too realistic, but use your imagination. This story, like any that I will write or have written, is not based on me personally. Why, because my life isn't all that interesting, and the rest you can just imagine.

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It's a Small World

Chapter 1- Kyle

"Hurry up! I'm starving. They should really get more counters here!"

"Relax Kyle. You're next in line, and it's lunch, the busiest time of the day, what'd you expect?" my best friend Rick yelled at me above the din at Subway.

"Next!" yelled Tony from behind the counter.

As I was about to order my long awaited meal, two girls stepped up in front of me. "I'd like a BBQ Ribs on a Hearty Italian, with extra barbeque sauce, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and pickles. She'll have the Chicken Teriyaki on an Italian Herbs and Cheese with American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and no onions. Oh, and both would be foot-longs as well. That's all, and thanks again Tony." the tall brunette finished with a smile.

Throughout their order, all I could do was gape, open-mouthed and wide-eyed at them. These two girls, had just cut me, cut Kyle Russel, and that is not something that goes unpunished. "Hey, you two!" I yelled.

"Huh?" the two girls turned around, each holding a Subway bag and a soda bottle in their hands. "You talking to us?" the brunette asked.

"Yeah, actually I am." I glared at them. "You two don't see a line behind me?"

"Oh, sorry...what are you talking about? We've been on line for almost twenty minute's now." the shorter blond smirked. "Or are you a blind little baby? Gonna run to your mommy and tattle? 'Mommy, mommy! Two girls skipped me in line! Waa!' How adorable. What are you? Nine?" at the end of her tirade, both girls bust out laughing. I clenched my fist so hard, my knuckles turned white. That girl gets me so mad; I want to punch the living daylights out of her.

"Chill out Kyle! Just go ahead and order your lunch and forget about those two. You'll probably never see them again, like every other stranger that you meet. Either hurry up, or I'm gonna skip you too, then you'll have something to be pissed about." Rick hissed at me, seeing me that tense, with two very white fists for hands.

"That's right Kyle! Listen to that brilliant friend of yours, and order your lunch. There are others waiting on line, or did you forget that little fact?" the blond taunted. Sure enough, the people behind me were starting to throw me exasperated looks.

"Alright Alyssa, just leave those two alone. Let's go, we've caused them enough trouble. Come on." The brunette announced to her friend.

"Fine Karen. That's a good idea, I was beginning to get tired of that little boy anyways." Alyssa nodded to Karen, and the two of them walked out of the door, pushing their way through the crowd. I was given the satisfaction to see that Alyssa was tripped by a fat tub of a man, and spilled her coke all over her shirt. As Karen and Alyssa filed out onto the streets, I swear I saw Karen flash me a smile, and I couldn't help but feel a bit proud to get her attention, because I must have forgotten to mention that both of them were hot. I guess I was too carried away with getting my sub to notice that.

So that's her name, Karen, I like it. Wait. Did I just think that I liked her name? No, I didn't just think that. Bad brain. Just because she's hot and smiled at me, at least I think she did, doesn't mean that she's nice, and that I'm attracted to her. No way. For all I know, she could the reincarnate of her friend Alyssa back there.

"Hey man. What are you gonna order?! I happen to be hungry here, and if I recall correctly, you are too." Rick shot at me, bringing me back to the reality of Subway, and my long awaited lunch.

"Sorry man." I apologized to Rick, and turned towards Tony.

"Hey! My man Kyle! What can I get for you today?" Tony gave me his famous Cheshire grin.

"Oh, the usual, a Chipotle Southwest Cheese Steak, on Hearty Italian, with lettuce, tomatoes, Swiss cheese, onions, and peppers. He'll have the Dijon Turkey Breast, Ham and Bacon Melt also on a Hearty Italian, with the same toppings as mine both footlongs. Thanks Tony." I finished, handing Tim ten bucks for the meal. "Wanna eat here, or go back to my place?" I asked.

"Does it really matter? We know this town like the back of our hands. Why don't we go eat at the park, by the gully. It's peaceful there, and you probably won't run into those girls again, so you can chill out. I haven't seen you since we found the gully." Rick shook his head, and we started towards the park at the edge of the town.

As we neared the gully, the din from screaming toddlers chasing one another faded as we walked deeper into the woods that marked the end of Oeher. The gully was in the heart of the forest, where the noise of the traffic could not be heard. Here, we spent many hours together in each other's company, soaking up the tranquil silence that surrounded our small ravine. I had rolled boulders for the two of us to sit on years ago, which were exchanged with larger ones as we grew. The baby boulders that once served as chairs were still lying scattered around the gully. The two of us had found this place when we were in third grade. I threw a tantrum and stormed out of my house. Rick saw me leave through his window because we are neighbors, and he lives in the house to the right of mine, and followed me out. After three hours of walking blindly through the woods, we had stumbled upon this gully. It still takes my breath away when I watch the sunset from here. The brilliant golden rays spill out around the gully like syrup poured over pancakes, with and deep magenta following close behind, that filled the sky with a warm glowing radiance. This has been our special place for eight years, and every time we came here, it always brings us a sense of peace and serenity.

Yet, while I sat on my boulder chewing on my sub, the serenity of the gully and the soothing gush of the water streaming by gave me no sense of tranquility today. No matter what I did, I couldn't make myself stop thinking about Karen. Who was that girl? I had never seen her before, and I'm sure that Rick hasn't either. She must be a new person, since Rick has lived here all his life. I shook my head in an effort to clear my mind of her dark brown hair which fell to her elbows, and her milky chocolate eyes that sparked when she smiled and hardened in mockery as she scolded her friend for being mean to us. The more I tried to get her image out of my head, I saw her more clearly. She was around my height, so that made her about six one, give or take one or two inches, and she had a lean body, with strong muscles in both her arms and her legs. The thing that I could never forget however, was her smile. It was as if the sun had shone on me for the first time. Her face gave off such as sweet countenance which was reflected in her eyes lingered in my memory like a ghost. I can't believe that I am that affected by a girl, especially such a be-yatch! I must be losing my mind.

Rick broke the silence at last, bringing me out of my pleasant nightmare, which gave me a tremendous surge of relief.

"You ok man?" He questioned, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good. Why'd you ask that? Am I growing another head or something? You're really scaring me like that Rick." I asked, wondering why on earth he was looking at me like I'm a new species of homo-erectus or something like that.

"You could be growing two heads for all I know, but do I really care?" He retorted, and laughed at my mock hurt look. "Naw. I would care. After all, why would I wanna be friends with a freak? You seriously okay Kyle? You look…troubled, and you're never troubled when we come here. Are you going through your mid-life crisis already?"

I jokingly punched him in the gut. "You ass! I am fine, I told you already, and I'm not going through a freaking mid-life crisis! I'm only 16. Gimme a break jerk." As I sat down again, a heavy weight on my shoulders, like I was carrying one of our boulders on my back. Atlas to the rescue. I had never hid anything important from Rick, because we were like brothers. Now, I felt guilt run me through like a flood. He is so close to me that I can barely hide anything from him.

Luckily, the guilt kept me from thinking about Her, and eventually, the guilt gave way, so we sat at the gully in a friendly silence till the sun set. We picked our way out of the woods and back to the streets of Oeher, where we joined the people were pouring out of their offices and rushing home to dinner with the family.

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As you can see, this chapter contained a lot of dialogue, more than I planned originally, so bear with me, because I do not plan to have this much dialogue in the future. It'd be nice if you sent me some reviews to tell me what you think of it...I'm willing to hear what you think about my story. Thank you all for reading this first chapter, and please review, because I'm not psychic, more of a psycho...so tell me what you think!!!!!

- Julia