Summary: Anastasia Steele finally gets a clean break. After dealing with her drug addict mother, and drunk of a "step-father" she finally gets to go to a place she can really call home. Seattle, Washington with her step-dad Ray. She is now a freshman in high school, and on her first day of school she meets a pair of grey eyes that she cannot stop thinking about.
DISCLAIMER: All of the characters from the Fifty Shades series used in this story belongs to E.L. James
Chapter One
Freshman Year Quarter One
APOV
One Year Ago
Where am I? I could feel myself taking deep breaths. The motion of the rising and falling of my chest was causing excruciating pain throughout, what felt like, my whole body. What is that annoying sound?
"Ana? Ana, honey, can you hear me?"
Dad? What is he doing in Georgia? I'm trying to move my body, to say something to him, but I can't. I feel like I am paralyzed, unable to form any type of word or motion. Will I be left to my thoughts forever?
"This may take some time Mr. Steele but she will come back, we just need to have some patience. She went through a very traumatic event."
Who is that? What traumatic event are they talking about? Come on Ana just open your eyes, wiggle a finger, do something! Let daddy know you're here. I begin taking count of my body, imagining myself wiggling my toes, moving my legs in the slightest just to cause daddy to look at me. I imagine myself wiggling my fingers,and scrunching up my eyes to-
"Wait did you see that? Do it again Ana, come on!"
They noticed that? I imagined myself doing it again which caused daddy to respond excitedly again. Okay Ana time to open your eyes. You know you can do it. On the count of three. One … two …. THREE. Instantly a bright light came into my view, and my eyes shut once again.
"Hi Annie."
Hearing the sounds of Ray's voice brought me to up my eyes once again. Oh how I missed you daddy.
"Daddy?" My voice cracking with emotion. I could feel the tears forming, and rolling down my cheeks. Ray instantly pulled me into his arms, making sure to avoid the wires surrounding my body.
"Oh Annie Bear. Shh, honey, don't cry. No one's going to hurt you anymore." And with those words it all came back to me. Mom wasn't home. The punching. Mom was never there. The kicking. The pain was unbearable. I looked up at the only man I could truly call my dad, and noticed the tears that were silently falling down his face.
"I tried daddy. I tried to fight be his was just too big … I'm sorry." I was no longer trying to hold back the cries, I was full out sobbing. Ray instantly brought me back into his arms, and began slowly rocking me back and forth while rubbing his hands, in a comforting motion, down my arms.
"Oh no Annie bear, you were so strong. I know you did everything you could, I just should have been there sooner." He whispered softly into my ear.
"No daddy it's not your fault. I should've stopped him, I should've fought, I should-" I couldn't control the sobs any longer. Ray pulled me in tighter than before, promising me that I would never would have to go back to that place again.
Present Day
"Ms. Steele?" The teacher was staring at me worriedly as the kids in the classroom snickered. This is the first time I've had a flashback in a while. Usually there's some sort of trigger, but there are those few times where it just happens. This had been my third time transferring schools in the span of five years, but this time it's different. This time I would be safe, no need to run straight into my room once I get home, no need to lock the doors, to keep quiet. This time it would just be me and Ray … and that's all I need.
My dad passed a little after I was born, then my mom met Ray, and he became a father figure for me. He was the only man I could consider a dad in my life, and even when they divorced, Ray and I still kept in contact. Ever since their split my mom has been all over the place, it seemed like there was a new guy every week. It came to the point that when she would tell me she met a new guy I would never take her words seriously, I mean no guy lasted that long. Well that was until Steve came along.
He and my mom met at a casino one night, and the next thing I knew he was living with us. My mom was never around all of a sudden, and when she was, she would barely talk to me. It wasn't until one night when I saw Steve giving her pills that I came to the realization that I would never have my mom back. Steve would supply my mother pills daily, but only if she followed every command of his. It he wanted her to clean, she would clean. If he wanted her to cook, she would cook. As the months continued on, his requests and commands began to get bigger. It came to the point where she was completely unrecognizable. She would ignore my screams, ignore my begging for us to get away. I became Steve's punching bag, and it wasn't until he beat me so badly that I had to be rushed to the hospital, that she finally noticed the hell that I was living in. When I finally became conscious I explained what had been happening to the police officers who questioned me about the situation, and I was relieved to find out I was going home with Ray.
