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I stood in front of the door for a long time.

Thinking, weighing options, planning.

What would happen if I need to scream?

I knew his eyes would steal my breath, they always did.

I could run; but then he'd just immobilize me by a quick graze of his skin on mine.

I wouldn't run, I wouldn't scream.

I knew the dangers; I knew the feeling of alarm in the pit of my stomach.

So I did what any living human on this planet did, I knocked.

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The sun was glaring brightly on my face before my alarm even went off. So much for getting beauty sleep. Instead I gave in and sat upright in my tiny bed, at least tiny compared to my old one, and stretched listening to my back crack. Another dreamless night in my new home, same town, new home, and no explanation as to why we moved. Cautiously and slightly dizzily I started to walk out of my room. Amy was gone and Greg was probably already out with his beer buddies at his bar.

My new house represented the exact opposite of us, small, homely, poorly decorated. I never understood the sudden change; then again I didn't want to ask. If we were in trouble I figured it best for me not to know what was going on. I silently thanked my adoptive parents for keeping whatever was going on a secret. I flipped on the TV and walked into the kitchen less disoriented than before. Today didn't seem so bad, there wasn't that feeling of remorse and sorrow in the air like I usually felt but, leave it to the news to bring down your almost chipper mood you've had in a long time.

"Cops say that the man broke into the house and began to slaughter and maim the family before using there blood to write the message "Be afraid of the big bad wolf."

'Yum slaughter and maiming what a great appetizing thing to wake up to.'

I poured cereal got a glass of milk and sat back down in the couch eating my Coco Puffs with my fingers. Milk was not my favorite mixture when it came to cereal, in fact I hated cereal if it had milk in it, mostly due to the fact that it became a mush instead of a crisp.

Mr. Sun must be pissed off at me or something since it's shining right in my face again. The blinds across the room were oddly left open this morning and I couldn't help but wonder why, neither of my parents bothered to open them, they used the less economically smart thing to do and turned on a bunch of lamps instead. It was nice though, living in the country, I could look for miles and still only see the world's nature, our back yard had a wooded area behind it that I had yet to venture through, I had originally made that my quest as soon as I unpacked my belongings, but my curiosity weakened throughout the days and it just didn't interest me anymore. When Amy and Greg shut the blinds for good I pretty much forgot about it.

My phone buzzed and sent the harmonics of Matt Nathansons' song Come on Get Higher throughout the house. "Hello." I said into the phone popping a few more chocolaty pieces of cereal in my mouth.

"Hey Taya, you busy?" It was Victoria. Peppy, loud, but sweet.

"Not really why?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to this bonfire tonight. It's to celebrate the last days of summer, you in?" I could hear her Carrie Underwood CD playing in the background and I almost laughed. It was just like her to be listening to Carrie this early in the morning. "Yeah sure what time?"

"Well Teagan, Sofia, Raine and I were going to get a bite to eat for lunch and then meet up with Preston when we finished to help him set up." She explained. I thought it over knowing Preston had a crush on me. As soon as I walked into the school for the first time he was the first one to see me, the first one to offer me help and a week later, the first one to ask me to homecoming, after him there was Owen, Noah, and then Michael. It was a little annoying especially since I had to keep telling all of them over and over that I was not even going to the dance. "Umm yeah sure but can you pick me up?"

"Yeah Sure no problem." She replied cheerily. We said our goodbyes and hung up soon after. I looked over at the clock, ten-thirty. Guess I could shower now. I thought to myself standing up from the couch.

Vanesa came earlier than I had planned so instead of calling Greg I just left a note on the fridge sure that he would see it as soon as he came home. I jumped into her soccer mom car and we sped off towards the Kerbey Lane Café, probably on of the cheapest restaurants in town. "So Taya, you hear we have new students at school?" Raine asked turning around in her seat to face me. I recalled someone saying something about a family that moved here from Utah. "Yeah someone mentioned them I just don't remember much." I admitted. Her face brightened glad she could gossip freely, it was her hobby and she not only did it often but very well.

"Really, well apparently they are from Utah. They play a lot of sports and I think one of them is wanting to join drama. You'll see them at the bonfire today." She began. She continued on with facts about there lives. There were four of them. Tristan, Nick, David, and Ryan. Tristan was the sports guy, Nick was the smart one out of all of them, David was the musician, and Ryan was the mischievous one that got them in trouble. For someone that Raine never met she sure did know a lot about them.

