Celeste stepped out from behind the driver's side and shut her car door shut. Long blond hair flew in the wind as she walked up to the sign reading 'Welcome to Chance Harbor.' Placing a hand on the wood sign, Celeste could imagine her mother here twenty years earlier.

She hadn't wanted to come, but there was no choice now. Her great grandmother's house had been left to her and Celeste couldn't let the old homestead be abandoned. It had meant being uprooted right before her senior year and missing out on all the school traditions she had been looking forward to but it had to be done.

Her shoes stepped over brittle grass and hard dirt as she made her way back to her car. It was obvious that the town was going through a drought, and as she continued to drive toward her new home, all Celeste could think was that she could use a little rain herself.


"Is that her?" They were sitting at the outside café when Faye noticed the dead ringer for Cassie Blake.

"It sure looks just like her," Diana said. "I can't believe how long it's been since the last time we all saw Cassie."

"Well, what are you going to do," Melissa asked Faye. "Do you want to go see her before school or are you going to wait until her first day is over?"

"I hadn't really decided," Faye drawled out. "I mean, I'm more than a little surprised that Cassie would make me her guardian. Especially since you were her best friends," she told Diana.

"Yeah, well that was also a long time ago," Diana reiterated. "What do you think you want to do?"

"I guess I'll give her some time to adjust to the house and the town before I assault her. Besides, it's not like we won't see her at school," Faye reminded them and pushed her food around with her fork.

"Just try to be nice to her," Melissa said. "We all know how you and Cassie got along," Melissa got up and took some bills from her purse, throwing them on the table before she left for work.

Diana got up next and stared Faye down. "Try to act like her guardian, please," the brunette begged. "We all know what kind of power she has and we need you to keep her in control," she reminded Faye.

"Do you not see the irony in what you just said," Faye asked.

"Please," the other woman pleaded. "Keep an eye out for her," and walked away, leaving Faye with a snarky look on her face.


Celeste walked down the hall looking to see if she could find her locker and spotted it right next to a tall, dark and handsome stranger. Walking up, she began turning the lock to her combination. Yanking, the lock refused to budge at her touch.

"Do you need help with that," the stranger asked.

Looking up, Celeste could see that his eyes were green with the tiniest specks of gold in them. "Um, sure," she managed to mumble. "Thanks, that would be great," the girl smiled.

Twisting the lock, he pulled and the lock sprung open. "Glad to be of assistance. I'm Greyson," he said holding out his hand. "You must be Celeste."

"Actually… yes. I guess everyone knows who I am, even though I don't know them," she wagered.

"Well, your Mom was really good friends with my parents and some of the teacher's here. Most people remember her from when she moved here after your grandmother died. She kind of made a splash," he explained.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or not," she laughed.

"Well, I've got to go to class, but why don't you stop by the boathouse after school? A lot of us hang out there and I can introduce you to everyone."

A smile spread across her face. "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see you there."

Closing her locker, Celeste smiled to herself. "This might not be so bad," she said and headed toward homeroom.


Greyson walked up to Margaux and Phoebe. "Boathouse after school," he told them.

"Like that's new," Margaux groaned. "We go there every day," she bitched.

"Yeah, but we don't have our sixth with us every day," he responded.

Phoebe immediately perked up. "She's here? I didn't think she'd be here until next week. Who starts school in the middle of the week," she asked.

"Well, apparently she does," Margaux said unimpressed with the newest member of their clique.

"Just be there," he bit out between grinding teeth. "Tell the others!"

"Uh, what has his panties in a twist?" Margaux slammed her locker closed. "He's your boyfriend, can't you make him chill out?"

"Just leave him alone," Phoebe said. "I'll see you at your dad's place. See you later," she said and left for first period.


Celeste finished her day and was excited that she had made friends so quickly. Getting to the boathouse was her number one priority, if only to see Greyson again.

It seemed like the cool place to hang out in town and she recognized some of the kids from school. Walking up she found Greyson hanging out on the deck.

