Spirit Guardians

by random2131

Its my friends and not really twilight... its something she made up for teenagers and I must warn u there is some mild curseing. But its a great story

Spirit Guardians

8 years before…

It glittered like a star, red and black shimmering across my eyes and the black curls he had spilled down onto his forehead, just reaching his eyebrows in the front and going down to his ears in the back. His emerald green eyes shimmered in the pitch black darkness, his lip ring glittering and the sharp features his face held left me in awe as I took sneak peeks at him as I laid in the meadow near my home. The spidery veins across his shoulders that swung out into the sky majestically covered the fluttering slab of red and black sparkles. His thick eyebrows, just above those beautiful, deep-set eyes; the eyes I had, left me breathless. His high cheekbones, the skin so tight across his face it looked like his face could split if I touched it gently didn't go with the rest of him. He looked so fragile, but so tough at the same time. His muscles looked too big for his lean body.

I forgot to look away, pretend I didn't see him. He saw me watching, and he let out a tiny breath and stood up from his kneeling position.

And then spread his wings and flew away.

Chapter 1

More than Friends

I don't see him anymore. When I turned eight, I began to realize the exact time he would come every day, and where he would be when he watched me. I think he knew I was beginning to figure it out, so seven years ago; he left and never came back. I'm a sophomore in high school now, more curious about that cute boy that watched me across the room in class than a boy I saw across the meadow when I was seven.

But that one memory of him was like a brand in my mind, and I could never get him out of my head. Why did he watch me? What was he? And he looked about sixteen, the age I am now. What would a sixteen year-old want to do with a seven year-old?

"Hey, Sloane!" I turned my head at my name to see Brian, my best guy friend walking toward me. I smile in his direction, and then turn back to my locker, trying to find my contact cleanser.

"What's up, Brian?" I ask, trying to cut to the chase.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out on Friday night," Brian said, his eyes staring straight into mine. I smiled at him.

"Sure, I'll tell Kate and Phillip too. Where will we all meet?" Brian looked really uncomfortable, and I frowned a little. Why was he acting like this? He was the almost-all-star football player, the boy who had and knew everyone and everything. He had nothing to be uncomfortable or embarrassed about. He wouldn't ever.

"No, I meant just us two, at the movies Friday. You know, watch a movie together, alone." Brian emphasized, and I froze up. This couldn't be happening. I've been waiting forever for him to ask me out, ever since sixth grade. But no, he just wanted to be friends. Now, now, he wants to be more than friends?

"Y-yes!" I said breathlessly, and I swallow to catch my breath. "I mean, yes. I would love to," I said again, and Brian's face ultimately looked brighter, making me smile. It was finally happening!

"Great! You'll have fun, I promise!" He said, walking away with a smile. I smiled back at his retreating figure and then turned back around, rummaging through my things to look for the cleanser again. I finally found it and got my eyes all fixed up again, and headed off to lunch. I spotted Kate and my other friend, Drew, sitting together watching the cute football stars only a few tables away.

"Hey, anything new with the stalking thing?" I giggled. Kate and Drew were obsessed with two of the football players, Garrett, and brother Daniel Lions, players 78 and 56. They went to every game just to stalk them. I made it a joke to ask them this every time I hung out with them.

"Sadly, no. They haven't looked over at us yet today. You think they'll dump their dumb blonde bimbos of girlfriends by tomorrow at three, so I can ask Garrett out for the dance and Drew can ask out Daniel?" Kate asked, and I had to laugh at it.

"Probably not. But you can always have hope," I said. "But in other news, I have a date with Brian on Friday night. Do you think it will be weird if I go through with it?"

"OMG. No way! This is great! You guys are sooo perfect for each other! Right, Drew?" Kate yelped, grinning from ear to ear.

Drew smiled, and twirled her blonde hair with her finger. "Right, you should totally go through with this," she said. I smiled.

"I just don't want it to be awkward."

Kate laughed loudly, gaining attention from tables around us. "I'm sure it's not going to be as bad as the date with James was," she giggled. I had to laugh at that too. James Faire, a nerdy kid I went out with in seventh grade went out on a date to the movies once with me, and he was so stiff and uncomfortable the whole night that whenever I tried to hold his hand, he would yank his hand back and use it to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Plus, he wore a three-piece suit, like we were going to some really expensive restaurant, and I bet that didn't help the sweating situation either. He just didn't know how to go on a date yet, and he still doesn't. He doesn't know how to really act around a girl. It was kind of cute at first, but it got real annoying real fast.

"I guess you're right. I'll go, but if it doesn't work out, I'm not going to keep putting up with it," I warned them. Drew shrugged, and Kate looked over at Garrett again, smiling. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Sup my girls?" Phillip said as he came up and sat down. I laugh. Kate looks over and gives a quick smile before looking back at Garrett again, and Drew ignores him completely. She had this thing against him, when they went out and he dumped her over the phone. I don't blame her, though. I would be mad too.

"Yah, what's going on, girls?" Jax said as he made a ruckus out of sitting down by slamming his fists on the table and yelling his every word. No one said anything to him. He was annoying.

"I just heard some interesting news from Brian, Sloane. Care to know what it is?" Phillip asked me with a smirk. I gave him a glare. "Brian told me you two had a date, Friday! Is he telling the truth? Sloane Cruise and Brian Holland going out on a date? Unfathomable!"

I smacked his arm, laughing as I did so. "Yes, Mr. I Can't Believe This. I can date people like Brian too, you know," I said. But in my mind I went, Yes, Mr. I can't believe this. I've always wanted to date Brian, ever since sixth grade. Is that cool with you? Phillip smirked and then turned his attention to the food on his tray. When it came to food and Phillip, nothing was more important.

"You and Brian? What a laugh!" Jax said. I wanted to choke him. Instead, I pretended that I hadn't heard him.

"Well, you know you have to tell Drew and me every single detail about the date," Kate said, returning her attention back to us. Garrett and Daniel were caught up in talking to their dumb, blonde girlfriends, Sarah Barnes and Jessica Laurence. I was surprised smart guys like them were dumb enough in the relationship department to go out with girls like Sarah and Jessica.

"Of course I will, Kate. It's like tradition." Drew smiled at that. We've been friends since the sixth grade, and ever since then, nothing tore us apart — with relationships or anything else—and I was proud of that. Most friends fight over some dumb guy and never speak again, which we swore to each other we would never do.

"Yah, its tradition, for the rest of our lives. You know what we should do?" Kate asked.

"What?" Drew replied. Kate smiled.

"We should all go on a trip to Europe after high school graduation! Explore the foods, the places, and of course, the boys." Kate says, winking at the end. Drew and I laugh simultaneously. "That is, if we aren't in a very serious relationship by then," Kate said with a small smile in Garrett's direction. I stifled a laugh at the look.

"That sounds fun!" I say. Phillip and Jax snicker. No one said anything to them. It was a girl thing, of course.

"Totally, Kate." Drew says. Kate smiled to herself, and then we all eat in silence. The bell rings, and we say our goodbyes. I headed to Geometry, the worst class ever invented. It's like they want you to get migraines from thinking so hard.

"Sloane! Wait up!" Leila, my partner in Geo, ran up beside me.

"Hey, Leila. How are you?" I ask. Leila smiled, her braces shining in the florescence light.

"Pretty well, you?" Her brown eyes were bright and happy, which made me smile a little. She was probably just with her boyfriend, Marcus Freeman. He was a smart, nerdy kid with glasses and brown curls, just perfect for Lelia's perky, happy, personality with her dark hair and braces.

"Great, actually. Not looking forward to the test today, though." Lelia shrugged. She was smart when it came to Geometry, so she never had to worry about it. I wish I was better in math, at least.

"You'll do great. At least you pass, unlike many of the other, underachieving, lazy, immature boys in our class. I chuckle. We sit down in class, and I immediately pull out my notes and study. I hear my phone buzz. I swear and quickly pull it out; first making sure that the teacher wasn't looking. I saw that there was a message from Kate.

Hey, Sloane. This random kid is totally talking about how hot you are. Should I tell him off for you?

I contemplated that.

Yah. I don't want Brian to freak out about it. Tell him I'm not interested. Don't be harsh though.

I waited a minute before she responded.

You and your silly words. :P

I laugh and put my phone away just as the teacher walked in.

"Okay, put everything away except for a pencil and calculator. Time for the test." Mr. Mac said. Everyone groaned quietly, but followed the instructions.

I took one look at the test the teacher gave me and all I could see where a bunch of random numbers and signs. I rubbed my temples, and then attempted to solve the answers for the test.

An hour had passed, and I finally finished the twenty-question test. Lelia had finished thirty minutes ago, a triumphant look on her face. I still wish I could be smarter in math.

"How'd you think you do?" Lelia whispered.

"Okay." I whisper back. Lelia laughs to herself for a second. I smile.

"Talk quietly until the bell rings," Mr. Mac said, looking straight at this girl in the front row that can never shut up. Lelia turns to the girl behind us, Rea, and talked about her boyfriend. They were best friends as far as I knew. I felt my phone vibrate again, and I pulled it out.

Sloane! Oh my god. You wouldn't believe what I just heard!

Kate

I slid my phone to the keypad and texted back.

Did Garrett propose? :P

Haha. No. You know that whole gang of people that we absolutely hate?

I snickered at the message. The whole group of annoying people—Harrison, Jeremiah, Lauren, Serena, Jesse, and Bess—were popular just because they were rich and pretty. But incredibly snobby, and insulted anyone for anything, even if it was stupid.

Why, of course. How could I forget such nice people? :P

Funny. I heard that they're planning this huge Halloween party at Jesse's house. And they're invited only a few selected people. Which means almost everyone of course. But they're sending out letters. By messengers. How stupid is that. They're purposefully trying to make people who don't get one stick out like a sore thumb.

That's what they do. *sigh* Prepare to be humiliated. They definitely aren't invited us.

I wasn't planning on it.

Anything new with Garrett? Isn't he in your class now?

Yah, but nothing new, as usual. *double sigh*

Sorry. He's oblivious.

It's fine. We still have a little over 2 years. Mwah ha ha.

Haha! TTYL, girly.

Chapter 2

Friday Night Bites

After making sure my long, strawberry-blonde hair was straightened, my complexion was smooth; my blue eyes were pretty against my long eyelashes that had mascara that made them seem even longer still, and my skinny all over body looked good in the floral dress I picked out, I headed to the movie theatre to have my date with Brian. We were going to see some scary movie about terrifying monsters in the closets of your grandma's house, which I didn't care for, but Brian insisted we see it, so I obliged. I was nervous about our date. What if it doesn't work out and when we see each other again, we don't speak? I don't want to ruin our friendship.

"Sloane! Hey! I got out tickets and some popcorn. Wanna go on in? It starts in ten minutes," Brian said, a huge, toothy grin on his face. I smile back and take the outstretched hand Brian gave me. I never realized how hard the calluses on his hands were. It made my palms itch.

"So, do you always like scary, stupid movies like this?" I laugh as we sit down.

"It's a great date movie. Girl gets all scared and cuddles up against the boy. Just perfect," Brian says. I smack him playfully.

"Well, I'm more into comedy."

"I've noticed." Brian smiles at me, and i turn away and slightly smile at him too. I could never smile at someone full on, it just feels weird. The movie began with a little seven-year-old girl walking around her grandma's house, looking through all these different rooms for a little dollhouse she always played with. I could feel the tension rising, and I slowly leaned into Brian. I was such a chicken when it came to scary movies. The little girl opens the closet and—

I scream. Because the memory was there in the closet. The sixteen year old boy with wings, a lip pierce and curly hair was there, and he slashed the little girl and began to eat her flesh. What was wrong with me! Why was I seeing things like that?

"Sloane! Are you alright? It's just a movie!" Brian said. I nod, trying to breathe from screaming so loud. Most people turned around and began watching the movie again, which I was glad of. I already felt stupid for imagining the boy was in it. Of course he wasn't. It was impossible, wasn't it?

"C-can we go someplace else?" I ask, and Brian nods. I appreciate that he didn't ask questions. We walk out into the chilly night air and I rub my shoulders. Brian gave me his leather jacket, and I gladly threw it over my shoulders. It smelled like aftershave, an aroma that Brian always had lingering on him. "Sorry, Brian. I knew you were into seeing that movie," I said.

"It's alright, I can always come back with someone who can take the blood and gore," Brian joked. I gave him a half-hearted smile. He stopped smiling and pulled me close. I smiled into his chest. He was so nice and warm.

"Thank you, Brian. This was still a fun date, though it lasted only forty minutes. Do you want to-" He chuckled, making his chest rumble.

"Fun enough for another one, maybe next week? I probably need to get home and do my report." Brian asked with a smile. I smiled back.

"I would love too," I murmur, leaning in to kiss him. He leaned into me too, and our lips touched—

"NO!" a voice screamed in my head, and I fell because of the surprise. Brian looked shocked, but bent down to help me up.

"I'm sorry, I just—"

"I get it, Sloane; you're just not ready to kiss me yet. Its fine," Brian said a smile on his face. I smile back, but I knew it wasn't that. It felt like someone was screaming in my head, telling me I shouldn't kiss him and I have a dull headache from it now for proof.

"See you Monday," I say sort of confused and gave Brian a wave, and then head off towards my green VW.

Brian went off the other way, and suddenly I felt cold and alone. I rubbed my arms, and walked quickly to my car. It was getting eerie, and whenever something snapped, I would jump. I shouldn't have agreed to see a scary movie, and imagine if I had stayed and watched all of it! I started running, racing to get to my vehicle. I saw it right in the next two rows of cars—

Snap.

I caught my breath.

And saw a figure move out of the corner of my eye.

And I screamed.

Chapter 3

Horror Movie Highlights

"It was just like a scene from a horror movie, I tell you!" I said, retelling my date with Brian to Kate and Drew Monday at lunch.

"I would have started screaming the minute Brian had left me. You know, you would think the boy would have been smarter than just to leave you to walk to your car alone in the dark where stalkers, serial killers and rapists lurk," Kate said, a thoughtful look on her freckled face. I hit her on the arm, and she smiled back at me.

"I'm surprised you made it out of there alive." Drew said, looking up from a book she was reading. We all laughed, but it died out quickly.

"I couldn't even make out what the shadow was. I saw legs and a head, but these two big funny shaped things were there too, and i couldn't make sense of it. I just freaked out and started screaming, running to my car so fast it felt like my feet weren't even touching the ground. If Coach Frye would've seen me, he would put me on the track team faster than you could say oatmeal," I said with a laugh. Kate pulled her black hair back into a ponytail with one of her hairbands she always had on her arm.

