AN: So hi guys! I wasn't sure if I could post this on here, but I figured it would be okay? Idk. I'm not giving up on Ganga Fram because this is my original piece and it's finished, but I thought I would post it up here so that you guys could tell me how I do with my own characters and stuff. :)

"So guess where Killian is going this weekend?" I slammed my locker shut and turned to Zo. She threw me the are-you-kidding-me look, her brow furrowed together in puzzlement. Zo was my best friend. Her natural blond hair tumbled down to the middle of her back and she housed more neon colors in that head of hers than anyone I knew. Her mouth was usually on constant babble mode, but today she was being oddly quiet.

"He's playing again and he still isn't letting you see him sing?" Zo's confused expression just made me angry. My boyfriend, Killian, played in a band every couple of weekends at a pub behind the woods on my land, and not once had I seen him play. He was singing at the pub again this weekend, and had failed to tell me until today. People chatted animatedly around me, but their words drifted in one ear and out the other. It was as if Zo and I were in our own bubble and the world around us seemed unreal when I didn't focus on it.

"I just don't understand why I'm not allowed to go." I headed towards our algebra class slowly. People openly complained when they had to walk around us, but I simply ignored them. I did not want to be early to math and be classified as the class pet or a nerd. Plus, our school was easily maneuverable and we'd be able to get there quickly if the need arose.

Now I think about it, Killian was always making up excuses to keep me from seeing him play. No matter how much I whined and complained he just simply refused to let me see him perform.

"The people there get a little too drunk and it's too dangerous for you," was his famous response. It didn't make sense to me; I could handle a couple of drunks. However, when I brought that up to him, he made me feel foolish when he laughed and explained it wasn't the kind of drunk I was used to. I didn't understand what he meant, but he refused to give me a straight answer. The only reason I wanted to go, besides listening to my boyfriend use his mouth in a different way other than kissing me, was to make sure all the girls were keeping their filthy paws off him. Killian was the type of guy that would make you stop in your tracks and have you drooling to your toes by just mere glance. If it wasn't his thick shoulder length, naturally straight black hair that fringed over his left eye or his luminous emerald eyes, it was that accent of his. He was full Irish. Born and raised in Dublin, only to move to the United States of America when he was twelve.

"Hello? Earth to Alea. Stop daydreaming! We're going to be late for algebra," Zo complained as she knocked her knuckles against my skull. I shook my head and forced myself back into the present. I had stopped walking right in the middle of the hallway and people were muttering and I even got shoved a couple times as they had to maneuver around us. I could hear the warning bell in the intercom across the hallway. Students increased their walking to sprinting. Tardiness wasn't tolerated at Bangor High.

I sighed and grabbed Zo's arm to stop her from hitting me, and hurried towards Algebra. I could lose myself in my thoughts once class started. I always zoned out in there anyway. I had given up on math; it was my worst subject, and no amount of tutoring from Zo was going to change that.

We made it just before the bell rang.

"Cutting it a little close, as usual," Mr. Greene said with a bored expression. He waved his pudgy hand to tell us to get seated. None of us understood why Mr. Greene taught; he absolutely hated kids after his son ruined his marriage by his birth. It was a rather terrible story, and our feelings for Mr. Greene were mutual.

I quickly took the seat in the back; it was an easy place to slack off and daydream. Zo, of course, took a seat at the front. She was an overachiever. My B's and C's paled in comparison to Zo's straight A's. We had just finished finals; today was our last real day of school.

Mr. Greene started lecturing about being safe during our summer vacation, rubbing his thinning sandy hair every few moments. The moment he started talking was the moment it was my cue to zone out.

I thought back to last year as a sophomore. Killian was part of our group, like cliques work. Our high school was just like any other school. It had the jocks, preps, nerds, and emos. You name it; we had it. Killian, Zo and I were of the latter. What made us different from Killian though; he was extremely popular at our school. Yes he stereotypically emo, but they sure didn't treat him like they treated Zo and me. The only reasoning behind that, at least it was my best guess, is because he was hot and the fact that he's foreign makes him a shiny new toy for high school kids, especially the girl's attending here.

