This is my remake of Daybreak. I wanted to slow things down and add in more details. Not to mention make it a better story in general. That means longer chapters, too. Well, hopefully. I'll do my best. ;D

Dusk

Chapter 1 ~ Prologue

I finally felt myself waking up. It was a Thursday morning. I rolled over to look at the clock. It was 11a.m. already. I'm still not used to it being summer, even though it's already July. I know I should have adjusted by now. I start school in mid-August… Mid-August… That's not far away… "Ehh," I groaned, hiding my face in my pillow. At least this coming year will be my last in high school. After this year, it'll be time for college. You'd think I'd have my license by now since I'm going to be a senior… At least I have my permit… Hehe. I'm so cool… Not…

I threw off the covers and got out of bed. I knew I was home alone; Mom was at work, Laura and Kaitlyn were at Laura's boyfriend's house, and Dereck was at Dad's. The moment I opened the door to leave the bedroom, Fluffy, my twenty-two pound calico cat, ran over to me and meowed. She was ready for breakfast. "Good morning, Fluffy." I bent down to pet her. "You're so soft." I picked her up and sat down. She would've lain in my lap if she wasn't hungry, but instead she walked towards the kitchen, and turned her head back every now and then to be sure I was following. I smiled and put some cat food in her bowl. I walked over to the drainer and grabbed a cup. I filled it with water and put it in Fluffy's other bowl.

After I was done petting her some more, I grabbed another cup of cat food and water and walked towards the front of the house. I sat the food down on the small desk by the door that holds my school things throughout the year and opened the door. After picking the food back up, I walked outside, still in my PJ's, and was greeted by the neighborhood cat. I guess it counts as ours since we feed it and it stays here. Mom just doesn't like the idea of having another cat. "Good morning, Mr. Bigglesworth Prince of War Shire the female cat." I smiled as she meowed and rubbed her head against my legs as I walked towards her bowls. My best friend Megan named her. She always had ridiculously long names for pets. I scratched her behind her left ear as she ate for a little while.

I grabbed the cups I used to hold the food, and then walked back inside. After tossing the cup for their food back in the large cat food bag and putting the other cup up, I walked over to the calendar. Instantly, I smiled. Sally was finally coming down tomorrow. I'm throwing a sleepover party just for her arrival. Sally is a really good friend of mine, even though we have never officially met. We started talking on Quizilla back when it was cool a few years ago. We started texting after that and stayed in contact mostly over Facebook. Sally is a year younger than me, but she's much taller than me. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She moved from Wisconsin to Oklahoma, meaning she now lives much closer since I live in Missouri, or as my friend Tia calls it, Misery with an accent.

I made my way to the bathroom to get ready. After plugging my straightner in and turning the temperature up to 410, I used the restroom and washed my hands. I looked at my reflection in the mirror above the sink. I took a shower last night so my hair went back to its wavy state with slight ringlets at the very bottom of the front. Even my banes had a slight wave to them. My hair is a dark auburn that shines a bright red in the sunlight. I have very dark brown eyes and pale skin. I don't get out much. I'm pretty small though. I'm petite and stand exactly 5 feet tall. Yeah, I'm short; the shortest out of my friends actually.

I climbed up on the counter by the sink and sat down to straighten my hair. It takes me a little over ten minutes to straighten it even though I have very thick hair. Now that my hair is straight, it reaches down a little passed mid-back. I applied some concealer to hide the dark lines under my eyes, which unfortunately run through the family. I grabbed my liquid eyeliner and put it over the top of my eyes. I never put eyeliner on the bottom. I don't know why. I just don't. Finally, I put on my black mascara and was done. I put away my makeup and set my straightner to the side to cool down before putting it up.

I walked into my room, or what used to be my room. Laura and Kaitlyn shared this room with me, but Kait's too big for her crib now, being four, so she got Laura's twin sized bed and Laura got my bed. I now had to sleep with my mom in her queen-sized bed. I look forward to Laura moving out. She's my older sister. Kaitlyn is her daughter, my niece. Dereck, my younger brother, gets his own room. He's fourteen.

I got dressed in my favorite outfit which consisted of seriously torn up jeans, a black Skelanimals shirt from Hot Topic, my favorite store, and my knee-high converse. The song LOVE SCREAM PARTY by SuG, a J-Rock band, started blaring from the kitchen where my Samsung Propel phone was charging. I ran over to it and quickly answered.

"What up, girlfriend?" Megan asked. She seemed to be in a very good mood.

I laughed. "Just waiting for you to get your butt over here so I won't be alone anymore."

"I don't like that attitude. I don't think I'll come over now."

"Oh, yes you will. I know where you live," I countered.

"But do you know how to get here?" she questioned.

"…Shut up…" I pouted. Megan has been coming over since 9th grade and I still haven't memorized how to get to her house. I always seem to space out and then forget where I am. It didn't help that I'd make my mom drop her off while Megan and I would just talk the whole way.

She laughed. "I'll be there soon."

"Okay." I smiled. "See you soon. Bye."

"Bye." She hung up.

I put my phone in my jean pocket and walked outside to wait on the porch swing for her. Ten minutes passed and I finally saw her driving up. She just recently got her license. She parked in front of the house and got out. She was wearing jean shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops. Megan has mid-back length brown hair and green eyes. Her hair was just up in a ponytail. She was most likely planning on getting ready here. She was carrying her bag for the several nights she plans on staying over. She wants to be here the whole time Sally is.

"Megan!" I ran over to her and prepared to jump and glomp her.

"No!" She dropped her bag and tried to run into the street. She was slow; then again she doesn't try to run, so I easily caught up with her, being the fastest of my friends. I jumped on her back and we fell over as she cried in agonizing pain. I just laughed and got off. My work was done. "Bitch," she pouted.

