Howl at the Moon

Chapter 1: The Meeting

I guess life doesn't always work the way you want it to. It's all about fate, or maybe it's karma, but ever since that one day, my life has never been the same.

My name is Gabriella Jaymes, and I'm 16 years old. I live in Manhattan, New York, and I love it, but it's time for something new. I'm moving to Denver, Colorado to live with my aunt for a while. My aunt is divorced and she's having some financial problems, so I'm moving in with her until my eighteenth birthday. I have to get a job too, but I'm not really happy about that part.

I have long light brown hair, hazel eyes, and I'm short. I was the captain of the cheerleading squad back in Manhattan and I was on the swim team, so I guess I'm in really good shape. I have clear skin, and my makeup makes me look even more awesome than I already do.

I'm concerned about leaving my friends, though. I don't want to leave my best friends, Kendall, Lucy, and Hannah. I also had to break up with my boyfriend, Jake, prior to my departure. They told me that they would come visit for prom, though, so I'm excited about that.

"I love you, Mom." I said, as I was getting on the plane to Denver.

"I love you too, sweetie. You better email me right when you get to Aunt Sarah's house, okay?"

"I promise I will, Mom. Say bye to Dad for me too, okay?"

"I will. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too. I'll call you whenever I'm not busy."

"Okay, honey." And then I got on the plane to Colorado.

I was flying on Northwest Airlines, and I was not in first class, so it would be a rough flight. I was seated in row 28B, and I didn't like it. I was in the middle of a three hundred pound man eating a chicken leg and a crying baby that smelled like it took a crap in its pants.

I was so happy when I got off the plane. My Aunt Sarah was right outside the gate waiting for me. She even had a sign that said Gabriella. I was really tired, though, even though it was only 1:38 PM Colorado time.

"So how was your flight, honey?" my aunt asked.

"Not as good as I expected."

"Why? There weren't two cute guys sitting next to you this time?"

"Sadly, no. There was a fat man who wouldn't stop eating, and a baby who smelled like it shat in its pants, and I was in the middle of both of them."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did they at least have a movie on board?"

"No, all they did was give us one glass of water for the whole flight. But I guess it could've been worse."

"Well, I have some news that will cheer you up. Once we get back to the house, I can show you the car I bought you. I think it's really nice."

"It wasn't too much money, was it? I would've just taken a bus, you didn't have to buy me a car."

"It was a welcoming gift, and it was only 15 Gs. It's a Lexus because I know how much you like those."

"Thank you so much Aunt Sarah!" and I hugged her as tight as I could.

"Oh, you're welcome sweetie. Now let's get in your new car."

"But you said it was at home."

"I might have told a little white lie." Aunt Sarah grinned.

"That's the Aunt Sarah I know." And I hugged her again. Then we both got in my new blue Lexus.

"So, do you want to know which school you're going to go to?" My aunt asked.

"Sure, which one? I researched a few of them. I found Denver High School, White Forest High, and Northern Lights. Am I going to any one of those?"

"Not exactly. You're not going to public school. I'm sending you to private school."

"What? With all the snobby rich kids?"

"I just want you to get into the college you want. It's not any different than public school. There's just um…well…uniforms. But it is full of cute guys. I saw the yearbook." Aunt Sarah chuckled.

"Well, okay. I guess I could deal with it until I'm eighteen. How many students are there? And what's the name of the school?"

"There's 1,500, and it's called Forest Greene Private School. It's rated the best school in the city of Denver."

"I think I could make it work, because I am pretty good at making friends."

"I knew you'd be happy."

"Your first day is tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

"Oh, look, there's the house. It looks the same as it used to, well, except there's a lot less trees because they've been used to make houses."

"I like it. It's very…homey." Aunt Sarah and I got out of my new car and walked into the house I haven't seen in twelve years.

"Here's the kitchen, there's the living room, the bathroom is the second door on the left, and yours and my rooms are upstairs. Feel free to look around, and call me if you have any questions." Aunt Sarah always got to the point, she didn't hover. I liked that about her.

