Prologue

I suppose none of this would have happened if I'd never met Aiden. I suppose if I'd listened to the logical senses that had lodged themselves in the back of my brain I wouldn't be here, now, in this situation. The thing is, I never listen to myself. I personally think that a feat such as that is beyond the reaches of my power, of my determination. The power he holds over me is stronger than anything, he binds me to him in a way I never thought was possible. I suppose if all I've gone through during this last year never happened it wouldn't be that way. The strangest thing is, through all the danger… I wouldn't wish a single moment changed, not for anything.

Chapter 1

Wake Up Call

"Lily!" I groaned, hearing my mother's sickly sweet voice. The noise shook me from a restless sleep, bringing me back to reality. I rolled over, pretending I hadn't heard her and bunched the soft (too soft) pillow over my ears. She strode into the room with light, fluttering steps, making me all too aware of how real this was. Disguising my breathing, I took in even, heavy breaths of sweet (too sweet) air. My mother, if you could call her that, was having none of it. She snatched the pillow from my hands, yanking the soft blanket from my legs in one smooth movement. My legs hurriedly curled to my chest, hoping to hold onto some of the comforting warmth of my sleep.

"Lily!" My mother barked more fiercely this time. "Get. Up." She tossed the covers and pillow to the other side of the room, so I'd have to get up to recover them. "You have to go to school."

School. The word made my stomach cramp, my palms sweat. I groaned once more. "Mari- Mom! I'm not ready." Sitting up I wrapped my arms around my legs to try and preserve some warmth.

"Then get ready!" She was already out the door.

"I mean I'm not ready to go to school! I'm…" My voice softened to a whisper. "Nervous." Marion Snow, my mother turned around, standing in the doorway to my tiny room. She gave me a look. A look that conveyed her feelings on the matter, I was doomed, forced to go to school. Then she turned around, and padded softly down the stairs. I heard banging in the kitchen, meaning she was getting breakfast; for herself, never me.

Sighing I ran a hand through my knotted hair. Slowly I put my feet on the floor of my room. The cold concrete chilled me even further than the weather outside. It was raining. Again. Fishing through my small dresser drawer I pulled out a pair of worn jeans. There were no holes; they were just faded on the butt, the backs of the thighs, and the front of the thighs. They were my favorite pair of jeans. I opened my miniscule closet and rummaged through, surveying my options. I pulled out a sunny yellow halter dress that hung three inches above my knees. The 'straps' of course were of no use, but hey, it was cute. Yanking a black crop jacket out of the closet I hurried to the bathroom.

I showered quickly, letting the warmth soak into my bones for as long as I could. I hopped out and dressed, still moving quickly. I blow dried my hair, cringing at all the noise it made. Observing myself in the mirror I went through a mental check list. Not too many pimples dotting my pale skin… my fiery hair wasn't too frizzy, just its normal wave. I groaned, already dreading the day, not knowing what to expect. My clear, ice blue eyes stared back at me through the mirror, slowly filling with tears. Why had I come here anyway? I quickly swatted at the tears as they seeped from my large and 'beautiful' eyes, as some people called them. I dried my face and applied a thin layer of black eyeliner, covered my already long lashes in mascara, stroked a bit of blush onto my cheeks and stared at my reflection again.

"You have fifteen minutes until the bell rings, what the heck are you DOING up there, Lily?!" I sighed. It would have to do. I stuck a pair of small hoops into my delicate ears and ran loudly down the stairs to the kitchen. I grabbed a granola bar and quickly unwrapped it. I threw the wrapper into the trash and bit into the food hesitantly, god knows how old it was. Luckily it was fresh. I sprinted up the stairs, still eating the granola bar. I shoved all my new school supplies into my over the shoulder book bag as I finished off the food. Brushing off my hands I walked across the hall to the bathroom, where I quickly brushed my straight teeth, thank god the braces had been taken off before I moved here. I took one last glance in the mirror. I was ready. Mostly.

I ran to my truck, taking the steps two at a time. I fished my keys from my purse pocket and stuck them in the ignition of the fairly new red truck. It started noisily, and I pulled away from Marion's house. My house.

I was halfway to town when I realized I had no idea where the school was. Crap. Keeping my eyes open, I luckily found the high school quickly, it was located on the main street that led into the small town. I pulled into an empty parking spot and sat back in my seat, wiping my clammy hands on my jeans. I was so not ready for this. A new school, a new set of people, a new set of teachers of new friends, I could not handle this. Until I saw him that is…

Chapter 2

Him

He was beautiful, if no guy in the world could be called beautiful, then I would still call him beautiful. Granting that I'd only seen the back of his head. He had wavy hazelnut colored locks of hair that was worn just below his earlobes. His skin was a pale color, the color of cream. I couldn't even see his face and I knew he was the best looking guy I'd ever seen. He wore a long sleeved blue and white pinstriped button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to a point just below his elbows. The ratty jeans he was wearing fit him perfectly, with some odd sort of grace. He was breathtaking.

