Chapter 1

The summer sun slid slowly down ending the perfect day. She turned Stephen and leaned her head on his warm shoulder relishing in the moment. "I'm going to miss this," she whispered sadly slipping her hand into Stephen's. Stephen looked at her sadly and smiled weakly.

"I'm going to miss you Violet," he replied leaning down for a tender kiss…

"Nina! Hello are you even listening to me," a frustrated voice yelled waving a hand in front of my face.

"Huh? What?" I asked looking up from my journal.

"In la la land again I see," Julia laughed. Julia was my closest friend at La Push High school. She was pretty much my sister since I lived with her during the week. I really lived in Seattle with my father. He was a heroin addict and was in and out of rehab so during the school week I stayed in La Push. "It's time to get to school," she said rolling her eyes.

"Oh school of course," I replied. I gathered my pens and journal stuffing them into my backpack. Julia walked out the door and I followed reluctantly passing the mirror in the foyer.

My white blonde wavy hair was pulled back into a pony tail. My eyes were gray and framed by a little mascara. My skin was pale compared to everyone else on La Push. If there had to be one word to describe me, Nina Fletcher, it would be average. I longed to be like the girls in my novels alluring, mysterious and beautiful. I had realized long ago this was all there was for me and I should be thankful. I didn't really think I was ugly just plain.

I climbed into Julia's jeep and grabbed my journal prepared to write.

"I'm going to miss you Violet," he replied leaning down for a tender kiss. His warm lips found hers and they connected easily, naturally.

Julia snatched away my journal and whined. "Nina do you always have to be writing your stories?" Julia asked annoyed.

"What else would I do?" I asked giving her a look letting her know it was a rhetorical question. She sighed and pulled into the school parking lot. I braced myself for a long day of school and stepped out of the car.

La Push High school was small but it still had a social totem pole. There were the popular's, jocks, nerds, drama club, band geeks, emos and crack heads. I didn't really fit in anywhere but I made do. I had always been envious of the popular girls. They had money, looks and boys. Yes they defiantly had the boys wrapped around there fingers. I knew though that among them were all rich snobs. It didn't make sense why boys liked them. They were just sluts with hollow brains and no hearts. I shook my head smiling and remembered why I was glad I wasn't them.

"I'll see you at lunch Nina," Julia called running off into the school. I followed but slower heading to my first class Honors English 3. It was my favorite class besides my creative writing class. I quickened my pace when I noticed the clock. My morning went by slowly and lunch was the usual chatter between Julia and me. When I walked in I saw the first of the posters for prom. I had dreamed about having the perfect prom with my very own prince charming since I was a little girl. I knew better now but I still liked to dream.

"Okay so who do you think the hottest boy is at school?" Julia asked me nibbling on a carrot. I shrugged and grabbed one of her chips.

"I don't really pay attention," I replied and she rolled her eyes. "What about you? Who is your latest crush," I asked.

"Paul Monroe," she said theoretically fanning herself. I looked over at him and had to agree with Julia. He was a senior a year older than the both of us. He had shaggy black hair that fell over his eyes. He had green eyes that looked mischievous. He had a very muscular figure. He had a smirk on his face and a very pretty girl was sitting on his lap laughing. "I have a thing for bad boys," Julia laughed.

"He is gorgeous. I don't blame you," I laughed with her and we both sighed. The bell rang and I jumped up and ran to my next class P.E. I was horrible at sports but P.E. was required. During P.E I had Paul on my mind. He had a reputation at school. He was your classic bad boy dating a different girl every week. I was pretty sure he even had a motorcycle. I was pulled out of my reverie when a volleyball hit me in the head. I blushed and tried to pay closer attention.

The rest of the day I tried to stay focused on my classes but I didn't succeed. If I wasn't thinking about Paul I was thinking about my story. My fingers itched to grab my pen and continue Violet and Stephen's passionate kiss. I had been writing stories since I was in fifth grade. I loved to write especially romance novels but I could never finish them. My mom called it writers block. Once everything was resolved I didn't know how to have an awesome ending. The bell rang signaling that it was time for my last class of the day study hall. I smiled shoving my books in my locker all except my journal.

I walked in and found a seat near the back where I could concentrate. I got out my journal and began writing.

