Disclaimer: I don't own JL

Okay, so I submitted an OC for a story called Dart by Hazardous By Instinct and I thought that was the end of it. But then I started getting ideas and I put them down on paper and they formed into a story. If you like my character, check out Dart for mine and more! Hope you like it, R&R please!

Hate. It's a damning, Godforsaken, cruel concept that I thought I would never feel. One person has proven me wrong. In one year, he made me totally reconsider my feelings. Yes, I still believe hate is despicable, nasty, and there are few who deserve it. My name is Savanna Martinez-Gomez and, with that said, I hate Damian Grey.

I'm not going to bore you with my past, you'll learn about that throughout my story. So the start of my story really isn't the beginning. But it's all you need to know for now.

BEEP. BEEP. BE—

I stop my alarm before it gets to the third 'beep', can't risk waking my brother. It's about 5:00. I make myself breakfast which consists of a donut, make pancakes for Julio, and wake him up at around 5:30. I help him into his wheelchair, as always, and wheel him to the living room. I turn on the TV to Disney and handed him his plate of pancakes. Giving him his pills is always difficult.

"C'mon, take your medicine."

He shakes his head, "No! Yo no quiero!" (Trans: No! I don't want to!)

I sigh, "Come on, pequeño, please?" This takes too much energy every day.

He pauses, "Si. I mean, okay." His accent is much more noticeable than mine. I speak English and Español fluently and perfectly. I have an accent in English, as it is my secondary language, but my brother has a much bigger one. He knows English very well, but he got a concussion last year and it affected his speech. Not much that I can do about it besides remind him to speak English.

I give him his pills, tie my apron, pull my long black hair into a loose half bun, and kiss him on the forehead as I leave, "Bye Julio.

"Nos Vemos Savanna."

"English, Julio." I scold him as I head out the door.

"Sorry. See you later, Sav." The words seem awkward in his mouth and he makes a face.

"Love you Julio." I smile at him from the door.

"Love you too." He smiles back.

I close the door.

I use my key to unlock the door to Al's Diner and walk in. I sit my bag down in the back room and pin on my name tag which reads, 'Welcome to Al's! My name is: Savanna. How may I help you!" I smooth out my black shirt and jeans and pin my bangs behind my ear. Some of it falls out but there's no helping it. The cook walks in through the door and waves to me, "Hey Sav!"

I wave back and smile, "Hi Eddie."

He goes through the door to the kitchen. There's a big opening right above the stove and grill so that you can see the food being prepared. I see him turn on the appliances, the coffee pot first, and then I go about my own business. I check the register, the safe in the back, and then I put condiments on every table and stock the wait station.

I flip the sign on the door to 'Yes! We're open!' and wait for the regulars to come pouring in. Al himself isn't here today, but he never is on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays. Those days I run the diner.

Ding.

I look at the door and see the elderly Edward Smithson hobble in. I don't have to look at the clock to know what time it is, he only comes in at 6:35, on the dot, every morning. I also know his order by heart, but I ask him every day anyway. He lives alone, his wife died, and his son moved away to Florida. I smile warmly at him, "Hello Mr. Smithson."

He smiles, "How many times do I need to tell you, call me Edward."

I walk over with my notepad, "And what will you have today?" 'Coffee with sweetener and a blueberry muffin.' I predict in my head.

"Coffee with two teaspoons of sugar and a blueberry muffin please." He looks at me and hands me the menu that he never looked at. "Maybe someday I'll order something different."

I laugh and go place the order that Eddie already was working on. While I was waiting for the order I sit with Mr. Smithson. Across the booth from him, I smile and say, "So. What happened on Sunday?"

He folds his hands, "I went to church in the morning, then I went to the Recreation Center and played chess with my friend Bernie. Then I went home, watched the news, and ate dinner before heading to bed."

I nod, "I went to the library to pick up some books for Julio. Then I went to the store and got some groceries, went to my parents graves, and then went to my night class."

The bell dings, signaling that Mr. Smithson's food is ready. I stand and retrieve it and when I come back he has the money out. I count it, "Mr. Smithson, you gave me a nine dollar tip on a 10 dollar meal."

He smiles, "I know. My dear, you talk to me every day because you want to, and that means a lot."

I beam, "Thank you!"

I hug him and he laughs.

Ding.

I look at the door and see Rebecca walk in. She's another waitress, always late, around 16. She has the potential to be very pretty if she wouldn't be so negative. Blonde hair, fair skin, green eyes, but she's very sarcastic. She has her hair down and I scold her from my spot behind the register, "Miss Donor, please put your hair up."

She rolls her eyes, but complies. She uses a pencil to hold together her makeshift bun. I motion for her to come over and when she does she says, "What."

"Today you'll have to take over half of Georgia's section. She's home with her baby. He's sick." Georgia is the eldest waitress we have at age 45, and by far the most kind hearted. She's a good worker, but Al promoted me to manager instead of her because she never wants to correct someone.

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "Yay for Georgia." There's the sarcasm.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

A group of people walk in and sit in my section. Rebecca sees this and grins. She mouths, "Good luck." And I roll my eyes as I walk over to them. There are 6 of them. Lucky me. I hand them menus and smile, "Hola! My name is Savanna and I'll be your server for today. Can I start you out with anything?"

