Chapter 1

My mom drove me to our new house located in Wildrose North Dakota. Population: 129, now 131, 63 buildings and 37 families. My mom made us move on an attempt to escape my crazy father who had beaten me yesterday night, leaving me with bruises and cuts, but no big deal…..

"Where's your mother!" My dad yelled at me, holding a bottle of rum in one hand and in the other a belt. He smacked me good and hard near my ribs. I let out a scream and tried to crawl away but he grabbed me by the wrist and jerked me to look him straight in the eyes. The smell of alcohol was on his breath and it was strong.

"Now be a good girl and tell me where mommy is." He demanded. I didn't reply, I mean I couldn't! I tried to remember some moves to protect myself and the only one that came to my mind was the groin. Of course I didn't because that would only mean more beating.

"Where is she!?" He yelled and then I heard the front door open. My dad released my wrist and stamped over to the living room, which was where my mom was removing her coat.

"Where's the money women, I need my booze!" He demanded and then slapped her across the face. She didn't even flinch; she was too used to it. She looked him in the eyes and he starred back coldly. Then she motioned me to come to her. I obeyed, but I had hesitated, what did she want me to do?

"Come on Alexis, we're leaving." She grabbed my now bruised wrist and led me out the door and into our black Taurus.

That had been the last time I had seen my daddy. I missed him. I just knew I needed to help him get through this problem and guide him down the right path. Even though he abused me, I loved him.

"Well what do you think?" My mom asked, her brown hair turning over to look at me and her brown eyes shinning. I looked like my dad, blonde hair and blue eyes.

Really the place was just a ghost town, a few stores that needed a serious paint job stood out and a bench was here and there. Most of the streets were gravel and there were not a lot of trees.

"It's fine." I murmured. I starred out the car window into the night sky; it had taken all day to get here from Texas.

"Alright, we're going to stay with a friend until we find a house, but this is where you'll spend your last 2 years of high school.

When we pulled into the gravel drive way the car made a weird noise, the sound of gravel and car mixed.

The place was nice, it was green and I could tell it was a two story house, one upstairs, and one downstairs. I stepped out and took in a long, deep breath. The air was fresh; it smelled like it had just rained.

A woman that looked my mom's age came running out and hugged her.

"Oh my gosh, I heard what happened! And you are welcome to stay here whenever you want." She cooed to my mom. Then she turned to me.

She had hazel eyes and brown hair, "You must be Alexis May Carter!" She ran over to me and gave me a hug; I winced as she squeezed my bruises.

She pulled away to get a good look at me, "Why, what a beautiful girl you are!" She announced, "How old are you?" She asked.

"I'm 17." I replied.

She looked at my arms and froze, but didn't say anything. We went inside and mom showed me around. There were two floors, like I had predicted, the middle floor contained a living room, 2 bedrooms and a kitchen, while the upstairs held my room and the bathroom. Talk about small….

"You're starting school tomorrow! Helen already signed you up!" My mom yelled up to me as I laid down on my temporally bed. Helen was the woman who had taken my mother and I in.

Helen was nice and was very talkative; she and my mother had jobs here that would take 22/7. They were travelers. Uh….

My room was plain; it had white walls and blue curtains, and then a huge bed with blue sheets and pillows. There was a desk holding a computer and a phone.

I couldn't stop thinking about school though! How scary! Too scary! How was I going to act? What would people think if they knew my father had beaten me so bad that, that was the reason my mother and I moved? Would they take pity on me? Or think that I would become messed up, or is already messed up for all that matter.

I had to go shopping with my mom sometime, but I had the chance to get some extra clothes.

I changed into my PJ's and got on the internet to instant message Tami, my best friend.

Me: I miss you! How are you? This town is not how my mother described it! It's sooooo small and weird!

I waited for her to reply. The computer said she was on.

Tami: I miss you too! And I know! I checked it out on a google map thingie and it's so totally small!

I laughed out loud and sighed, talking to Tami made me feel much better.

Me: Huh, you pretty much described it.

After a long period of time I finally got this back.

Tami: Sorry I have to go. Mom…..

I understood, besides I had school tomorrow and it was already 11:00. I switched off my light and my computer, hopped into bed and fell asleep.

I woke with a scream, my dad's hands were gone from around my neck and I was in my new room. I took a deep breath and noticed I was sweating. Oh yeah school.

I got up and took a long hot shower, mom and Helen left already and I wasn't ready to give up my time of silence. Silence is good sometimes.

When my shower was done I put on a T-shirt and some blue jeans, it was October 12, 2000.

I ate a bowl of fruit loops and then went to the counter to find a piece of paper, keys, and a piece of chocolate. The paper was a map of the town and on the side was a note form my mom saying,

Dear Alexis,

This is a map of the town, and you get the Taurus! It's all yours! I got a convertible form Helen, its blue. But hope you have fun today at school. See you at 9:00.