So that brings me here, in Seattle, Washington, one year later as a freshman attending Seattle Prep.
The sound of the clearing of someone's throat and a group of soft laughter causes me to come out of my trance. I look to see my History teacher staring at me with a concerned expression.
"I'm sorry … what was that?" I whisper hoping to not embarrass myself even more.
"I said why don't you sit next to Mr. Grey." She replies softly. I look over to where she pointed and inwardly gasp. This is the most beautiful guy I have seen in my fourteen years! His ashen brown locks were perfectly placed, and I felt as if his steel grey eyes were staring right at me. I give him a quick smile as I take my seat, and am disappointed when I don't get a response from him. Maybe he's just shy. I inwardly think to myself.
"Hi I'm Anastasia." I say happily. He just stares at me with the same solemn expression as he replies.
"Christian Grey." And with that he focus back onto the teacher who is beginning to go over what the year is going to look like. Or maybe he's just rude.
The class goes by painfully slow, and it comes to the point that I am checking the clock every two minutes. Throughout the whole entire class Christian pays absolutely no mind to me, and focuses on mainly the textbook or the teacher. As soon as the bell rings, I am not surprised at how fast Christian bolts out of his seat, and out of the classroom.
It is now lunch time and I have absolutely no idea where I should sit. The signs educate me on the seating arrangement, but I am still at a loss at my place in this zoo of a cafeteria. The seniors take the courtyard, juniors take the booths, and the sophomores and freshmen take whatever seats are left. Although it seems like even the freshmen here know exactly where they want to sit, and here I am in the middle of the cafeteria looking like a complete idiot.
"Hey new girl, over here!" I look over to where the blunt comment was made, and am surprised to see the owner. This girl is absolutely gorgeous! She has some of the clearest blue eyes I have ever seen, with strawberry blonde hair, a perfect smile, and the best taste in clothing to tie it all together. I begin to think we are both going to sit here in silence until the blonde bombshell begins to speak.
"Hi I'm Kate!" She says with a smile.
"Anastasia, but everyone calls me Ana." I respond quietly. I think she is beginning to notice how dumbstruck I am at her forwardness.
"Sorry, you're weirded out aren't you?" I begin trying to relieve her and shake my head no, but she begins speaking at one hundred miles an hour again.
"Of course you're weirded out. My mom always yells at me for being too upfront, you know, making people uncomfortable. I promise I'm not some freak, I just have never seen you before, and this is a kind of area where everyone knows everyone so I know you have to be new. And it sucks being the new girl and a freshman so I thought I would help. Obviously that's backfiring on me, so you don't have to stay and eat lunch with me if you don't want to." I'm still stuck silent, I've never met anyone really like her.
"Okay how about this, I'll move so you don't have to feel awkward about finding a new seat. Yeah that should be better." She begins packing up her lunch, and getting up when I put my hands up to try to stop her.
"No! I mean it's fine. Of course I would love to have lunch with you. I really appreciate the offer." I say giving a genuine smile. When I was with my mom and him, I wasn't able to have that many friends. I was told to come home right after school, and immediately begin cleaning and cooking. With that, and all of the bruises that were beginning to form along my body, many of the kids teased me and thought I was extremely weird. It was nice to come some place new, and be able to just have a fresh start. There were no prior judgements, and people could finally know me for me.
Over lunch we talked about why I moved here, of course I didn't go into details, but I did give her the basics. I wanted a fresh start so I moved in with my dad … not the whole truth, but not a lie. She told me who everyone was and all of their business. She informed me about the people to stay away from, and those who were okay to talk to. As we were talking I noticed someone move out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to look I noticed that it was Christian, and he's sitting with another boy who is failing at trying to have a conversation with him. Christian just continues paying attention to his meal, and once in awhile, he will give short responses. Kate notices where my attention is placed, and smirks.
"That's Christian Grey." I look back at Kate, blushing since I was caught.
"Yeah I know I sit next to him in my History class. Who's he with?" I ask quietly.
"The smokin' hot blonde is his brother Elliot. He's a junior, and is the star running back on the football team." She says while gazing at him.