"Coach would've probably thought it was his imagination. He's never seen how you can really run, Sloane, and I bet he wouldn't believe it if he saw how you can for himself. You always walk all the time," Kate murmured. I nod at that. I didn't want to show off, so I pretended that I didn't care for running, even though I was better than the runner who won first at the nationals last year, Pepper Peters, a senior this year at my high school, Portland High School, Home of the Mighty Tigers. If you think the names bad, imagine how the person in the mascot suit feels being in a big, scratchy suit at the games.

That's right. I was the mascot last year, and I learned from my mistake, let me tell you.

"Coach wouldn't have a brain if he didn't say you were on the team the second after you stopped your amazing running. I envy you for being so fast. I'm slower than a snail," Drew said, a whine near the end. I laugh.

"Anything new with the whole 'I'm stalking Garrett and Daniel Lions' bit?" I ask.

"Garrett did give me that 'sup' nod he always gives to his friends!" Kate exclaimed. Drew and I just stared at her.

"You mean the nod that he gives to his guy friends?" I ask. Kate's face falls.

"I know I'm being dramatic," she said, giving Drew and me a pouty face. I stifle a laugh.

"Well, Daniel said I looked pretty today, and gave me one of his cute smiles. And that's not dramatized," Drew said, a faraway look on her face. Kate sticks out her tongue at Drew like she's five.

I roll my eyes at them both.

"So, what's up with this whole Halloween Party at Jesse's house?" Drew asks. Kate and I groan.

"Nothing, you know we won't get invited," Kate said, and Drew nods thoughtfully.

"Maybe, things could change," Drew said. Kate and I laugh hysterically. Right, like that group would ever change. That was a laugh.

"No freaking way," I say as I look at the black and purple card that I had been staring at for ten minutes. This wasn't possible.

Tell me I'm dreaming.

This. Is. Unreal.

Kate

I was just as amazed as she was.

They must be playing some kind of prank on us, Kate. It isn't possible. They would NEVER invite US to their Halloween party. This is a joke.

Sloane

Right? It has to be. I'll text Drew and see if she got one. BRB.

I wait for a minute before she replies with:

No. Freaking. Way.

Kate

:O Drew got one too! Nu-uh. Kate, we have to see if this is a joke or not. We need to confront one of them about it. Which one?

Uhm, Jesse? Nah, he thinks he's better than everyone else. Not Bess, she's a bitch. What about Serena? Or Harrison, Jeremiah? Those boys are annoying, and so is Serena with her high, pitchy voice. That only leaves us with Lauren. Isn't she the fake blonde with big, fake boobs? Isn't she just all artificial?

HAHA! Yep, and i think we know who to speak to. Tell Drew to meet us at my locker tomorrow morning before school, around 'll get this settled.

K. See ya then.

Bye girl! (:

"You ready?" I ask Kate and Drew the next morning at my locker.

"Yep, let's get these bitches straight," Kate said, and we laughed, going off to Lauren's locker the next hall down.

"Sloane, what if they seriously invited us?" Drew asked. Again Kate and I laughed. It had to be a mistake, or more likely a joke. No way would that group invite us to their party!

"Oh, Lauren! Hi, I was wondering if we could ask you something," I said when we stood in front of the artificial girl.

"Oh, uh, I guess. What's it about?"

"We got invitations to your group's Halloween party. Tell me why," I say, getting right to the point.

"Jesse wanted you guys too. He thought you would be soooo excited." Lauren snickered, and I wanted to punch the pinched-up face. She was a sophomore too and maybe a bit more popular, but she had no right to treat us bad.

"Well we don't want to go to your dumb Halloween party," Kate intervened, giving Lauren a dirty look.

"It's not mine, its Jesse's! Geez." We looked at her. She looked back, confused. How dumb was this girl?

"We meant your groups' party, Lauren," Kate said slowly. Lauren turned around and shut her locker door, then turned back to face us.

"Well, I don't know. It was Jesse's choice, so go ask him." Lauren walked off in her six-inch heels overconfidently. I would love to see her fall in those and hit her head so hard she gained some sense, and got a big bruised bump while she was at it.

"God, why can't she get a half a brain?" Kate whined. Drew shrugged and we parted ways with a 'see ya at lunch'. I headed off to English 2, my favorite subject. But not my favorite class. I was stuck with people I didn't care for, like Jesse, boys from the football team, and dumb cheerleaders.

"Hey, Sloane! Excited when you got your invitation?" Jesse asked with a smirk. I snickered and turned to sit down. "Come on, Sloane. You know you want to come," he said with an arrogant smile.

"In your dreams, Jesse," I returned with a sneer. He always brought out my bitchy side. He laughed a low, husky one. He called it his 'trademark laugh', the one that attracts girls. I think this is pretty hilarious.

"Yah, I do dream about it," Jesse said with a smile that I couldn't decipher its meaning. I open my mouth to respond but close it again because I couldn't think of anything to say. I faced the front of the classroom, trying to ignore Jesse who was looking at me from the next seat over.

"Students, we will be pairing up for an activity in the book. I've chosen, so stop looking around for a partner, Ms. Cruise," my teacher, Mr. Baez said. I sighed and looked back to the front of the classroom. I better not get stuck with some cheerleader.

"Sloane Cruise, you will be partnering up with Jesse James," he began. My heart stopped beating at this ridiculous statement. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jesse smirking at me, and I wanted to punch the stupid smirk off his perfect face. "…and Grace Karson will be partnering up with Alex Donahue," Mr. Baez finished, giving us a nod that meant 'begin'. I made no move to sit closer to Jesse.

"Fine, I'll come by you then," Jesse said, moving his desk beside mine and putting the textbook on the middle of the two desks. I didn't look at him. "Sloane. You on planet Earth?" He said with a laugh.

I looked into his really blue eyes and gave him a sneer and a, "Duh." He threw his hands up in the air and gave me a 'sorry' look. I ignored it.

"I don't know what I did to you, but sorry for whatever it was." Did he ever do anything to me? I couldn't remember a time when he did, I just always hated him. Was that right?

"Let's just do the work," I say, trying to concentrate. Jesse didn't move, he just kept staring at me. "Jesse…you there?"

"Yah, I'm waiting for you to tell me why you hate me."

I falter. What do I say? 'I hate you for no reason?' That's stupid. "You're arrogant, self-centered, foolish, dumb, and you are really mean." Jesse laughs.

"That's it? I thought I had rejected you way back when or something. That's nothing. That's just me. You hate me for being me?" He laughs harder, holding his stomach. I punch his arm. "Hey, hey! Hold up, I'm only joking! Let's get to work."

I nod, and we quietly discuss only what the answers should be for the next five minutes. Then I ruin it with my big, stupid mouth saying, "So why did you invite us to your Halloween party?"

"Why not? I can't be nice to you for once?"

I laugh hard. "You, being nice?" I giggle between words. "I can't wait for that day to arrive," I say, laughing a bit harder. Jesse doesn't laugh at all. I suddenly stop. "Wait, are you being serious?"

"Yes." I just stare. Then I bust out laughing again.

"We are laughing about this comedic story, correct Ms. Cruise?" Mr. Baez confirmed. I stop laughing, but when I nodded, I could feel a slight smile on my lips still. Mr. Baez gives me a hard look and walks away.

"Okay, question seven—"

"You're coming to my Halloween party, Sloane. If you don't…I have the perfect blackmail."

I don't know what to say. I freeze up. What blackmail could he possibly have? What did I do wrong? "The answer is 1849," I answer, slightly shaking.

What could the blackmail be?

Chapter 4

Fairies

"Sloane! Guess who talked to me today?" Kate asked, a huge grin on her face.

"Hmm…Garrett Lions, perhaps?" I responded with a smile.

"He said if I went to the Halloween party at Jesse's on Friday, maybe we could get to know each other better!"

"We aren't going, Kate! It's a trap! I talked to Jesse first period, and he said if we didn't go he would blackmail us, which means he wants us there for some reason!"

"Or maybe if we don't go, we will get blackmailed, Sloane," Drew said, giving me a look.

"Seriously, I'm not going to the party Friday," I say. Kate and Drew just shrug and continue eating. I knew they would go anyway. They would do anything to get closer to the Lions brothers. "Are you going?"

"Duh," Kate and Drew say in unison. I sigh. I guess I'm going too then.

The bell rings and we promise to meet up at my house after school to talk about costumes. It was 3 days away after all.

Geometry was boring as usual, and so was History. The rest of school flew by, and before I knew it, Kate and Drew were at my house and we couldn't decide on costumes.

"Mermaids!" Drew said.

"No, how about fairies!" Kate countered.

"Umm, how about angels?" I said quietly. Kate and Drew thought about it.

"Nah, how about life-size dolls. Really pink cheeks, ponytails…?" Kate offered.

"My hair isn't long enough, Kate. Remember I cut it?" Drew said, fingering her razor-ended hair.

"It needs to be something hot, not scary. Hmm…." Kate trailed off.

"How about-"

"Gothic Nymph costumes!" Kate said, and Drew squealed at the same time I did. That costume included a hot black dress with ripped up frills, black wings, and knee-length black boots and fishnet tights. We drove to the store so we could buy our costumes. Of course when we got back to my house we had to make them look different, so Kate made her dress long-sleeved instead of strapless by sewing sleeves on and I added straps to mine that fell down my shoulder, making it sexier. Drew left hers the way she got it, which was fine by her because she can't sew worth her life.

After dinner, they left with their costumes, and I began on my homework. I could hear my older brother's music screeching from the room over though, causing my line of thought to be interrupted. I stood up and stomped to his room. Sure he was a senior wrestler, but he wouldn't ever hurt me.

"Could you turn it down?" I scream through the locked door.

"No!" He screamed back, and I heard a thump from something hitting the wall. I knew he must've been using his punching bag. I sigh.

"Please?" The door cracks open and Justin, my brother is standing there with his six-foot-two height and huge muscles. I think that's what attracts the girls, well, that and his face. Blonde hair and really blue-green eyes. He's pretty good looking. If I wasn't his sister I would be attracted too.

"Fine, but it better be for a good cause," He says in his gruff, deep voice. I feel short with my height of five-seven next to him. I give him a hug and fled to my room to finish my homework and go to sleep.

"Hey! Sloane!" I heard a familiar voice call. I turn and find Brian there, his brown eyes happy. I smile back at him.

"What sup?"

"Well, since you wanted to have another date, I thought we could have it Friday," he said. I froze. Uh-oh, I didn't tell him I was going to Jesse's party have I? I haven't really seen him since Friday though.

"Well, I—I uh, already agreed to go to Jesse's party," I said. Brian's face immediately fell. I wanted to take it back, but I couldn't lie to him either.

"Why would you want to go to that asshole's party? Do you like him or something?" Brian said, turning it on me.

"Hell no! You know I don't! Kate and Drew were going and I'm going to go with them."

"You don't have to go to everything they go to, Sloane! In fact, it's kind of annoying."

"They're my friends! And I already have a costume, Brian! I'm going. Can't we go on a date Saturday or something?" I say, hating that we had to raise our voices at each other.

"You know what? Just go to the party." Brian said, about to walk off before I tug him back by the collar of his leather jacket.

"Brian. I like you. A lot. Can we please just go out Saturday?" I murmur.

He doesn't say anything, only yanks from my hold and walks away. It feels like someone's squeezing my heart, wringing out all the happiness. It feels like I can't breathe. I walk through the rest of my day wondering what he was going to do. Was he going to break up with me? Stay with me? Does he hate me?

In History at the end of the day, when the teacher called on me, I didn't know what the subject even was.

"The subject is the Civil War, Miss Cruise," my teacher Mrs. Bridge replied.

"What was the question?" I asked. Mrs. Bridge gave up on me and went on to another student.

When the bell rang, I headed home in my Volkswagen. My house is bigger than most people's houses. Mine is three stories high, with a huge kitchen and living room. My room is double the size of a regular person's room, with a couch, computer, and TV included. You could say I'm spoiled, but I'm not home that much. Between dates, friends, after-school activities such as cheerleading and theatre, and volunteering, I don't have much time for home except for sleeping. Even for sleeping, I may have to stay over at Kate's or Drew's house for the night cause I can't make it home. It helps that I have a car and can drive.

"Sloane! Come here!" I heard Justin yell. I followed his voice to the kitchen.

"What's up?"

"Kaitlin's coming over tonight, so make sure you don't bother us," Justin said. Kaitlin is his girlfriend of two weeks. Somehow, it's hard for him to have the same one continuously for over a month. I bet it wasn't going to last much longer with Kaitlin either, cause she was dumber and blonder than his last cheerleader girlfriend, Abbie Smith. And that's surprising. Abbie thought seahorses lived in space.

How could a girl be so stupid?

"Sure, whatever. Is this one going to be around tomorrow?" I ask with a stifled laugh, and Justin punched my arm. He was smiling though.

I went to my room, trying to start on my homework.

The phone interrupts me. I look to see I had a text. My mom said I should call more, not text so much, but my friends and I don't ever talk on the phone.

Hey.

It had no name of the person who sent it to me.

Who are you?

Nobody. It's not important.

Why are you texting me then?

Are you going to the party?

I freeze. So this person must be from school, because he/she knows about it. I take a deep breath and slide out my keypad to text back, but was interrupted by another text.

You don't want to go, do you?

How did this person know that? I was totally freaking out.

Maybe. Maybe not. Why do you care?

Maybe I don't.

That made me pause. Why would this person ask and then say they didn't care? Who at school knew my number and would text me?

I gasped. What if it was Jesse? No, it couldn't be. Then he wouldn't say the party he would say my party, right? Unless he didn't want me to know it was him, which would make since because he didn't add his name.

I'm not, I respond, hoping it would make this person stop texting me.

They never respond.

"Par-tay tomorrow! You ready, Sloane-ay?" Kate asked, a huge grin on her face. Drew stifled a laugh next to her.

"You know I really don't want to go-ay, Kate-ay," I said. Kate shrugged and looked over where Garrett sat, playing with Sarah's hair. I didn't understand how Kate could stand watching that, but she could.

"Sloane, did you hear that Jesse broke up with Cassidy, that junior cheerleader? She's friends with Sarah and I heard her saying that Jesse lied about loving her and only went out with her to get to Allisa, her best friend. Now they're hanging out more. But they aren't a couple," Drew said.

"Huh. Isn't Cassidy more of his type? Dumb, self-centered, and cocky?" I asked. Drew and Kate laughed.

"Isn't that the truth?" Kate giggled.

"Allisa's shy, isn't she? Why is Jesse changing his tastes in girls?" I wondered, mostly to myself.

"Who knows, who cares? I'm just surprised he broke up with someone just perfect for him." Kate said.