Love,

Mom

I sighed, grabbed the keys, the piece of chocolate, my book bag and left. Then I noticed I had forgotten my map so I had to run back in there and get that too. The air was a bit chilly this morning, and the colorful leaves were starting to cover the ground. The air stilled smelled fresh.

I started my new black Taurus and drove to school, following the directions of the map.

Worries crossed my mind from time to time like, "are they going to like me?" or "will I make any friends?"

I reached the sign that read "Wildrose-Alamo public school. Home of the Roses" I sighed a shaky breath and parked my car near a shiny black mustang. Wow some people were just rich.

The school wasn't that big, it was three stories of brick and a few windows, a few trees littered the front of it and the parking lot was small, very small.

I got out and noticed that hardly anyone was here, so I decided I would go get my materials and schedule.

I walked up to the school door and pushed them open, I found the office right away and immediately walked in. A man with blonde hair and blue eyes mad me flinch.

"You're Alexis May Carter aren't you?" He asked with excitement. My mother and I probably made head news, "Mother and child run to Wildrose to start a new life without their abusive dad and husband."

"Uh yeah, I'm here to pick up my stuff." I spoke softly; I didn't like this man already, just because he had blonde hair and blue eyes.

He had everything laid out in front of me in a second, my schedule, my books, and my map of the school. I looked up at the clock above his head, 7:20. Dang, I had time to spare.

As I said my thanks I was already walking out the door. I heard him murmur something but couldn't quite put the words together.

I waited in my car and just studied the map of the school and which teacher I had which period. Order of day:

Math: Mrs. Pole

Health: Mrs. Kay

English: Mr. Cartney

Spanish: Mrs. Diaz

Social studies: Mr. Almay

Lunch

Science: Mrs. Bun

Gym: Mr. Fay

I had it all mesmerized in a second, when I looked over and checked everything it had been time to go. I took a deep breath, sighed and got out of my car to walk up to the school. Everyone was starring at me; most of the girls had brown hair or orange. Most boys had black hair. All the boys didn't look that cute and the girls weren't either.

A guy with black hair and brown eyes walked up to me, "Hey I'm Tim, and you must me Alexis Carter?" He said and then shook my hand, "I could give you a tour of the school if you like." I didn't need a tour; I had everything down, and knew where my classes were and the quickest route to them.

"Um I don't need a tour I have a map, but thanks, Tim." I tried to sound polite; I didn't want to be known as a rebel.

"Where's your first class? I will walk you there." He replied. Boys here were a little to polite and liked to flirt, I noted to myself to store away, this stuff could come in handy.

"I have math, building two with Mrs. Pole." I informed him.

There was a pause and then he answered, "Oh you're going to love Mrs. Pole, she's nice, hey do you have Mr. Cartney for English?" He wondered.

I had to be pathetic and check my schedule, but it turns out I did.

"Yup." I said and that's when I noticed everyone starring at me and Tim. Oh no here comes a rumor….

"Are you serious!? Lucky! I got Mrs. Bow." His lower lip popped up and he made a puppy dog face. As Tim walked me to my first period he told me about weird people and cool people. But when I had to make a stop at my locker I noticed a group of 5 kids huddled near a locker. There were 2 girls and 3 boys. The two I noticed the most was a girl who looked a year older then me, she had long wavy brown hair with……orange…..no red eyes. Come to think of it, they all had red eyes. But they were all so beautiful, so beautiful I couldn't take my eyes off of them. They were all pale, and they had dark circles under their eyes like they were still recovering from a hangover.

The other was a boy with red hair, it was a little darker then bronze, he was skinny like the rest, but he had some nice muscles, I'm sure he had an eight pack under his shirt. His eyes wandered over to meet mine, but turned to look at the ground. I whispered over to Tim, "Who are they?"

He looked over and saw who I was talking about. "Mr. Cartney's foster kids, they're weird, the only reason why people don't talk about them is because their foster dad rocks." Their was pain in Tim's eyes when he caught me sneaking a glance over at the one with the red hair.

The other 3 were good looking but not like the red head and the brunette. The other girl had short strawberry blonde hair with red eyes, and she was really skinny, she wore a wacky outfit, a Tutu and a T-shirt…..

One of the boys had black hair, it was curly and reached his ears like the red head, but he had cowboy shoes on and a cowboy hat…..

The other boy looked like he was strong, but he wasn't huge or nothing he just had nice seized guns.

"The Brunette is Jennie Green and her twin is the one with the strawberry blonde hair, her name is Abby Green." He paused to admire them and then continued, "The boy with the black hair and the cowboy boots is Seth Cartney, and the one who has those huge muscles is Andrew Cartney." He rolled his eyes, I could tell he was jealous, "And the one that has the bronze hair is Edward Cartney." He announced the last boy… Uh Edward fast, like I would ditch him to go talk to them.

When I peeked over at the family they were talking, except Edward, who kept glancing in my direction, he looked like he was concentrating on something. Just then my locker door slammed shut and everyone grew quiet. Edward looked away from me with a startled expression. That was weird.

