Chapter 1

In the Beginning

"Nuh-uh!" Haley gasped, hooking her arms through mine as we walked through the mall, heading for the food court.

"Yes," I insisted, smiling from ear to ear. "Tomorrow is officially our two year anniversary. Bryce says he's got a special surprise for me."

She smiled knowingly, her dark blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "A special surprise, huh?"

I pushed my curly mess of bronze hair over my shoulder, biting my lip. "I'm planning to surprise him a little earlier than he expected just to mess him up."

She smirked at me, laughing evilly. "Sounds like a plan to me—FOOD!"

She took off, leaving me standing in the middle of the mall alone. I sighed irritably before following her towards Chik-Fil-A, where she was already flirting with the cashier. She leaned forward on the counter, twisting her face in concentration as she searched the board. I already knew what she wanted, as did she. "Ummm…" she hummed, her eyes flickering over the menu.

"She'll have a number two with a medium lemonade and fries. And, while she's at it, she'll get her best friend a medium vanilla milkshake and share her fries." I said, smiling sweetly as I slide in next to her, bumping her hip with mine.

She shot me a glare. "How about a small milkshake. I ain't made of money, you know, Kaytrin."

I pouted, widening my bright blue eyes. "But Haaallleeeeeyy…"

She gave me a look. "No."

"But I have no money." I begged, inching closer to her.

"I have no compassion." She said, pushing me away. "Shut up. I want food."

"I hate you."

"Hate you too, babe." She said immediately and then returned her attention back to the cashier, who had been watching us with a raised eyebrow. "Dude, where's my food? I wasn't kidding. I want a number two, a medium lemonade, a small vanilla milkshake, and waffle fries. Chop chop, hop to it, Madame-Made-of-Money."

Both of us gave her a weird look. The cashier took a step back and said, "I'm a man…"

"Yes," Haley agreed, pressing her lips together. "A man who's not doing his job and getting my food!"

"And my milkshake," I added.

"And her milkshake!" Haley almost yelled. "A girl is nothing without her carbs!"

I burst out laughing, grabbing her arms and leaning on her for support. He gave us one last glance, along with a line forming behind us, before leaving to arrange our meal. "F-f-finally," I giggled, slapping my hand over my mouth.

She joined in and we made our way down the counter to wait. Suddenly, she nudged me and her laughter died. "Kaytrin…"

I looked at her, furrowing my eyebrows. She gestured over my shoulder, and I followed her finger. "Hot guys at twelve o'clock, Kay."

"I have a boyfriend…" Three boys huddled together in the middle of the hall, and as we stared at them, one of them caught my eye. All three of them were big, hulking men that were, as Haley put it, hot. The one that caught my eye was taller than the other two, with short cut spiky blond hair. His eyes were a dark gray, and he wore a grey sweater and normal blue jeans.

"Yum." Haley whispered, but I wasn't quite sure if she was talking about her food, or the boys.

"Indeed," I agreed. The boy smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Well, that's ruined. Perv."

"Boys are stupid," Haley agreed. "But food never lets you down."

I turned back to her and raised my eyebrow as I saw her cradling the food tray to her. "Yea, until it turns on you and you get fat."

"It happens," she shrugged and started towards the tables.

"I know," I smiled, following after her. She did hold my milkshake hostage, after all.

"Gimme gimme gimme gimme!" I said, scurrying up to her as she picked a table and sat down. I slide in across from her, grabbing the milkshake.

She laughed and popped a fry into her mouth. "So what do you think Bryce's big surprise is?"

"Marriage proposal, duh." I joked, chuckling at her wide, surprised eyes. "I don't really know."

"I'd be a little scared if he proposed, Kay."

I leaned forward, smiling. "So would I, Hales."

"Hello, girls." A deep male voice growled by my ear. I jumped, letting out a tiny scream as I slide away. I glanced over with a hand on my heart to see the blond headed boy that had caught us staring a while ago. Up close he looked mean with a sexy smile. His eyes were a light gray that blended into a dark brown. His hair was a dirty blond that stood straight.

"Hi—" Haley began with question in her voice.

"Go away," I cut her off, moving further away from him as I recognized the boys behind him.

He raised a blond eyebrow, glancing back at the two boys. He chuckled darkly as he turned his gaze back to me. "Excuse me?"