"Hey, girls," Phillip said as he came up and sat down.

"Where have you been?" I asked. Phillip chuckled.

"Having to stay in William's class to make up work." He responded, his mouth full of food. Kate and Drew made a face at him.

"Jax better not be sitting with us today," I warned Phillip.

"Nah. He's sitting with his dorky girlfriend."

"WHAT?" Kate, Drew and I yelled at the same time.

"Whoa, hold up. Don't scream. His girlfriend is Zara Siskins, that really annoying girl that knows everything and got millions of plastic surgeries already because her mom's a plastic surgeon, remember? I wouldn't be proud of him for his horrible decision of dating her," Phillip said. I consider that.

"I'm just surprised he got a girlfriend, even one as weird as Zara Siskins," Kate said, reading my mind. Drew laughs. Kate gives me a look then slightly moves her head to the right. I look to where she's staring and see Brian sitting alone not too far away.

"I'll be right back," I murmur to them, and head over to where he sat. He wasn't touching his food. "Hey...Brian. Are you okay?" Brian looked up at me.

"I'm fine," he replied solemnly.

"Can you please talk to me? Really talk to me.Be in a conversation?" I pleaded. He nodded, but still didn't look at me. "Okay, is this really all over me going to Jesse's party?"

"I don't want that asshole to do anything to you. I mean, I don't want you to get hurt. And you going to a party like that…it's bound to hurt you. How do you know they won't play some trick on you or something?" Brian rambled.

"Brian," I said laughing, "that's all? I'll be fine, I promise! I like you and all, but you don't need to worry about me so much! I'll make it through. So we're good, right?" I say. Brian smiles.

"Course' we are," he said gruffly. I smile at him and invite him to sit with us. "Nah, I'm good here."

"Please?" I pleaded, batting my eyelashes.

"You know that never works on me," Brian says with a deep chuckle.

"Fine then. I'll talk to you later!" I sing-songed on the way back to the table, wondering why I had this weird feeling that someone was watching my every move.

Chapter 5

The Running Boy

"I can't wait until we get there!" Kate screeched. We were all riding in my little green Volkswagen Bug with me as the driver, minutes away from getting to Jesse's party. We already had our costumes on, and I did my hair in mermaid tousled waves, with the winged eyeliner and smoky black eyes. Kate had her hair crimped with makeup on, and Drew only left her hair curly with mascara being the only makeup product she used. We looked good.

"Yah, yah," I say, hoping the party wasn't going to be long. I don't want to talk to any annoying, popular people while I was there.

"Sloane, please at least look excited to be there!" Kate pleaded.

"And give Jesse the satisfaction of it? No way." She gave me a look.

"Sloane, I know you hate it, but you have to do it. Otherwise…"

"I know, I know. Otherwise you guys won't be able to talk with the Lion's brothers," I sighed. "Okay, but you guys will own me one," I warned. Kate and Drew high-fived and simultaneously agreed that they would make up for it. I sigh. I hoped the party would go by fast.

"OMG! We're here!" Kate screamed. I told her to shut up as I parked near Jesse's mailbox. Most everybody was already here, because we got lost on the way. I swear, MapQuest never works.

"Yay! OMG, Kate! There's Garrett and Daniel! They aren't with their girlfriends! Go go!" Drew yelled, and Kate and Drew abandoned me.

"Thanks guys," I yell after them, but they don't say anything back. They were wholly focused on getting to the Lions' brothers before their girlfriends showed up. I sigh, put my cellphone in the pocket my dress had, and headed inside. I stopped on the doorstep though, my stomach feeling queasy.

Jesse's house was huge. Like, mansion huge. I guess that would make sense because he does live in Cotyledon, the biggest and most expensive neighborhood in this whole county. His mom was a rich, famous actress, and his dad is a doctor for famous people. Since his parents are what they are, he gets to be an actor, (He's already been in a blockbuster movie where he falls in love with the beautiful actress, Ida Hansberger) and he meets famous stars his dad works on too. I guess all the fame causes him to be so…him.

"Are you going to stand out there all night?" I heard a voice ask, and I see Serena standing there, her trademark sneer on her face.

"No," I lash back, squeezing past her into the house. The floor vibrated with the music, and it was instantly hotter the second I walked in. I already saw a few couples in dark corners doing what teens do, and I quickly walked past. I wasn't ever like that. My mom would kill me if she found out that I did anything like that. Girls in revealing costumes and boys in superhero outfits or scary monsters attire walked all around me. I got a few smiles from some guys, but I decided to ignore them. I didn't want anything bad happen to me, and knowing this whole party, it would end up bad.

"So, you arrive after all," a familiar, arrogant voice said. I could feel him smiling.

"Only because of Kate and Drew" I sneer, spinning around. Jesse was dressed as a vampire, fangs, his beach blonde hair slicked back, a cape, and big black boots, the whole shebang.

Jesse smirked. "What, your some evil, hot angel?" He joked, a thick accent to go along with his outfit, adding to the vampire scene.

"No, I'm a Gothic Nymph fairy," I say with an eye roll. As if it wasn't obvious. Then I paused. Did he just say hot?

"Yah, whatever is fine," Jesse replied.

"Seems like your parents didn't raise you well, since they let you do this kind of thing," I said.

"Who says they know about it?" Jesse said, a slow, demeaning smile coming across his face.

"They don't know about it?" I said breathlessly, freaking out. If mom knew I was at a party the parents didn't approve of…well, it'll be the end of me.

"Calm down, Sloane! I thought you would be a pro at the party-scene," Jesse said with a patronizing smirk.

"Funny." I sneer looking around for a way out. I couldn't really leave anyway though, since Kate and Drew were with Garrett and Daniel. I sigh. Brian was right; it was stupid to come to this party.

"Sloane, can you relax? Here, have a drink," Jesse said, handing me a can of Bud Light. I shove it back in his hands.

"I'm not going to drink myself so I'll be easy-going," I spit at him, directing the insult in his face. He only shrugs and sets it down on a table behind him. I again marvel at the huge house. Everything was open, letting in the dark and the light. In fact, they had the roof made of clear glass, so you could see the star-lit sky. It was beautiful and mesmerizing.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Jesse says, breaking my train of thought.

"Yah…" I stop, remembering I wasn't supposed to complement him. "I mean uh, it's okay," I say. I didn't like that I had to be so bitchy around him. I didn't want other people hearing me speak with him think I'm always that way. I'm definitely not. I mean, I have to act like that, right?

"All I was saying was it looked neat. I saw that you liked it and I was just making small talk," Jesse said, his hands in the air. His beer spilled a little on the hardwood floor.

A big group of cheerleaders walked by, all of them wearing devil costumes. Their real side. I laugh a bit to myself. "Sloane." Jesse says questioningly.

"Oh, sorry," I say, ending my giggles. I see Kate and Drew walking in, Garrett and Daniel out of sight.

"We get there, we talk a little and of course, those bitchy girlfriends have to come and take them away and their sharp nailed little grasps," Kate says with a pouty face. Drew looks exactly the same.

"Sorry." I say. Jesse doesn't say anything. Kate looks over at him and then back at me, back and forth a few times. Her eyes asked everything. "Well, how about we go dance." I offer, and Kate and Drew nod, still looking a bit confused. I lead them to the hired DJ who was currently playing "Low".

"What the hell were you doing talking to Jesse?" Kate screamed over the loud music.

"Talking. Sneering. Being a bitch. The usual, Kate. You know you need to talk to the person who is hosting this anyway. It would be polite," I scream back. Kate rolled her eyes at my last remark.

We dance through the next few songs, forgetting the whole Jesse thing. I laugh at something Kate says, and then look over at the back door. And I see a boy. One with curly hair and shards of green glass for eyes. A glittering lip ring with thick black eyebrows, and high cheekbones. Why did he look familiar? Why did his lean figure look so…imminent in my memory? His shirt was off showing off his muscles, and he wore full black-feathered wings that sparkled black and red on his back, stretching far up in the air. His costume seemed so real.

I wondered if that was what took my breath away, or if it was just him. He was so gorgeous. Unreal, like something you would read about in fairytales or what stupid girls dream up for their 'ideal guy' and everyone knows it would never be possible.

And he was looking at me. He seemed to be slowly registering that I saw him, and his eyes widened in surprise. By this time, I had stopped dancing, looking right at him. And he shot off into the open door. And I ran after him. I had to know who this boy was. My gut screamed at me, telling me that I shouldn't, that something bad would happen. But my brain told me I should. So I did. I kept running, getting closer to him. I was only feet away from this beautiful creature. He looked around at me, and looked surprised as he saw that I was so close. Then he went faster, faster than I ever could. It looked like he was….flying. My breath caught, and I stopped running. I marveled at how fast this boy was running, how it looked like he was flying. Only a second later, he ran out of sight. I put my hands on my knees and breathed in and out for a minute or two, until I heard Kate and Drew yelling my name. They came around the corner of Jesse's street and saw me, and nearly pummeled me into the grass.

"I freaked when I saw you run off, Sloane! What is the matter with you? Are you trying to give us a heart attack?" Kate yelled, trying to catch her breath like Drew was doing.

"S-sorry," I say, still trying to catch my breath. I ran faster than I ever had. It was amazing. I felt like I could do it forever.

"Just don't do it again, please," Drew said, and Kate nodded in agreement.

"W-we need to go home. This party was stupid anyway," Kate murmured, and we walk to my car. When I get in I immediately turn on the heat and we sit for a few minutes, just soaking up the warmth.

Then I drive us all home.

Chapter 6

Surprise

Trees and flowers everywhere…pinks, yellows, whites. A sparkling clear lake. Red and black sparkles. Grass rubbing against my legs. Black-feathered wings, folding me into their warmth.

The boy screeches and I woke with a start. I'm sweating from every pore and my body feels weak. I try to breathe normally again.

"You okay, Sloane?" Justin asks. He's rubbing his eyes, and I can tell he's exhausted. I look at the clock and see that it's four in the morning. My brother hates being woken up, so I know he's not happy right now.

"Fine, go sleep, Justin." He nods and walks out. I look at my cell and see I have a new text message that arrived at midnight. Kate, Drew and I were at Jesse's warming up then, so it couldn't have been one of them.

I'm sorry for what I made you do. I hope you aren't disappointed in me. I was just surprised that you actually showed up.

Again, like last time, there is no name of the sender. This had to be the same person I had spoken with last time about going to the party. It would only make sense.

But has anything that has happened to me lately made sense?

Not at all.

"Sloane! Over here!" I heard Brian call Sunday afternoon when I walked into the arcade. We were having our date here today, which was packed with people. I smiled at him and pushed through the big cluster of people in my way.

"Hey, Brian," I smile, giving him a hug.

"So, what do you want to do first? Maybe the air hockey machine?" I nodded and we got some tokens and played a few rounds of air hockey, laughing and messing around.

"Having fun?" Brian yelled over at me when we were in the middle of doing basketball, and I laughed and nodded.

An hour or so later, Brian and I departed with a long hug and a 'see you tomorrow'. I walked over to my car and got inside.

A shadow crossed the hood and I looked all around, my heart beating faster. I start the car and back up, thinking of only getting home.

I zoomed out of the parking lot, leaving behind the shadow that seemed so familiar to me, like a long-lost friend.

School.

I didn't think I would ever hate going to school, but it was beginning to be so. I usually was the girl that didn't love school, but didn't completely hate it. Just some days were better than others.

Well, today I absolutely hated it.

I can't get that boy out of my mind, it was like a brand. I kept trying to remember the certain details, but I couldn't. Was his hair black or brown? His wings black feathered with red sparkles or red feathered with black sparkles? Was he tall or average? All I could remember was that I ran after him and he ran so fast….

"Sloane. Hello, pay attention," Kate says, interrupting my trance.

"Sorry! You were saying?" I give her a smile.

"As I was saying…" Kate begins, looking at me with a hard glare, "how about we hang at your house by the lake tomorrow with Brian and Phillip?"

"And like I was saying, no. Not Phillip, at least." Drew said, and I could tell she was mentally replaying the break-up phone call.

"Come on, Drew! You and Phillip have got to get over this! Be friends again! Or at least be mutual with each other," Kate said. I nodded in agreement.

"Not happening."

"Drew. You can't hold a grudge forever." I murmur. Drew sighs, and drops her head in her hands.

"I know, I know." Drew sighs long and profoundly. There is a long silence that settles over us.

"Girls! How are you today?" Phillip said with a big smile, completely breaking the awkward silence. I'm actually happy to see him for once.

"Great!" I say with a big returning smile.

"Awesome!" Kate chimes in.

"Shit." Drew says.

"Is someone not having a good day?" Phillip directs to Drew, putting on a pouty face. Drew sticks her tongue out at him.

"Can we please act like mature sophomores?" I ask, and Phillip starts laughing.

"Yah, sure. Try telling the idiot here that. Cause that's going to happen," Drew mumbles, giving Phillip the evil eye.

"Sure whatever." He says.

"In better news…Phillip, would you like to come to the lake after school Friday?" Kate asks full attention on him.

"Kate!" Drew squeals, her eyes bugging out of her head. I wanted to laugh.

"Drew!" Kate says back, and then turns back to Phillip, still waiting for his answer.

"Kate! No. Remember?" Drew says, trying not to give away to Phillip what she was trying to say, but failing miserably. Phillip already knew. He was thinking about something long and hard.

"Sure," Phillip says. Kate, Drew and I all immediately stop making gestures toward each other.

"Sure?" Kate said with disbelief. We thought he'd refuse because Drew was going to be there.

"Yah. Sure. Why not?" Phillip said. Drew was freaking out. Her eyes were wide and I could hear her breathing from across the table increasing in speed. I give her a 'Chill before he notices!' look and her eyes stop protruding from her head.

"Uh…i guess there is no why not. Um, we're meeting at seven." Kate said, disbelief still threaded through her voice.

"See ya then," Phillip says with a toothy grin, and then gets up and walks away.

"Holy Skittle Shittles," Drew says, her mind totally zoned out. She would never say that if her mind wasn't zoned out.

"Drew. Calm. It's just an ex-boyfriend. You guys can get over this whole thing, okay?" I say, trying to calm her down and get her mind back to school.

"I—what if—but-…." Drew mumbles. "Oh no. Oh no. What if he wants to get back with me again or something?"

"He won't. He broke up with you, remember?" I remind her.

"Right, your right." Drew says, more with it now. The bell rings.

"Bye!" I yell, and then shuffle out of the cafeteria to rush to Geometry.

"Kate!" I yell.

"Hey! I brought Drew too. She's still sulking back there somewhere, but I got her here. Where should I set the stuff up?" She asked.