That was why it had surprised me when he asked me to be his girlfriend. I had figured he would have fallen for one of the cheerleaders or something. Marie and him had been hanging out a lot when he first moved here and we hadn't talked at all besides introductions one day in the hallway when I bumped shoulders with him.

I just wanted the teasing and rude comments to stop, so I had said yes, thinking it would make me popular too. That, and part of the acceptance was the fact that I had liked Killian for a while, but was too cowardly to do anything about it.

I was wrong, of course. It just made things worse. People got jealous. The girls had hated me because I was his. The guys because I was his undivided attention, apart from his so called band that I had never seen played. Apparently the other guys in his band weren't from around here, so I couldn't meet them, which angered me. "Sweetheart, there are some things that you're better off staying away from." And then he would peck my lips and ignore any further questioning.

I flinched when the bell rang, and the people sitting around me stared for a moment before shaking their heads and packing up their stuff. People at school thought I was going off my rocker, because of my care-free behavior around my friends outside the classroom.

Zo was waiting impatiently for me at her seat, and I hastily pushed loose doodle paper into my binder. That class had passed by so quickly. With a jolt I realized my junior year was over. Algebra was my last class of the day. I scooped up my stuff with renewed excitement and met Zo at the class door.

"You girls have a nice summer now," Mr. Greene called out; he knew we weren't coming tomorrow. All the teachers knew half the student population would suddenly come up with the "flu" to avoid the last day, because, well, it was pointless to come.

"You have a nice one too, Mr. Greene!" Zo waved to Mr. Greene and I just rolled my eyes and pulled her out of the classroom before Zo and Mr. Greene discussed math equations. She was such a suck up when it came to teachers and grades.

"Where do you suppose Killian is?" I asked Zo, craning my neck to attempt to catch a glance at the gorgeous head of his over the mass of students. I was completely failing at spotting him. I was way too short to see over the mass of taller teenagers who shot up like weeds over the school year. There were also some that were jumping and yelling and being teenagers. Some of the teachers were trying to keep some of the more troublesome kids from causing trouble, and I rushed towards the front of the building with Zo at my heel. I did not want to waste any time in this school than I had to.

"Probably at your car, where he meets you every day after school," Zo replied with an unexplainable tone to her voice. I shoved her playfully and then look horrified when I pushed her into one of the cheerleaders, Alison.

"Watch it, bitch!" Alison was the stereotypical cheerleader; blond hair, blue eyes, long legs and no brains. It was a wonder why guys like them. Then I remembered; she had fake boobs the size of basketballs and no sort of personal space. I curled my fingers into fists and started to retort, when Zo pushed me forward.

"Why did you do that?" I grumbled, annoyed with the fact that I didn't get to punch Alison in those stupidly straight teeth of hers. She was a rude and needed to be put into place. No wonder girls like her got away with being bullies and thinking they were better than everyone else; No one stood up to them. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and made a point to laugh unnecessarily loud. Her group joined her and made very rude comments. The only one I caught was, "Why don't you go home and cut yourself, little emo girl?" I wanted so badly to rip myself from Zo's grip and unleash my fury on the whole lot of them, but Zo kept me in place while I simmered in silence.

"You didn't need to get all bloodied up. You know how Killian feels about you fighting," Zo stated, and I fumed in silence, allowing my feet to take me to the front of the school. It was true, for some reason Killian told me that he did not like fighting in any shape or form, unless the need was absolutely necessary. I didn't understand it at all. From what I knew about the Irish, drinking and fighting was an everyday thing. I massaged my temples and sighed. That boy continued to astonish me. Zo let go of my arm as soon as we stepped outside and I had calmed down a bit.

