It was for sure one of the longest and hottest Summers in Bon Temps. Bon Temps was a small town in the state of Louisiana, where I resided my life as a teenage outcast, with my older brother, Jason and my sweet Grandmother, Adele. I was consider an outcast since my first day of Kindergarten because I wasn't like normal girls my own age. I never really enjoyed all the things most girls did at that age, I never played with Barbie's a day in my life and I was more interested in my grades then boys. Nothing really changed since then.

I know my grandmother had hopes that I would some day "grow into those things", as she would say. I didn't want to let her down, but I just couldn't be something that I obviously wasn't and she seemed okay with that, at least I would like to think. And for the most part I liked to see the joy on her face when I would walk out of the house in one of the sun dresses that she would always buy me in hopes that I would one day dress like a young women that I had grown to be. There was no greater joy in my life then to see my dear granny eyes light up when I would walked gracefully, (for full effect), down the stairs into the kitchen.

Today just so happened to be one of those days.

When I woke this morning I woke up to a whole new vision, no literally. It was as if over night someone sprinkled fairy dust on me while I slept and when I peeked my eyes out of the cover of my lids I saw the most beautiful dress in my closet out of the corner of my eye. I suddenly propped up in my frumpy bed, tossing the covers from myself and placed my bright red painted toes on the cool surface of the hard wood floor of my bedroom.

Yes, I know what your thinking…'red is a peculiar color for someone who isn't very girly.' I can't help it, I love the way my toes glisten when freshly painted and as for the red, well its my favorite color.

As I rubbed the fog from my eyes and let out a small yawn, I stretched my tan arms out over my head and walked closer to the dress that hung in the back of my open closet that had immediately caught my attention. I fingered the white lace, I was sure it had been in there for some years now, collecting dust. But to my surprise it looked brand new and just begging for me to grace it with the warmth my body could bring it.

It was decided.

I took the plain white dress from its old wire hanger and placed it on my bed as I walked into the bathroom for a refreshing cool shower and quick brush of my hair and teeth. I applied the smallest amount of makeup to my eyes that I could manage without making myself look as if I just quit the nearest circus.

I threw the dress up over my head letting it slide down the rest of my slender body. I could just hear the dress sighing in contentment as I zipped up the slit on the side, letting it snuggle up to the cool of my flesh. I turned and looked at myself in the mirror for the first time to reassure that the dress was not in fact too tight, for my body had grown in very generous areas over the years.

I smiled at myself in appreciation and quickly made my way down stairs where I could smell the morning cooking of my grandmother.

As I descended down the last of the stairs and made my way into the kitchen I heard my grandmother gasp.

I turned and looked at her with a smile playing at the corners of my lips.

Sure enough her eyes lit up just like a Christmas tree.

I made myself a plate of delicious southern cooking and sat down across from her standing position at the table.

"Sookie, is that you?" I heard her say and I couldn't hold back the smile that was nagging to be in full effect. I even heard myself giggle. Which was a big deal for I never so much as chuckled.

Suddenly I was silenced by the seriousness of her facial expression.

"What have you done with my granddaughter?" She spoke so serious and for half a second I believed it, before a grin cracked the fictitious look on her face.

"Gran, have I ever told you how good you are at feeding a girls confidence?" I asked before returning my full attention back to the food at my plate.

"I would think that someone as pretty as you wouldn't need…feeding?" She said as she sat down across from me, the word 'feeding' seemed to roll off her tongue in awkwardness.

I only half smiled with a mouth full of food and dug back in.

I'm not really one for compliments. I mean I try not to be rude about it, but I just couldn't help but feel like they were all falsified. It wasn't as if I thought I was ugly, because that just wasn't the case. It was more that I just didn't feel like I was what they were describing. I guess you could say that I thought of myself as just plain old Jane. There was nothing special about me, nothing unique. Which was fine by me, I liked being Jane and Jane seemed to like being me, so I had no need to feel like anything special.

I could feel my grandmothers expression soften on me as I looked up at just the right time to see her orbs melt into balls of mercury. I could tell she had a sad heart for me, but there was no need. I was who, I was and who I always was meant to be. So there was no need for someone to feel bad for me just because of what I had been through. My life wasn't so bad. I had her to thank for that.

"Oh, Sookie." She breathed out and tore her gaze from mine, but only for a second. When they found contact with me again I could see the tears well up inside them. My heart broke to see the pain I caused her. I wanted so bad to believe the things she said to me.

"I just wish you could see the beautiful girl that we all see." She finished up with before she stood to clear the table of the dishes, including mine.

I couldn't tear my vision from the lilies that had begun to wilt over time in the vase that sat in the middle of the kitchen table. The reality of this situation had been pulled from my grasp and I begun to daze into the open space in my mind.

No one had ever referred to me as beautiful before and hearing that had stunned me silent.

At least till the loud, abrupt knock on the front door brought me back down to earth. Shaking my head clear of the clouds caused me to remember where I was. Looking towards my Gran I found her staring at me uneasily, the tears forgotten and dried up from her eyes.

"Sookie, are you feeling okay today?" I hear her voice crack at the end.

She was worried about me, again.

I ran one of my clammy hands down over my face and spoke up as I pulled the chair out and stood, "Yeah Gran, just a little out of it today, I guess." I said to her, pushing the chair back under the table.

I watched as she turned back around towards the dishes at hand. She must have started washing them when I got lost in a haze at what she called me just a little bit ago. "Okay, but maybe you shouldn't go out today, just incase."

What was it that she called me again?

Oh, right…Beautiful.

I turned towards the door with a genuinely happy smile on my lips. I gripped the handle in my hand and turned the knob and pulled the door back with very little force, smiling I said, "Hi."

The smile quickly fading from my face as I took in the person standing there.

What graced my presence was a seemingly handsome God like creature standing there with his broad shoulders pushed fully back; forcing out what seemed like a very well defined chest in my opinion. As my eyes travel upwards towards his face, I heard myself slightly take in a harsh breath.

There before me was the piercingly bluest eyes I had ever seen in my short fifteen years of life.

He just seemed to stand there with such a goofy looking smile that looked to grow more in size, almost causing me smile back.

Almost.

I only managed to blush faintly. I could feel the warmness of it seep up my neck and favor my checks.

"Ca-an I help y-you?" I mentally slapped myself for stuttering in the presence of a God.

It looked as if he opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself to clear his throat and that was when I noticed the young women standing behind him with her back to the door.

His action must have caught her attention because she suddenly turned on her heels, smiling. "Oh, sorry. This here is my brother Eric." She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

I would have been fueled with jealousy if it weren't for her saying that he was her brother. Which was out of the norm for me. I never been jealous a day in my life, unless you count the time my best friend Amelia came over wearing a pair of crimson crystal earrings, that I would have immediately give my right arm for.

What can I say…Red is my weakness.

I looked the girl over and noticed her lips were still moving and that's when my hearing decided to kick in on what she was saying. "Our parents told us to come over and play nice with the new neighbors, so here we are."