Literally. It was ten seconds after I'd spotted him that I realized that I'd stopped breathing. I forced myself to exhale, and then inhale. I grabbed my backpack and my purse. I swung them over my shoulders and jumped out into the drizzle. Slamming the car door I begun to run towards him. Okay, I knew it was irrational, but I was afraid I might somehow lose him if I didn't talk to him now.

Seeming to hear my clumsy footsteps his back stiffened. "Hey!" I called out to him. It was as if he hadn't heard me. He kept walking. In fact, he seemed to speed up quite a bit. As if he was avoiding me.

I finally caught up with him. I stepped out in front of him and stopped. He was absolutely the cutest guy in the history of the world. Ever. His features were just manly enough, yet they had a delicate edge to them as well. His nose was perfectly pointed, and not too large. Great, masculine cheekbones jutted out just far enough. And his eyes. God. He had amazing eyes. They were large, and set perfectly above his nose. And their color… they were deeply set, gray, cloudy, but intricate. They made him look super charming, and super intelligent and understanding all at once.

"Hey." I finally recovered from the shock of his good looks. He nodded and tried to continue on around me, his eyes guarded, and his posture was anything but relaxed. "I'm new, and I was wondering if maybe you could show me the office? There are so many different buildings…" Never describe me as shy. I hate meeting new people, even though I'm quite good at making friends. Some call me overly friendly, and I guess it's probably a good description of me.

The boy's thick, rouge colored lips curled into a sarcastic smile. He pointed towards a building. "It's right there. You know, the building labeled 'office.'" He shook his head and walked off, leaving me to feel incredibly juvenile, stupid, and red in the face.

"Right. Thanks!" I yelled after him meekly. Walking to the office I slowly regained my composure.

---------------------------------------------------

"Thanks." I smiled at the plump lady sitting in the over stuffed chair in the office. I took the papers she'd handed me, a map of the small school, a schedule, a list of after school activities, a planner, and a list of upcoming school events.

"Oh, you're welcome honey!" She patted my hand awkwardly and went back to her work. I quickly scanned my schedule. Algebra. Blah. I looked over my map utill I knew that I could find my classroom, took the late slip the lady had handed me and headed out into the rain again.

I pulled the hood of my blue hoodie up over my already soaked hair. So much for looking good on the first day.

I tried unsuccessfully to slink unnoticed into my math class room. Of course being a teacher, the teacher with floppy brown hair and overly large, dull blue eyes noticed me immediately. "Come in, come in!" He put his arm over my shoulder, alarming me thoroughly. I heard a deep, charming chuckle from the back of the room. I shot a look to the back and found none other than Mr. Handsome sitting in the back row, laughing silently at my distress, his feet set comfortably on the table in front of him. "I'm Mr. Jame, your math teacher." He was beaming down at me scarily. Like he wanted to eat me. I distantly imagined vampire fangs hanging down viciously from his mouth. Nope. Didn't fit him at all. He was too kindly scary. "You must be the new student, Lillian Snow," Gosh, was he still rambling?

"Lily." I interrupted.

"Excuse me?" He looked confused, as if he didn't expect me to speak until commanded, like a dog.

"My name. It's Lily, not Lillian. Well it is Lillian, but I prefer Lily…" I wanted to smack myself in the face for rambling on like that on the very first day of school. What a great first impression.

"Oh. Well then, Lily, go sit back there next to…" He looked towards the back. "That kid." He pointed to Mr. Handsome as though he didn't know his name. Probably didn't. I nodded, shifted my heavy book bag into a more comfortable position on my shoulder and walked towards the back of the room. All eyes were on me. Except his. His were on his shoes, which were now on the floor, not the desk. I slid uncomfortably into the chair next to him and tried to concentrate on what Mr. Jame was saying. But it was so hard, with Mr. Handsome sitting next to me, it was next to impossible.

I felt a sharp jab in the side. I jumped, barely covering up a yelp. Turning, I found Mr. Handsome eyeing me carefully, a pencil poised in his hand, the culprit of my torture. "What?" I hissed.

"You should get to work on your homework." He pulled out an unused copy of the math book that we were obviously using in this class. When had that got there? Geesh, daydreams, really get you sidetracked I guess. "Page 147, 1 through 20." He turned away again. Was that it? Was that all the interaction I deserved after such a horrible beginning to a day? No way. I could not let that stand… even though something told me I should.

"What's your name?" I questioned quietly, hoping nobody heard.

He turned to glare at me. What the heck? What did I do? "Aiden. Aiden Young." He turned back to his homework while I chanted his name repeatedly into my soul. Aiden, Aiden, Aiden, Aiden. I smiled to myself. Aiden Young.