I'm trying to let go.
                   I think it could help,
                           being Alone.

STERLING'S POV:

    *play To The Mountains by Lizzy McAlpine.*

    Well hello, sun... I open my eyes fully and look at the curtains, partly open from the soft fan blowing in my room. Today is the first day of summer... The first day of my summer, not for everyone else though. Perks of working at my own pace online.

    Part of me kind of just wants to roll back over and close my eyes again, but the other part of me knows exactly what I need to do today. I've had it set in my mind, so I know I won't be able to go back to sleep until I go tackle it head on. I sit up on my bed, and let my feet swing over the edge with a sigh. I look down to my bedside table, and see the picture. The happy picture of me, my dad, and Lee. I reach forward, and let my fingertips graze the picture. That was on his 7th birthday. That was a good day.

    "It's all for you buddy." I speak to the picture, but more to myself as I get out of bed and move straight into my bathroom. I brush my teeth, my hair, then go towards the closet. Shorts and a tank top, the only way to have a successful work day right? I walk out of my room, and hop down the stairs, grabbing one of the baseball caps sitting on the side table. I place it on my head, tucking my hair underneath it, and I walk straight into the kitchen.

    "Hey Jason." I speak out, walking to the fridge.

    "Sterling Corrin King if you call me by my first name one more time," My dad speaks out, looking up from his laptop, and over his shoulder towards me.

    "Sorry.. Good morning father, would you like a cup of tea to go with your breakfast?" I ask in a proper british accent, really hamming it up for him. He rolls his eyes, and I pull out frozen Kellogg's pancakes, getting started on a breakfast of champions. As I do I see a black streak move through the room, and I instantly crouch down.

    "Jon! Hey buddy!" I smile, and see the black lab come straight to me so I can hold his face and scratch under his chin. "Who's a good Jon? Who's the best ruler of the nights' watch?" I ask in my baby voice, petting the pretty dog.

    "What in the world are you saying?" My dad asks, and I stand up, turning my head to him.

    "Jon Snow? Game Of Thrones? Ruler of the night's... Dad, we've been over this.. If you'd watch the show then you'd be in the know." I divert my eyes and shrug my shoulders, but laugh, knowing I've told him a thousand times why I named the dog Jon.

    "You're in a good mood this morning." He speaks out, looking straight back to his computer, probably for work. He likes to drown himself in work, mostly for distraction, but also because he feels like he has to go above and beyond since he's the only parent.

    "Today is the first day of summer, which means the first day of working..." I tell him, placing the pancakes in the microwave.

    "Sterling you're not talking about the treehouse are you?" He asks, and his tone is laced with concern.

    "That's exactly what I'm talking about. We started it together, and I'm going to finish it..." I tell him, stepping back from the microwave, leaning against the opposing counter.

    "You're going back to Mountainview for Senior year...You've been disconnected for a long while, why don't you try to go and talk to some of your friends? See what they're up to before you go back." He suggests, and I shake my head, taking the pancakes out and grabbing the syrup, pouring some of it on top.

    "They're not my friends anymore dad." I speak out, and stare at my food, cutting it up.

    "Yes they are Sterling, they understand what happened, I'm sure they'd-"

    "They don't even know what happened... and I'm not really sure of anything except the fact that I need to finish this treehouse before you force me to go back to that school. It's the project of the summer, and I'm doing it with or without your help. I love you dad, and I know you're just looking out for me but... I have to do this, even if you don't help." I tell him, and shrug my shoulders, forking the pancakes into my mouth.

    "Ster, you know I can't help you out with that.. You know why.. I just think maybe you should try to let go of it.." He tells me, turning away from his work completely.

    "I don't really know how you can even say that... You two were building it for me, it was for me. So I'm going to finish it." I tell him, sticking to my guns on this. He could tell me that me building the rest of this treehouse would cause me to catch a painful disease and I'd still go through with it.

    "I can say that because a treehouse isn't going to fix anything." He sighs, and I shrug, scooping up the last bit of pancakes, and placing the plate in the dishwasher.

    "You can think that... I'll be going now." I tell him, walking towards the backdoor.

    "Sterling.." He calls out to me, and I turn around.

    "Yeah?" I ask, looking back at him.

    "We have new neighbors..." He tells me, and I shrug.

    "That's great, what does that have to do with me?" I ask.

    "Well, the couple living there are great people, really nice, they moved all the way from England... They've got a son your age, I figured you could try to be his friend.. He's a new kid, and since you don't want to talk to your old friends, I just thought-"

    "Never going to happen." I shake my head, and continue walking out of the door.

    "Sterling-"

    "I love you dad!" I call out over him, and shake my head. I walk outside into the backyard, the part of it closer to the house being the only part that's not shaded by large trees. I look out past the vast yard, and towards the tall trees, seeing the one straight in the middle, seeing the branches cut straight away from it, but it doesn't matter because the roots grow deep... I look at the ghostly outline of what was going to be a treehouse.. It's laughable because it's pretty much just a shell. We weren't too far into building it when everything happened, but it's there... It's a good basis for me to start with.

    I don't move too far into the yard, but instead, walk around the front of the house, opening the garage to get all the necessary tools out. Yes, I know what tools to use... Kind of....Thank god for youtube and staying home for a solid seven months. But we're not going to talk about the fact that learning through youtube videos is, and forever will be, very difficult. I start moving things, bringing them out bit by bit as much as I can carry in each trip.

    I set the last bit down, and wipe across my forehead right away, already feeling the sweat. Dammit, you'd think it'd be cooler in Oregon, but global warming has to fuck everything up I guess... I start pulling the planks of wood, struggling to move them myself. It did rain a few days ago so the ground is slippery as can be right now. My converse lose a bit of traction so I slip and slide, and continue to pull, trying to just get one slab straight towards me, and in the right spot. I give a hard pull, and the plank moves all the way, going exactly where I needed it. I mark certain spots, and take the power saw, and start cutting, feeling kinda powerful as I do. Who thought it was smart to trust me with power tools?

