spring2 Today has been a long day… long, but amazing. I finally am in my new place, and I’m loving everything so far! I pretty much went straight from the ferry to my apartment, dropping off my things. The moment that I stepped foot on the ferry, I already missed my family… but I can already tell that this is where I’m supposed to be. It’s great here! I went to the beach today and I met someone—his name is Peyton. I nearly stepped on the poor thing, but I don’t think he even noticed. He somehow wormed it out of me that I couldn’t swim, so he was persistent about teaching me. I don’t know how he did it, but he convinced me to try! A wave knocked the both of us over, though, and I was pretty much done after that. He protected me though—it’s weird how safe a stranger can make me feel. We decided to start a game of volleyball; I said that we should make it interesting by making the loser pay for dinner. So we played and I won! …though I think he threw the match… not that I’m complaining. He’s really nice…
spring2 I went to meet him at his room at Jasper Inn—I thought that we’d be going somewhere, but he made me a home-cooked meal. I can count on one hand how many men I know who can cook—so that was rather refreshing. I got to know him a little bit more, and I’m glad I did. I can tell that his family means a lot to him… it’s sweet. He’s different from a lot of guys I’ve known, and he’s way more thoughtful. He’s musical, too! He played a song on the violin for me; with that type of talent, I don’t know why he only works at the local café. I’ve only spent a little time with him and I’m picking up on some French—I feel absolutely stupid not knowing the meaning of the teensiest of words. I guess I should have taken that language class in high school, huh? He walked me home and he even gave me his jacket—he’s so sweet. And he... he kissed my cheek. I haven’t had so many butterflies in my stomach since… well, I don’t know when. I feel like I’m a fool when I’m around him; I can’t wipe that goofy grin from my face. Do you think he might like me…?
spring4 I found out that the local pet store is hiring, so I stopped by there and dropped off my application… wish me luck! I’ll be interviewing soon, and I’m so nervous. It’s for the animal caretaker position, which is right up my alley. Since I was out, I decided to take Peyton his jacket… he had forgotten it the night he walked me home. I ordered a coffee while I was there, too—it was slow at the café, plus it just smells amazing in there. He apologized for kissing me, and I told him I didn’t mind—but then that got me to thinking... I really should proceed slowly and cautiously with all of this. I know my own tendencies and I know that I get a little clingy with people, and I’m too trusting when I jump into the start of relationships… I didn’t want to lose his friendship over something like this. I like being around him. I felt like I was having a heart attack when he was saying it, though; I tried to leave without him noticing, but he beat me to the exit and dragged me back to the counter. He said that he didn’t regret it—he just didn’t want to upset me in any way. We made plans to go to the waterfall to try to learn how to swim tomorrow, so he’s bringing lunch and I’m bringing dessert. It should be fun! I’ve never seen a waterfall before. He kissed me before I left… so much for proceeding slowly, I guess… not that I’m complaining one bit.
spring5 Today has been a blast. I can’t believe that I agreed to swimming lessons… but I really do trust Peyton, although we’ve only known each other a little while. I’m no fish like Peyton is by any means, but I can at least keep afloat now without having a complete and utter panic attack! I even went underwater, and he taught me how to open my eyes—something I never thought I would be doing. He has this calming aura about him—he knows how to calm my nerves when I’m scared about something. I like it. We found some shells, too! I can’t wait to write my father about all of this. I’ve seen so many beautiful things in just the few things I’ve been here. Peyton mentioned a cave, and so it only took us a split second to decide that we wanted to go and check them out.
spring5 One word: spectacular. I’ve never seen anything like it. Peyton showed me the hot spring inside of the cave; the caves have a hole in the roof that sheds an almost surreal light in the hot spring room. It’s just gorgeous. You have to swing by a rope through the waterfall, though, so I doubt I’ll ever go by myself. I wouldn’t have made it if Peyton hadn’t practically carried me through the falls! He found this strange rock with a symbol on it inside of the hot springs…. We went further in the caves, which was a bit of a struggle since Peyton was scared of bats… but we made it out alive! We found this beautiful room with a gate; we broke the lock and went in. It had diagrams on the walls—Peyton told me about the rumor of the ocean of stars… I’m so excited about possibly finding it! We found Peyton’s grandmother’s journal, and it pretty much is directions for us to be able to collect all of the stones so that we can find this ocean of stars. Isn’t it amazing? It seems like something out of a fairytale… I can’t believe it’s real. But it must be.
spring5 We were both pretty excited at the aspect of this scavenger hunt, but it was getting a bit late. He suggested dinner, so we went and changed, headed over to the Flourite Café afterwards. It’s a really nice place! We both got different things and then switched dishes at the end of the meal—I found out that he used to do that with his mom, just like I used to do that with my sister. It makes me smile. I keep finding these tiny similarities between us that just bring a smile to my face; I love being around him. He wouldn’t let me pay, though—so I leaned over the table and gave him a big kiss and snagged the check. I won. I love how easy it is to make him blush… he’s so cute. As we got up to leave, he said he had something he wanted to show me, so we left the café hand in hand.
spring15 I went to the beach again today—it’s so beautiful there. I got the idea in my head to do some crafts with seashells, so I went there to collect as many as I could find. I bumped into someone, Rue and her cat, Orpheus. She said she had just left the ferry! I immediately went to get settled into my apartment when I moved here, but I guess she was just too eager to sight-see. I offered to show her to the Inn when the cat took off with her wallet… I thought we’d never find him, but I managed to catch him (barely!). I like being around her, she’s pretty friendly. I still don’t know all that much about her, though. Maybe I’ll find out soon—I told her that I worked at the pet store, so hopefully she’ll drop by. Orpheus needs food, after all! I hope she can find the store okay… I gave her my map, so I’m not too worried about it.
