I have loved you tame, and I have loved you wild....


Julian watched the clouds roll gently across the skies, appearing to tickle the mountain tops as they floated by, lit by the noon sun to a soft blue. She admired the beauty of her home, high up and nestled in the crests of the mountains of the very top of Georgia. The area around her was a carpet of lush green, bright against the summer star as it swayed calmly in the breeze. The banister she was leaning against was warm, comfortable like a caressing heat as she watched her cell phone; she stood on the front porch of her home, high above the lake that gleamed and shimmered like diamonds, moving in a wavy pattern as the wind pushed it along. Everything was moving, the leaves on the trees, rustling silently, the water below, flowing out away from her, and the clouds high above her, hovering like cotton fluffs.

She knew there wouldn't be a more beautiful day in Hiawassee then this one; grabbing her phone, she texted the other members of the students concil, giving her opinion on the matter, along with asking the president if (s)he was in agreement. She hoped they all were with her on this, because she knew this summer would be the best of her life.

Kat was sitting with her siblings, on the porch, gazing longingly at the sky, when her phone buzzed. She looked back at it, and grabbed it quickly. She read the text, and smiled. She sent back an approval message. Kat watched as her little sister toddled around the yard, while her brother was sitting next to her. "Kitty!" Her one year old sister, Mary, called to Kat. She's been calling her the since she could speak, because everyone called her Kat. Adam giggled, and grinned at his sisters.

Chris was on a diving board at the local pool three feet above the water. With a big jump from the board he dove into the pool. A great dive into the pool and the water rippled across the calm water. Surfacing he heard his cell phone ringing indicating a text messages. Hoping out of the pool he walked over to the bench chlorine water dripping from his body as he picked up the the cell. It was a text from Julian about the trip giving her opinion on it. He text her back his own with his enthusiasm about it and assuring that the finances were taken care of. With the message on the way Chris went back and jumped in the pool again.

The day was turning out beautifully. Not that Jackson noticed, he was busy playing with Colton, his two year old brother. The rest of the family was scattered around town, with Martha and Jeb doing errands and Travis and Andrew doing who-knew-what. The elder two siblings, JJ and Careen, were long out of the house and living lives of their own in bigger towns. In the back of his brain, Jackson was a little jealous of those two. As much as he was enjoying being around family and friends he had known since birth, the thrill of adventure was not something he was accustomed to, and therefore wanted to explore.
Colton sat in the grass of the tiny backyard behind a modest two story brick house, playing with bits of grass tufted between his chubby fingers, and occasionally the trains scattered around him. Jackson sat across from him, very focused on a story he was telling involving the trains. So deeply involved, in fact, that the vibration in his pocket severely startled him. Colton giggled and reached out for the cellphone as Jackson removed it from his pocket. Smiling, Jackson held it away from his brother as he responded, expressing his excitement for Julian's idea. Snapping the phone closed he stood up, scooping Colton up with him, and headed inside for some lunch.

Maggie groaned loudly as she was awoken by her chirping Blackberry. She'd been out late the night before and had stumbled in at about three in the morning. She heard her mother calling her name from downstairs and let out another groan. She slid out of her comfy warm bed and wrenched open her bedroom door. "What?!" she yelled, listening carefully for the reply downstairs.
"Magdalena! That's no way to talk to your mother!" Her mom shouted back. Pfft, not much of a mother in the first place, she mentally grumbled. She rolled her eyes and slammed her door as her mother whittered on about some charity gala in New York, which Maggie had no intention of attending. She rooted through the mass of pillows on her massive queen sized bed, which had been pushed upwards just before she'd practically passed out last night; and from where she could have sworn the chirping was coming from earlier. She let out a triumphant yell as her hand met the cool hard surface of her phone. She opened the text quickly and replied back with as much eagerness for Julian's ideas as she could muster with just having woken up five minutes ago.
"Magdalena are you listening to me?" Her mothers annoying voice reached her again and Maggie ignored her, grabbing her bath robe and heading for the shower.

It took at least two minutes to get a full set of positive replies from the Student Concil members, meaning today was the day that they'd set out on there journey.

"Yo, Ma, what's the time of day?" Julian called into the house, her mother resting on their old, rugged couch, watching one of the oldest TV sets in all of Georgia. The front porch door sat open, revealing the darkness of her home, exlcuding the bright light spilling in from the sun above. Her mother, Janice, sat up, glaring in the direction of the kitchen, reading the bright green digital numbers.

"10:23, babe..." Again, her attention returned to the screen, and Julian returned to her cell phone, sending off her newly formed plan, along with questioning the prez about times. An immediate answer was replied by the Student Concil president, approving her plan, and, also sending out the okay from their leader, she gave the whole set of info.

"Hey guys, we're leaving @ 12:00 AM, okay? Txt :( for a no-go, and :) for a yes. Be packed and rdy @ the frnt of the school, I'll be waitn w/ the van."