"Hey," said a deep voice in my ear. It was that voice that always managed to send chills down my back. Killian's strong arms wrapped around my waist, and I leaned back into him, a sigh of contentment seeping through my lips. There was just something about Killian that made all the hate and anger disappear. The incident with Alison seemed to evaporate.

Zo rolled her eyes as I turned myself around to get a kiss from Killian. He didn't complain. When our lips crashed together we were in our own little world, literally. Every time I closed my eyes when I kissed him we were taken to a small meadow: Wildflowers of all different colors swayed in the wind, their magical scent filled my nostrils with nature, dragonflies would fly around our heads, filling my ears with a pleasant buzzing sound. It was better than any 'spark' that Zo described when she had kissed any one of her ex's.

I laughed when I pulled out of the kiss. Killian had the dumbest grin on his face. "What are you smiling about?" I asked, leaning my head against his chest and realizing I probably had the same smile plastered on my lips.

"Can we not just stand here? I got to get home to Ryan and Cole." Zo interrupted before Killian could reply, and I nodded. Ryan and Cole were Zo's little brothers. Lacing my fingers together with Killian's, I pulled him towards my car. When Killian first came here, he would walk every morning and afternoon home. I tried insisting on taking him to school, but he would take one look of disgust at my '52 Ford truck and shake his head, then start walking again. I finally gave up after trying so many times, but I was hoping today he would be a little more lenient.

"No, Al." He said suddenly, using my nickname he gave me. "I can't," he murmured, looking down at me with those bright green eyes of his.

"Why? It's just a car," I complained, poking out my lower lip in a pout. I don't know why I kept trying, honestly. He always somehow beats me home. I pulled my fingers out of his, in an attempt to guilt trip him, but it didn't work. It never did. He just raised an eyebrow and laughed. A couple birds in the nearby tree chattered when he laughed, and then landed on his shoulder. I stomped my foot in frustration. "And why do those damn birds always land on you?" He absentmindedly patted one of the birds on the head with his thumb.

"I have no idea. I think it's an Irish thing. That or I'm just really good with animals," he replied, and then pecked me on the lips.

"And let's just say that I'm afraid I'll puke from your driving." He teased, and I narrowed my eyes in irritation. I wasn't that bad of a driver, was I? Maybe he wasn't telling me everything. Killian was all about his secrets, and he was very stubborn when it came to keeping them.

He suddenly realized he must have said something wrong, and he rubbed the nape of his neck. "Listen, there's something in cars I'm allergic to. It's a rare allergy; I'm doing my limit by just standing next to them, even with the medicine I have that keeps the allergy at bay."

The parking lot was nearly empty now, and Zo had completely given up on trying getting me to hurry along, so she had gotten in my car and sat there, her arms folded across her chest in a pouting position. I chuckled at her noticeably concealed grin and then turned back to Killian. "Okay, fine. Meet you at my house? I have to talk to you." I shot a stern look at him, and he mocked horror. It just made him look hotter than he already was which wasn't fair.

"Anything for you, love." He planted a kiss on the back of my hand and then shoved his fists in his pockets, whistling a tune as he strolled down the sidewalk, in the direction of my house. I watched him till he rounded the corner, out of sight, and then pulled my door open and climbed inside.

"Took you long enough," Zo complained, pushing a loose lock of bright pink hair behind her ear and sitting up straighter. "I swear you guys don't hear anyone else when you're together." I could feel her studying me, but I just put my keys in the ignition and started the car. I put my seatbelt on and Zo did the same, and then I backed out and got on the road before I spoke.

"Sorry, I hadn't seen him since yesterday. I guess I missed him." I glanced over at her and smiled innocently, and she just puffed her cheeks out at me. "You sicken me," she joked, mimicking a gagging motion. A couple cars laid on their horn when I cut them off, but I paid them no mind. Maybe Killian was right and my driving needed some improvement. Oh well.

"That and you just love showing him off," she added, and I couldn't say anything. I couldn't argue with the truth.

