Marigold smiled as the Texas sun kissed my face. I love the sun, she though, it makes everything so alive, so beautiful. Chris Lightwood was sitting beside her and he couldn't ask for anything else. She turned her smile to him but he was deep in thought. "What?" Marygold asked him, her voice shook with a sweet laughter.

He looked at her squarely, his dark chocolate eyes full of words that he couldn't speak without prompting from her. She was ready for anything he had to say, but this the voice in her mind stated you're not ready for.

Without future delay, he finally cleared his throat and said, "Marigold, I'm leaving. I am never come back; not ever. Do you understand me?"

Wait? No! she thought but only whispered,"Why?" Her good mood was gone. She forgot about the sun and how happy she was a minute ago, the words "I'm leaving." Broke through the sweet summer trance. Marigold had spent most of my summer with Chris, she was so happy to be with him. It calmed her and the sun made her feel alive, especially with him there to share it with her. With all the excitment Marygold forgot that he had just graduated and was going to be leaving soon, she also forgot that she will only be a junior this year and wasn't going with him.

"Sweetie, collage is starting for me soon. I don't know if you forgot, I'm leaving for England." He said this like she was slow, Like she didn't understand.

It made Marigold's blood boil.

"Well, goodbye." Marigold said, getting up and walking away, she added,"Have fun," in the most sarcastic voice she could find through the tears ready to pour down her face.

"Mary! Mary!" Chris yelled to her but she didn't turn around.

"If you didn't notice, I'm not slow and I'm not going to sit around here and wait for you." Marigold yelled back to him as she started walking the dirt road back to the city. Not many came to this part of town. It was outside any of the bustling towns Texas had to offer, she was sure that most of the little meadows were just old orchards. Chris thought the were just cow pastures, but Marigold always argued that all the cow pastures where usually in different parts of Texas, plus the little town they lived in was called, "Apple Springs." Marigold loved it in a small town like this, it was something she didn't question, small town, small town life, small town job, and small town gossip.

"Hello, Miss Marigold." She jumped, she didn't think there was anyone walking this street she also knew everyone in this town, he wasn't one of the people she remembered, but he knew her name, odd.

"Hello, stranger," She said calmly. "I don't want to sound rude but, do I know you?" She looked at the boy. he was a little older than herself. With magnificent orange eyes almost covered by his unruly blond curls, he was pale, paler than most who live out in the country. But that's not why she was stopped walking, oh no. That was definitely not why she was looking at him now, either. She felt like she knew him., or she was supposed to. He was tall and elegant in his paint covered jeans and dark black shirt, his clothes fit him right, unlike the other boys in town that either had way to baggy or way too small clothes. The only word that came to mind while Marigold looked at him was, beautiful. Funny, I have never known a guy I could call beautiful, she thought to herself, until now. He was on the opposite side of the road, which was pretty close to her, seeing that the road wasn't that wide, she didn't look him straight in the eyes and she didn't feel his eyes looking into hers, either.

He started walking again, "My name is Taylor. I'm new in town." He called to her.

"Well, I'll see you around... Right?" She was worried that she sounded to hopeful but she couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Yeah, It's a small town, ain't it." He sounded annoyed. She didn't answer his last remark, and started walking, too. Something about him stayed with her as she kept walking. Like something was pulling her the opposite direction, Chris is that way, you don't want to see him again, do you? her mental voice spoke the words like she herself was brain dead. The sad thing was, she had forgot about Chris completely.

*********

Taylor Redfern never needed anyone but himself. He didn't believe the "Soulmate" stories, or what James told him about how Poppy - James' "soulmate" - came to know the secret. It made no sense, not until Taylor saw Marigold. It was a night like any other. He bagged his prey like every other night, and wiped his blood-stained fangs on a loose piece of cloth he carried with him for that very purpose. That's when he saw her. She was sitting in an abandoned apple orchard staring up into the sky. His eyes could see the tan that covering all her exposed skin. She had beautiful curly black hair and a warm smile that he got to see when she looked up at a shooting star. She closed her eyes and Taylor used that as a chance to hide behind a closer tree. Even if his Vampire eyes could see her perfectly from where he had stood, there was something about her that kept pulling Taylor closer.

"This is beautiful." she said and for a second he was scared that she had seen him. Then she sighed in contentment and layed down on the plush green grass. All Taylor wanted to do was go to her and lay there beside and small, fragile figure. He knows he can't. It's against everything he was raised to believe, but that wasn't Taylor Redfern's fault. It was Hunter Redfern, the vampire that raised him, the vampire Taylor ran away from.