"At the lake. When are Phillip and the others coming?"

"Minutes away, chill. I'm so glad we're doing this. School has been draining me. I can't believe its Friday already," Kate sighed.

"Well, that's what we're here for. I'll go find Drew, and you set up the stuff," I say and Kate nods and runs off towards the lake. I head off towards Drew. I find her sitting up against the back of my house, holding her knees with her head buried into them.

"Drew, it's not going to be terrible, okay?" I say, and was glad that when she raised her head she hadn't been crying.

"I'm just…worried. I don't know why though. I have this bad sense about being at the lake, like something terrible is going to happen, even though I know nothing will. " Drew shook her head at herself, still thinking hard about it. I sigh, and extended my hand towards hers.

"Come on, it'll be fine." Drew nods, and then gives me her hand and I help her up. I suddenly realize that I had left the flashlights in my house. "Hey, go on to the lake, I'll meet you there. I left the flashlights in the house." Drew nods, and walks on toward the lake. I walk in through the back door to my kitchen. My house was its own little place, away from all the other houses here. Oregon was so rainy all the time, but since I loved the rain, it didn't bother me. Even though it was raining now, all of my friends and I have lived here our whole lives and we always have parties and things out in the rain. So that's what we were doing tonight.

When I found the flashlights in the closet, I took my brown hoodie with me in case the rain got any colder, and then headed back out into the rain, my polka-dot rain boots sloshing around in the runny mud. I get to where the lake should be, but am stopped by tons of trees and bristles. I hadn't been back here for years. I pushed back the branches and stepped through, seeing a little secluded part of the forest where the lake is. Years ago, it was completely open to where I could see my house a mile back. Now, I couldn't see out of this little oasis. It was so beautiful though. Millions of trees, dandelions and weeping willows surrounded the lake, giving it a feel that you were worlds apart from the people outside it. Worlds apart from your mom, who still misses her husband when he died years ago in a car accident. From a brother who can't keep a girlfriend and who can't keep his emotions in check. Worlds apart from my life.

"Sloane! We gonna get this party started?" Phillip called. I nod, realizing they were already here too.

But how did they get in if the branches weren't disturbed until I went through?

Chapter 7

The Half-humans

"Sloane! Come over here!" Phillip said, and I gave them a smile and walked over and sat on a piece of wood next to Kate. It was as wet as the ground was, but I bet Kate didn't think so. She was always so paranoid about that kind of thing.

"So, where's Brian?" Phillip asked with a sly smile.

"Couldn't make it. He has football practice," I say, rolling my eyes at him.

"Just gonna be Drew, Kate, you and I?" He asked. Drew looked scared. Her lip was quivering, but I guess that could be from the rain too. She was so fragile, so she got cold easily.

"No, Fay, Penny, Mark, and Ronnie are coming too." I say. They were some of Kate's friends, but Ronnie andFay were my friends too. But not the type that you usually hang out with them a lot or see them regularly. They didn't even go to our high school, which separated us two years ago from junior high. They went to West Point high on the west side of town, when we go to South Point. We saw them at football games sometimes, but besides that, even Kate who was better friends with them didn't talk to them anymore. So we decided a few days ago to invite them, just to catch up. I was excited to see Ronnie, because she was all into the whole superhuman beings stuff and she told me all about different kinds of creatures that I never knew existed. She promised when she came she would tell about two more creatures she hasn't said anything about yet. She was the one I was closest to out of the whole group.

"Fay is coming?" Drew said, visually brighter. Fay was exactly like Drew was—shy, quiet, funny, no fashion sense, but cool in their own way—besides the fact that Fay was Korean, but they got along together perfectly in sixth grade when they met. As far as I knew, when I first met Phillip in seventh grade, he was a basketball player with Mark on the team, and they were good friends. Phillip and Mark were both over six foot, and they still are. Penny was a cheerleader type—honey blonde hair, blue eyes, tanned skin, perky, and dated every boy on the football team—and was a tag-along of the other three. No one liked her much, but we didn't hate her.

"Yep," Kate replied, and I heard a faint sound of music and talking.

"That must be them," I murmur, and the music is shut off and their talking gets louder as they get closer.

"And boom! I made the shot last second of the game. Amazing, huh, Penny?" I heard Mark say, obviously trying to impress the girl. I hear a dainty laugh, and I could smell an over-powered lemon odor that made me want to sneeze. I look over at Kate and her nose is crinkled up in disgust. I laugh.

"Can you shut up, Mark? No one cares about your 'cool' shoots, not Penny either. You don't impress her," a voice that sounded like Fay said. I stifle a laugh, knowing they were close. I knew Fay must have come out of her shell in high school. Drew smiles.

"Hey guys!" They all yelled when they got through the wall of trees, and we all hugged each other. Ronnie rushed to me, her super-curly orange hair bobbing as she ran, and her blue eyes bright. She practically cracked all the bones in my back she hugged me so hard.

"Oh my gosh, Sloane! You're so pretty! Your hair is all the way to your ribs now! And you don't have braces anymore!" Ronnie gushed.

"You look pretty too! You don't have braces anymore and your curls aren't so crazy since your hair isn't short! Got a boyfriend?" I asked with a wink. Ronnie laughed and showed me her car keys which held a picture of a boy in a hockey uniform with really cute brown eyes and soft-looking brown hair. He looked perfect for Ronnie.

"And he supports your crazy superhuman being research?" I laugh.

"Actually, I met him at one of the meetings." Ronnie smiles.

"Good for you!" I say with a giggle. Ronnie playfully smacks my arm.

"You got a boyfriend?" Ronnie asks a cheesy grin on her face.

"Yah, Brian. We've been going out for a few weeks now."

"Brian! I knew it! You guys were always flirting in middle school! Everyone told you guys you were perfect for each other, but you guys were oblivious to it! Finally you are going out!" Ronnie said. Mark walked over too, dark skin and all six-foot of him.

"Ah, so you and Brian, finally." I give him a grin, and he gives one back.

"You and Brian!" A voice squealed, and I looked over at Penny, whose eyes were wide with shock.

"Yep," I say with a smile. Penny looks away.

"So, how about we all sit down?" Kate offers, and we all nod and take a seat on the wood benches that have always sat here.

"Ghost story time!" Fay yelled, and Phillip began first, his voice deep and penetrating.

"A while ago, I heard a long lost legend about these very woods, and it started like this….There was once a boy, in these very woods, who decided to play with his friend, Gabriel with their football. So they walked in and began playing around…" Phillip's voice got really quiet, and he paused. Those two seconds felt like eternity. "…and the ball was thrown way out of his reach and went far into the forest. Gabriel made his friend, Cannon, go get the ball. Cannon wasn't supposed to go into the deep forest, his mom had said so. But he didn't want to look like a baby so he did anyway.

"As he got further into the forest, he heard noises. Sickening, cracking noises. He still didn't turn back though, because he finally saw the ball a few feet ahead. He moved forward, and the noises got louder and louder and louder…." Phillip's voice wavered off, and then he smiled.

"All the police found was a head. A head with the eyeballs still open and intact, staring blindly up into the trees, his face stuck in a frightening scream." He finished, and I nearly threw up right then.

"Eww! Gross! How about we don't hear something totally gross?" Penny whined and we all nodded except Mark who smiled like an idiot and high-fived Phillip.

"Sick story, man!" Mark congratulated, and all us girls chorused an 'Eww'!

"Hey! How about someone else top that then?" Phillip challenged, and Ronnie smiled back, taking him on.

"Okay then, I was looking up some random creatures, right," Ronnie began with a slow smile. My stomach gets queasy, and I don't know why. It was dark, and Kate passed out the flashlights to everybody. Ronnie had hers up to her face, illuminating it like they do when they tell a scary story. "I typed in the word 'real unordinary creatures' on the internet, and it came up with a Brazilian creature called an encantado, which are usually found in South America, but they were other sightings around bodies of water such as oceans, rivers, and lakes." Ronnie whispered, and my heartbeat increased in speed. "Supposedly, they live in a deep underwater realm called Encante. They are usually thought of as a cool freshwater dolphin that can shift into human form only at night.

"They have great musical ability, they are super sexy and seductive, and they love parties." Ronnie kept going, her smile getting a bit bigger with each word. Kate laughed, and it had been so quiet that the laugh scared me, and I screeched. Everyone laughed a little to themselves at me. My cheeks were probably scarlet. "Anyway, encantados have a protruding forehead, so they wear hats to hide them while in human form. And they have magical abilities, like controlling storms and haunting humans." My whole body shook at that and my bottom lip quivered. And it wasn't because of the rain.

"They even use various mind control techniques and can inflict illness, insanity, and even death. And, they are known for kidnapping humans. They take humans and kids that they have with humans down to Encante with them forever, where they will become encantados themselves," Ronnie said, clearly awestruck by this creepy creature. I was afraid, and worried. I am never good with this kind of thing! I knew I shouldn't have told her to look this up. Of course she would choose a scary superhuman being!

"Many villagers will not go near the Amazon River at night because of this, and many people believe in this extraordinary creature." Ronnie finished, and everyone but me clapped. I was still shaking. "So, Sloane. You like it?" Ronnie inquired. I nodded, not trusting that my voice wouldn't shake. Ronnie smiled.

"Well, that's not the only creature I looked up." Oh no. I thought, and I bit my lip down harder so it would stop shaking. "Angels." She whispered. I eased up. Angels weren't scary.

"Angels. Heavenly creatures that have beautiful wings that swing into the sky, and halos that shine brighter than the sun," Ronnie whispered, her eyes sparkling and her eyes bluer than I've ever seen them. "Angels are messengers of God, the superior being over all the heavens and the earth. The entire universe. They aren't little baby Cupids. They are warriors." Ronnie smiled then.

"Fallen angels are ones that have been torn apart from God and sent to Hell and the Earth. Angels can still be found on Earth as Guardian Spirits, or Guardians of human spirits. They guard a human's spirit or soul until death. There is no way for a human to become an angel. But angels can become humans," Ronnie finished. "Okay, that's all I got. Cool?"

"Yah!" Kate said.

"Really cool!" Drew and Fay said together, and they smiled at each other.

"Sure, whatever. Not as good as mine," Phillip said, and Fay giggled.

I say it's cool, but Ronnie notices my voice is a bit shaky so she just nods in return.

"Creepy," Penny says, and everyone doesn't say anything else for a minute or so.

"Hey! Let's play hide and seek!" Mark suggests, and everyone besides me yells yes back. My whole body starts shaking again.

"Who's it?" Ronnie asks.

"Sloane!" They all yell, and I look up and shake my head vigorously.

"Yep, Sloane, you're it! Ha! Count to thirty! Go!" Phillip said, and everyone ran off in different directions, flashlights in their hands. Then I was alone. I could already feel my heart speed up by a million beats a minute. I couldn't do this. I couldn't. But nobody was home. Mom was at work and Justin was at Kaitlin's house.

"O-one…t-two, three, f-four…" I continued, and then went off in the forest when I counted all the way to thirty. My foot crunching against the leaves and the squeak of my boots in the mud were the only thing I heard besides the quiet pitter-patter of the rain.

It was a few minutes later, after my eyes adjusted to the darkness, when I heard a noise. All I could think was of the little boy who walked further into the forest when he heard the noise and ended up body-less.

I spin around at the sound, pointing my flashlight at the trees, trying to find where the noise came from. I heard a beat. A crack of a twig not from my foot, the soft beat still pattering on and on. Bum…bum…bum….It sounded heavy. It sounded heavy and light at the same time. The beat had a certain flutter to it too. Out of the corner of my eye I see black. A shimmer of something too. The beat stops, and the forest falls eerily silent. My breath seemed too loud, and my every move was a loud vibration through the thick leafed trees. My flashlight burns out, and my breathing is quick and irregular.

"Hello…" I breathe, my voice shaking. I try not to move a muscle, but it was hard. In the horror movies they always make it seem so easy to be so still, but really…it burns. Every muscle burns, and it hurts. I wanted to cry. I wanted to go home. I wanted to find my friends. Whatever was in the trees moved again, and something inside of me just snapped.

I started to scream when I felt a hand grab my shoulder.

Chapter 8

A Heart-to-Heart

"Sloane! Stop! It's just me!" A familiar, high-pitched voice yelled. I stopped screaming and turned to find Penny there with huge eyes staring at me. I apologize and release myself from her razor-sharp nailed grip.

"S-sorry. I just f-freaked out I guess," I mumbled, shaking.

"You didn't just look freaked out, Sloane. You looked like you thought you were going to get killed or something. It scared me." Penny's blue eyes were a bright lapis and could be seen through the darkness. They still looked terrified even now.

"Do y-you feel something weird about now? Like this creepy-crawly feeling like something is watching you?" I asked. I still looked around suspiciously, assured that something was still in the trees watching Penny and I.

"Yes," she whispered, her breath rushing out of her. Her eyes grew wider and I saw her knees shake. "I've felt it a lot lately, and I'm totally freaked. I mean, what if it's that crazy encantado creature? Ronnie said it was real! Everyone thinks I'm joking or whatever, but I'm so scared. What if something really is watching me and it comes and hurts me or something? Or….It could be one of my enemies…I have so many…." Penny's voice fades off, but I knew how she wanted to end it. And a lot of them would come after me to get revenge…. I felt afraid for her.

"It's okay," I mumbled, hoping i felt what I told her. Penny knew I was just trying to make her feel better, because she just looked over into the trees. "I guess I better try and find the others," I continue, hoping that Penny acknowledges me.

"I'll help," She says, looking at me again. I nod, and she comes and walks next to me.

"You still in cheerleading?" I ask.

"Course. It's my life…I guess. My mom is so proud of me being a cheerleader, and all." She murmurs, and she seemed to be thinking about something very hard.

"Do you like cheerleading, though?"

"Yes! Why do you care, anyway?" Penny said louder. I shushed her. She made a pouty face but stopped talking.

"Okay, okay. Anything else you're doing?" I was trying to be friendly towards Penny. I never really gave her a chance.

"I'm dating Dalton Walters, the quarterback for my high school. He's pretty cute…." Penny begins, launching off into the whole story of how she was shy around him and all flustered and their relationship now. "I've felt closer to him than any other boy I've ever met," Penny finished, and I kept walking in shock. I never knew she was like that around boys, or ever felt that way.

"I didn't think…."

"…that I could feel like that. Ha. Lots of people say that." She sighs, and we walk in silence for a few minutes. We still hadn't found anybody, and I felt kind of lost.

"Do you know where we are?" I ask, and Penny shakes her head. I'm slowly growing afraid, and I knew Penny was too. "Let's try and find the edge," I suggest. Penny nods and we veer off toward the left for a while, without any luck.