The house was very nice. The kitchen had a stove, a fridge, and a microwave. There was also a small table that would probably fit about two people. The living room had a big four seat couch with a small TV on the coffee table, and the bathroom was just a regular bathroom. There was a toilet, a sink, and a bathtub/shower. All the walls were painted a greenish blue color. It was a pretty color and I liked it. The house reminded me a lot of my home in Manhattan.

Then I went to check out my room. The walls were also that pretty green-blue color. There was a queen sized bed, and a desk with a computer on top of it. The closet was small, and there was a dresser. It seemed that the room had a yellow theme because everything happened to be yellow except for the walls and the ugly thing on my bed.

It was my uniform. It was a blue button down shirt with an ugly tweed jacket. Oh, and the skirt, don't even ask me about the skirt. It was the ugliest plaid combination I had ever seen. Placed next to the hideous outfit were navy blue knee-highs and black nurse shoes. I couldn't believe I actually would have to wear that to school.

I was still really tired, so I decided to go to sleep so my day at school wouldn't be so bad. "Good night." I said to myself.

The alarm clock that was on my bedside table was supposedly set to 6:00 AM, when school didn't even start until 8:00. My Aunt Sarah entered the room. "Are you ready for your first day of 11th grade at this school?"

"Can't I sleep in just a little bit longer?"

"School starts in 2 hours. Aren't you going to shower and look pretty for all the boys?"

"I wasn't planning on it." I put my pillow over my head, and tried to fall back to sleep, but I couldn't so I decided to take a shower.

"That's more like it, Gabby."

I groaned and turned on the shower. I was still so tired, and I didn't want to go to school today. After I got out of the shower, I brushed out my hair, dried it, and straightened it. Then I applied my foundation, powder, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, blush, and lip gloss. Finally, I put on the ugliest uniform I had ever seen. I walked down the stairs and grunted.

"I need to take a picture. Smile, Gabriella." I smiled fakely.

"See you later, Aunt Sarah." And I walked out the door and got in my Lexus.

The drive to school took almost 10 minutes. It wasn't so bad, so I decided I could sleep in a little longer tomorrow. I walked out of my car, and started walking to the front office. It seemed like everyone was staring at me, and it was really weird. A bunch of people were whistling at me too, and I wasn't a big fan of it.

When I got to the front office, the lady there gave me my schedule and a map of the school. Surprisingly, the school was as big as a public school.

When I was walking to first period, Trigonometry, a cute boy with brown hair walked up to me. "Um, hi. You must be Gabriella. I'm Jackson. Do you need some help finding your classes?"

"Oh, no thanks. I think I got it."

"Oh, okay. Well, if you need anything just holler, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Jackson."

I made it to Trigonometry and I made a friend named Kelsey. She had blonde hair, and she said that she was on the cheerleading squad and said that since I used to be on the squad, that she could make some arrangements, and I could join. She had 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th period with me.

At lunch I sat with the cheerleading squad, and they sat with the football team. One boy caught my eye, though. His name was Max Merit, and he was the quarterback of the football team. He was really cute. He had brown hair, and he was way cuter than my boyfriend in Manhattan. I was hoping that he would ask me out.

After lunch I went to 6th period, Government, and then I went to 7th period, Chemistry. When I walked into Chemistry, there was only one partner who hadn't been taken. It was Max. He looked at me, and said nothing though.

"Hi, I'm Gabriella." I said.

"Hi, I'm Max." He smiled at me, so I smiled back.

"So, I heard you're on the football team?"

"Yeah. It's cool."

"Kelsey is helping me join the cheer squad, because I was captain at my school in New York, so I might see you there."

"Yeah, okay." He said. For some reason he didn't like me very much. I didn't know why because I hadn't done anything wrong. Even though my flirting experience sucked, I thought I was pretty nice.

The final bell rang, and Max rushed out. He bumped into me, and his hand burned me. "Ow, Max, you're hot."

"Um, thanks. You're not so bad yourself."

"Oh, no I didn't mean it that way. Well, even though you are. I meant your hand burned me."

"Oh. Well, I'll see you tomorrow." And he left. For some reason he smelled like a wet dog. I had a crush on Max, but there was something weird about him, and I was going to find out what it is.