"It sounds like you like him." I respond.
"Well of course I mean who doesn't. But it doesn't matter because he can have anyone and I know he wouldn't want some freshman." Kate says staring at her hands.
"That doesn't really mean anything Kate, you shouldn't let that be the reason you're holding back."
"Yeah" She whispers while staring down at her fingers.
Throughout lunch Kate and I continue to talk about the people here at Seattle Prep. I feel like Kate knows everyone's business. Which both slightly petrifies and intrigues me. While I do enjoy listening to Kate's stories, I can't stop staring at Christian Grey. He just looks so sad. The frown and furrowed brows formed on his face seems to be permanent, and for some reason I can't stop thinking of ways to get him to smile. Suddenly Christian's eyes look up directly at mine, and I at first it seems like we are both in a trance. His steel grey eyes lock on my blue ones. I quickly look away to hide my embarrassment. I can feel my cheeks become a bright red. Smooth Steele, real smooth.
"Ana?" Kate says with concern.
"What?" I say quickly hoping she doesn't notice until the reddening of my cheeks. I notice Kate's eyes follow the direction of where my eyes last were and smirks when she sees who caught my attention.
"The Grey brothers are a sight to be seen." She says with a wink. I know that my cheeks are now even redder than before.
One Month Later
APOV
Surprisingly these first couple of weeks have been going well. Kate has been really helpful with introducing me to people, and giving me the nuts and bolts of our high school. Ever since that first day at lunch, she has been coming over my house every day, and she's even given me a nickname. Steele. We're currently on our way to the local mall because apparently I am "in dire need of an upgrade" as Kate put it.
So here I am, Anastasia Steele, walking into Forever 21 to try on probably a countless number of clothing.
"Okay so I'm getting the classic chic vibe from you Steele." She says while inspecting my clothing choice from my shoes to my shirt.
"A what?" I ask. She ignores my inexperience and quickly goes to a closing rack and begins rummaging through the clothes. All of a sudden I am getting thrown shirt after shirt, pants, skirts, and even more things. Next thing I know I am being pushed to a changing room. After countless hours of trying on numerous articles of clothing Kate has finally decided to end our shopping expenditure.
In total I had tried on four dresses, three skirts, five pairs of pants, and too many types of shirts to count. We made our way to the cash register and Kate must of noticed the shock in my eyes when I saw the price because before I could look in my wallet for cash Kate handed the lady her shiny black American Express card.
"Wait Kate you really don't have to do that." I did want to seem like some charity case, that Kate felt like she had to help. She was my first real friend, and I didn't want her to feel like she had to constantly help me, she has already helped me immensely.
"Shut it Steele. I was the one to drag you here so this is my way of thanking you okay?" I slightly nodded in response.
Kate and I head our way over to the food court, and as she heads over to Taco Bell, I make my way to Papa Johns. As I wait in line I hear my phone go off, and when I look I see that it is a text from Ray asking when I'll be home. As I begin to respond to him, I feel myself getting pushed back by another person, and when I look up to see who the person is, I internally grimace.
"Watch where you're going." Christian's misty grey eyes are intensely glaring back at me.
"I'm sorry" I whisper in response. For some reason Christian makes me feel the urge to crawl into some type of shell.
"Well if you paid attention to what's in front of you more so than what's trending on twitter than this would've never happened." He growled. Is he serious? I was a push, by accident. It's not like I was looking for the Christian Grey just so I could bump into him. And there's absolutely no need for assumption. Ugh.
"Look it was an accident, there's no need to be rude Christian." His glare quickly turns into confusion.
"What?" I asked. He continues to stare at me like he's in some trance.
"Nothing." He whispered, and then he was gone. Geez I can't deal with this back and forth shit, it's giving me whiplash.
AN: Hi guys, I know it's been a really long time since my last update, and you're probably super confused at this chapter. I've been rereading this story of mine, and have found numerous mistakes. It's come to the point where I am no longer satisfied with how this story is going, and I've decided to re-write it. My goals for the story, are to lessen the mistakes, make the chapters longer, and make the story run more smoothly. I hope you guys support my decision, and just bare with me. I want this to be the best story possible, and it will take some time.
xoxo