"We have to find a way out. It's…" Penny checks her phone quickly then shoved it back in her pocket. "…it's almost midnight. I have to be home by one, and you have no idea where we are!" She said, her voice starting to crack a little.

"Me! You're blaming me? This isn't just my fault! It's yours too, Penny! You know, I thought we were sort of friends, but I should have known you're just like every other dumb, blonde, annoying cheerleader!" I yell back, and I could tell Penny was really offended.

"I thought you were nice and cool, but apparently, you're just a freakish loser!" Penny screamed at me, her voice echoing around us. I knew I was shaking with fury, and I was about to lose it. I was tired of dealing with girls like Penny Smith.

"Whoa, hold up now. No need for a hissy fit," a deep, male voice behind me said calmly, a twinge of humor threaded through his tone. I turn around and see glowing green eyes in the darkness, and an outline of a very fit body. Penny turns her flashlight on his face and I see a plush mouth in a half-smile, thick, straight blonde hair, the locks falling out onto his forehead, with high-set cheekbones and slightly upturned eyes. I could also see that he wore low-riding jeans and no shirt. No shirt? It was cold and rainy out and he decided not to wear a shirt? This didn't help when he had a major set of muscles too. I look over at Penny and see that she's practically drooling, even though she has a boyfriend. And I have one too… I remember consciously. I stop romanticizing over his body. I would hate if Brian ever knew I had, which he won't, but still. It was wrong.

"Who are you?" I ask, knowing Penny was too into staring at him then to speak with him. His smile loosens a bit, but it's still there, just barely.

"Blaze. What about yours, princess?" He said. His voice was hypnotizing, sucking you into the melody of his words. He looked about my age, maybe a year older. But I couldn't focus on anything. Wait, did he call me princess?

"My name's Sloane, not princess," I say. Penny finally moves from her position and smiles widely at Blaze. Blaze smirks over her way but mostly focuses on me.

"Sloane, that's pretty. You know that your name means Warrior in Irish? I think I'll call you that," Blaze says, giving a secret smirk just for me. Penny totally missed it, being her dumb, blonde self.

"It's Sloane," I state, hoping he'd get it and not bother me again. Apparently, he's oblivious though.

"Nope, it's Warrior." He barely even knew me, and he was already giving me a nickname. How ridiculous.

"I'm Penny," she cuts in, trying to get Blaze to notice her too. It works, but he doesn't take too much interest in her. More in me and this really bothers me. I have a boyfriend. And who is this guy really?

"Penny, it's getting closer to one in the morning. We gotta go." I say, urging Penny to say something in conjunction so we could get the hell outta here. But, of course, she is still ignorant and tries to strike up conversation with Blaze about my party and the game we were playing.

"Oh, really," Blaze says with a smirk over my way, "you guys saw some sort of non-human being," he mused, and I could tell he thought this was hilarious.

"Yah, and we also saw a little devil bunny with glowing red eyes that spoke French! Amazing, huh? Come on, Penny. We gotta find the others." I retaliate, reaching for Penny's arm to drag her if necessary, but Blaze clasped onto mine before I could get to Penny and pulled me close to whisper in my ear.

"I believe you. There are all sorts of crazy things out here in the woods," Blaze whispers, his breath warm in my ear. I yank back from his grip and grab onto Penny, dragging her by the arm, but stopped when I heard Blaze muse again.

"You really are a Warrior," He whispered with a half-smile on his angelic-looking face before he turned around and walked into the pitch black darkness.

Chapter 9

Unbearable

"Sloane….?" A voice asked in the oblivion, and I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to wake up. I tried, but I fell back into the darkness.

"Sloane….!" The voice said a bit louder, and I felt someone touching my face, just barely. I blink harder to wake up, and I open my eyes to see a faded figure and bright lights surrounding it.

"H-hello…?" I croaked, and I groaned when I felt the soreness that was spread through my whole body. My neck felt tight and hot.

"Sloane, it's me, Brian. Your mom said…hurt…horrible… you okay?" Brian's voice faded in and out. I blinked my eyes again and I could finally see Brian's caramel-blonde hair and muscled figure. Then the whole of last night came rushing to me at once and I groaned.

After Blaze had left, I had dragged Penny through the forest trying to find a way out while she complained about us leaving Blaze and how stupid I was for doing it. Then when we finally had found a way out, it was past one and then I got crap for making Penny late to her house. Ronnie, Fay, Mark, Phillip, Kate, and Drew were there waiting on us and I had to tell all of them what had happened—leaving out the part about Blaze, of course—and had to stop Penny from blurting out about it a numerous amount of times. Then I had to help get everyone home—while in the dark, which isn't a good combination with my clumsiness—and then came home around four in the morning and crashed. I could feel all the walking and headaches seeping into me, and groaned again.

"Brian. No, I feel horrible. Ouch," I said as I tried to move my position in the bed. Brian came and sat next to me in the bed and rubbed my shoulders and smoothed out my hair.

"I can imagine. Your mom said you came in at four," he said. I sigh. My head hurt so badly. I asked Brian if he could get me some Advil and he agreed, leaving me alone.

Blaze, I couldn't believe he had talked to me like we had been friends forever. He seemed too dangerous and creepy. Right now, everything seemed dangerous and creepy though.

"Here is your pill and a glass of water," Brian said as he walked in, and handed my them. I shoved the pill down my throat dry and then drank the whole glass of water. Brian looked at me funny.

"You know you didn't have to come check up on me right?" I asked with a faint smile on my face.

Brian smiled widely. "I'm your boyfriend, it's my duty." I laughed at that and he kissed me on the forehead.

"Brian, you are too kind." Brian only shrugs and takes the water from me when I finished.

"Sorry that I couldn't come last night to protect you. I wanted to, but you know how Coach Karr gets when we don't show up for practice…" Brian trailed off, and I gave him a goofy grin. He gave me a bright smile. "Otherwise, you know Michael, right? Michael Briggs? Well, he and Cecil Brown are going out now, and he's decided to take time out of football. This means…"

"Wait…You're quarterback now! That's so cool! Congrats, Brian!" I said, giving him and big smile and a hug.

"Thanks." He murmured, then mumbled something about going to the bathroom and left. My phone buzzed.

You look pretty cute when you're wet.

That's all it said. I froze, and my breathing halted for a second or two before I tried to catch my breath again. I couldn't believe this person was still talking to me. The only person that it could be was…Blaze? No. How would he have gotten my number? And was he the person that had been texting me before all those times? That wouldn't make sense though, because I hadn't seen him at the party or at school before.

But that didn't mean he didn't see me, did it?

"Sloane, you okay? You look sick all of a sudden," Brian said as he walked in. He rushed over and placed his hand on my forehead to see if I was sick or not. "Well, you're not hot or anything…temperature-wise of course," he murmured with a grin. I blushed. I didn't know why, because guys have said cheesy things like that before to me but I didn't ever blush at it. Must just be because it's Brian, not those other guys. "Sloane, you know I have a job at B's Coffee, and I—"

"Go. I know you need the money," I said, and Brian looked upset at leaving me, but nodded. He came forward and gave me a kiss on my cheek and then left my room, promising me to call and check up on me later.

"Well," I murmured to myself, "what can I do?" I looked around in the drawers next to the bed, trying to find paper or something to do while I sat here today. I pulled out a pale pink notebook about the size of a book with the scrawl:

Justin, I swear to the lord if you look into this you will be struck with a lightning bolt and a note that said: Don't forget to write in this every, single, day on the front.

I smile as I remember what it was. It was my diary from sixth, seventh and eighth grade. Four years ago. I opened the lock with the key I found in the drawer with it and look at the first entry dated August 25- First day of middle school.

Dear Diary,

I don't know about middle school anymore. The boys are really rowdy and reckless, and the girls are acting different. These groups are forming that are called 'cliques', and some of my best friends—like Hannah, Kasey, Phoebe, and Jess—are suddenly the bitchiest bitches that we all made fun of in elementary school. They became their own worst enemies. And it scares me. Will I become like that? I even heard this girl named Lily in eighth grade has had sex FIVE TIMES! I mean, why are these girls losing their 'virginity' at such a young age? Mom said that's what it's called. Virginity. It sounds like such a dirty, dirty word. Virginity. Virginity. Blessed Diary, don't you agree? I hate this. Middle school sucks.

And that's not even the worst part!

Yah, you heard me. Apparently, Kasey 'did it' for the first time over the summer without telling all us others. Jess, Phoebe, Hannah and I don't hang out with her anymore. None of us do. Jess and Hannah are in this 'scene' look, where they got their hair cut short and it looks like they don't bother brushing their hair, and they got all these piercings and dyed their hair dark. And their long, blonde hair is all gone! Chopped and dyed! How ridiculous is that? I've always been jealous of their beautiful, healthy hair, and they CHOPPED IT OFF! We don't speak anymore. And Phoebe ran off to this group where they make fun of everyone else, including me. It's not MY fault all my friends left and now no one speaks to me! I'm not a loner! I'm just in need of a friend. And no one wants to be.

Like I said before, middle school sucks.

The plus side…the boys. Not their attitude. I hate how immature and stupid they act. All they do is look at girl's bodies and rate how hot they are and stupid stuff like that. I think the girls are worst still. But, the boys are realllllly cute. Especially eighth graders. And seventh graders too. But the cutest are the football players and baseball players. There's this one boy, named Brian Holland, who's a football player, a runner-up quarterback. He doesn't know it, but I look at him in the halls a lot. He's a seventh grader though. And popular, not a loner like me.

I HATE MIDDLE SCHOOL.

I smile, remembering how I looked in sixth grade—hair in choppy layers to my shoulders, a horrible style, and shy as any person can get. I look back down at the diary and see that there was a lot more there to read.

August 27

Dear Best Friend Diary,

And when I though the torment couldn't get any worse…it does. The football team is combining with the 'populars' and tormenting me together. And who is on the football team that I like? Brian. I don't see him in the crowd of people tormenting me, but I'm sure he's there. They always are, aren't they?

August 31

I'm sorry, Dear Diary. I know I had promised to write in you every day, but middle school is so stressful and the torment just never ends. Sure, the group of popular people haven't been tormenting me as much, but they still find a way to do something. Like trip me, start a rumor that I'm poor or something fake like that, or more.

I just don't understand why they do this. Phoebe even takes part of it, and she and I had been the best of friends, sharing crushes, secrets, and friends. I'm worried that she's going to spill my secrets. She may already have.

September 15

Dear Lucky Diary,

You are so lucky you aren't real. Like, a human. School is hell. And home-life is more hell. Justin is acting stupid and he's failing all his classes and doing other bad things. Like yelling and hitting my parents. His computer is taken away, but it doesn't change his attitude. And…well…should I tell you? I guess I should. Well, I just walked in on Justin and his dumb girlfriend, Priscilla, having sex. SEX! I mean, wasn't it a rule that you aren't supposed to have sex until your married? Or something like that? Anyway, Justin got really pissed off and nearly exploded out of rage at me. He threatened that he would hit me if I told anyone. Meanwhile, that little stupid Priscilla lays there nude with this angry look on her face, like everything wrong was my fault, and that she shouldn't cover-up any body parts while a sixth grader was in the room. I just ran in here crying, but I got over it. He's been doing this stuff for a long time now. He's been in this mood for a while. Dad thinks it might be because he could have 'bipolar disorder'. It's where you have different emotions for long periods of time.

I just don't know about Justin anymore.

I relive the moment when I wrote this, when I had been wiping away tears and I wrote fast and messy, like I couldn't get it all out fast enough. It made me want to cry again.

October 21

Dear Diary,

Life isn't fair. IT ISN'T FAIR! Why did Daddy have to go and do this? Why did he have to not watch where he was going and then run into that car that happened to be turning at the same time? Why was he so stupid and have to make Mommy cry and Justin lock himself up in his room? Did he want to die? Did he stop loving us? IS THAT why he left? IT'S NOT FAIR! Why us? Justin was already stressing us out, and now we have to arrange a stupid funeral and wear all black to it and see all our stupid relatives and cry over stupid Dad who didn't see the stupid car turning into his stupid car and now we have to see him in a STUPID COFFIN—

I shut the book and wiped away the tears that threatened to drop out of my eyes. I couldn't take reading any more of that diary anymore. I didn't want to relive that moment I wrote this, how I was about to burst I was crying so hard. How it felt like my heart would break and how I heard Mom bawling in the room next door. I wiped the tears away again.

"What's wrong, Sloane?" Justin asked when he rushed in. He wiped away the remaining tears that were still left on my face.

"I'm fine. I was just reading things." Justin gave me a look, and I knew he meant that he knew I was lying and that there was more to it than just that. I sigh. I take a deep breath before I begin, trying to clear out that last tiny lump in my throat from the tears welling up.

"My diary from sixth, seventh and eighth grade." I say, and that's all I need to. Justin nods and looks away.

"Well, uh, I'm here to watch you. So don't go off and do something crazy," Justin said with a half-smile when he turned back around. I roll my eyes at him, but I know there's a smile there on my face. "I'll go make breakfast," Justin murmured, leaving me with the diary again.

Well, I might as well keep reading…I thought. I picked up the diary again and opened it back up to where I had left off…

-and I can't believe that people even have funerals. I mean, doesn't that just remind you of that precious thing you lost? Doesn't it bring the whole of the emotions, the memories…good and bad? I just can't see Dad again. I don't think I could stand it.

You know what? I'm going to make sure that I don't have a funeral. That way, people won't remember the bad. Just the good.

November 27th

Dear Friend,

School's been horrible. I don't know how, but everyone knows about my dead dad and they treat me with pity. I think that's worse than being picked on. For someone to pity you.

And you remember that kid, Brian? Yah, well today, he walked by me in the halls, and he stopped just to say 'Sorry to hear about your dad. Are you okay?' with this HORRIBLE pity face. I wanted to bawl. Instead, I replied by saying 'Stay in your own business.' And walked away. How stupid is that? That probably ruined that microscopic chance I had with him. I looked back at him when I rushed off though, and he was just standing there, watching me walk off. Then I ran out of the hall and holed up in the girl's bathroom last block. I was so thankful for that silence.

It just seems like my whole life is falling apart right now. If I had just one friend, I think I would make it through.

November 30th

Dear Diary,

I miss Dad. I miss his laugh, that twinkle in his eyes when he smiles or when he knew something we didn't. He had that twinkle every Christmas. And when he hugged you, it made you feel so loved and alive. He made you feel…un-alone. He would wink in the funniest ways and had all sorts of different laughs—the chuckle laugh, the 'heck no' laugh, the 'bubble' laugh—and every one sounded different from each other. That's what made him so special, so different. That's what made him my dad.

