CHAPTER ONE

Beginning

Knock, knock.

The morning sun slowly rose and peaked through the leaves of a big and beautiful oak tree. The autumn wind danced around the leaves, flickering the light across the bedroom window and hitting the face of a young teenage girl. The light glistened over her blonde hair and pale skin. Her eyes shone in the light with the palest blue. She looked tired, but not from just waking up.

Knock, knock.

"Brittany?" The bedroom door opened slowly. An older woman with red hair and a calm and kind face took a step into the room. She smiled gently towards the young girl who was sitting on her bed with her back facing the door, already dressed in a pair of casual jeans and a long sleeved shirt.

"Breakfast is ready whenever you are, sweetie."

Brittany turned her head slightly towards the woman, a small smile gracing her lips. "Okay, Auntie. Thank you."

She then turned away back towards the window as the door closed behind her. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, basking in the light from the sun. She sighed again, her breath was unsteady and shook against her lips as she exhaled. Her hands gripped and clenched the covers of the bed. Brittany opened her eyes and looked around the room for some sort of familiar comfort. Her room was a little messy with some various clothes scattered randomly around the room. The room also contained a desk with a computer on it and a white bookcase resting against the wall closest by the door filled with various novels and folders. It was an ordinary room. Ordinary. Just like me, she thought. She hated this. She hated this day. Her eyes caught the framed photograph standing on her nightstand. It was a picture of her not much younger with a blonde boy by her side. He had his up beside him gripping an invisible sword, puffing up his chest and smiling a broad and goofy smile. Brittany had her arm up like she was flying, wearing a similar goofy smile. She traced the frame gently with her thumb and smiled fondly, remembering the day it had been taken.

FLASHBACK

"No no! Come on, Brit. You have to pose like a rockstar with me. I don't wanna be the only one, you're the bass to my guitar!" A tall and awkward looking boy was dragging Brittany across the room by her arm. He had matching blonde hair, but darker blue eyes and a smile engulfing his boyishly handsome face.

"You're so dorky, Sam!" Brittany laughed, struggling to get free from his grip. She twisted around his body in the opposite direction of his arm successfully breaking free. Sam let her go as soon as he felt the tug on his arm, not wanting to hurt himself. He snickered, thinking how sneaky his friend could be. It gave him an idea that he knew she couldn't refuse. "Fine, how about we pull our finest move out? Superhero pose!"

Brittany stopped for a second to think. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side while humming out a long 'hmm', considering what he just had suggested, knowing already that she couldn't say no to that. If there was anything Brittany loved it was Superheroes, preferably with a unicorn as a sidekick. She shot a skeptical look towards Sam, "Are you sure we should do this?"

Sam smiled triumphantly, "Give me one good reason why we shouldn't. We'll be legends! Who's ever done a double year book photo before, huh?"

Brittany laughed and rolled her eyes. She was sure they wouldn't be. She was sure people had done that before, but couldn't help herself to be swept away by Sam's infectious enthusiasm. For as long as she could remember they had been friends. Best of friends. They would always be there for each other no matter what. She hoped that would never go away. Brittany smiled, stretching her arm out to Sam, waiting for him to join her. "Best legends."

Sam grinned at Brittany and without missing a beat, stretched his arm out as well to meet hers and gripped her wrist. "Best friends." he said in a strong, confident voice unlike his previous playful one. There was no doubt or joke behind it; he meant it.

Brittany smiled back, closed her hand around Sam's wrist and held on tight.

"Always."

END FLASHBACK

Brittany put the picture back on the nightstand and took a deep breath. She could do this, just keep taking deep breaths. No problem. The blonde took one last deep breath and stood up. She walked out, through the hall and down the stairs slowly, one step at a time. She had a small fear of slipping and falling down the stairs ever since she had seen it in a movie. The smell of food hit her right away and her stomach growled loudly. Oh, score! Trying to ignore her fear, she took faster steps and jumped off the last one. She rushed into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Her aunt, still facing the stove, smiled knowing it was Brittany. Besides the fact that her husband wouldn't get up for another fifteen minutes, she could always tell when it was her niece who creeped behind her. The sound of socks gliding over the floor was a clear sign of Brittany feet. The redhead shut off the burner and scooped a portion of bacon and eggs onto a plate. She walked over to Brittany and put the plate down in front of her, kissing her head gently.

Brittany looked at the food spread out on the table. Her aunt would always make big breakfasts to make sure that her and her uncle would get enough food in them; breakfast being the foundation of a good day. There were pancakes, eggs and bacon, cereal, toast, various preserves and vegetables to eat. Every time she would take a second to decided and every time she would get equally confused on what to eat. She could never decide if she just wanted the sweet or the savory, and could she mix? For years, she had experimented with what savory food went with what sweet food. It usually ended up in disaster. She would however never let her aunt know, not wanting to hurt her feelings. Deciding to just eat what her aunt gave her, she ate with great pleasure, smiling sweetly towards her aunt in gratitude.

The redhead smiled back and took a sip from her coffee. She sat down on the seat across from Brittany, studying her with her gaze. "Are you nervous?"

The eggs that had been so smooth and silky before now turned harsh as Brittany swallowed. She put her fork down and took a big gulp from her juice to try and ease the coarseness in her throat. She nodded.

Her aunt pinched her lips together and gave her a look of sympathy. She understood, even thought it had been a long time, she definitely understood the nervous blonde's anxiety. She studied her niece closer while she was eating, wanting to comfort her the best she could and ease her worries. Her thoughts got interrupted when her husband walked into the kitchen. He was sporting a green bathrobe and slippers with his chestnut hair sticking out in all kinds of different angles. She smiled lovingly towards him, "Good morning, Will."