Eventually we reached the Kerbey Lane Café and ordered our food. "Hey when did you tell Preston we were meeting him?" Sofia asked before taking a sip of her cola.

"Um I didn't really; I just said we'd be there to help." Vanesa said taking a bite out of her burger. Typical of her to order that. It was greasy and disgusting, just the way she liked it. I sat in my usual silence; I wasn't much of a talker, more of an observer. I would people watch a lot. It was fun, trying to figure them out.

We finished, left a tip, and drove to Preston's. Helped him load his truck, put as much food and drinks in our car as we could, and then drove to the beach.

The sky was turning a light blue and pink color when we reached the beach. There were already a few people there, ready to help with setting out the food, help with the fire, help in any way they could.

When the bonfire had actually started it was a huge turn out. I never understood why people would party and stay up as late as they could to have to wake up extremely early the next day. I watched as I sat. Watched the sun set, watched while Teagan hit on a random boy. They were all betrayed by her looks. She was beautiful. Perfectly natural highlights in her hair. It was brown but still had blond tints in it. She wore shirts that just barely reached her extreme mini skirt. And then she made herself look tall with her boots, which in this case, was a bad idea to wear. Or maybe it was genius, the clutzier you were the more a man would want to help you keep balance.

I noticed Vanesa was hanging out with her lab partner, Adam. He was attractive enough. Compared to the new kids he was at the lowest of the low. Even with the four tipping the scale non of them out ranked each other on the looks scale. All of them were at an equal level of hotness.

Nick didn't look at all like a nerd, he was tall, muscular. No glasses. He wore Aeropostale. Loose jeans and a pair of old gym shoes. His hair was short, jet black, his eyes dark as well. I couldn't tell what color from the distance but if I had to guess a dark brown. He had a boy standing next to him that I was unfamiliar with. It wasn't one of his brothers, just someone I remarkably had not met in my school of three hundred students or so.

Ryan on the other hand dressed the part of the mischievous one. His hair was longer than Nick's but not too long too where it was unattractive. In fact he kind of reminded me of the actor Tom Welling that played Clark Kent in Smallville, only with straight hair instead of wavy. I couldn't see his eyes because of the torn up hat he had on. It was brown a hole in the bill. I think the words on it said Budweiser, or maybe John Deer. I couldn't tell. He wore an old black band shirt, the Sex Pistols to be exact. And his jeans were ripped to shreds. He hung around a group of girls smiling widely, cracking jokes.

I didn't know what to make of David, he just sat down on a log doing nothing, he was off in his own world thinking about who knows what and it looked like he was mumbling something. Vanesa did say that he was the musician, maybe he was just lip syncing a song or something. His hair was different from the others as well. It was a dark brown with hardly-there blond highlights, it was longer but spiked upwards, while the sides of his har was almost a buzz cut.. He wore regular gray t-shirt with a skull on it, underneath the T he had a white long-sleeved shirt. His eyes weren't so easy to find. They pretty much hid from everyone. Definitely a dark brown color.

It took me awhile to find Tristan since he was running around playing football down by the water. His hair was light brown. I couldn't tell if it was natural or not. He was wearing a jersey, had some khaki shorts on, and sunglasses. He definitely dressed the part of being the Sports Guy. I was amazed at how accurate the gossip Vanesa acquired was.

I noticed after I had finished looking over each newcomer that the people that once surrounded me where gone, they were up dancing to some song I haven't heard of. It was a country ballad so no surprise there. I couldn't help feeling this icy coldness on my back, it sent shivers throughout my body, I turned around hoping to catch what had given me this chilled feeling in me. There he was, sitting in the same spot staring at me. I couldn't help but wonder though, how long was he staring at me. What was he staring for. A few people walked in front of him. And when they passed David was gone.

My alarm clock buzzed loudly, the only noise flowing through the house. I groaned, slamming my fist down on the annoyance and rolled over hiding my face deep within my pillows. I heard the birds chirp outside my window surprised that they were out already, it was six AM, I had an hour before I needed to head off to school. It took me about five minutes to just get out of bed. Ten to find the right clothes, another ten minutes to find the accessories for them, and then twenty minutes just to brush my teeth my hair and then eat. I was probably the slowest eater in this country, maybe even in the world. I listened to Amy's angry groans as her alarm clock taunted her with the too early numbers. I smiled as she yelled at the beeping as if that would stop it. My own beeping came from my watch saying I needed to head out the door.