"You know you love me." I smiled.

"Only because I have to."

"Well," I pretended to sound offended.

We walked to the front door. I opened it for Megan then shut it behind me. "What time will your mom be home?" Megan asked.

"She gets off work at 3," I told her.

"I can't believe you made me come here at 11. We were going to have tacos for lunch," Megan sulked.

"That sounds like a personal problem," I stole her line. She gave me a playful glare, making me laugh. "You hungry then?"

"Yes." She walked into the kitchen and searched the fridge to find something to munch on.

"I just love how you make yourself at home here." I smiled. She smiled, too; probably just because she found the ham and cream cheese. She shut the fridge after gathering the two things. Megan set them on the stove and got the tortillas off the top of the fridge. She was going to make a meat wrap.

"Do you want one?" she asked.

"No. I'm not hungry."

"Good. I wasn't going to make you one anyways," she joked.

"Jerk."

"I know." She smiled.

I got out the tea and poured it into two mugs. They're basically the only type of cups in the house. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see that I had a text from Sally. I slid my phone open to read it. "Guess what?" I read out loud.

"What?" Megan asked.

"Sally's text. It says 'Guess what?'"

"Oh. Okay." She took a bite out of her meat wrap.

I sent Sally a text saying 'What?'

"I'm bored," Megan sighed.

"That sounds like a-" I began.

"If you say person problem, I'm going home." She glared.

I smiled. "I'll catch you before you get to the car."

She knew it was true so she didn't say anything else. Instead, she just took another bite of her food.

"I'm already on my way. I'll be up there today. My parents were excited to get rid of me and I was too excited to see you so I thought I'd come up there today," I read Sally's new text. Of course, she put more enthusiasm and explanation points in it. It made me feel bad that Sally got her permit and license the moment she was able to. I, however, waited till last second to get just to get my permit, and I had to get my license real soon because everyone refuses to drive me to college.

"Really?" Megan asked.

"Yay!" I cheered, spazzing out into a dance that lasted three seconds. "I'm so excited! This is- This is- This is awesome!" I ran into the living room. Megan stared at me for a few moments, and then took the last bite of her meat wrap before walking after me. I could be a spaz when I was excited. I sent a quick text to my mom to warn her.

"Sarah. Sarah, calm down. You're starting to hyperventilate," Megan said, looking frightened.

"How can I not?! I'm finally going to get to meet Sally!" I jumped up and down, clapping my hands. "I have to- I have to tell someone." I pulled out my cell phone and sent Tia a text. Some of my friends planned on coming over for a sleepover tomorrow. Besides Megan who was helping me prepare, that included Tia, Kiya, and Morgan. All my friends were looking forward to meeting her, but I was the most excited. My phone vibrated. I pulled it out to read it. "Yay! I still can't come over until tomorrow. I have to take care of the brats," I read. Tia was referring to her younger siblings.

"Okay," Megan said. She sat down on the couch and stretched.

Megan and I spent the rest of our time on the computers. She was on the desktop while I was on my laptop. Before I knew it, Mom opened the door and walked in. I looked down the corner of my laptop where it said the time. Sure enough, it was 3:14. "Hi, Mom."

"Hi, sweetie," she greeted me, making her way to the kitchen.

"I wish Sally was here already," I said.

"Shut up!" Megan yelled, pointing at her stomach.

"Huh?" I questioned.

"It won't stop growling," Megan told me. I smiled.

"Are you hungry?"

"No. It just won't shut up."

I yawned. We spent another couple hours on the computers, listening to music and instant messaging Courtney. She didn't live in our town, but we were friends since we were in the same college prep program. She was a year older than me, so she would start college when school started again. Megan was also a year older than me, but we were still in the same grade.

We heard a car pull up and I immediately ran over to the door. I opened the wooden one and then looked through the screen door. "Sally!" I screamed, throwing the door open. I jumped down the steps and ran to her.

"Sarah!" She got ready for the incoming glomp. I jumped on her and she spun me around before putting me back down.

"Wow. You are tall." I stared up at her.

"No. You're just short." She laughed. I gave her a playful glare. Sally looked at the porch and saw Megan. "What up, girlfriend?!" Sally waved. Megan smiled and came over. Sally gave Megan a hug, which Megan actually accepted. She's not the hugging kind of person.

Sally was wearing a t-shirt that I designed and mailed to her along with shorts and tennis shoes.

"It's so hot!" Sally fanned her face with her hands.

"Welcome to Missouri." I laughed.

"Why is it so- so-" Sally began.

"Humid? Yeah. It sucks," Megan stated.

"What's the temperature?" Sally asked, still fanning herself.

"It's 94 degrees," I told her.

Her eyes widened in shock. "I think I could die of heat stroke!"

"Then let's get you inside before you faint." I smiled.

Sally grabbed her things. She'd be staying with me for at least a week. If I'm lucky she'll be here for two weeks. We walked into the house. "It feels so nice in here," Sally sighed in relief and dropped her things by the fireplace.

"Mom, Sally's here!" I yelled loud enough for her to hear from the kitchen.

She walked in and smiled at Sally. "Hi, Sally. Sorry about the mess. Sarah was supposed to clean up while I was at work."

I blinked. "I was?" She sighed.

Sally laughed. "Don't worry about it. It doesn't look messy at all."

"Yes, it does. It needs vacuumed and straightened up. The clothes need folded, too." She glared at me for not fixing it up. I smiled innocently. She just glared even more, making me giggle. My mom sighed. "It's nice to meet you, Sally. I hope you all have a good time. I'm going to go the Wal-Mart and pick up some groceries. I'll be back." We waved as she left.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Chubby Bunny!" Megan cheered.

"Oh dear," Sally mumbled.

"I'll get the marshmallows." I walked to the kitchen.