We were silent for the rest of the ride, and to avoid awkward silences, I played my Eminem CD. I lived out in the more rural part of Bangor, Maine, where there was more of an open area, with fields and forests. My dad never told me why we lived so far out of town, just that my mother had loved it out here. My mom had disappeared when I was six. From what my dad has told me, she was out watering the garden we have in our back yard one afternoon when she heard beautiful music playing in the forest. I had heard the music too, so I never doubted him. The sound was unexplainable and could not compare to any music in our world; it was so magical and pure that I knew I would remember what it sounded like for the rest of my life.

Apparently, my mom had thrown all her gardening stuff down in a hurry and picked me up, despite the fact that I told her I wanted to go see where the music was coming from. I remember the tears streaming down my face for no reason, but I had been giggling up a storm. She had ignored me and carried me inside, kissed my forehead, and then left. She promised me she would back for me when I was old enough and ready. I waited for her all night; I didn't even sleep when dad had put me down to bed. When the music stopped around midnight, I knew she was gone forever. I cried myself to sleep, and I never saw her again after that. Dad didn't ever mourn; he claimed she would return to us one day. Some days he would sit outside on the bench with her garden and stare at the opening in the woods where she disappeared, as if he stared long enough she would appear from the very place he disappeared.

It took about thirty minutes to get to my house; Zo would have come over but she had to babysit Ryan and Cole so I had to drop her off at home. That caused me to take a detour of about ten minutes so I could take her home. When I got to my house, Killian was sitting on the front porch, waiting for me.

I shook my head, not understanding how he could always get here before me when I had the car and he was just walking. I swear he had a car hidden somewhere or at least a bike. I didn't believe his allergy bullshit.

I pulled up the gravel driveway and parked my car. We owned farmland that was surrounded by forest and our home was made completely of stone, so that it would prevent fire from licking it clean with its fiery tongue. Most of the house was covered in glass windows; my mom liked to live as close to the outdoors as she could, and when she left we never changed it, even though my dad doesn't like it all that much. It was too open for him and he felt like he had no privacy. However, he continued to live on the fact that my mom would be returning and so we kept it the same. The fact he was never home also contributed to it.

The only farm animal we owned was my six year old horse, Elvina, along with a couple other horses. But those were my dad's. My horse was a beautiful black Missouri Fox Trotter.

Elvina snorted excitedly when I walked by. I patted her lovingly on the nose. "You're a good girl. I'll come see you later," I promised her, and she whinnied. I took that as an 'okay' and walked up to the porch. Killian was sitting on the porch swing, watching me intently. I took a deep breath; he would try to get out of talking with me about tonight, but I wouldn't let him. I would be the stubborn one this time. I slumped my shoulders, already defeated. Who was I kidding? I couldn't resist his charming smile and I knew by the end of the talk he would have talked me out of anything.

I squared my shoulders and trudged over to him. He scooted over a little so I could sit next to him, and I snuggled into his side. I didn't have to worry about Dad coming out and being disapproving; he was a firefighter and was at work right now. Kids tend to get a little wild with fire on the first few days of summer around here, so the fire department had a lot of the firefighters stay at the station, just in case.

"Alea, I-" Killian tried to start talking, but I cut him off. If he started to talk, I would never get a chance to. Killian liked to get his word in before I could, and usually his stubbornness left me despairing to get him to listen unsuccessfully. Elvina grazed next to the house, and her presence comforted me.

"No. Killian, when will I ever get to see you play? I don't think it's fair that everyone else in the school can go see you play, but I can't. I'm your girlfriend, I should be allowed backstage, if anything." I took a deep breath and would have continued talking, except Killian placed the palm of his hand over my mouth.

There were a lot of butterflies out today, and many of them took a liking to sitting on Killian's head and shoulders. He ignored them, so I stayed silent, even though it frightened me a little. He knew they were there, he just chose to let them do what they wanted. I would never understand how Killian was so in tune with nature. It must be Irish thing.