"Hey Taya!" Owen called from across the street. I smiled at him and waved before placing one headphone in my ear. I listened to his sloshing footsteps come closer to me. "Hey, so you have fun at the bonfire?" He asked making conversation. I really didn't have any fun at all. It was just like every friend gathering, I would sit in the background and watch my friends have fun. If problems were made then I would suddenly apear. "Um yeah, I was kinda weirded out though."

"Cus of that new guy? I saw him staring at you the whole time." Of course he did.

"Yeah, but he seemed to have left after a while."

"Yeah a few minutes before you actually." My heart stopped instinctively. Was Owen really watching me that long? "Well what do you think today will be like?" He asked. We never were any good at holding a conversation. "Um just like any other day in Blue Berry Hill?" I said unsure if that was the answer he wanted. I was surprised to see the sun finally able to show its face. It had been raining all week and I was just getting used to not seeing my shadow. I listened to Owen laugh as we walked. The silence was ok now, we both knew that Teagan was about to join us and she helped us hold the conversation a little better. "So, I know you said no to the homecoming dance, but I was wondering, I mean there has got to be some way to change your mind." Owen began. I knew it was coming, his body language gave it away. He was more uptight than usual. "Owen," I sighed out. "I know, I know just hear me out, we don't even have to go as each other's date. You can come in a different car if you want, although I hope you would consider riding with me." His banter continued on and I began to realize that Teagan had set this up. She had always said that Owen and I would make a cute couple. 'You guys are perfect, he's slightly taller, has perfect bronze hair that isn't long, his eyes are the absolutely perfect color green, which works even more because when you wear green it brings out your eyes.' She told me the first day he asked me to homecoming. "Owen, really I don't even go to dances ok, its really not you…or the other guys that have asked me out." He tensed up when I pointed that out to him. "I just don't dance."

"You can mingle." He tried. This was beginning to get pathetic.

"Owen." I scolded. He sighed with me and kept quiet until Teagan met up with us.

"Hey guys!" She said cheerily. I smiled at her with a look that explained almost everything. That was the best part about Teagan. She could read anyone's body language. "Oh, hey Owen if you are still single for homecoming I know someone that's still looking for a partner." She said. Owen's head bolted up. It made it obvious that he like Teagan long before me. He even admitted this to me before, but he said he'd moved on since she was clearly not into him. "R-really?"

"Yeah, are you interested?" Teagan's bright eyes sparkled with excitement. I knew she was far from asking Owen to the dance. It wasn't like he wasn't attractive, but he was a dork sometimes. "Yeah I am." He said boldly.

"Cool, I'll have her call you." Teagan said looking down at her phone. Owen's face grew a confused expression. "Um, ok." He said.

We soon reached the school with twenty-five minutes to spare before classes needed to be started. "Look Taya it's your stalker." Owen said with a scoff as the new family walked by. I stopped breathing. I don't know why but David's glare literally took my breath away. I watched as his eyes stay on me the entire time, he was walking towards us, or they were to be more precise but I wasn't concentrated on all of them, just him. His eyes were piercing and terrifying, but they also made him look depressed. His walk was different from the others as well, he was slouched more, the others stood up straight, laughing, making jokes. His clothes were different from the bonfire too, he was wearing dressy clothes. Or his shirt was anyway, a blue long-sleeved button down. Then he had on a pair of regular faded jeans. As he passed I couldn't help but notice the hypnotizing aroma of Aqua Di Gio. It smelt so magnificent. I nearly passed out right there.

I waited a few seconds after he had passed me to turn around. This way it would look less suspicious. I turned around and found he was looking right back at me a smug smile on his face. My face went hot and I knew I was blushing. My head snapped right back in front of me and I listened as the four of them laughed. Where they laughing at me? "What was that all about?" I heard Sophia ask as she walked up to us.

"What?"

"They look he was giving you, what did you do to him?" She asked. Was his look really of anger towards me? I just figured he was having a bad day. I couldn't have caused that glare could I? "I didn't do anything."

"Owen here called him a stalker, maybe he overheard." Teagan replied, looking at me. That wasn't possible he was too far away.