    I take some of the wood, and tuck it under my arm, moving towards the tree, and straight to the ladder, climbing up it, and pulling myself there to sit on one of the slats considering there's still no floor yet. I set the wood down on one of the posts, and look around, realizing how much of an idiot I am... I stare the power drill in the eyes, still on the ground, and sigh, knowing I'll have to climb all the way down, and back up.

    "Hi." I turn my head to the voice, and notice a stranger. A curly haired boy, standing on the other side of the fence with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Why the fuck is he wearing jeans in May? Who is this guy, and... oh yeah... New neighbors, boy my age.. This must be him. I realize that I've been staring this entire time, and I snap out of it quickly, looking up to his eyes.

    "Um.. Hi." I speak back quickly, knowing how rushed I just sounded. Fuck you social anxiety.

    "What's your name?" He asks, and he's smiling. I'm not sure why it makes me uncomfortable that he's smiling at me, or being so friendly right now. Maybe I'm just not used to kindness, or maybe it's the fact that I'm not used to weird british boys showing up on the other side of the fence asking me questions.

    "Sterling..." I reply, and climb down from the treehouse, grabbing the power drill, and moving back up to exactly where I was sitting. As soon as I sit back down I notice he's still standing there, so I stare back, giving him a questioning look.

    "Well.. Aren't you going to ask me what my name is?" He asks, taking his hands out of his pockets so he can run his hands through his hair. I still feel a bit of that social anxiety, not understanding what he wants, or what his motives are... I honestly kind of just want him to turn around and pretend he never saw me out here.

    "No... Why would I do that?" I ask back, taking the power drill, trying to remember what youtube told me about these things. Where's the turn on button? How the fuck do I, oh shit, that's how.

    "Because I'm a stranger looking over the fence... I thought you'd be curious." He shrugs his shoulders. He's harmless from what I can tell, just a bit persistent... which I've never been a huge fan of. I don't know though... I shouldn't judge him.

    "Well, I'm a stranger sitting in a tree house... I stopped being curious a long time ago. Curiosity brings nothing but trouble." I tell him, and look back to the drill... I don't want to try to drill this because there's a 99.9% chance I will fuck it up, and I don't want him to witness that.. I don't know him, but I don't want him to think I'm stupid.

    "Well, I'm Harry... and I'm kind of curious about you Sterling.." He laughs as I sit up here, and hearing him say my name is odd. I haven't heard anyone besides my dad say my name in the past seven months. Why is he curious though, what's his angle, and why is he being so honest about it? Fuck Sterling stop being so overly critical... I look back at him, and shake my head again.

    "Well maybe you should stop." I shrug.

    "Are you going to actually drill something or do you just like to hold power tools for fun?" He laughs, and I look at the drill in my hand.

    "Yes I am.. I have very important work to get to so if you would..." I place the nail on the wood, and press the trigger, hearing the thudding sound which makes me cringe.

    "Did you know Arthur James Arnot invented the power drill? He was from Australia... and you're doing that wrong... By the way." He tells me, and I slump down, and look at him with furrowed brows. What the hell did he just say? Who invented what? And why does he know that? STERLING, YOUR VIRGO IS SHOWING, CHILL.

    "That's cool, and yeah... my hand slipped.. I guess." I shrug, and he tilts his hands up, pretending to hold the drill.

    "If you angle it slightly more this way you'll hear the right noise. You want a drill sound not a thud." He tells me, and he still has a smile on his lips... Weird. I do what he says, and angle it up, and just like that the drill moves smoothly.

    "Thank you." I say softly. He stays standing there, and I bring the drill down and look at him again. "No offense but don't you have somewhere to be?" I ask him, keeping my voice down. I don't want to sound harsh or rude, I hate conflict... I just want to know why he's still staring at me.

    "Soon yeah.. I just saw you out here, and thought I'd come say hi... My mum told me there was a girl that's my year that lives here." He tells me as he motions to me. Why... Why can't I figure out his star sign right off the bat?

    "Your year? How old are you?" I ask.

    "Eighteen." He tells me, and I nod in response.

    "Didn't you just get here? How do you already have plans?" I ask, wondering who he's met in the span of a day or so that I assume he's been here.

    "I moved to be closer to family... My cousins live here." He tells me, motioning around him, and I nod, still trying to pinpoint him. "And I'm the life of the party, what can I say." He shrugs his shoulders, and gives me a cocky smirk. Aquarius or Leo. That's it, you can't change my mind.

    "When is your birthday?" I ask, the need to figure him out getting the best of me, and climb down from the treehouse, setting the drill down as I do. He starts to back away, shoving his hands back in his pockets.

    "I'm sorry I've got to run... I guess I'll have to come back this time tomorrow to give you an answer." He turns on his heel, and walks away, but I thin my eyes at him as he does. Why did that actually infuriate me? What was the reason?

—————————————————

Song: To The Mountains by Lizzy McAlpine.

Ahhh. I'm very excited but very nervous about this story. I know most of you came from Cherry, and though this fanfic is soft... as you can tell it's going to be VERY different.

You can imagine ANYONE!!! Any person in the world as the main characters!! I'm going to do my best to make them as simple and not descriptive as possible so it's easier for you to imagine who they are in your own way!

I just know some people can have a hard time visualizing so!!!

So if you want a visual or you need help visualizing:

For Sterling I imagine Lily Collins with long light hair.

I imagine Frat Boy Harry.. like in between 2013 and 2014