Tim herded me to my class, when we finally got there he said, "See you after class." When I smiled and turned around I rolled my eyes.

Math was easy, I was in Diff but still, it was easy. I got everything done in a second. Mrs. Pole didn't make me go in front of the class and introduce myself, which was nice. I sat up font and even though I hated it, I knew I was the subject to learn about in math.

People here were weird. I hated all this attention, never before had I had such treatment. All my life while my mom was away at work, it had been my job to watch over my wasted father and clean the house. Even after cleaning I hadn't been rewarded. Now, I had a whole fan club, well so it had seemed to me.

After class a girl with brown hair stalked up to me and said, "Hey you're Lexis Carter right?" I hated it whenever somebody called me Lexy or Lexis or even Alexa. It was Alexis.

"It's just Alexis and yeah." I blushed and looked down, I wasn't good at making friends, and I didn't want to embarrass myself. They girl twirled he pointer finger with a strip of her hair.

"I'm Lilly Peterson, and we should totally be friends." She got this begging look in her eyes and I knew instantly that the whole "trying to be cool" act was fake.

"Sure, what class do you have next?" I asked so we could start a conversation. We didn't leave because I knew I had to wait for Tim.

"Alexis!" I turned around to see Tim jogging up to Lilly and I.

"Hey Tim, Lilly and I are friends." I gave him my best smile and his mouth literally dropped and he stood there like a moron. I felt awkward so I dropped my smile and looked over to Lilly. She was starring at Tim like he was a god from Olympia. I coughed and they both woke up from their day dreaming.

"So now which class?" Tim asked looking me up and down. I blushed and looked at my schedule, "Um Health with Mrs. Kay." I informed them and they were already leading me to her room. Before I went inside the room someone bumped into me. I turned to see the guy with the cowboy boots sit down at the closest table.

Sadly I didn't remember his name, wasn't it like Sam? No Seth! The name popped into my mind like a volcano exploding. His black curly hair was so shiny up close, but I didn't like him as much as Edward. He winced when I walked by him to see where my spot was.

"Ah yes, everyone we have a new student." Mrs. Kay called order to the class and my legs buckled and my heart rate sped up, for in the back of the room was him. Edward Cartney.

"Everyone this is Alexis Carter." She started to clap and the rest of the class joined in, but Edward and Seth looked disgusted. My hot cheeks became cool again, but got hot with anger. What was their problem!? Mrs. Kay whispered in my ear, "You can have a seat by Jacob." She pointed to a guy with black hair and blue eyes. He looked cute and familiar at the same time, although I was positive I had never seen him before. I grimaced when I walked by Edward Cartney's table.

I took my seat and starred at Edward's back, but then I realized everyone was watching every move I make and would suspect something so I faced the front.

"Hey my name's Jacob Night." Jacob turned to me and I turned to look into his blue eyes. They were beautiful….

"Hi I'm Alexis." I blushed and then turned to face the front again. When I peeked at him sideways he looked mad like he couldn't believe I didn't keep our conversation going.

"How do you like Wildrose?" He asked, trying to meet my eyes. I replied but kept facing forward, "Its…small." He almost laughed in class.

I smiled, when he was happy it made me happy, but my eyes wandered over to Edward….

Jacob followed my gaze and growled, like actually growled, my head whipped around to stare at him; he coughed and looked out the window. Jacob was tan, like really tan, I wondered if he was part Indian? I didn't get a chance to ask, I couldn't stop looking at Edward though. When I looked at him I felt safe and confused at the same time…

His red hair was shiny and long, not reaching your neck long but it reached his ears. But he was so pale… It looked like he had never tanned in his whole life! But he pulled it off! Even his brother looked like that! I couldn't believe how pale they were.

I tried a couple of times to look away from Edward but it seemed impossible. After class was over I walked to Mr. Cartney's room With Lilly on one side and Tim on my other. Turns out Lilly had the same class as me.

So did Edward Cartney.

As I walked up to the teacher, Edward grimaced just like he had in Health. What was his problem? Did I smell bad? No, Tim would have told me.

Mr. Cartney was very pale like the rest of his family. I would have to get Tim to explain a little but more of what the Cartney's did for a living.

"Ah welcome Miss. Carter. Please take a…" He froze, like he didn't even blink, I saw Edward up from the corner of my eye. Once Mr. Cartney saw Edward stand he shook his head and whispered sorry. "You can have a seat nest to," He looked around the room, but the only spot open was next to Edward.

Lilly looked like she was ready to gossip and I think I was ready to faint. "Why looks like you have to sit by Edward." He looked at Edward apaligically, and I fumed with madness. What was wrong with me? Was there major gossip about me before I had come? Must have been….

Edward starred at me with concentration again and I felt a little more the embarrassed. When I took my spot next to him I didn't even look at him, even though it was killing me not to look away from hi beautiful face.

He was movie star material, no, god material.