"I don't know but Taya, just tell me if he gives you problems, I'll deal with him ok." Owen said standing up from the bench we all sat on. I almost choked as he tried to sound tough, it was so unlike him. He was built I'll give him that but not enough to take on those four, especially by himself. "Owen," I whined again. He smiled at me and walked away.

First hour was hell, whoever put me in biology first period was going to pay. Who would put a teenager in such a hard class in the morning? I was happy when it was over that was for sure. I put all my papers in my folder and gathered up my binder and biology book. On my way out I felt my foot kick something and when I looked down I watched a bottle roll away, that and a familiar face. He was kneeling down, no doubt just about to pick up the bottle I just kicked, and now his face was looking back up at me, the same glare as this morning showing. My breath did the same as before, left my lungs. I stopped breathing until he stood back up, stared at me a few seconds more, and then leave to retrieve the bottle. I watched him as he put it in the recycling not the trash. I had to admit I was a little surprised. With a new smile on my face I walked to second hour forgetting about my locker.

"Hey Tay," Luis called waving me over to his table. Sofia and Raine sat next to him. "Hey guys." I said slipping into my seat. "Hey so any other encounters with your 'Stalker'" Sophia asked me using air quotes. She, like me, thought that Owen was being over protective. I sighed but smiled. "Yeah actually, I was walking out of my class and accidentally kicked the bottle he was picking up to throw away in the recycling bin." I tell her. A smile spread across her face. "What did he say?" I laughed at Raine's excitement she was always so busy getting gossip I wondered if she had a life of her own.

"Nothing, he just stared at me and then walked away." They all flashed confused faces before the home Ec. Teacher walked in. "Al right everyone in your groups lets go, today we have a special guest. All the way from the Le Rouge downtown, may I present Chef Ronald." I scoffed, that name didn't sound very French. While the Chef explained the duties of holding up a restaurant I went over the looks of David, the smell of him. How differently he dressed today than he did yesterday. Then it hit me, he was the musician, that means I might see him in chorus next hour.

I could feel myself getting excited. I just wanted to look at him, that was all. Any girl would, any girl should, he was absolutely gorgeous with his deep brown eyes. No man could top that, well maybe except for his brothers, but they were it.

I let my mind go over every detail I could remember of his body. He wasn't buff like Tristan but not scrawny like Nick. He had the perfect amount of muscle. His hair and how it always seemed perfect. I realized then that, I had a crush on a complete stranger.

The bell rang while I was so deeply concentrated on how I would like our first conversation to go. "Taya, snap out of it." Raine said snapping her fingers in front of me. "Oh, sorry." I said with an embarrassed smile. I quickly gathered my things and headed off to chorus praying that he would be there.

While I walked I had to calm myself down. I knew I was probably getting my hopes up but it was nice to dream. I opened the door and instantly recognized the song being played on the piano. Summer's Child, by David Lanz. I smiled happy to hear such a beautiful song, whoever was playing was playing beautifully.

The room was small in size but it somehow made the room cozier. I loved the chorus room. It was my favorite place to be. I was a total music nerd. Although the color could be a lot better than the horrid green mixtures on the doors and walls, I still loved it. It was my home away from home. I took a deep breath prepared for my hopes to be broken while I scanned the room and utter shock washed over my body, the beautiful playing, it was from him. David was playing the piano like a goddess. Almost better than Lanz himself. It's funny, I figured someone playing that music would look more…relaxed, but he didn't. His jaw was stiffened, his eyes looked almost hurt. Is all this really because of me? Or was he like this all the time, was he one of those brooding soles that needed saving? I sighed and shook my head walking over to the slots that held our music taking out my binder. "Alright everyone," Mr. Martin said clapping his hands. He was definitely young, he looked like he had gotten right out of college. He also looked very cheery. "I know you all are very excited today, I bet everyone got so much sleep last night." He said in his sarcastic tone. David was still behind the piano but not playing anymore. He was just watching the brunette speak. "Now today wee need to start voice matching ok, so everyone just get in two groups, one of boys, the other of girls." He said turning around to go get something from his office. The room buzzed with voices and my eyes stayed on the mysterious brunette as he walked silently over to one side of the room.