Will grabbed Brittany's head gently and kissed the topped of it loudly, making her giggle. He then walked over to his wife, "Good morning, my lovely Emma." Kissing her sweetly on the lips before walking over to the counter to make himself a cup of coffee. "So, are you excited Brittany? First day of school and all!"

Brittany once again swallowed like she was in pain and forced herself to give a small nod.

Will held his cup close and yawned. He leaned on the counter, smiling broadly towards the blonde, "Well, I'm sure you'll do great! Make new friends in no time."

Brittany poked the remains of her eggs, biting her lip. Emma looked lovingly at Brittany, deciding to spare her and change the subject, she turned her attention towards her husband, "Honey, tell her about the good news you received yesterday. I'm sure she'd love to her all about that."

"Oh, right!" Will immediately woke up, sat his cup down and put his hands out in a dramatic gesture, "Guess who's gonna be the new teacher of the Glee Club this year?" He paused.

Brittany turned her head up and looked at him with raised eyebrows. The old one broke? She thought, wondering why they would need a new one.

He took a deep breath to try to contain his excitement, but pretty much failing. "Yours truly!"

"Really? That's so cool Uncle Will!" Brittany smiled and jumped in her seat, so excited for her uncle. She had always thought Glee Club was really cool and wished there would be one at her school. Maybe she could join. She caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall, realizing that she needed to hurry. She drank the last of her juice and got up from her seat. "I gotta go."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, turning her head towards the clock as well, "But, it's only 7:30? Your bus doesn't arrive until another half an hour."

"I know, but I'd rather walk. I don't really like to take the bus and besides it's not far from here. I'll be fine." Brittany smiled reassuringly and before her aunt could protest. she walked out from the kitchen and into the hallway. She quickly put on her thin beige jacket and white sneakers, grabbing her backpack on the way out of the door.

"Don't forget, you have dance class after school!"

Brittany stopped in full motion and turned around, "Oh, right!" She leaned in and grabbed the bag with her dance clothes, almost falling from the leaning. She pushed herself back outside and closed the door behind her. She took out her iPod and put the earphones in her ear, setting her music on shuffle. She took a deep breath, letting herself enjoy the crisp autumn air as she walked from her house and down the street from her block.

The street she lived on was nice and had a comfortable feeling to it. It was a street of light colored houses and white picket fences. Usually two cars in the driveway, a green and precise cut lawn with either a dog house or a birdbath as ornament. Most people would probably think it was boring and too typical, but Brittany definitely loved living there. It was like living in one of those really pretty paintings she had seen before in an ad or something. It felt like home to her.

She crossed a road splitting in different directions and turned left. The scenery changed to apartments and quaint little shops as she walked further away from the suburban dream. The air got heavier; instead of just smelling newly cut grass like before, she could now smell baked bread, coffee and fumes from the cars that were driving by her. The aroma of coffee was definitely getting to her; her body tingled slightly and her mouth watered of the thought of a strong and soothing cup of coffee. She glanced at her wristwatch and saw that she had another forty minutes until she'd have to be at school. Deciding to satisfy her craving she stopped at a stop light to cross the street to a café. The blonde hummed quietly to the music while waiting patiently. Cars drove by her in a hurry and the street buzzed already even though it was early in the morning, but she didn't seem bothered at all by the growing chaos. Her worries were temporarily suppressed by her music and the promise of coffee. As the stop sign signaled 'go', she stepped onto the street completely oblivious to the racing, pink convertible that flew down the street down towards her.

"OUT OF THE WAY!"

Brittany turned her head towards the sudden loud voice and her eyes flew open in shock. When the driver saw that Brittany had noticed her too late, she stepped on the breaks and the car came to a halt, inches away from where the blonde now stood paralyzed with fear. Brittany's breath caught in her throat and in panic gripped the straps of her backpack hard, unable to move or speak. Her heart pounded hard against her chest like it was gonna break free from it's bony prison and make a mess on the street. Her head was no longer filled with music, but with every cell in her body screaming with fear, unlike her throat that was completely closed up.

The driver blew a blonde curl away from her face and smoothed out her hair. She had medium short beautiful blonde hair framing her almost doll-like face with long eyelashes and plump pink lips. But unlike Brittany she had darker eyes in a mix of green and brown. She was definitely gorgeous. To most she would probably be called perfect. To Brittany: the bringer of death. The blonde driver noticed Brittany who was still standing in front of her car with the most fearful expression on her face and she suddenly stood up from her seat, "Oh, god. Oh my god! Are you alright? Did I hit you? Are you hurt?"

Brittany kept starring at her like a deer caught in headlights. Was she alright? Well, there was no pain. Check. She was still standing up and not lying on the street like a squished banana. Check. She had passed her first near death experience without suffering from a heart attack. Check. She was definitely not dead.

Brittany opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The shock still had a powerful grip on her vocal abilities, but the look she was getting from the blonde driver and the definite awkward situation she was in made her force herself to give her some kind of answer, "I'm fine." She squeaked out. Satisfied with that, Brittany turned and walked away as quickly as she could towards the café.

"Wha-" The blonde driver leaned over her car door, "Wait!"

Upon hearing the driver's voice again, Brittany hurried even faster into the café wanting to escape the situation as fast as possible. She flung the door open and rushed over to the counter. Still with eyes big as plates, starring at the now slightly uncomfortable looking barista, she finally let out a deep breath that she was holding in, feeling relief wash over her when she could finally breathe again.

"The strongest of what you have and make it a double."