Once she had it written out, Julian let the messages go, placing her cell back on the banister, heading inside to find her traveling bags.

Maggie emerged from her bathroom feeling much better, her hair was wrapped up in a towel and she was cuddled in her black bath robe. She wandered over to the bed to check her phone again to see if Julian had replied. 12:00?! What the hell?! That meant she had an hour and a half to get ready, pack and haul ass to school. Crap! Will deffo be there! :) she sent back. And she would be... hopefully.
And she set about the task of getting ready, yaking out the vintage leather set of suitcases her mother bought for her while in Paris. She was going to need at least the two big suitcases. Possibly three.

Chris lazily enjoyed floating along on the surface of the water soaking up the sun. He heard his phone ring again with another text message slowly he floated his way to the edge of the pool and climbed out the side. Retrieving his phone off the chair again he read the text the looked at the time. "An hour and and twenty minutes huh? That's more then enough time." he thought taking his towel and spare clothes and headed to the public shower. He washed the chlorine out of his hair and on off his body then dried and dressed himself. he grabbed his things off the chair and headed for his car with a text back.
"You know ill be there! :)" He sent his message away. Sitting in the car he set out one last text message to everyone in the student council. "Anyone need a lift?" With that sent out he sat in his car for a few minutes music blasting waiting for any replies.

There weren't too many clothes for Julian to toss or pack; honestly, she shovelled her entire closet and dresser into her two large duffle bags, along with a little suit case of cosmetics, tolietries, and other things she might need. Shoes were limited; she picked out five pair for the entire trip that matched nearly everything she owned, along with a few necklaces and earrings in a little ziplock baggie. These she stored in the side compartment of large duffle bag #2, and, once everything was zipped, stuffed and contained, Julian checked the clock on her night stand, which read 11:13, and decided to take a quick shower before she headed down to the garage out in the yard to pack the van and head to the high school. ~


Her shower was about 12 mintues, meaning she had the time to scan her room a final time before departing for the van. She decided on a travel pillow, MP3 Player, and her "Hiawassee Girl" blanket, which was stuffed into her large, multi-colored purse. Once these were all sitting at the bottom of the staircase outside(with the assistance of her mother), she went to get the van and the school's safe keys, pocketing the safe keys and igniting the van to back out of the garage. Packing wasn't too hard; everything laid flat and even, making easy room for everyone else's stuff, and, after a bumpy trip down the hill and onto the main road, Julian swung the van around and bulleted down the twisting road to the high school.~


The van was parked up in front of the building, the school's insides looking dark and forbidden. Julian chuckled at her own thought as she retrieved the safe keys from her pocket and unlocked the door, going in and traveling to the Student Concil meeting room. From there, she unlocked the small safe that sat in the corner of the room and revealed a money box, which she took out and emptied all $200,000 dollars worth into a large change pouch, labelled, "Student Concil" in tape. She hid this inside her large purse, then departed from the room and back into the bright mid-morning world, watching the roadway before the school.


"So glad we had that fundraiser, or this'd be nothin' but a dream...."

She smiled faintly, eyes searching the area.

Kat read her text, and then looked at her brother and sister. I'm there, just need 2 find someone to watch the sibs. Kat texted Julian. After that, Kat somehow managed to get her Aunt Jessie to watch them. She scooped them up and ran into the house. She took a shower, and packed in about 10 minutes. She had her duffel bag, and suitcase, with her clothing, books, cellphone, camera, sketch pad, and other odds & ends. She got Chris's text and read it. No thankss,It's finee. :) She sent back, before quickly grabbing her siblings, and going to her parents general store, about a block down. "Hey Momma, I'm gonna be gone for a bit, with the student council..." She said, to her mom, as she walked in with the twins. Her mom nodded. "Well, who's gonna watch the twins, sweetie?" She asked. "Uh, sorry, a different babysitter...?" She questioned. Carla Jameson looked at her daughter. "I already had called one." Kat added. Her mom grinned. "Have fun, darling." She called to Kat. Kat smiled, and waved. "Tell Daddy I said Good bye." She said, as she retreated back to the house. She crawled inside, and got her stuff, and quickly walked to the school. "Julian!" Kat called, seeing the huge van.