And what I probably miss the most was his quotes. He always gave me a quote every day, and it was like he knew exactly what I was going through. Cause the quote applied to me. And they still do. I have every single one written down on paper or memorized in my head so I would never forget them. Now, I hold onto them so much harder. It feels like I never really knew my dad, even though I probably should have. I never had asked where he went to college, or when and where he was born. I never asked him the obvious, the things you should ask you Dad.

That's all I want now, the answers to those questions.

December 15th –The day I would always remember

Christmas came early this year. You remember Brian? The cute football player? Well, he walked by me today and instead of just glancing and then looking away again, today…Oh! It just makes me so happy I can't stand it! Today he stopped and SPOKE TO ME! I thought I would die right then and there, and it wouldn't have mattered in the least!

He stopped and invited me to the football game! And told me he would meet me before the game to talk! The game is tonight, and I got Mom to let me into going. I think everyone is a bit better now that Dad's funeral is over… but it still hurts. I've been doing a whole bunch of different stuff to get my mind off of it all, but I can't seem to get his laugh out of my head.

I'm kind of scared. About everything. Brian could…I don't know. This whole thing could be a scam, and when I arrive, the whole school will be laughing at me, saying 'look at that stupid girl who thought Brian HOLLAND would actually like HER! Haha!' and all this other stuff, and Brian will be laughing right along with them.

But maybe I'm overthinking it. I'll go. And hopefully…just hopefully…

I jumped when I heard my phone ring out, and I quickly grabbed it and answered the call.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Ahh, I thought this was your number. Okay, I have a question for you," a familiar voice said. Blaze? I gulped.

"Wh-what do you want? And how did you get my number?" I accused.

"Look, I—"

"Are you the one that's been texting me for the past several weeks?" I kept accusing, interrupting him. I began to panic.

"What? No! I got your number through Penny and I thought I should call and apologize for my rude behavior, that's all!" I could tell he was saying the truth, so I stopped accusing him of things. But that didn't mean I didn't stop disliking him. "Anyway, I need to ask you something." I gulped, hoping he wasn't going to ask me out.

"Yes?"

"Where is B hall?" Blaze asked. I froze for a second, trying to think of what he was talking about. Then I realized. He's asking about his classes at my school.

"You're enrolled at my school now?" I cried out, my voice straining to stay calm.

"Yes, Sloane. Can you please just answer the question?" Blaze said, a twinge of humor in his words. I grimaced, already imagining how horrible school will be with creepy Blaze there.

"Go ask someone else," I said, hanging up on him. I decided to put away the diary, having enough of it for the day. All I could think about was my conversation with Blaze.

I couldn't believe Blaze would be interfering with my school life now, too.

Chapter 10

School with Fire

The second I walked in the door, I could feel the aroma of jealousy, desperation, and worry hit me like a wrecking ball.

Blaze must already be here then…I thought with a sardonic smile.

"Ohmygoodness. He's smoking hot. I've never seen such a hot guy in my life." A high-pitched voice to my left screeched, and a few other girly screams joined in.

"Blaze is a total hottie. He's so mine," Bess said loud enough for the hallway to hear. But the girls ignored her, still blabbering on about Blaze and how they were going to talk to him somehow. I ignored them all and went to my locker to get my books out for the next few blocks.

I would never like Blaze.

"Hey, Sloane," a voice said to my left and I turned, thinking I would see Blaze standing there with an arrogant smirk on his face, but instead it was Brian, giving me a big, nice smile.

"Hey!" I said, giving him a hug.

"Sorry I couldn't call you yesterday to check in. Boss said we can't be on the phone on work hours, and I didn't want to wake you up when I got home late…I missed seeing you though," Brian said with an irresistible grin, the one you couldn't help but smile back at.

"It's okay. I mostly slept anyway." What I really thought was "It was bad. This creepy guy that Penny and I ran into at the party Friday night called me knowing my number, and told me he would be going to my school now, and I think he's trying to get close to me or something. And it scares me. Bad."

"Good." Brian smiled, holding my eyes there with his for a few seconds until he broke it off to look down the hall, giving an agitated expression toward the start of the hallway doors. I followed his gaze to where Blaze stood, a swarm of girls around him trying their best to flirt with him.

"Brian, you okay?"

Brian turned around to face me again and gave me a big smile, but I could tell it was forced. "I'm fine, I'm great. I'll call you after school, is that alright?" He said, and I nodded. Brian smiled and leaned in, and I thought he would just kiss my forehead like he always did, but instead he went straight to my lips, and we kissed.

It wasn't one of those first kisses that was awkward and jumbled, like you didn't know which way he would turn his head, or when those gross sucking and smacking noises came from it, but it was the kind of kiss that came perfectly. We knew which way to turn—we had done this before, after all—but it didn't seem like we were nervous about it. And that made my grin, knowing we weren't like that.

I had to give away my first kiss to Alexander Hopkins, a football player linebacker in seventh grade. He wasn't a bad kisser at all, but there just wasn't any sparks. And we both knew.

Not with Brian though. There were plenty of sparks there.

We broke our kiss off, and we both smiled at each other before Brian walked off to his first class. I still held a faint smile on my face, not able to let go of it. I was too happy.

I took one last look down the hall, and see Blaze staring right back at me, with an expression of absolute fury plain on his chiseled face.

"I didn't see you leave Friday," Jesse said when I walked into English a few minutes later.

"Oh, sorry. We decided to leave early, it was cold and all," I said. Jesse nods and looks away, and I have the feeling I've hurt him somehow. "I really am," I say again softly, trying to look him in the eye, and I don't receive a response from him. I turn my attention away from him to Mr. Baez, who is going on about a test we're going to have today.

Which I forgot about…I thought, mentally kicking myself for it. I was always forgetting about that stuff. Mr. Baez passed out the test and I see that we have to read a poem before answering questions.

Here I go… I begin reading the poem.

Never Have I Fallen

Your lips speak soft sweetness

Your touch a cool caress

I am lost in your magic

My heart beats within your chest

I think of you each morning

And dream of you each night

I think of your arms being around me

And cannot express my delight

Never have I fallen

But I am quickly on my way

You hold a heart in your hands

That has never before been given away

- Rex A. Williams –

I answer the questions and turn in the test, glad that I wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

My phone buzzed suddenly, and I slapped my hand down on my pocket to stop it from vibrating. Luckily, the teacher didn't hear it. I hated the no cellphone rule. When Mr. Baez left the room to go make copies, I quickly pulled it out to see who had texted me.

Garrett isn't going out with Sarah Barnes anymore! They broke up yesterday, and he's is totally single! Ahhh! My time has come!

Kate.

I laugh silently to myself and text back quickly before the teacher comes back.

Flirt! Isn't he in your third block? Flirt then! Gotta go, Baez is coming in. Bye!

I stash my phone away in pocket right before Mr. Baez looks over at me, and Jesse gives me a hidden smile which meant 'good job', I'm sure.

"Is everyone finished?" Mr. Baez asked, and we nodded. "Well then, let's open to page 325 in your textbooks…."

"Blaze Burns," Kate slowly repeats over again to me at lunch, looking me straight in the eye.

"I get it, Kate, Blaze Burns," I say, mocking her need to slow down saying his name. Kate rolls her eyes at me, while failing to cover up her giving me the finger. Drew giggles.

"Blaze Burns is seriously the hottest guy I've ever seen. And surely it has to be the same with you, Sloane," Kate says, popping a French fry in her red lipped mouth. Drew nods in agreement.

"I thought you were totally into the Garrett." Kate waves her hand at me in a 'shoo' gesture, still eating.

"I am. I still am, but that doesn't mean I can't notice other very attractive men," Kate responds. It's my turn to roll my eyes at her.

"He isn't a man, he's a teenager," I remind her. Kate shakes her head immediately.

"No, that muscled man sure doesn't look like I look like a teenager," Kate says. I look over where Blaze sat, girls surrounding him so much that you could barely see his golden hair peek over them. But from past glances, yes. He was very muscular, and he didn't look like a senior, no matter how much he tried to look like a teen. But even though he was totally hot, that didn't make up for his creepiness. Kate smirked at me out of the corner of my eye.

"What?"

"Noticing the hottie?" She asked, her eyes twinkling with unspoken laughter. I threw a French fry at her, and she laughed out loud.

"I am not noticing the hottie, Kate. Just trying to see what you find attractive in him. And I still say he isn't a man." Well, the last line wasn't true, but it's all the same.

"Whatever, Sloane. On other matters, did you hear about the play this year?"

"What is it?" Drew screeched. Drew was a major Theatre girl, and so were Kate and I. But Drew was absolutely…obsessed you could say. It wasn't a bad thing, though. Actually, it's something guys say they like about her.

"Snow Angel. It's written by American playwright David Lindsay-Abaire in 1999. It's about this mysterious girl named Eva who steps out of a snow bank in Deerpoint, Vermont during a blizzard that's been the largest in 107 years, and she interferes with the lives of fifteen teenagers. And their teacher assigns them to create a journal, and they all write about their encounters with Eva and how they relate. It's seems so cool. Tryouts are tomorrow. Mr. Steppe said anybody who comes joins, since the school is so small," Kate says. Mr. Steppe was my Theatre teacher second block and the Drama department head. He always picked out the coolest plays for class and the school.

"Sounds awesome," Drew says. Kate and I nod in agreement.

"Well, what are the characters like?" I ask, hoping there would be a part perfect for me.

"Well. Frida Jenson, the main one out of the fifteen, is moody and an outcast out of the whole group, and Jill is the nice girl and the voice of reason. Benny is a shy boy with many allergies, and he likes Jill. Crank is the juvenile delinquent and is known as the local kleptomaniac and pyromaniac, and likes Jill too. Clifford is dimwitted and a comic role in it and he's friends with Dan, the popular boy who is always sad.

"Helen Spitzer is the weird girl in the group with a glass eye, and the total opposite of her is Tina-Louise, the popular, outgoing, talkative girl."

"Wait…a glass eye?" Drew exclaimed, interrupting Kate. I laugh, but Kate gives her an evil eye.

"Yes, Drew. A glass eye. I searched Google yesterday. Let me finish." Drew nods, clasping her hands on the lunch table.

"Betty and Fran are twins that go everywhere together and often synchronize their speech, despite being fraternal twins, and Gus is the awkward and sometimes obnoxious member of the group. Doofus is the class clown, Vincent is the whiz kid in the group, and Arlo is the wimpy kid in the group who gets picked on by the other kids. Ethel is the hyperactive and chatty girl in the group and seems to become so hyper she starts acting out of her mind. Finally, is Eva, otherwise known as the 'Snow Angel'. None really knows who she is. They just talk to her and become better people through talking with Eva as the play goes on," Kate finishes, and then looks at Drew. "Now what do you wanna say?"

"Nothing." Kate mimics shooting herself and pretends to be dead. Drew and I laugh. The bell rings and we all jump simultaneously. Then, as if our brains were connected by a cord, we both looked over where Blaze stood, throwing away his food and smiling at the girls who were following him.

And I'm pretty sure we all felt the same way too.

Envy.

Chapter 11

To Fall in Hate

December 16th

It wasn't a joke! Brian actually likes me! Well, maybe. He acted like a friend, nothing else. But imagine if he did! Everyone would be so jealous, and I would be so well-known and popular! Just the thought of it makes me bloom with incredible joy!

Brian also introduced me to these really nice girls, Kate and Drew. Kate's hyper and talkative, and Drew sort-of quiet and shy, but I don't mind. They acted like they wanted to be friends. And was so glad! I just wanted friends, but imagine! Popular friends? It would make everything ten times better! I think this year is going to be just fine.

"Miss Cruise!" A voice shouted, and I quickly slammed the diary shut and stuffed it in my book bag. I knew I shouldn't have brought it to school, but I'm so caught up in finishing it now! Mrs. Bridge, my history teacher, gave me her famous 'evil stare' with her cat-shaped glasses on before turning around to finish writing on the board. I breathed a sigh of relief. I sort of pay attention to Mrs. Bridge rambling on about South America, and all the myths and legends that they have believed for centuries, but I keep losing focus and thinking about Blaze, and how creepy it was that he suddenly began to go to my school….

A scream echoes through my head, and I slap my hands down over my ears, hoping to get rid of it, but only dulling it instead. My ears rang from it, and i only slightly wondered why someone was screaming in the first place. I was in history class, right?

I open my eyes to realize I was wrong. I wasn't anywhere.

No, that doesn't make sense. I would sound crazy if I said that, wouldn't i? I meant…well, I don't exactly know what I meant. All I saw was white, white walls, white floor, white ceiling. Well, I couldn't really say I was in a room either. I looked like the white went on forever and forever, never ending. I was in a whole universe of white. Of blank; so blank that it felt like I was floating and I wasn't with it. The feeling you have if you stay up all night long, like your half-awake, half-somewhere else. And my limbs felt heavy, like I was over-exhausted and it was too much to lift my arm.

I only slightly heard the voice off in the distance, the one it seems like I could never hear; the one that only the non-sense part of my brain perked up to. Because that part of my brain knew who that voice belonged to. The sense part of my brain did not, because I never had heard that voice before. But somehow, my non-sense section of my brain did, and my body jumped up, apparently connected to the non-sense part of my brain. It always had been though.

"Sloane," that voice said again, a beautiful sigh accompanying it. My insides turned to mushy jello, and my heartbeat alarmingly increased. I tried to fight my non-sense part, but I couldn't. It was like it had total control over everything my body did.

Just a few miles down (or at least, it seemed that way, because it was hard to tell how far things were away in this white vast land), black wisps appeared, then it was followed by a head, and shoulders, and eventually, a whole body was walking toward me, and I realized it was a boy, one that looked achingly familiar. Curly black hair, piercing green eyes, a lip ring and sharp features. Large muscles, but a lean body.

Why did he look so familiar?

"Sloane," He said, stroking my face gently with his thumb, giving me an irresistible smile. I smile back, letting that numbing, warm pain spread through my body. Then I remember I don't know his name, even though my body reacts to him as if I've known him for a while longer than a few seconds.

"What's your name," I ask, but the words don't come out of my mouth, they just sit there in my throat while I keep trying to speak them, getting frustrated with myself.

"It's okay, you don't have to talk," he said gently again, giving me a half-smile, his eyes twinkling with joy. I wanted to talk though, but I couldn't. This whole situation felt strange, and it was eating at me. How did I end up here? And why did I feel like this was all fake and unreal?

