Chapter One.
Luna Matlin woke up once again to the sound of an owl hooting outside her window. She remained frozen, staring into the eyes of the owl as the owl's eyes leered into hers, seemingly searching for something deep within her. Luna emerged from her bed, threw a robe on and walked over to the window. The owl did not stir and continued to observe her studiously. It was not afraid and neither was Luna. She opened her window and extended her arm out, unafraid. The owl studied the arm, knowing there was no ill intent on Luna's part. It slowly walked to her hand and with a huff it jumped on her thumb. Luna smiled at the owl and suddenly it leaped to her shoulder, rubbing its head on her cheek. Instinctually, Luna petted the owl's head. Suddenly, there was a loud hooting sound out in the night. The owl dipped its head in contentment and satisfaction, which was returned by Luna. Then the owl flew out the window to join its friends. Such a lovely creature, Luna thought to herself. She closed her window and returned to her bed. She waited for exhaustion to take over, but it never came. She tossed and turned in her bed with frustration. Maybe I should fly out the window with the owl seeing how I can't get any sleep at night. Note to self: ask mom for sleeping pills in the morning. Luna remained in this motionless, sleepless state until the sun crept its way into her room. She fell asleep as the sun touched her body. Her mother called for her, "Luna! Time to get up for school!" If only school was at night, so I could sleep through the day. But then I wouldn't be able to see any animals…I guess I better get up. If I'm going to be a vet someday, I need to do well in school. Luna jumped from her bed and went into her bathroom. She examined her appearance. Her golden tresses of hair were frantically pointing in random directions. Her translucent face was clear of any discrepancies and her eyes remained green. Her eyes widened, searching for the bags of exhaustion that should be under her eyes. She waited for them appear, but they never did. With an exasperated sigh she stepped into the shower to get ready for school. After the shower, Luna threw on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, despite the cold temperatures invading the outdoors. Her jacket remained on her desk in her room. She threw her long hair into a high ponytail and went downstairs to eat yogurt and cereal for breakfast. Her mother thought that she was crazy for being a vegetarian, but it never bothered Luna. She couldn't stand the sight of meat or chicken, let alone ingest it. She quickly prepared a salad for lunch and headed out the door to her car. "Bye mom! Bye dad! See you later!" she waved. "Bye Lu-Lu!" her mother and father said simultaneously, using her childhood nickname. Luna drove to her friend, Elysia's house. Elysia's auburn tresses bounced up and down as she emerged from her house. Her brown eyes filled with happiness.
"Hey girl!" Elysia greeted as she stepped into the car. "Hey! So I am so ready for this biology test. I studied for a solid 2 hours. How about you?"
Luna responded as she started the car, "I didn't study that much, I just skimmed over the pages. I'm not worried about the test at all. There really is no need for me to study as much."
"I don't know why you put so much time into it when we both have this," Elysia said, pointing to her head.
"Yeah, well my parents think that having photographic memory doesn't fall under studying so they made me sit in my room for at least 2 hours looking at the book. Even though, I've already memorized the book from cover to cover." Luna pulled into Raina's driveway, honking the horn a couple times.
"Yeah, me too. How bizarre is it that you, Raina and I have photographic memory. Not only that, you want to be a vet, I want to be an architect and Raina wants to be a lawyer. I feel like somehow we're all connected somehow. I mean how do we have great memory and our parents don't? I just find that weird."
"Yeah, I hear ya. It's probably just a weird coincidence. Nothing to get stressed out about."
"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late!" Raina ran towards the car, hopping in the backseat. She pushed a piece of her honey brown hair behind her ear, out of her brown eyes. Luna backed up and started towards school. "What took you so long? Were you writing new amendments for the Constitution?" Elysia joked.
"Haha, very funny. No, I was just finishing up this application for this summer internship for the local courthouse." Raina responded enthusiastically.
"Wow, that's so cool Rae…I know you will definitely get it. They'd be stupid to reject you," Luna said encouragingly. "Don't you think so, Ellie?" Luna added, glaring at Elysia.
"Yes, very cool. In fact, I'm jealous that you're doing something productive over the summer. I should start looking into architecture workshops and art classes to improve my sketching." The girls continued their conversation about summer as they pulled into the parking lot of Parker High School. Luna spotted a parking space immediately and pulled into it and turned the engine off. The girls emerged from the car and started walking towards the entrance. They were stopped by a group of jocks, one of which notoriously known, Justin Anderson.
"Hey girls. We were just talking about this party that's going on tonight and were wondering if you hotties were planning on being there," Justin said with a wink and grin plastered on his face.
"No," Raina said with an irritated glare.
"Aw, come on. Don't be like that, Rae," Travis Carson said.
"I'm gonna be how I want to be. If you don't like that I'm just gonna take that parking ticket you got last week and shove it up your a-"
"What she means boys is that we are not interested," Luna interjected.
"Are you sure, Lu-Lu? I was hoping we could get to know each other better," Justin said, stroking Luna's arm suggestively.
"I'd be stupid to go with you." Luna snapped, yanking her arm out of Justin's reach.
"What about you, Elysia?" Cody Johnston asked.
"Hmm…let me think. I've been thinking so hard about this."
"You have, huh?"
"Yes, I have," Elysia, purred, stroking his arm.
"And what conclusion have you come to?"
"Come here. Let me whisper it to you." Cody leaned in and turned his head towards Elysia's mouth. "HELL NO!" Elysia yelled into his ear. Cody jumped back, startled at the sudden increase of volume in his ear. He clutched his ear in his hand, writhing in pain.
"Just you wait girls. You'll see it our way and you'll want to be with us. You can't say no forever," Justin said as he pushed Cody away with the rest of the jocks following close behind him.
"Ugh." Elysia said.
"Tell me about it," Luna agreed.
"When will they get it through their thick ass skulls that no one sane would ever be interested in them?" Raina asked, irritated.
"When will you stop resulting to violence?" Elysia asked.
"I'm not violent. I'm just defensive about who comes near me and acts like a total dou-"
"Rae, don't finish that sentence. We get it. Those guys are arrogant jerks that think they can get anything they set their eyes on. Now let's get to class before we are late for the bio test," Luna interrupted. They walked to their class in silence.