The barrage of texts went unanswered as Jackson carried his brother around the house. He was going to need to find someone to take Colton before he could leave. Sighing, he set the toddler on his bed and started to sift through the closet he shared with Andrew. After a couple minutes, the packing was finished. A menagerie of colors and fabrics sat in the large black duffel bag and Jackson felt pretty good about his selections. Colton seemed to agree as well, clapping his hands and laughing when the bag was thrown onto the bed, bouncing the small boy up and down. Grabbing his phone, Jackson shot off a text to his brothers, and answered a couple himself. To Julian, a simple smiley face in accordance to his willingness to go. And to Chris, he replied, Yeah man I'd love a ride, if you're offerin.
A few minutes passed, and the front door to the Wyatt house opened, Travis entering with his girlfriend Michelle. Jackson picked up Colton and walked to the living room, greeting the pair.
"So the thing is, guys, Mama and Pa will be back in thirty minutes or so, and I need to head on out for this school thing." He said, putting Colton down on the couch in between the couple. Michelle gladly picked the baby up, cooing at him softly. Travis nodded, and thrust out his hand. "Keys, Jackie. If you're goin on a trip I get the truck." Jackson laughed and nodded, digging the keys to the old Ford pickup out of his pocket and giving them to Trav. He supposed he'd have enough time for a quick shower, so he headed across the hall to the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, Jackson strolled out of the bathroom, running his fingers through his hair. Going back to his room, he sat and began to wait for Chris.

Josie read her text then went into her room and did her hair and make up then packed her things. She got into her car and waited for her brother.
=
Tommy read his text then went and took a shower and packed his things then went downstairs and got in the car with his sister.
=
When Tommy got in, Josie pulled out of the drive way and drove towards the school. When she got close she looked around for everyone else.

A few minutes later Chris got a text from Jack said that he would take the ride. One of the advantages of living in a small town is that driving stick was easy. Especially with the long straight roadways and without all the traffic and crowding. With a rev of the engine Chris backed out of the parking spot and turned into the road heading for Jackson's house. About five minutes later Chris pulled up to Jackson's house along the side walk. Chris beeped twice to let him know he was here, then popped the trunk of the car and stepped out just in case Jack needed help with his bags. Leaning against his car he waited for Jackson to emerge from the house.

Maggie read Chris's text quickly and wistfully texted back Would love one but Mommy Dearest wants to drop me off, will let her, might decide not to come back! She was quickly emptying her drawers and wardrobe, neatly as she could into her suitcases as she texted. She then ran to the bathroom once she sent the text with a drawstring bag for toiletries. She then threw this into one of the cases and stumbled over to her vanity to quickly do her make up and hair. Once this labourous task was achieved, she put her flat iron, hair dryer, curling tongs and make up bag into one of the cases. She then put on her selected outfit for the day, long grey tee with a pair of black ripped up leggings and silver ballerina flats. She ran over to her vanity again and threw on some long necklaces, a little silver bracelet and some cute rose shaped earrings.
She had to sit on both of her cases, and had a real issue with trying to close them but managed, by jumping up and down on them. She grabbed her large black Alexander Wang tote bag threw her Blackberry and iPod in whilst making sure she had all the essentials in there.
She hefted her suitcases up and trundled out of her room, giving her laptop a wistful stare as she left. "Mom! Time to go!" she yelled, her suitcases thumping down the marble staircase as she dragged them behind her.
"Okay dear! I'm ready! Lets go!" Only her mother would decide to drive her daughter to school, dressed as if she were going to the Ritz for afternoon tea. Jesus.
They pulled up to the school quickly and Maggie jumped out the car, eager to get away from her mothers nattering about how becoming a debutante was so 'rewarding.' Maggie quickly dragged her cases out of the shiny black 4x4 practically running from the car to meet the others.

Jackson glanced outside at the sound of the familiar engine. Smiling, he hefted the black duffel bag over his shoulder and headed out. Grabbing his house keys, Jackson said a quick fairwell to Colton, scooping him up and kissing his forehead, and a wave to Travis. Strolling outside he nodded in greeting to his old friend Chris, and easily tossed his bag into the trunk.
Plopping down in the passenger seat, Jackson sighed and smiled over at Chris. "You ready for this? I'm already got a feelin that its gonna be pretty nice."

Josie pulled into the parkinglot and pulled into a space. She say with her brother Tommy and waited for everyone else.
=
Tommy waited with his sister

Chris started the car again when Jackson got in. "Defiantly. This is gonna be the trip to remember." he said smiling back as he pulled out of the side walk. Blazing down the road they reached the school in minutes. They passed by the van parking a few car length in front of it. Chris turned of the car popped the trunk and got out of the car. Chris took both of his duffel bags out of the trunk, leaving Jackson's in the trunk. Chris walked over to the van greeting Julian and Kat before turning to wait for Jackson to get out of the car before locking it.

Josie and Tommy saw people arriving so they got out of the car and grabbed their bags. Tommy walked over to Jackson "Hey man you excited?"
Josie looked over and saw Jackson and smiled a little, she grabbed her bag and locked her Dodge Cummins and walked over to her brother.

Kat looked at her phone, then looked up quickly at the approaching Chris, and others. "Hey y'all." She smiled at all of them. She shoved her now vibrating phone into her pocket, ignoring the buzz. Kat leaned against the van, shaking out her wild red hair. She had, earlier,dropped her stuff to the ground, she focused on that, zoning out for a split second.