The boy leaned forward and kissed me, his cold lip ring pressing against the corner of my lip and his mouth tasting like the sea. A warming pleasure shot through my veins while a knot in my lower stomach grew and coiled lower making me catch my breath out of shock. Why did I feel this for a guy I didn't know! Well, a guy that half my brain didn't know. Apparently half of my brain did, or wouldn't be feeling this.

Around the edges of the white edges of the ever-going space, a seeping red the color of blood clouded the white, messing with my vision. It must have been happening to this boy too, because he broke off our kiss and looked around, gasping in horror.

"What's wrong?" I tried to yell, but again, the words were stuck in my throat, and I couldn't get them out. I felt something grasp my arms, pulling me backward while I struggled to get away, trying to scream at the curly black headed boy to help me. But he couldn't hear me; he kept looking around at the blood red scenery, while some…thing…was yanking me father from him. I began to scream, but the screams didn't reach his ears.

"Sloane!" A voice screamed, and I realized it was the black haired boy, finally realizing something was yanking me away. "Sloane! No!" He yelled, trying to run to me but couldn't reach me.

I was thrust around to face my kidnapper, and I saw Blaze's signature smirk he always had every time I saw him.

"My turn," he whispered in my ear, and forced his lips on mine, taking hold of me by my shoulders. He didn't taste the exact same as the black-haired boy had, his kiss was more controlling and his warmth was more powerful, more intensified to where I could actually feel it sitting in my veins and my muscles, making me weak to even move. It was like he was numbing me to where I couldn't stop him doing anything, which scared me.

But what scared me even more was that I liked his lips on mine.

"Sloane?" A voice cried out, and I realized it was the black-haired boy's voice, upset and almost…jealous. Jealous of Blaze kissing me? It makes sense though, because he was pretty smitten with me before Blaze came along and the white turned to red….

But I had never met him before. Why did he feel this way for me if I had never met him before?

Blaze let go of me and pushed me to the unseen floor, and I fell down…and down…and down…not knowing where the gravity went and my screams were terrifying and endless…never stopping, the fall going on and on….

A sucked in a gasped breath, realizing I had fallen to the floor in the middle of History class. I blushed, embarrassed while also noticing that the class was gathered around me, trying to get me to tell them if I was alright. Mrs. Bridge was on the phone, calling for the nurse I think. I tried to speak, but I couldn't still, just like in my dream…it was a dream, wasn't it? A daydream? I had dozed off….

"Sloane, try to say something!" A voice said, one I recognized as Eliza Elkins, one of the weight freaks at our school, who didn't need to worry about they're weight—they were perfectly slim—but did anyways. I still tried to speak, but it was like someone took my voice box away and I couldn't utter a single word.

I was getting so mad, and I think Eliza was noticing that, because she told me that it was okay, and not to get upset. But how could I not get angry? I wanted to tell them I was okay, that I had just dozed off…but I couldn't!

The nurse came in and began yelling at students to move out of the way, and tugs me up and sturdies me so I could walk against her to her room. Eliza gives me a faint smile, which I figured meant 'hope you get better'. All the other students did something like it, while others just didn't care. I'm sure this will be spread around the whole school by the end of the day anyway and it was sad that it didn't bother me. I had been dealing with this since seventh grade, after all.

"Okay, honey, now tell me what happened," the nurse said once we reached her room and she shut the door. I suddenly remembered that her name was Nurse Nancy, realizing many of my friends had been here for injuries from cheerleading and football, even basketball.

"I—I don't—" I stuttered, not finding the words to describe it. Nurse Nancy gives me a hard look, one eyebrow raised.

"Don't tell me you've been taking some kind of drugs to get a 'great feeling'," she said, with a half eye roll. I wanted to laugh, knowing she must of heard that thousands of times before, but I knew it wasn't appropriate.

"Oh no! I think I just sort of passed out. I had been dozing off, daydreaming about—" I stopped myself, realizing that it would be odd to tell the nurse about what had happened in my daydream. I definitely don't want to be sent to some wacky shack.

"Daydreaming about what, Ms.…," Nurse Nancy halted, looking at a clipboard before finishing it off with a "…Sloane Clark." I pause at first, but I quickly thought of something so it didn't look like I was going to lie about it.

"Just daydreaming about random things. I couldn't really make sense of it." It was a half-truth. I was daydreaming about random things, like kissing people I didn't know and how everything was white. But I was starting to make sense of it. There was some boy I must have just seen on the street that I thought was cute and I dreamt of kissing him was all. As for Blaze….

Well, I really didn't want to think about that.

"Humph," she said, and I knew she didn't believe me. But if she didn't ask any further questions, it wouldn't be a problem anyways. "Well, Sloane, let's check out your temperature like usual," Nurse Nancy said, grabbing her supplies from the counter from behind her. She does the usual routine, temperature, then blood pressure…blah blah blah. "Well, you seem to check out. Are you sure you just dozed off, Sloane?" She asked, doubt in her brown eyes.

"I swear I just dozed off! At least, that is all can remember…." I lead off, shaking my head at myself, trying to remember what had happened before I had that funny dream. I remember Mrs. Bridges was saying something about an encantado…and then…just the dream. What else had happened? And why did 'encantado' sound familiar?

"Okay, I believe you," Nurse Nancy said, but still I saw a tiny sliver of unhidden doubt in her eyes. I nod anyways. I look away while she cleans up, looking at the signs about washing your hands and the importance of keeping clean and maintaining a healthy diet, sort of blanking out. "How's Brian been?" Nurse Nancy asked, scaring me out of my stupor.

"Hopefully not getting hurt," I say with a laugh, and Nurse Nancy laughs too.

"No, I haven't seen him all year, actually." She said, and I smile a bit, but only to myself. "Well, you better get back to class. I don't think you need to miss anything since you seem to check out." I nod again, opening and shutting the door. I walk the halls a bit, trying to get my head cleared out. I felt like I had been hit with a rock. It makes sense; I had hit my head on the hard floors. But this felt different. It felt more like someone had just flooded my brain with knowledge I couldn't all take in at once, or someone took my brain and smashed it to bits. I had a huge migraine, but I couldn't miss the first cheerleading practice after school today. It's only November, and football games are going to start soon.

At the thought of being the flyer since I was the smallest, being thrown about, made my head hurt even worse. But I couldn't leave. If I missed the first practice, Coach Bell would kill me for sure. She's usually a nice, easy to get along with coach until you start missing practices, especially the first one of the year. Then she gives you her evil side.

My phone buzzed, and I was glad that I hadn't walked into class already. I didn't want my phone to be taken away, especially not when Mom may ground me for getting in at midnight on school nights. I just don't feel like coming home lately.

Omigod! Cheerleading practice in an hour! You ready to fly, baby?

Kate

I smile and head into the girls' bathroom, texting back, of course, I've been waiting all day. Ha. I totally forgot until a few minutes ago. You trying for captain this year?

Duh, Kate replied, Are you?

Maybe.

Ooohhh! I know why! I know why! It's cause Brian's captain, and then, if your cheer captain, you'll like, be the ideal couple. Right? Right. Of course I'm right. I am Kate Winslow. I am always right.

I laugh quietly. Kate read me like an open book. She always knew what and why I did things. That's one of the reasons we bonded so quickly. Of course Kate, of course. I gotta go back to class, bye!

Immediately, a text came back saying Back to class? Why aren't you in class? I decided not to answer; I would see her at practice anyways. I speed-walked down a few halls to Mrs. Bridges room, and knocked, peeking in the window to see Eliza answering it. Her eyebrows rose when she opened the door and saw me standing there. I gave her a genuine smile and walked past, eyeing my seat in the back of the class, suddenly wishing I didn't get placed back there. It felt like everyone was staring, even though Mrs. Bridges was redirecting them to the board. It didn't matter. I was popular, and I on the floor, having to get sent to the nurse was…news. For the other kids, it was news. My friends will be worried, the others will laugh. That's how high school always is, right!

"You alright," A voice asked from beside me, one I didn't recognize. I turned and saw a girl with round, John Lennon type glasses and long, thick wavy black hair to her knobby elbows. She looked tall and long-legged, wearing boot-cut white-wash jeans and a long sleeved shirt with ballet flats. She looked like a ballerina, with her high forehead, button nose and full round lips, and endlessly long legs. I had the same legs she had, but i did have the style of face to look like a really ballerina like she acquired.

"I think so. You are?" I say, wondering why she wore such old style glasses when she had such beautiful amber colored eyes underneath them. I had never seen eyes like hers before.

She laughed a laugh that sounded like music. It was beautiful, but at the end it seemed sharp. "You wouldn't know me, it's my first day. I'm Genevieve Ann Sofia Rosendahl. I just moved here from Europe. We certainly didn't see things like that at our first days there," she said with a smile. I couldn't hold the smile that broke out across my face.

"That's a beautiful name. You know, I always wanted an old-fashioned, princess name like that. Welcome to Portland High," I say, shaking her outstretched hand. I saw a row of bracelets on her arm, some saying Ann Sofia and Rosendahl for Rulers, while others said Fight the Fear, Be Who You Wish To Be, and one that said Once a killer, always a killer, which caught me off guard. She snapped her arm back before I could read any more through, and I looked up to see she looked angry.

"Thank you, but you shouldn't snoop into other peoples things," Genevieve snapped, and I apologized. She softened up, biting her lip like she regretted snapping at me.

"Sorry for freaking you out on the first day, I usually don't do things like that, ever," I said with a strained laugh, and Genevieve smiled.

"I'm sure you just dozed off…what's your name?" She asked, and I realized I had forgotten to tell her.

"Sorry! I'm Sloane Cruise."

"You're middle name?" Genevieve waited for my answer. I faltered. Why would she want my middle name? I figured she just wanted my full name too, like she had told me. It would make sense.

"My full name is Sloane Ariana Cruise," I said. Genevieve smiles warmly.

"Did you know that your first and middle name together means Warrior Like A Beautiful Melody? It's very pretty. Mine means White Wave Gracious Wisdom. I've studied in the meaning of names in Europe. I love finding what names mean. My family moved here to America from Denmark only a day ago. I've been studying the English language for a while though, so I don't have to worry about learning it. I love it here so far, at least," Genevieve said, and I finally caught that bit of an accent in her voice. Danish, I thought, how interesting she would move to America from Denmark.

"Really? What's it like in Denmark?" I asked. Genevieve gave me a smile, and then looked off at the board.

"Den er smuk, meget smuk," She said with a thin, sad smile, and I realized she was speaking in Danish. I was about to ask her to translate in English, but she already began saying, "It is beautiful, very beautiful, Sloane. They have the most beautiful islands and farmland, with simple towns. It feels like you're in a fairytale. Denmark was always more a place to go in the summertime because all the outdoor activities were in full swing. I always loved going to the zoos and hiking…when my parents would let me. My favorite time is when the reenact times from the past. It feels like I was right there with them," She said, and I knew she missed it already from the way she looked. She seemed sad, like she was thinking of a memory she knew she would never experience again.

The bell shrilled, and I nearly jumped three feet in the air. Genevieve packed up her things and stood, and I caught her arm before she walked off. She seemed surprised when she turned around and saw me standing there. "Hey, I just wanted to say we should hang out sometime," I say with a smile, and she nodded in agreement. I noticed we were about the same height, but she was just a quarter of an inch taller. I thought sitting down she would be at least a few inches taller.

"Here's my number," Genevieve said, placing a small piece of paper in my hand. I nodded and smiled, and she walked out of the room, looking down over a schedule. I opened the piece of notebook paper and saw:

503-565-7965

What gorgeous handwriting, I thought. I packed up and headed out to the football field where the cheerleading practice would meet, excited to feel the wind on my face as I tumbled through the air.

I cold air hit me like a wrecking ball when I opened the doors to the field, and I immediately started to chatter my teeth and rub my arms to ward off the cold. I kept walking out though, closer to the noise of cheering and excited screaming.

Our football field is huge, even though our school size is small. We only have 200 students per graduating class, so the school wasn't that big. Even though it was like that, we still had a huge football field almost half the size of the school, and we took sports seriously, even though we versed the same three school's we always had for the past 80 years the school has been open. Our big rival was South Point High School, while the other the ones we versed were Brenner's High School and The Southern School of Arts and Sports.

The cheering got louder as I walked closer, and I passed the bleachers on the left to see the cheerleading tryout team, all clustered together, practicing cheers and stunts hoping to get in. I was sure I was going to get in, since I got in my freshman year last year. Kate, Drew, and I were the only three freshmen to get in, and one of the only freshmen girls to get in for the history of the whole school a few others included too, which was pretty old. It was built in 1930's after all. The school had a 1930's feel to it too, with the cinderblocks and bricks, with multiple floors and an institutional feel. Plus, the lockers were beaten and each era in styles was plainly seen throughout.

Like A hall, for example. Those lockers were spray-painted with permanent paint in tie-dye colors form the 60's era, and the school can't get it off, so it is forever stained on A hall's lockers.

"Hey, Sloane!" Kate's voice shouted, and I turned to see her running towards me, Drew at her side, their ponytails whipping around behind them from the chilly wind.

"Hey! You guys ready to kick butt?" I say when they stop running. They smile, their cheeks and nose red from the chill. Oregon was always colder earlier than other states.

"Definitely. All those freshman don't stand a chance," Kate says with a toothy grin, her eyes crinkling up with unshed laughter. Drew giggles, twirling her short ponytail with her finger.

"Okay ladies! Line up so I can read off this sign up list…" Coach Bell said, walking up with her face in a clipboard. She always had a clipboard with her. You would think it was supposed to be some kind of weapon the way she holds it. And I bet it would be the first thing she would hit the opponent with, like it could burn them to death or something. I sort of giggle at that thought. We all line up, and Kate, Drew and I wound up somewhere in the middle of it all.

"She better hurry," a girl to my left said, "I have to go shopping later." I almost turn and hit her. Cheerleading shouldn't be something to 'do'. It should mean something. God how I hate freshmen.

"Okay, only fifteen spots will be filled this season, and there are about fifty of you girls. So please don't be upset if you don't get in. Try it your best and if you're good enough you should. Let's begin with names. Patricia Amatol!" She called, and I heard a voice down at the far left end yell "Here!" She keeps going down the list, reaching Drew first because her last name is Arlington and then on and on until me and then Kate being one of the last. "Alright! Now time for flying! Let's go!" She screams, and I see some of the freshmen flinch back.

Coach Bell splits us up into groups of six or seven and we do all sorts of cheerleading stunts, cheers, splits and stretches. An hour or two later, most of the girls are already gone, and the others are moaning about how hard it was.

"You know," I say when Drew, Kate and I are on the field, cooling down after the tryouts are over, "I thought it would be much harder."