"She said," Haley spat, defending me even though she had no idea of my reasoning, "go away."

The guy scowled at her. "I heard her, smart a—"

"Leave her alone!" I almost yelled, shoving his shoulders. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Haley's eyes widen as he fell backwards. His boys caught his by his arms before he could fall. His scowl deepened as he straightened himself, standing by the table.

He cursed me before turning sharply and walking away with his posse on foot. "What a jerk," Haley mumbled, taking my milkshake before sipping it.

"Hey!" I yelled, lashing out and pulling it away from her. "You're a jerk."

She pouted, her eyes growing wide. "But Trinny…"

"That is such a stupid nickname." I huffed, handing the drink back to her.

"Yey!" she said, taking a large gulp.

"You do have your own drink, you know." I said, snatching it back from her.

She shrugged. "It happens."

I chuckled, sipping at my milkshake. "I know."

:::::

"Home!" I yelled, throwing off my helmet and setting myself up in front of the plate as the runner rounded third. "Home! Home!"

Suddenly, the ball was speeding towards my glove. The familiar pop sounded in my ears and I swatted the glove down, right into the thigh of the sliding runner. I closed my eyes, breathing in the dust of that single moment where anything could happen.

"OUT! Ball game!" The umpire called before the crowd erupted into cheers. I jumped up, screaming as I dashed for the pitcher's mound.

"We won!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. My catcher's gear slowed me down, but Haley was already running towards me as well. We collided into a hug as I screamed, "We're going to states!"

"States!" Haley yelled, screaming with excitement. "We're going to states!"

The rest of the team was on us in seconds, engulfing us in hugs and screams. We shook hands with the other team before gathering our things in the dugout. I slung my bag over my shoulder before grabbing Haley's arm. "I've got to go tell Bryce!"

"Of course!" she agreed, stuffing her pitching cleats in her bag before zipping it up. "Why wasn't he here anyways? The slacker."

I laughed, but shook my head. "He said he was planning my surprise. But I'm not supposed to be at his house for another hour."

"You know where I'll be," she chuckled. "Call me when you're ready to par-tay for real with your best friend."

"Yes!" I screeched as I followed her out of the dugout. "Double date!"

"Congratulations!" I heard before she had the chance to reply. Haley dropped her bag as her boyfriend, Will, wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her around. "Soon to be state champs!"

"Yea baby!" I yelled, punching the air.

Will chuckled and released Haley before punching my shoulder lightly. "Good game, Kay."

I held my hands in the air. "Hey, I wasn't the one pitching. Hales was the one who ran the game."

Haley shot me a glare. "Yea, because I totally hit the grand slam that put us in the lead."

I shrugged, smiling sweetly. "You had a lot of good hits too, Hales. That bunt was perfect!"

"Maybe," she agreed half-heartedly, "But I wasn't the one who threw out every single runner that tried to steal second!"

"No, there was one that got on," I disagreed, shaking my head.

She glared at me. "From a pass ball that was pitched by me."

"I should've—" I began, but Will cut me off.

"You both played great," He said quickly. "Hales, we gonna go celebrate?"

Haley perked up, turning to look up at him. "Ooooh, yes! Where?"

Will side-glanced at me, and for a minute I was stunned at how gold his eyes were. "It's up to you, babe."

"Well, first off, you can pick up my bat bag from where you made me drop it." Haley smiled, pointing down at the bag in the grass. "Then we can go to Cook Out!"

Will scowled. "Cook Out?"

"Yes," Haley glared. "Their milkshakes are amazing."

"Get me one!" I said hurriedly, clutching Haley's arm.

She gave me a look. "Will's paying."

"So?"

"Right, well…" Will sighed. "Let's go."

"Caramel Fudge!" I called after them, smiling as Haley shot me a grin over her shoulder. I winked at her before heading to my car. A part of me was disappointed in Bryce for not showing up at the most important game of my senior year, but the other part of me was even more excited to find out what 'surprise' he had for me.

I was so excited to tell Bryce of our win that I was banging on the steering wheel and singing along with the country radio so loud that I'm pretty sure the cars behind me heard. I took the turn onto his road a little too fast and slammed on breaks as the upcoming light turned red. A huge black Ford truck pulled up next to me in the turning lane. I looked over and my mood immediately plummeted.

