I grinned, feeling the fabric of my towel rubbing against my now tanned backside. I let the sun enveloped me, covering me from my head to toes in a cascade of sun rays. I was suddenly wrenched out of my happy sanctum as multiple coins were thrown against my head. I grimaced in pain before shooting my best friend, Maggie, a glare as she grinned at me- a soft chuckle escaping her lips.
"Come on, slave. Go get me a piece of candy." She said, while I brushed the sand off of the back of my legs. I was moving today, to a town called 'Beacon Hill' far from my nesty metropolis. In honour of my leaving, Maggie and I have decided to dedicate my final day at the beach, the place where our beautiful friendship began. Moving towards the tall, outdoors emporium I was able to locate a small vending machine near the disgusting restrooms. Sliding some coins into the rusty machine, I entered in the two digits to snag myself a Reese's Pieces, only to have the old contraption break on me. Scowling, I kicked the machine a few times- but to no avail. It was refusing to release my captive candy.
"You need help there?" I gasped inaudibly as a boy came up behind me, a playful grin etched onto his features. His caromel eyes met mine as I gave a swift nod, before biting the inner crevice of my lip before stepping away from the giant mechanism to let the boy pass. "You must be new to visiting this beach. That the rows 'D' all the way to 'G' are glitched, but there is a trick to this." He rambled, before moving towards the back of the vending machine. "Lets see.." I heard a loud bang as two Reese's Pieces fell down the shaft before landing at the bottom level. I chuckled before bending down to snag the two pieces.
"For my obvious knight in shining armor. A free Reese's Pieces. Thank you." I handed him the extra snack as his smile lit up. He took the free food, his hand lingering against mine only a few seconds longer than normal. "And for the record, it's my third time being here. I just never stray too far from the beach. A bit of a water bug, you see. I'm Lyra." I rambled, before casting my gaze downwards as my cheeks flamed. Damn it, why can I never hold a conversation with an attractive guy without blushing? He didn't seem to notice.
"Stiles. I normally come adventure here with my friend Scott. A rendezvous point. It's got sentimental meaning to us, so once and awhile we fill up my jeep with gas and just drive here. It's a few hours away, but it's we enjoy guy-time." I smiled up at him as our eyes once more met. He took a bite out of his candy as a strong gush of wind sent sand into every beach-bums eye. "Though there is always sand."
"Sun and sand. Something to expect whenever you come here." I giggled, while Stiles laughed at my sad attempt of a joke. "I better get going, it's my last day here before I need to move and my best friend has deemed it fit that I'm her slave today." He smirked once more, the corners of his eyes crinkling with amusement. "It was great to meet you, Stiles." I muttered before running back to Maggie.
"Oh my, wasn't he a piece of eye-candy. Mmm, did you get his digits?" I huffed at her, eyes rolling as her blonde hair blows in the wind. Throwing the candy at her, she nimbly caught it before ripping open the wrapper. "What? A girl can dream you know. It's not my fault you're asexual or something." She teased, knowing that comment could force a laugh out of me.
"Oh hardy har, Margaret. Aren't you the comedian today." I slid down onto my towel before gazing out at the crystal blue water. "His name is Stiles, by the way."
"Oooh, now that is a name to remember. Stiles. I love it!" She yelled, before taking her petite frame down to the water. "Come on, slave, I still own you for a few more hours!" I smiled, before rushing down towards the water and tackling her into it's freezing waves.
Staring at my new abode, I tried not the grimace at the fading green colour of the outer walls. It looked like a frog threw up everywhere, before smearing said puke all along our homes tiling. Our new home was a completely unnecessary two-story house, with enough rooms to have a completely spare library. The top section of our nest had two bedrooms, accompanied with two bathrooms, along with a small study for my mother. A cozy kitchen resting on the bottom floor with a small archway that led to the dining room, from there we have a brand new, very roomy, living room where I planned to fill with a large collection of movies, and perhaps even games, before leading around the circle of rooms to our brand new library.
"Oh no." I heard my mom whisper behind me. "That colour.. Lyra, how do you feel about a day of purely painting?" Tilting my head once, I shuffled to unbuckle my seat belt and slide out of the war.
"I'm seeing a kind of yellow.. Beige, mayhaps?" I closed an eye, before sticking out my tongue as I heard my mother's laughter fill my ears. That was nice. "Yes! That's it. Yellow. Like the kind you would see in one of those older country movies. Very home of the prairie type of thing." I stated, with a firm nod of my head. My mom came to my side, placing her head near mine.
"I'm looking.. Looking.. Yes! I can see that. Alright, we pick out the rest of our room colours and then I'll try to find said colours in lowes.. Or do they have Home Depot here.. Perhaps something else?" She asked, looking puzzled. I smiled at her, ruffling her hair even if she stood several inches above me, before darting towards the car. "I already called the master bedroom!" She yelled towards me.