"I agree. All these girls don't know about hard, really," Kate says, lying down and stretching out her legs. I lay back too, looking into the brightness.

"Seriously. They haven't had Bell. She's harsh. When will we find out if we make it?" Drew asked, shielding her face from the sun so her pale skin wouldn't burn.

"Tomorrow. She's gonna have the list posted on each hall," I say, soaking in the rays from the sun. A shadow looms over us, and I look up to see Blaze smirking at me. Kate gives me a knowing smile, and I shoot her the death glare.

"You look cute in cheerleading clothes," Blaze says with a boy-ish grin, trouble emanating it like the spread of wildfire. I snort, un-ladylike, and that makes him smile even wider.

"Thanks, but no thanks. We were just leaving, right girls?" I beg them with my eyes to go along with the plan, but they totally ignore it—out of inability to understand my expression or to torture me, I have no clue—and I stand there looking like an idiot while Blaze just grins likes he's won the freaking lottery or something. I again silently beg with my eyes at them to say that we did have to leave, and Drew had some sort of recognition but didn't get up.

"No, we can wait a few more minutes, Sloane. Can't we?" Kate asked me, a smile pulling at her lips, and I wanted to yank that black hair out of her head. I knew she was purposefully ignoring me. UGH!

"I have to get home. You know, to help my mom and things," I said harshly. I wasn't lying, and I knew I hit a sore spot when I said this to her, because I had been helping out mom ever since my dad's accident, and Kate loved my mom and always felt bad for her. Kate's smile fell, and she nodded, mentally telling me sorry. I gave her a nod, telling her she was forgiven.

"You're right, what was I thinking? Sorry…what's your name again?" Kate said, and I knew she was trying not to burst out laughing when Blaze looked utterly surprised to hear that someone didn't know his name.

"Blaze Burns, a new senior at the school. Please to meet you…"

"Kate Winslow. And this is Drew Arlington and Sloane Cruise," she said. I was about to remind her that he already knew who I was but I remembered that I never told them about my encounter with him in the forest that night we played hide and seek. I hoped Penny kept her mouth shut about it too.

"Nice to meet you all…" Blaze said with a grin at the end, obviously in my direction. I blush at that.

"Hey guys…what's goin' on?" Brian asks when he walks over obviously done with football practice since he was glinting with sweat and was out of breath. He eyed Blaze suspiciously, and then threw his arm around my shoulders. I give Brian a smile, and he smiles back warmly.

"Just meeting the new kid," Kate says casually, but the sparkle in her eyes told otherwise. I felt Brian's arm around my shoulder tighten.

"And you are?" Blaze asked with that boy-ish smile of his, but he obviously didn't like Brian from the edge his eyes held even with his smile.

"Brian Holland, Sloane's boyfriend, and star of the football field," He said, giving a pitiful smile. I giggle at the title he gave himself. Drew smiles at me.

"Sloane!" I hear a familiar voice call, and I turn and see Genevieve standing there with a big grin, in short shorts and a tank top, her glasses overtaking her face and her think, wavy black hair framing them.

"Hey! What are you doing out here? Were you at practice?" I ask, realizing it only made sense. How could I not have realized she was out here?

"Yes! It was such a rush being thrown in the air like that! Gosh! I hope I make it! I hope you make it too! I figured you were a cheerleader. You have the body for it. But I've been told I do too! I've been in cheerleading before, but I've never been on a school team. Whew! Sorry! Sort of hyper," Genevieve says in a rush, and I smile in spite of myself. Kate and Drew look super confused, Brian is smiling, and Blaze is surprised. Surprised? Why would he be surprised?

"Sorry Genevieve, and everyone else," I say with a laugh, "Genevieve, this is Kate, Drew, Blaze, and Brian, and everyone, this is Genevieve." Genevieve smiles and shakes hands with all of them, except Blaze which I find odd.

"Nice to meet you all," she says in their direction with a nod of her head. Then she turns back to me and gives me a warm smile. "Call me later," she says, and then runs off.

"Well, she seems nice." Kate said, and Drew and Brian agreed. Blaze just watched her run off, suspicion in his eyes.

"Well, I better get going. I'll see you tomorrow, Sloane," Brian says softly, tucking a few strands of strawberry blonde hair that had escaped from my ponytail behind my ear. He smiles at me warmly and kisses my forehead, warming my face up with his hot lips... and it was partially because I was blushing. I had to admit I was upset that he didn't kiss me on the mouth, but it was probably better anyway since we were in front of Blaze, who was sort of angry, and Kate and Drew, who were just smiling like idiots at us.

Brian walked off toward his car, and I realized that it was past time for dinner and I hadn't even left school yet. "Hey guys, I really need to leave too," I say.

"'Kay. Remember that tonight's movie and sleepover night, and tell your mom I said hey!" Kate said with a smile, and I swore silently, finally remembering that every month we had one of them, and usually they were on Mondays. Which was today, and I forgot to remind mom about it.

Darn.

"Sure thing," I say, and I run off towards my Bug, keys jingling in my hand, while trying to call my mom with the other hand.

I dial her number, expecting to get a voicemail, but am surprised when she answers with a panicked "Hello, Sloane?"

"Mom? What's wrong?" I ask, hoping she wasn't having another anxiety attack like she's had before.

"Sloane? Where are you? Why aren't you home? You aren't out near the woods are you?" She says, nearly on the verge of passing out she sounded so panicked.

"Mom! I'm fine, I'm okay! Please take deep breaths. In, out, in out. Please calm down. I was at cheerleading practice and I wasn't looking at my cell. What's going on in the woods?" I hear her breathing slow to normal, and she took a few more deep breaths before she answered.

"Police found dead bodies out there earlier today, where you and your friends hung out a few Fridays ago. They said-." Her voice cracked off, and I could hear her voice quiver like she had been crying.

"Mom, what did they say?"

"They said they identified the bodies as Portland High students," she said.

Chapter 12

Death by the Thousands

LATER IN THE STORY

I could see the desire in his eyes, and how he tried to fight it. I knew his reasoning for not wanting to be with me, but I didn't agree with it. So what if it wasn't safe if I was with him, or how his ex-best friend and his ex-girlfriend would try to tear us apart? People who loved each other should be together. But he didn't agree. He thought everything would go bad if we were together, and we would be separated forever.

But if I complied with his reasoning, we would be separated forever anyways.

Chapter _

The End As We Know It

"Gabriel, I don't understand." I whispered. I could feel my heart literally breaking in two parts. The pain made me want to scream.

"You know what I mean, Sloane." He said gently, trying not to break me, but failing. My heart already was breaking.

"I—I just…." I began to choke on my words. Breathing hurt. Talking hurt. Everything hurt. He couldn't leave me. After everything we've been through, he couldn't leave me.

"Sloane. This is for the best. I promise you. When I go, Blaze will go too, and you won't have to be hurt be him or me any longer. I love you Sloane, but—"

"Exactly! You love me, so why are you leaving?" I asked, tears rolling down my cheeks, dripping down onto my shirt. Gabriel winced, and his eyes looked sad, but I knew he wasn't staying. Even if I begged and pleaded, he wouldn't stay. He wouldn't even stay for me. He wouldn't stay for anything.

Gabriel pulled me close to his chest and hugged me so lightly I didn't even feel it. That move made my heart break even more, if that was possible. "It's for the best," was the last thing he whispered to me, and then turned around and walked off into the blinding light as it closed around him. And I was left alone, and it finally dawned on me that Gabriel will never come back. He didn't want to come back. He didn't want me. Through everything we've been through…he still doesn't want me enough to come back for me.

I've never felt so un-wanted in my life before. So alone, so depressed and that pain that coursed through my body never had been so strong and agonizing.

I walked home some time later, barley able to move. Every step i took felt like I was lifting five tons, and my chest felt cold and empty, like I had never felt happiness before. But I have. With Gabriel, I had. I could still remember his touch on my cheek, the sparkle in his deep green eyes when he laughed, the way his eyes crinkled up even if he barley smiled and the taste of his lips when he kissed me. Or when he was confused his eyebrows would knit together, and I dreamed of taking my finger and smoothing those crinkled out. He would've smiled.

That first time I saw him is always in my memory, never fleeting. It never will.

I stuck my pale hands in my pockets and hear a soft crinkle of paper. I pull it out, my heart beating faster when I see his beautiful curvy handwriting.

Sloane, it read,

I know that you are hurting. And I know you wish I was there to comfort you, to hold you. I always was before. But I can't be. I can't stay, not when I am putting you in danger. You may not understand, but I want you to. I wish you could. You may not until you get over me, move on. Blaze came because he knew. He knew about me watching you when you were so young, and he knew that I loved you even before you had seen me with your beautiful clear blue eyes. The first time I saw you at Portland High School that day on the cold, bleak 23rd of December, I was taken aback by how your eyes were still the clear sparkling blue they had been when you were just seven. I figured you would grow out of it.

I was wrong.

I hope you know I still love you. I hope you still believe that. I'm so sorry for all the heartbreak i put you through. I'm sorry for what Genevieve did. I'm sorry that I still fell for her deceiving charm. I'm sorry that she tried to murder you, and that when you tried to tell me, I refused to believe you. I'm sorry that Blaze killed Brian, the boy you first loved. And I'm sorry that Blaze is in love with you. I'm sorry that since I loved you, your life has been through hell. But I'm not sorry that I still love you through it all, Sloane.

I'm sorry that I have to leave. But it's the only way to fix this mess I made. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything that has happened since that bleak, cold day of December 23rd. I'm sorry that I showed up in your life. But if I hadn't…I don't know what would have happened.

I wouldn't be writing this, for sure.

Sloane, I really hope you forgive me, and move on. I wish I could be with you, forever and always. You don't know how much I wish I could. I would die to be there with you while you read this, so I could wipe those heart wrenching tears away from your beautiful eyes. I love you. And I always will, no matter what happens. I will always love you.

This is goodbye.

Yours,

Gabriel

I see the tears that fall from my eyes blur my eyesight and smudge the letters on the page, and I tuck it in my jeans pocket to keep it safe. I can't get the last words he wrote out of my head. This is goodbye. This is goodbye. Gabriel saying that makes it seem so much more final, like the end of an era in my life. The era of true love, friendship, happiness, craziness, paranormalacy, doubt, lying, confusion, death, and so much more. I knew the next era would include heartbreak and loneliness. I was sure of that. But everything else was a mystery, and I'm afraid of what was to come. But I was also sort of excited. Maybe things would get better.

I ran home, straight to my room and tore out a piece of paper out of my diary. I grabbed a pen and wrote:

Gabe,

Gabriel,

I uh, know you won't get this. Uhm…

I love you. And I hate you for leaving me, I really do. But…I guess I do understand that you're trying to protect me. I sorta do. But that doesn't mean I don't forgive you for it.

I don't think you understand how I feel for you. If you did, you wouldn't have left me. When I first saw you…well, December 23rd, at the Winter Dance…wait. I can't really say that can i? 'Cause I've seen you many times before that. Well, I guess the first time I spoke to you then, you didn't understand. I think I loved you then. And it's not that whole "love at first sight" shit, it was something deeper than that. I had seen you many times before. And it felt like after that first conversation about nothing and everything at the same time, we had been friends for ages. That we had known each other forever.

And then, that day we first kissed…I had some deeper connection with you than I ever had with anyone else in my life, including Brian and my family. I told myself time and time again that love didn't exist, that I couldn't love you. Somehow I couldn't take it with you like I could with Brian. With Brian it wasn't so deep, and connecting. With Brian it was more of a friendly love, one that was love, but wasn't real. One that wouldn't hurt me. That's why I could take Brian's love. Yours, Gabriel, it was real, and it was so deep. And I knew the deeper I dove in, the harder it would be to get out. It almost felt like suffocation, but it was a suffocation that felt good. That's why people don't get out of it. It feels like real, true, un-harmful love.

The day I saw you with Genevieve…

I took a deep breath and swallowed to knock out the lump in my throat and continued.

…I realized that…I had gone in too deep. Way to deep. Deep enough that it stung to climb back out again. I hated you for that. I hated you for falling for her stupid, deceiving charm. I thought you were so much smarter than that. But apparently you still loved her, because you still fell for her. And I know you still do, even if you tell me again and again that you don't, I won't believe you.

And the day you told me what you really were…I really didn't know what to think. I promise you I wasn't afraid. I won't ever be afraid of you. Only of your love.

And maybe you do love me. Maybe that is true, because I love you. Even though I tried so hard to climb out of that deep ocean of love I fell into, I couldn't get out. Next time, I promise I won't fall so easily. I promise I'll watch where I'm going. You can be sure about that.

I hope you're happy wherever the hell you are. And if it's with Genevieve, you can be sure to forget about me. I really just want you back. And I do wish you were here, like you always were, holding me. It always made everything seem so much better. And I'm not sure to believe you about everything you're sorry for. Sometimes I can't trust anyone, even the ones I truly love.

You patched up my heart and then broke it. You repaired my life and then crushed it with your stupid wings and your beautiful face. Maybe hate and love are one in the same.

This is goodbye, for now.

Yours Forever and Always,

Sloane

I run outside and throw the note up in the air, letting the wind pick it up and whip it around in the sky. I knew Gabriel would find it.

And as I watched the tiny piece of paper flutter through the air, further and further away from me and I felt the cool teardrops leak from my eyes rolling down my face, it reminded me that even though I told him that big heavy weight that has been on my shoulders awhile now, I could still feel it tearing apart my already shredded heart.

Winter Dance in December. When Sloane tries out, Genevieve is a new girl who is better and tries to be captain too. Genevieve is Gabriel's old girlfriend, who has powers to charm someone because she is a_. Sloane says "It's not even about Brian and me anymore, Kate! It's about beating Genevieve. It's all about beating her." Block Block 2-Theatre- Mr. Steppe LUNCH Block Block 4-History Mrs. Bridge Tells Ronnie, they investigate n stuff. Gabriel_ name He is the friend. Brian Dies. Torn between Jesse n Gabriel, maybe Blaze? Lacey MY DAYDREAMS. 3 (Boy is half-fairy half-encantado. Father was encatado, mother was fairy. Mother took him away to try to get him to not have to deal with it, but discovered he had to be around water. They move near a river where the girl is. He falls in love but wants to keep her safe. So yah. :]) Blaze kills Brian by drowning him; Sloane finds the body a few days later when she and friends go to the lake trying to find him. Sloane finds out its Blaze that killed him and she tells Gabriel. Sloane only knows Gabriel from December to May…so in 2nd book when she realizes she'll say "I only knew him for six months…and he's the closest person I've ever been to. I told him everything…and now he left with everything I ever had."