The grey-eyed boy smirked at me from behind the thick glass. I sighed irritably, rubbing my temple. "You have got to be kidding me." I mumbled, training my eyes on the signal.

Loud hip-hop suddenly blared from the truck beside me. Even with the window up, I heard him yell, "Hey, hot stuff! Need a ride?"

"Does it look like I need a ride?" I cursed, shooting him a dark glare.

"Don't be like that, baby!" he yelled, starting to say something else, but the light turned green, and I floored it.

I had shaken the incident off by the time I pulled into my boyfriend's driveway. "Bryce!" I screamed excitedly. "Guess what!"

There was no answer, but his car and an unfamiliar Jeep were already parked in his driveway. I ran up the porch, giddy and overflowing with excitement. I threw the door open, expecting to find him waiting on the couch or in the kitchen, but he was nowhere to be found.

I dashed up the stairs towards his bedroom, the next likely place where he could be. I pushed open the door, hoping to surprise him, but what I found inside was more surprising and traumatizing than I could've imagined. "Bry—"

There was a loud curse, a fumble of blanket and a high-pitched, surprised scream before Bryce could finally look at me with guilt-filled green eyes. "Look, Kay, I can explain—"

"Save it, you little tramp." I spat, my hands curling into fists. "How could you?! On our anniversary?!"

His voice faltered. "Kaytrin, please…"

"Please what?" I growled. "'Please forgive me'? I don't think so."

"Kaytrin!"

"Oh," I said, smirking as I took hold of the door knob, "if you didn't guess; we're through."

I unfortunately caught the eye of the girl underneath him and proceeded to flip both of them off. I slammed the door shut, making the whole house vibrate as I fled back to my car. Tears pricked at the back of my eyes, but I fought them back. I slipped into the still warm car and fumbled around through my mess of a bag for my phone. Once my fingers closed over the cool metal, I brought it out, but the tears were blurring my vision.

Somehow I managed to dial the correct number and put it on speaker. "Hey gorgeous, how's it going?" she answered in a sing-song voice.

"Ha-Haley…" I sobbed, my eyes burning as I started the car.

She sighed hopelessly. "I'll get the ice cream and the movie."

I smiled, wiping at my eyes. "Th-thanks."

"Anytime, babe." She said before hanging up.

I knew the route to Haley's house by heart, and somehow I was there before realizing it. Haley was waiting for me on the steps with spoon and tub in hand. I fell into her hug gratefully, balling my eyes out so that I could barely speak. She led me inside, giving me the ice cream before sitting me on the couch.

"Tell me everything," she demanded. "So at least I know why I'm going to pound someone."

I took a bite of the mint chocolate chip before beginning to speak. "Bryce—Bryce was… was…"

"No way!" She yelled angrily.

I nodded meekly, taking another spoonful.

"How dare he, that little bas—" she was cut off by the ringing of the doorbell, which seemed to anger her even more. "Go away!" she screamed. "We're busy!"

No one answered, and the ringing got increasingly annoying. Haley jumped up before snatching the door open. "Go away—"

She was cut off by a shove to her shoulders, which sent her plummeting to the floor. "Hey!" I said, finding my voice as I leapt to my feet, leaving the ice cream abandoned.

As I did, three very familiar boys let themselves into Haley's house, and all of them turned towards me. The blonde smiled darkly at me. "Get her," he demanded.

The guys flanking him shot out, and suddenly, with inhuman speed, grabbed my arms. "Leave her alone!" Haley yelled, struggling to get to her feet.

The blonde ignored her, instead strolling towards me. "Hi, princess."

"What do you think you're doing!" I screamed, lashing out at him with my feet, but the two holding me restrained me.

"Claiming what's mine," he replied, smiling. "Gag her, boys."

A clothe was administered over my mouth and nose, and I sucked in a deep breath out of surprise. Immediately, I began to feel dizzy. Over the blonde's shoulder, I saw Haley try to tackle him. With a flick of his wrist, she was on the floor, holding her cheek. He rolled his eyes and trained his gaze on me. "You're mine now."

The last thing I saw was Haley sprawled out on the ground, a trickle of blood trailing from her ear and the corner of her mouth. I'm being kidnapped¸ I realized as the world around me began to blacken. And my best friend is dead.