Ch 1

The sand was warm and soothing as I twisted and buried my toe into it. Warm weather hardly ever blanketed this small town of La Push, always being coated with the gloominess of rain and clouds. Today, the sun fought its way through the cracks of the thick shield of clouds, brightening up the town around me.

I slumped a few feet away from the water's edge, feeling the waves creep up the shore and meet my feet every so often. I relaxed with a great sigh, furrowing my brows as I thought about why today felt different, staring at the waves as they sneaked up the shoreline slowly. The waves were usually ferocious and hungry, like it wanted to pull you deep down into the depths of the sea, matching the cloud bank that usually took over the sky. But today, it was sunny … it was pretty … it was like the Summer La Push never had.

I stared out into the still ocean, grasping it's unfathomable beauty. It was almost as though the beach and I were connected somehow… My soul longed to be here daily. I felt completely comfortable here. It was like it was a part of me.

An accidental glimpse of my watch caught my attention. I instantly jumped up. Time for school, great. But I had this new hope. Something was telling me that today was going to be different.

I strutted to school with a new air of confidence engulfing me.

And it vanished as soon as I'd stepped into English, my first class of the day. Mr Varner's eyes ate my own with hate as I met his eyes. My ears burned hot as a sudden wave of embarrassment and realization took over my every core. I was late for class. Oh-oh…

I could hardly feel the twenty odd pairs of eyes on me, as Mr Varner's furious glare frightened the heck out of me. The skin around his eyes grew tight. "WHERE have you been, Mr Clearwater?" He glowered, his voice almost quivering from the anger. I'd been late plenty this year.

I stared at him, trying to swallow. I fumbled to find the right words. "I, well …" My eyes skipped around the room; left, right, anywhere but in his eyes. "I'm sorry for being late, Mr Va-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Clearawater." He'd cut me off, obviously impatient to get moving with the class, and too furious to let me speak. "Get to your seat, now before I hand you two detentions."

Mechanically, I tottered over to my seat by the window, ignoring everyone's stare as I felt my heart race. Sitting down, I began to daydream. About what? Food. Mm, food. I heart my tummy grumble. Damn! I silently cursed myself. Forgot breakfast again! I let out a long breath …

Mr Varner handed out booklets to each student, clearly frustrated after my being late. Gee, I made your day, didn't I? I thought to myself, glaring obliviously at him. My face melted into a blank expression as he turned to hand me mine, matching the expression I'd given him behind his back. I wasn't particularly his favourite student. I never tried in class… no, scratch that. I never tried in any class, in any of my classes. I just showed up. Once upon a time, I was a good student. But that fairytale ended the day my father passed away. The day he's gone, so had a huge part of who I was. I managed to try and remain cheerful after months of inevitable grief and anguish. I had to, for both my sister and my mother. They needed someone to remain strong for all of our sakes. But to this day, I haven't truly smiled. It's all been fake. With the loss of my father, and myself, I lost hope. Creativity was my department, and I used to be particularly talented when it came to writing, and literature altogether. But now I saw no point in trying, if I couldn't share it with dad.

A soft 'psst' behind me shook me out of my reverie. I looked up to see Mr Varner writing on the whiteboard, and twisted around to find a familiar face greeting me.

"Sup?" A smirk touched the corner of Alex's lips, hinting that something was going on. His mouth twitched; he checked to see if Mr Varner was looking, and leant forward. "I gotta tell you something."

I turned my head around quickly, feeling butterflies in my stomach, and peered back at him. "What, man?" I pressed, annoyed yet curious.

Alex's smirk spread into a mischievous smile. "We got a new chick!"

My eyebrows lifted with interest. "Seriously?". Alex was obsessed with chicks, seriously. I'd join in, matching his enthusiasm and excitement, just so I didn't seem boring. But to be honest, I really couldn't care less. I watched him as he nodded. "Awesome!"

Having a new girl, though, or a new anybody was as exciting as it gets in La Push. Anything as minor as a new grocery sale is huge for us small town people.

I was intrigued with this new information. A new girl. I wanted to know more about her. "What's she like, Al?" I probed.

Alex somehow spread his grin wider across his face. How the hell does that kid manage to smile so much? I forced a wider smile across my own face. He leant further forward and whispered hoarsely, "She's H-O-T! And I mean, like, whoa. Model material, dude."

I chuckled, nodding, "Awesome". I was so not interested in those girls that were all pretty and loved themselves, and thought that they were all that and they could get any guy they wanted. Those, you know, popular girls. I fell out of interest as quickly as the interest in this new girl had commenced. "Awesome!"

"It'll be awesome when you're both in after school detention!" I peered up to find Mr Varner's glare.

So much for today will be different!