One

Melissa Star looked out the window of her father's Cadillac and sighed as the Nevada landscape passed by the car. The moving van full of her things followed behind them, almost like how a hearse followed a police escort. She didn't want to move from the fair city of Reno, Nevada but after her mother's murder her father decided it was best that he took her to where he lived.

Her father was a doctor at the hospital in a small town called Ely, Nevada, the capitol of White Pine County and she didn't like it. She had always loved the city life and now it was gone. She had never gone to visit her father before and now she was going to live with him. It felt like it was going to be hell on earth for her.

"You'll love this place, Mel Bell." Her father said. "I grew up here, the people are very friendly."

"Glen, will you please not call me that?" Melissa said rolling her eyes as she put on her headphones.

"Oh, I forgot you're what, 16 now?" Her father asked.

"Seventeen." Melissa grumbled. "Just because you forgot my birthday doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"Mel, I am sorry." Her father said.

"Glen, I am only here because Mom was killed by fucking gang bangers." Melissa said. "I would have preferred to stay with Grandma in Reno but you had to come waltzing back into my life and wisk me away to this small little town in the middle of no where."

"Mel…"

"Just don't talk to me till I graduate." Melissa growled.

"If that is what you want…"

"Yes, it is what I want." Melissa whispered.

"Alright then…"

The rest of the ride to Ely was quiet; neither said a word to each other. When Glen pulled the car up in front of the big grey house on the corner of Park Avenue and 10th Street, Melissa couldn't believer her eyes. It was the most beautiful house she had ever seen, two stories and an attic.

"Like it?" Glen finally asked.

"Can I have the attic?" She immediately said.

"If you want it?" Glen said with a soft smile as he opened the door to the house.

Melissa almost recoiled at the ugly red and orange shag carpeting on the first floor.

"Don't worry; it's going to be removed." Glen smiled. "There are lovely hardwood floors underneath."

Melissa just nodded and found her way to the stairs and up to the attic. There were two rooms in the attic, one had a nook for a desk and a dresser, the other already had a bed in it and a vanity with a mirror. It was almost as if the place was built for her.

"Like it?" Glen said behind her. "I've been renovating it especially for you."

"You almost sound like you knew Mom was going to be killed and you would get me." Melissa barked as she turned around and narrowed her eyes at him.

"With your mother's line of work there was always a possibility." Glen shrugged.

"Mom was a great cop." Melissa growled.

"Maybe but she didn't know when to call for back up." Glen said as he walked over to the window. "In the end it was her undoing."

Melissa turned away and fought back tears. "Is there internet?" She managed to get out without crying.

"There is a CAT 5 jack by your desk." Glen said. "I wouldn't want to deprive you of Alicia and the others. You need a cord?"

"Got one." Melissa whispered as she set her laptop bag down on the desk.

"Cheer up, Mel; you'll start making new friends tomorrow when you start school." Glen said.

"In this little, Podunk town, I doubt it." Melissa growled before going over to the bed and lying down.

"Night, sweetheart." Glen said.

"Whatever."

The next morning Melissa woke up with a start, like from a bad dream, but she couldn't remember it.

"Mel!" Glen called up the stairs. "You're going to be late for your first day of school!"

Melissa groaned and pulled the covers off and turned on her light. Her eyes focused to the light and she saw a small blue box laying next to her bed she reached out for it but she caught sight of the clock first and cursed. She was going to be late.

She got out of bed, pulled on her favorite jeans and shirt, and ran a comb through her naturally black and purple hair and bolted downstairs.

"You're not that late, the high school is just down the street." Glen said with a soft smile. "Breakfast?"

"No time." Melissa said as she dug through one of the boxes.

"What are you looking for?" Glen asked.

"The note from Doctor Calvin explaining my hair and ears." Melissa said as she pushed a strand of purple behind her pointed ear.

"It's already in your backpack." Glen said. "Now eat."

Melissa took one look at the table and her stomach turned. "Meat?"

"Oh, I forgot the doctors say you can't have it." Glen said as he pulled out his wallet, "Get something at the McDonald's next to the school."

"I have money." Melissa said as she waved the money off, grabbed her keys and left the house.

When she got to school the hallways were already a buzz with her arrival. News travels fast in small towns… She thought bitterly as she headed to the front office.

She gave the excuse for her hair and ears to the school nurse and like her other schools before this one; the nurse had to call Doctor Calvin to confirm her disorder. She rolled her eyes and made her way down the hall once the office released her schedule to her. She was so engrossed in her classes that she didn't even see the locker door open until she collided into it.

She looked up from the ground and saw the most amazing sight she had ever seen in her entire life. The brown hair was tussled in front of his eyes, just barely letting the light brown sparkles of his eyes shine through from behind the strands of his hair. Melissa could have died right then, and not only from his gorgeous looks, but also from the fact that it was his locker she had just gone face first into, dropping all of her books on top of his feet and possibly broke a toe or two.

"I am so sorry" She whispered, backing up a bit before bending down and starting to pick up her books. This was when she imagined him bending down right in front of her to help her finish picking up the remainder of the mess she had created, but he never did.