He never once looked at me, never once even glanced in my general direction. It kind of hurt actually. Mr. martin looked at us all thinking. "Alright, Billy, and Sam come down, and then," he looked over the girls. "Claire and Mandy." He said. He had them sing the first few lines of the Star Spangled Banner and then put them in order of who sounded better next to who. It went on, him choosing students, them coming down and singing, he'd rearrange them according to how well they blended. "Tay come next to Billy." My heart stopped. Billy stood two people away from David, who not only played piano beautifully, but sang beautifully as well. Billy and I sang together and Mr. Martin shook his head. "No, try next to Trey." He said in a half mumble. I did as I was told glad to be further away from the boy that would drive my heart crazy. Mr. Martin seemed slightly more pleased but still moved me seeing if there was a better spot. "Stand by David." He ordered. I looked down hoping my feet would move when I needed them to. Also praying that they wouldn't give out as I listened to him sing next to me.

"Go ahead sing." He ordered. I cleared my throat and we both began to sing, Mr. Martins face lit up. "Perfect." He said. I swear I heard David grunt. What was his problem with me? What did I do? Did he blame me for Owen calling him a stalker? The rest of the hour M. Martin paired everyone and when he finished early he had us walk in a line to a seat that corresponded with the way we stood. I hoped, no prayed, that he would get an end seat and I would have to go to another row, but he didn't, I did.

The day ended with David being in my lunch and tow last hours. That wasn't uncommon though to see him more than once in this tiny school. I also noticed that his locker was across from mine exactly. I couldn't help but stare at him as he still seemed so, upset. Ryan was in my fourth hour I found. He made jokes but was always on the teachers good side. Tristan was somewhat in my last hour. He had weight training while David and I had P.E. I noticed David smiled more around him and it upset me. I wanted to be the one to make him smile like that.

I prayed that my dad remembered to bring my car to school, it was in the shop for a couple days because my dad bought it off of some cheap freeloader, a week later we found that the car broke down a lot. So, my dad took it to have it fixed. Today was he day I got it backa nd I had asked him to bring it to school for me and there it was, parked right behind the school since I didn't have a card saying I could park in the front. It was ok, my first hour was in the back of the school anyway. I drove a black Audi. It was supposed to be brand new, got it for my seventeenth birthday. I was a little late on getting a drivers license.

"Hey go long!" I heard Tristan yell. I let my hopes get high again and looked up searching for David's face. This time my hopes were let down. He wasn't there just Tristan and Ryan tossing a football. I looked back down at my car unlocking the door when I heard another voice, not the one I wanted but the one that would give me another reason to look in their direction.

"Watch it!" That was nick, he was walking up to the two. My wishes were granted then and there. He was not only in my line of sight, walking right next to his brother, but he was also looking at me…with a smile. He was actually smiling at me. Discreetly I looked around me looking for an explanation as to why he was smiling in my direction. Maybe it was Jessica, or Wendy. They were far more attractive than me. "Hey, Taya!" Vanesa called. I turned around and smiled at her only slightly angered that she made me look away from him. "Hey Vanesa. I haven't seen you 'round all day." I said cheerily. Out of the corner of my eye I watched the four laugh and rough house. It was all so cute. "I had a lot of errands."

"That what you get for being a teachers pet." I told her with a smile. I let my eyes wander over to David again. This time there were more people mostly girls. "They made friends fast." I said slightly hurt.

"Yeah, well they are all very social. I met Nick today, he is so smart, Raine was completely right. Also he asked to be my partner in Change." She said excitedly. Change was the school's charity group. Every month would be a new fundraising idea for a new charity. It wasn't such a bad idea. "That's great," I told her. If they were so social how come David hadn't come up to me yet? "Well hey I need to get going. I have to grab a few things before I can actually cook tonight."

"You know I always thought the parents were supposed to cook for there kids until they moved out." She said. She never liked my adoptive parents, she said that they treated me more like a servant than a child but, I didn't think so. I thought they were great, sure they had there moments but doesn't every family? "Yeah, yeah," I said rolling my eyes with a smile. "I'll see you later." I said before getting in my car. I stole one last glance in David's direction, I just needed to see his brown eyes again. I would much rather a smile directed at me, but I knew that his smile was pure luck. He was gone, already drove off with his brothers in there red Jeep Wrangler. Sighing I put the car in drive and was on my way to the local wal-mart.