"Oh you're such a child, mother. You can't claim bedrooms.. It's mine if I get there first!" And that is how I spent my entire day, unpacking with my adorable mother who still refuses to give me the Master bedroom, even if I truly deserve it for finding the house.
Staring into my full length mirror, I peered at my now incredibly short brown hair. Two days before I left my old home, I decided that with a new town came a new look. So chopping off my waist long hair, I donated it to charity before they added a streak of purple along my front bangs. I grinned at the vertical bob, which was so easy to take care of, before moving to stare into my own eyes. At times, it was hard to determine to colour of them, but now that I've become so accustomed to looking at them in the mirror I am able to depict the two different colours easily. The outer layer was a dark blue, while the inner circle was a light green. They blended together in the middle, creating an array of colours that showed in different lightings. I moved on, staring down at my barely visible top lip, that mis-matched with my slightly plump bottom. No longer needed to gaze at my short, five foot three height, I turned before tugging on a large backpack over my shoulder. I was ready to face the first day of deadful high school. Sophomore year. Whoopie. I stumbled down the stairs, before sliding on my socks to pass into the archway of the kitchen, where my mom was stationed. A pair of headphones strapped onto her head as she sang an off-tune country song. A pancake flipped in front of her.
"You have got to be the best parent in the entire world." I made my presence noted as she grinned before handing me a plate, her music still blasting as I scrunched my face in disgust. "But you have horrible taste in music." I mutter, before making my way to the mahogany table, not a single scratch on the new wood. I refrained from getting a drop of syrup on my bright blue "Pepsi" shirt as I ate in silence, peering down at my new schedule as I tried to memorize all of my classes, and their locations. After clearing my plate, I slid out of a newly furnished chair that wreaked of old people, I picked up my small satchel that was filled with my favorite, cheap wal-mart pencils, decorated with small animals, and a single Batman notebook. Shrugging it on, I zipped up my knee-high black boots before shouting a farewell to my mom.
With impeccable timing, my new yellow bus cruised right down to the front of my house before stopping at the corner. I watched as a group of bony teenagers struggle to let themselves into the bus before I was able to join them and climb up the knobby steps of the bus. Scanning the bus, I bit my inner cheek as the only seat unfulfilled was next to a bulky, probable jock, who looked like he had too much testosterone in his body. I grumbled inaudibly before taking a seat next to him, watching as he shifted a large sports back onto his lap to leave room. I flicked through my phone, flicking through countless photos on the internet as one particular picture caught my eye. Enlarging it to show the image, I blinked in surprise at the sight: A well-built man, with a scruffy brown beard along his jawline, that had shocking blue eyes. I smiled in delight as I heard to boy next to me shift.
"He is outright gorgeous." I heard, as I turned to see the boy sitting next to me grin in delight. I chuckled at his display, before nodding my head.
"I always see his picture pop up from time to time, yet there is never a name attached to him." I said in agreement, as I handed him my phone so he could inspect it closely.
"The horrible things I would do to him in a night." He said in awe, before handing the phone back to me.
"A night is not long enough." I countered, as a chuckle escaped the boys parted lips.
"I'm Danny, by the way. Danny Mahealani." I blink a few times, Danny must have a horrible time dealing with substitute teachers.
"That is one hell of a last name. Lyra Smith. As plain of a last name as your can get." He grinned at me, as we shook hands before we returned our attention to the man. "How long have you lived here?" I asked, curiosity sparking through me.
"Entire life. Same old Beacon Hills. I take it you just moved here?" He asked, shifting to turn towards me. For a gay boy, he was drop dead beautiful. Why is it always the gay ones?
"Yes sir, a few hundred miles separate me from my old town now. I want an honest answer here, Danny. How bad is the cafeteria food?"
"Shit."
I bursted into laughter before Danny joined in, the crooks of his eyes crinkling with joy as his laughing loudend. I heard the teenagers behind us talking about how some people were too preppy in the morning, as we quieted.
"Damn." Was the last I could reply with as the bus pulled to a stop in front of the school. We were herded towards the front, as kids pushed and shoved to get out. When I broke free of the pact, I started to pull out my white schedule when I felt someone grab my elbow.
"Do you need help finding your first class?" Danny asked me, towering over my short frame. I nodded my head, before handing him my class list.
"It's only occurred to me now how tall you are. Can't you shave off a few inches and help me try to blend in?" I asked, as Danny grinned at me before whisking me off to my first class. History. I followed his lead before moving to the teacher.
"Hi, I'm the new student: Lyra Smith." I managed to say, keeping my back to the students as I tried to adjust to the feeling of stares.
"Of course, why not place another student in this already filled classroom!" He said to me, as if I could change that fact. I simply stared, as he handed me a large textbook and syllabus. "Try not to get lost."
I ducked away from the table, turning to sit in the far end of the class room, sitting behind a dark haired boy with a buzz cut. I stared down at my book cover as I heard a throat being cleared. Poking my head up, I came face to face with a particularly familiar pair of caramel eyes.
"Stiles?"