"Hey," he said smiling at her. "You're the first one here. I'm just waiting on a few more friends to introduce you to."

"Oh, well maybe I met them today. Who are they?"

"Phoebe, my girlfriend," he said missing the look of disappointment on her face, "and her best friend Margaux; her dad owns the place."

"Really? That's cool. At least she has a place to throw a party," Celeste said looking around the place.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Then there's Mark; he's my best friend but he and Phoebe don't get along."

"That has to suck," Celeste said, "having a girlfriend and a best friend that can't stand each other."

"Yeah, but I think it has more to do with the fact that Mark and Margaux have this on again off again thing going on and Phoebe is really protective of her."

"Is that the whole gang?"

"No, there's one more. He's kind of like the Karen of our group," he joked.

"There's always a Karen," Celeste said.

Laughing, Greyson pointed to a kid walking towards them. "And there he is. Hey, Nick. How's it going?"

Nick walked up, hands dug tightly into the pockets of his leather jacket. "Hey, Celeste. What's up?"

"You two know each other?" Greyson looked back and forth between the two.

"No," Celeste answered. "We've yet to have met."

Nick gave her a sly look. "No, we haven't met, but everyone knows the new girl in town." Leaning down to stoop to her height, he said, "Everyone knows the new girl in Chance Harbor."

"Why don't we go inside and wait for the others," Grey said. "It looks like it might rain."

Nick glanced at the over cast skies and laughed. "Well, maybe the drought is about to end," he said looking deeply into Celeste's eyes.

"I wouldn't count on it," she said trying to send him a message. "It doesn't feel like there's any humidity in the air."

"Then we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

Grey walked past Nick and put a hand on Celeste's back, guiding her inside the restaurant. "Do you see what I mean about him being the Karen of our group," he whispered.

"Oh, yeah," she answered. "He's kind of a douche."


"Maggie!"

Margaux stopped in her tracks. Turning back, she stalked toward her father in her black fish net tights and combat boots. "How many times do I need to tell you that it's Margaux," the teen demanded.

"You're always going to be my Maggie," Adam told her. "What's going on? Is it Mark again?"

"No," she drawled out staring at her nails. "I have to go meet the Scooby gang," she whined. "The new girl showed up today and Grey and Phoebe are planning her initiation into the group."

"Celeste is here? Have you met her," he asked his daughter.

"Um, no. That's where I'm going now." Margaux seemed to brighten up and she looked at her father with a big, rotten smile on her face. "Didn't you use to be in love with her mom, or was that Grey's mom? I can never remember the difference?"

"Margaux, stop it. That has nothing to do with—"

"The reason why mom left? Yeah, right."

"Maggie!"

"Bye, dad. I got to go," she said sauntering out of their apartment.

Adam looked at his daughter as she walked away. Holding his head in his hands, Adam wondered how his life turned out this way.


Jake walked into the boathouse. It had been an unspoken thing between him and Adam that he wouldn't come around here in the years since Cassie took off. Still, the appearance of her daughter Celeste changed things and here he was.

"What are you doing here," Adam asked as every part of him tensed up.

"Just thought I'd come see Celeste, ask about her mother. You know, things ended pretty badly between us. I never got a chance to find out how she was."

"Like you really wanted to," Adam responded. "I can't even blame you for not looking for her," he said, for the first time feeling sympathy for his fellow circle member. "Not after she—"

"I don't want to talk about that," Jake said. "I just want to make sure that what happened to the last two circles doesn't happen to the kids."

Adam nodded. "We've been training our kids at home. They know the basics, which is a lot more than what we had when we were there ages."

"I still think we need to be more proactive with them," Jake said, "training them together, one circle to another."

"Well, I guess we can talk to the girls about it. I don't know how they'll feel about it but it's worth a try. I'll invite them to dinner here tomorrow," Adam said pouring Jake a drink. "It feels weird calling the circle together without her," he said.

Jake downed his drink. "She's the one who left," he reminded Adam. "I've gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow," he said. Walking past Nick, he clapped him on the back. "See you at home," he told his son.