James stood with his guitar--a Gibson SG--in his hands, the strap pulling down on his shoulders. His long black hair fell in wavy locks that were almost curls around his face, which was drawn in concentration. James wasn't really a songwriter--most of the little bits and pieces of music he made up never really went anywhere--whenever he happened to be playing a tune out of his mind and he liked it, he tended to start working on it further; unfortunately, though they were usually pretty good, he never wrote any of it down. The guitar had a heavy, bassy, distorted sound, deep, a distinct 'heavy rock' sound. Just as James lined his fingers up to play a chord, a vibration in his pocket informed him that he had gotten a text message. He laid his guitar aside gently and dug his phone out, his face looking irritated from being interrupted, but it brightened up--as much as that was possible on his naturally serious face--when he saw who the text was from.

He read over the content quickly, and considered the words. As far as he knew, his family wasn't against it--and anyway it was up to James, as he was likely to point out, whether or not he could go. The time given allowed him only an hour and a half to get ready and get to the school--it was a good thing, then, that he didn't plan to pack much. Some clothes, a pair of shoes....James was almost amused by how little he really had to pack. He debated about bringing along an acoustic guitar for a moment, and then decided there was no harm in it. He had just showered that morning, so he simply took his time packing, and texted back On my way in his usual terse manner, at least when texting. When 11:30 came around, he decided he should get going, and threw the bag he had packed into the passenger seat of his Volkswagen sedan, and the guitar he placed into the back seat.

The drive over to the school took only about ten minutes--James, so used to larger cities, had always been taken aback by how small Hiawassee was. Stepping out of his car slowly with his bag in one hand and the guitar in the other, James made his way to the van.

Julian smiled largely, returning the greetings that were sent her way. With a grin and wink, she helped hurry the packing process, punching down the bags with medium sized fists. Once all their belongings laid flat, she turned towards the others, holding her hands up in an innocent fashion, smirking with excitement.

"Alright, guys, girls, we're about to set out on the trip of Towns High History; this trip will include pictures, soveiners and cheesy, heart-felt times, along with a beer every now and then." She giggled warmly, running her hand through her dark hair. "So, who's ready for this? And, our second importance," Holding the van keys up, the silver sparkling in the early sun, she continued with a playful smirk, "Who's driving?"

Turning quickly to shut the trunk, Julian let the keys dangle before her before tossing them to Kat. Smiling with a teasing plan, she cried out jokingly,

"Last one in the car has to!"

Spinning on her heel, she raced for the humid inside of the white van, bounding against the warm velvet seats.

James was still thinking over Julian's words before the driving problem registered with him; he had a habit of 'deep thinking' like that. So he was slow in getting onto what was going on, but he quickly made for the van, intent on not being the trip driver. He had little faith in his driving skills even if they were actually quite impressive, and had no desire to have to drive a van full of people all over a state he knew about as well as he knew Kazakhstan.

Thankfully James managed to get himself into the van before he ended up being last. He breathed a sigh of relief as he sat in one of the seats next to Julian, and thought about the trip they were going on. If there was one good thing about going on it, James would be learning something about the state he was living in--at least for now, anyway. Hiawassee was...well, it was a great town, but it took James some time to adjust from living in sizeable cities as he had done most of his life, to living in a little town where everyone knew everyone else. The worst part at the beginning was the fact that everyone he met pointed out that his accent marked him as some kind of foreigner, which he was, to Georgia. He had been born in the US, but his voice sounded like a strange mashup of an English and an American accent, both dueling for dominance. It had been a year since he had to worry about people pointing out the difference in accent between his and most Georgians, but he still thought every now and then that people noticed it.

"Hey Kat" he said before helping Julian pack the things into the van. "Oh i think where all ready for this." he said as he watched her toss the keys to Kat and run into the van. James managed to get into the van just after Julian and Chris thought to get into the van quickly as well. The thought crossed his mind to get in the car to dodge the responsibility of driving, but then he thought it best for him to drive since everyone seemed to not want to. He walked over next to Kat and held out his hand. "Why don't you hand me the keys Kat. I'll drive." he said with a smile.

Kat looked at the limp keys and her hand, questioning them for a second. When she heard Chris say he'd drive, she shot her head up, and grinned. "Oh, thank you so much, Chris!" She exclaimed, giving him a quick hug. She put all of her stuff in the back, hurriedly, before giving Chris another smile. She shot into the van.

"No problem." Chris said as he hugged her back before she packed her stuff and shot into the van. Chris walked slowly to the other side of the van, hoping into the drivers seat putting the keys in the ignition. He turned to look at everyone in the back seats of the van, no one bothered to take shotgun. "So where are we off to first for this road trip." he asked once everyone had gotten inside the van.