"You might want to watch where you're going." He smiled "My name is Jason. What's yours?"

"M-Melissa…" she whispered as another girl walked up to them and placed a hand on Jason's shoulder, causing Melissa's heart to plummet into the bottom of her chest.

Great… Of all the boys in this small town I had to find the hot one with a girlfriend… She growled to herself.

"What have you done to another poor girl, Jason?" Her hair hung over her shoulders, shinning a bright red with a bit of brown on the top from being dyed quiet a while ago, "she looks like she's run into a locker."

"She…did." he smiled "She ran right into my locker."

"And why aren't you helping her with her things?" She smiled, as she bent down and helped Melissa pick up the last few scattered books and papers

"I didn't want to risk bumping heads." Jason smiled "More of a headache for her in the end after all. Why do you care, Dawn?"

"Well, I don't want to see this poor girl getting her ass kicked by a dork like you" Dawn laughed, as she pushed her hair back a bit further as she handed the last few books to Melissa before stood up once more, "Now, be nice to the poor girl, Jason. I need to get to biology class now."

"Well…have fun with that." Jason smiled, softly "And…" He added as he turned to face Melissa as she crawled back to her feet, "What class do you have next, Melissa?"

"I have…History next." She whispered, trying to hide her face when she felt her cheeks turning a bright red. Hell, he's way hotter then any of the guys at Sparks High.

"Cool, I can lead you there. It's right beside my English class." Jason smiled as he held out a hand in front of Melissa.

She took hold of it after a moment's hesitation and he began to lead her down the hallways towards their classes. At that point she knew there was something special. Her heart had started to race when he touched her skin, and her face flushed as he led her towards her class, and he had not once said anything about her hair or her ears unlike the other jerk guys in Reno she had called her boyfriends. There was no way she would ever understand how she had gone through life without a guy like him around.

"Here we are, Room 132, right?" Jason smiled softly down at her.

"Yeah…" Melissa smiled weakly, thinking about how bad her vocabulary must seem very limited to him.

One of Jason's hands brushed the hair out of her face and behind her ears. "You shouldn't hide those." He smiled softly. "I like them, makes you look like an enchanting elf." He added, smiling like he was keeping some sort of wonderful secret.

Melissa felt herself blush and she looked down and started to head into her classroom.

"Melissa?" Jason asked.

"Hmmm?" Melissa asked as she turned around.

"What are you doing Saturday?" He asked.

"In this small town, nothing." Melissa shrugged. Oh crap! What if he likes living in small towns. She mentally kicked herself, but Jason just chuckled.

"There isn't much to do in this small town I will admit, but come with me on Saturday and I will show you something amazing." He smiled before he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"What about that girl in the hallway?" Melissa asked. "Isn't she your girlfriend?"

"Who? Dawn? No…" Jason laughed. "She's just my best friend… We hang out but we bump heads too much to even be close to each other's type."

"I'll have to ask Glen… But I say yes." Melissa smiled.

"Glen?"

"My stepfather…" Melissa whispered.

"What happened to your real parents?" Jason asked.

"I never knew my biological father…" Melissa whispered. "My mother never really talked about him when I was growing up."

"And your mother?"

Melissa froze and almost broke down in tears when she thought about it. "She was killed a week ago…" She whispered.

"I'm so sorry…" Jason whispered. "What was she like?"

"She was… amazing, she was the best cop on the Sparks Police force… But she was stubborn; she always wanted to handle things herself. In the end it was what killed her."

The bell rang and Melissa looked up at Jason and his eyes only showed sympathy, kindness, and something else she couldn't place.

"See you later?" She asked.

"Most defiantly."

Melissa walked into the classroom, gave the teacher the note about her hair and ears and sat down in the back of the class, unable to think of anything but Jason.

After class Melissa sat outside the school during lunch not really interested in the meat filled food they were serving for lunch.

"Want some company?" Jason asked behind her as he handed her some fruit salad.

"How'd you know I needed this?" Melissa asked as she took the salad and scooted over on the rock she was sitting on.

"A fellow vegetarian knows when another is in need." Jason smiled softly as he opened his own salad.

"Thanks… I was just going to walk down to the McDonald's and get a side salad." Melissa smiled softly.

"Why didn't you?" Jason asked.

"I got out here and I started enjoying the fresh air… We don't have much of it in the city." Melissa laughed. "Too much smog for anything to be remotely fresh least of all air."

"Jason!" Dawn called. "Are you being a loner up here again?"

Melissa turned her head and looked at her and felt a wave of jealousy come over her.

"Ahhh… I see," Dawn laughed. "Preying on the new girl already."

"I don't prey on girls, Dawn."

"Oh really, and how is it that I am the only girl in this small town between the age of 16 and 18 that you haven't taken out on a date?" Dawn laughed.

"I just haven't found the right one." Jason shrugged as he put a piece of banana into his mouth.

Melissa sighed and grabbed her bag.

"Mel…" Jason whispered.

"Just forget it…" She whispered as she made her way back to the school.

"Thanks a lot, Dawn…" Jason growled.

"What?"

"She's the right one." He growled before going after Melissa.

"And how in the hell would you know that?" Dawn called after him.