A girl, one of the two in the group, pops her gum, "Um…" She twirls her hair as she looks at the menu, "Like, do you have anything, like, um, vegetarian? I'm, like, on a diet." She spoke in a way that she dropped the last letter off of the last word in each sentence. Valley people. Yay.

I smile, albeit forced, "Yes. On the back of the menu, you'll find our vegan menu."

A boy in a letterman's jacket looks at me, "Are you, like, Mexican or somethin'?"

I grimace internally, "No. I'm Spanish though."

The other girl munches her gum loudly, "So, like, can I get a water?"

I nod, "Yes, One water. And what would the rest of you like?"

I write each of the orders down. The first girl wants water, the jock wants a Coke, and the other two want Dr. Pepper.

As I am walking away, the boy on the outside of the booth reaches out and squeezes my butt. I jump and walk faster. Stupid Valley people. I get the drinks and come back. I eye the boy who pinched my butt suspiciously as I ask, "Have you decided yet?"

They have. The two girls order a veggie burger, and the boys order regular burgers and one orders a hotdog. I place the orders and sit on the work side of the long booth.

Ding.

I look at the door and smile. Alex and Ariana walk in. They're twins, and two of my very best friends. They both sit at the long booth and Ariana smiles, "Hi Sav."

Alex nudges me with his elbow, "Did that guy grab your butt?"

I nod, "Yeah. But, hey, it happens. So how are your classes going?"

Ariana groaned, "Oh, don't get me started on my English History professor. He's always so annoying. 'In my day we-'SHADDUP YOU OLD GEEZER!"

I laugh. Ariana is so full of personality.

Alex rolls his eyes, "My English Lit. Teacher is pretty tough. She's nice though."

The bell dings, and Eddie calls out, "Two cows, make 'em cry, Bark and a double veggie!" I pick up my food, smiling. Diner lingo always amuses me. Balancing the two trays on my palms, I walk over.

I set one down on the booth next to them and say, "Okay. Two hamburgers, two veggie burgers, and one hot dog." As I say the order, I place it in front of the one who ordered it.

I walk away, taking care to keep my distance from the boy. I return to my seat, "Sorry. Anyway."

Ariana rolls her eyes, "Are you going to Jake's party tonight?"

I cringe, "I can't make it. I've got, uh, night class."

Alex grins, "Aw c'mon. Mathew will be there."

I clear my throat and blush, "Shut it."

Ariana laughs, "You so totally like him!" She looks off in the distance, "He is cute. I mean, totally skater boy, shaggy hair, lopsided grin, abs, smart, but cute is totally the right word to describe him.

Mathew is 19. He is Josh's older brother and he was my other best friend. He's ranked above Ariana and Alex, I love them dearly, but I trust Mathew with my life. He's also that guy. The one that all the girls in high school dream about, the one that is supposed to be amazing, the one that the cool girls brag about going out with for one date and never calling back. But he doesn't treat me like a slab of meat. No, he treats me like a friend. But I can't go past that. Friends are safe, calm. Anything past that is uncharted territory.

But Ariana and Alex tease me about liking him. Ariana pretends to like him back and it freaks me out because I know if Mathew found out Ariana likes him, even if it is fake, he'd forget about me and go for her in a heartbeat. Ariana is beautiful. Brown curly hair, freckles, skinny, big chest, and blue eyes. I'm boring. I've got long, straight black hair, brown eyes, and a Hispanic face. Mathew would never go for me if he thought Ariana like him. Not that I liked him, or vice versa. Especially, not vice versa.

The rest of the day goes by pretty quickly until it's 3:00, and my shift is over. I wave goodbye to Rebecca and Eddie, telling Eddie to close up shop for me, and walk out with Ariana and Alex. Ariana sighs dramaticly, "So you're sure you can't go to the party?"

I nod, "Positive."

Alex groaned, "Mathew is gonna be disappointed."

I scoff, "As if. He's probably got a date anyway, and if he doesn't he'll get one when he gets there. He's Mathew."

Ariana muses, "I wonder if Trina will be there…"

Alex goes pale, "Don't even joke."

I laugh. Trina is Alex's fan girl/stalker. Ever since 5th grade, when he let her borrow his homework to copy, she's under the impression he secretly loves her. I shove my hands in my pockets, "I'm gonna go home now. Bye."

Ariana waves "See ya!"

Alex nods, "I'll tell Mathew that you love him!"

As I walk I turn backwards and shout, "Shut it!" before spinning around and starting my walk home.

Remember how I said I had a night class to multiple people? I lied. Big time. My 'night class' is something much more action packed. I duck behind the storage shed on the roof of my apartment complex and change into my work clothes.

I step out, wearing a costume similar to what mummies wear. This is tight on my body, shows my midriff, has short sleeves with strips of cloth that wind down my arms leaving skin open in parts, a skirt made of strips so that it looks uneven that reaches my lower thigh, and no shoes. It's all white. I concentrate and my hair turns white, my eyes a sandy color.

I make sure my sand pouch isn't punctured and sigh, "Good night Sav, hello Sahara." I quickly braid my hair down my back and go to the side of the building. This is who I am, who I am forced to be.

And it's all his fault.

What did you think? Was it good? I know there wasn't a lot of action in this chapter but there will be in the next one. I promise.