His warm lips found hers and they connected easily, naturally. Stephen's hands cradled Violets face as the kiss grew more intense. Violet felt her tears running down her cheeks and tasted them on her lips. Stephen pulled back breathless and…

There was a loud bang and the teacher looked up from her desk. Then the fire alarm went off and students plugged their ears. The teacher herded us out the door and we walked briskly through the halls. I didn't see anything sign of a fire but then I smelled the smoke. My heart started to race and I hoped no one would be hurt.

When we were all outside Julia came running towards me. I hugged her glad she was safe. She looked really scared and on the verge of tears.

"Do you know what happened?" I asked concerned.

"I heard some boys were messing around in the chem lab and accidently started a fire," she said her eyes roaming over the crowd.

"Isn't that the right next to the room with all the prom stuff?" I asked. Julia just nodded and motioned for me to look behind me.

"I think it was Paul and his friends," she said sadly. The principle was yelling at Paul and his friend Caleb. They didn't seem to be bothered.

"Still got a thing for bad boys?" I asked Julia trying lighten the mood. She shook her head. Mrs. Ming the assistant stepped up with a microphone. The fire trucks pulled in and began spraying down the school.

"Testing," Mrs. Ming said tapping the microphone. "Uhh…, boys and girls there was a fire in the chemistry lab. It is under control now but we have a slight problem. All the preparations for prom were destroyed." There were a few gasps from girls in the audience including myself. "So we may have to cancel prom." Now all the girls were gasping and somewhere in the crowd I heard someone crying. "Unless someone will step up and put in some hard work." I looked around and sighed no one was going to step up.

I stepped reluctantly forward. "I'll help Mrs. Ming," I said quietly. She smiled at me and motioned for me to follow.

"Oh bless you Nina!" she exclaimed but her expression hardened when we reached Paul. Mr. Green our principle looked up and put on a forced smile.

"Oh good we found you some help Mr. Monroe," I looked up startled.

"What?" Paul yelled.

"Since you claim you started the fire and not Caleb you can help by putting on prom with Nina here," Mr. Green said sternly. Paul started to protest but Mr. Green stopped him. "The prom means a lot too many people and if you don't want me to involve the police you will help," Mr. Green said with finality. I frowned and cursed myself for volunteering in the first place.

Paul looked at me menacingly and I wanted to crawl under a rock. "I'm glad that's settled. Mrs. Ming will give you the rest of the details." He walked away quickly and I heard Paul sigh angrily.

"This way," she motioned to the recreation building. I walked quickly while Paul lagged behind mumbling to himself. When we reached the recreation building Mrs. Ming stepped inside. She rummaged through a drawer and brought out a huge stack of papers.

"Alrighty there is lot you need to accomplish in a month. You need a theme, tickets, location, DJ, caterer and decorations. You also need to advertise at school like make flyers and posters." She continued to ramble on and again I wished I hadn't said anything. I looked Paul and he was glancing at his watch repeatedly. I suddenly became extremely angry with him. This was his fault and now we were stuck together. When she was done she handed us both boxes and shooed us out.

I walked out pushing past Paul walking to Julia's car. I tripped over my own feet and the papers were flung onto the ground. I blushed and groaned turning to see if Paul had seen me. He had and he had a huge smirk on his face. I stood up and brushed off the dirt fumbling to grab the papers.

"Here allow me," Paul said gently lifting me up. He didn't let go of me at first just being near him made me dizzy. I shook my head and blushed. He released me and I hurriedly grabbed the rest of the papers.

"I guess I should officially introduce myself I'm Paul Monroe," he said smiling and flexing his bicep. I looked at his outstretched hand and shook it hesitantly.

"Nina Fletcher," I whispered removing my hand from his. He smirked and ran his eyes up and down my body. I stepped back from him slowly. He was slightly intimidating.

He stepped closer to me. "You don't have to be afraid I won't bite." My anger peaked again as he reached for my arm.

"Stop!" I yelled yanking my arm away. He looked confused which made me even angrier.

"I don't know who you think you are but I don't care. We have to work together on prom which I can tell you don't care about," I fumed.

"Your right I don't care about prom. Only the girls do. The guys just use it as an excuse to get laid," he screamed back at me.

"Not all guys think like jerks," I yelled. Paul stepped closer to me and I could feel his anger rolling off him but I didn't flinch.

"So your calling me a jerk?" he yelled his face red with anger. I swallowed hard and continued.

"Yes," I said simply crossing my arms. This seemed to send him over the edge and he turned mounting his bike. The engine roared and he zoomed off. I let out a huge gust of air. What just happened? I never got angry like that. Paul Monroe knew how to push his buttons but maybe I knew how to push his.