"Kasey!" My mom yelled from the end of the hall of our small, two bedroom ranch. "You need a ride to the library?"
"Na. I'd rather walk. It's gorgeous out!" I called back as I gave myself the once-over in the mirror. My small frame looked fuller in the dark blue baby doll tank top and tight distressed jean shorts. My wild, ridiculously curly, brown hair hung to the middle of my back. My eye makeup looked pretty good. It highlighted my eyes that were exactly the same shade as my hair. The only thing I was legitimately having a problem with was the fact that my skin was so painfully pail in the middle of July. I mean, Forks wasn't known for being sunny. But, jeez. Did I just repel U.V rays or something? Honestly.
I ran my hand through my hair one last time before grabbing my grey beach bag and slipping on my silver sandals. I threw open my bedroom door and flew down the hall, tripping over this bump in the carpeting that I ever so smoothly rolled out of, recovering, I bounced into the living room and walked out the door.
It was warm out, but not sunny. It was rarely ever sunny. The library was about a fifth of a mile from my house and I didn't mind walking. In fact, I liked it. Walking gave me time to think.
The walk was only about ten minutes before I'd reached the door of Forks Community Library. I was just about to slip the book into the return box when I was caught by the librarian, the infamous Abigail Applebottom. Miss Applebottom (yes, Miss. No one was crazy enough to marry that broad) was seriously ninety years old and always had this look on her face like she was chronically pissed off at the world. Wait, scratch that. She was chronically pissed off at the world. She always wore a something disgusting that should have been burned long ago and her white hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun.
"What do you think you're doing?" She sneered.
Damn. I was caught.
"Just returning this book…" I said with the sweetest, most innocent voice I could conjure up.
"I can take that." She said, not taking the bait.
I sighed and walked over to the large, ominous hickory desk. I extended the book out to her and she snatched it up in a second. She typed the information into her ancient, tyrannosaurus- like computer, raised her eyebrows for a second, and then glared at me as she spoke.
"You owe me two dollars and thirty-five cents." She said through her teeth. The look she was giving me seemed like she was trying to fry me from the inside out.
Now see, at a video store, owing over two dollars in late fee isn't that bad. In fact, it's normal. But at the library, everyday a book is late is five cents. You do the math.
I wordlessly handed her the money in exact change and high tailed it out of there so I'd live to see another day.
I was about to walk home when I saw the diner across the street persuading me to eat there, with magic words such as "bacon" and "cheeseburgers" on the signs. I checked my back pocket for money, turning out to have seven dollars and some change on me. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, so…
I crossed the street and pulled open the heavy door to the restaurant, causing the bell to ring. There weren't many people there, so I just sat down by myself in an empty booth. The place was pretty run down, but had that comfortable diner feel to it. I'd always loved diners. The cozy feeling, the sound and smell of all the food sizzling. It reminded me of home. I opened the menu and began to scan when a loud, booming laugh caught my attention.
I looked across the diner to see the group of boys the obnoxious laughter came from. And within the group of nine, the most amazing looking boy was staring at me with the weirdest look on his face. He was tall, even when he was sitting down. He had curly black hair, russet skin, big black eyes with long, thick lashes, and was very muscular. Did I mention all he was wearing was a pair of blue jean cutoffs and Nikes. He was gorgeous. The other guys looked older then him, besides two, and all had one the same cutoffs, all with no shirts. They all kind of looked alike. Almost like brothers. But there was something about him I couldn't put my finger on. He was special. I noticed that the laugh had come from one of his friends that was now throwing french-fries at the boy, trying to get his attention. I laughed and turned my gaze down at the menu, barely able to keep my eyes off of him. I mean, I didn't want to come off as a creep or anything. The waitress appeared a few seconds later.
"What can I get for you today, hon?" She asked, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.
"I'll have a bacon cheeseburger deluxe, with a large Coke." I said. I'd always had a thing for foods scientifically proven to block arteries over time. "Oh, and a slice of apple pie." I added, also having a thing for foods with calories in excess of three hundred per serving.
"Comin' right up, "She said as she took off.
I pulled out "Romeo and Juliet" from my bag, trying to get my attention of the super fox that I could feel was still looking at me, and picked up from the balcony scene. It was my favorite part of the entire play. I can recite it just about perfectly, thank you very much. I got to "Deny thy father and refuse thy name!", when someone walked up and cleared there throat.
It was Mr. Hottie-With- A-Killer-Body from across the way. I hadn't even noticed him walk over.
"Um… Hey…" He stammered. "Mind if I… Uh… Join you?"
"Yeah. Sure. Cool." I mumbled as he took the seat across from me. "I'm Kasey."
"I'm Seth. Seth Clearwater."