A new town, a new start. At least that's what I hoped for. Nothing could be harder than having to move towns right after the mysterious death of my father. Now, my mom was bent on getting out of town as fast as she could and we did exactly that. Within in the next two weeks we had bought a house in the outskirts of Beacon Hills, California. I came all the way from New York City, New York and left all my "friends" behind, but I didn't think I could face any of them ever again. I was happy that I could get out of that hell hole. I just wish that I didn't have to lose my father in the process...

I grabbed my bags out of the car and wheeled them up to our new house. It was a nice little ranch house and in the backyard there was a pool and behind that a forest. Well, I know what I'll be exploring. I went inside and found the house completely furnished already. Thank goodness for that. My mom and I would've never settled in if my Aunt Laurie wasn't here to help. I went straight up to my room and looked around. A window that looked out over the forest and a day bed in front of it. My real bed was full-sized and had black, white, and pink covers and sheets. My dresser sat directly across from my bed and a small TV sat on top of that. There was also a picture of my mom, dad, and me, my jewelry box, and a yearbook from my old school.

Yeah, I'll be burning that thank you.

I started to unpack when I heard someone clear their throat. I turned and saw my mom standing there looking at me. She gave me a little smile.

My mom was really beautiful and my dad always told me that I inherited her beauty. She had red hair that fell in ringlets around her heart-shaped face. Her high cheekbones made her big blue eyes pop beautifully. She had a perfect figure and was always wearing the latest fashions. "You like your new room?" She asked. In a smooth voice.

"Yeah, a lot. It's really nice," I responded.

"Great. You start school tomorrow. Are you nervous?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I'll be fine! I'm really excited actually."

"Good! Aunt Laurie is coming for dinner tonight, okay? She's bringing a friend over."

"Okay."

"And if you go 'exploring' like you do, don't go too far and please be careful."

"I'll wait to do that. I'm just gonna unpack and maybe read a little."

"Okay."

She left the room and I finished unpacking. Plopping down on my bed, I took out my Nook and opened the book that I've been reading. It was all about shape shifters and mythical creatures. I liked that kind of stuff, you know? I sat there reading for hours until I heard the door open and I knew Aunt Laurie was here. I put my Nook in sleep mode and jumped off my bed. I rushed down the steps and ran into my aunt, hugging her tightly. "Hi Aunt Laurie!" I said.

"Hi, sweet pea! How are you!" She said hugging me tightly back.

"Great!"

"Are you liking Beacon Hills so far?"

"Well, considering all I've seen is my house really, um, I don't know what to think of it yet."

"Well, I'm sure you'll love it! And you're going to love the high school! Lots of cute boys! Oh, speaking of, I want you to meet my friend and her son."

Aunt Laurie took me into the front room. A woman dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a navy blue top with a gray cardigan was sitting and talking with my mom. She had black hair that was curly just like my mom's and had perfect features. She looked at me and smiled warmly. "Hello! You must be Dana! I'm Melissa McCall!" She said standing up and giving me a hug.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. McCall," I said once we pulled away.

She laughed. "Oh, please, call me Melissa!" I smiled and nodded. "Now where did Scott go?"

Out of no where, a guy who was a few inches taller than me with perfectly tan skin and big brown eyes came walking into the doorway from the dining room. He had on a fitted gray sweater and a white t-shirt underneath that. His dark jeans were a bit baggy and you could tell he sagged his pants, but not too much.

I looked at him and was pretty sure I was staring with my mouth wide open. He gave me a side smirk and said, "Hey, I'm Scott."

"I'm uh... I... I'm..." I stuttered.

"This is Dana, Scott," Aunt Laurie said for me. I blushed knowing I sounded like a complete idiot.

"Dana, cool." He kind of looked me up and down when he said that and I felt even more heat rush over me.

I wasn't dressed well at all. I had on baggy sweatpants with Nike shorts underneath and then a fitted t-shirt that was cut low enough so it was showing a bit of cleavage. My strawberry blonde hair was done up in a top bun and I had no make up on whatsoever.

Great.

"Yeah, she's starting at Beacon Hills High tomorrow," Aunt Laurie continued as I tried to figure a way to run upstairs and hold myself up in my room.

"Awesome, maybe I can show you around. You know, since you're new."

"Um, yeah, that'd be, uh, great!" I said.

The timer dinged in the kitchen and my mom shot up. "Oh! The chicken is ready!" She hurried into the kitchen with Aunt Laurie and Melissa right on her heels.

I looked to Scott who was now sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table and his arms slung around the back of the couch. "So, Dana, do you play any sports?" He asked as I sat down on the love seat.

"Oh, yeah! Soccer! And I dabble in volleyball and lacrosse," I told him.

"Cool, I play lacrosse too."

"Great!"

"So you moved here from New York? Why?"

"Oh... Um..."

"If you don't want to talk about it-"

"No! My dad passed away and my mom just wanted to get away from the city. That's it."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's fine..." I said taking a shaky breath.

"Kids! Dinner!" Mom called.

We got off the couch and walked into the dining room. Mom was sitting at the head of the table with Aunt Laurie and Melissa on one side. Scott and I sat on the other side. We said grace before passing around the food.

Dinner was just small talk about school and our hobbies and stuff like that. After dinner and dessert Mom, Aunt Laurie, and Melissa decided they wanted to go out to get a few drinks. "Okay, we shouldn't be back too late. You know where the emergency numbers are. If you two are somehow still hungry, there's a bunch of food in the pantry. Laurie made sure that we had excessive amounts of everything."

"Hey! That's my job! And I know how Dana is with her food!"

"And Scott, if we do get back late, you can stay here. Okay?" Mom said.

"Oh, thank you Mrs. Roberts."

We all said our goodbyes and they left. I went into the living room and sat down on the couch. I turned the TV onto MTV and reruns Teen Mom were on. Scott sat next to me and stole the remote from me.

"Hey!" I said.

He switched the channel to some sports network. "Can't stand that show," He said intent on the lacrosse game that was on.

"Well, it's one of my favorite shows!" I said climbing across him and attempting to grab the remote. He quickly held it out of my reach and looked at me, smiling. "Pretty please give it back? This is my house!"

He rolled his eyes and handed the remote over to me. I smiled and jumped off of him. I turned the channel, but to TLC instead. "So, um, how did your dad die?"

I looked at him an appalled look on my face, but then it softened. "I don't know... No one does. They just found him dead in his car..."

"There wasn't any... Scratches or anything?"

"Scratches? What? No!" I stood up and walked out of the room. I went into the kitchen a took out a glass and filled it with water. I gulped it down and then took a deep breath.

I turned to go back into the living room, but Scott was standing in the doorway leaning against the frame. "I'm sorry, I was just curious," he said looking down at his feet.

I sighed. "It's... Fine. I'm just not used to people asking me about it really."

"Well, don't worry, I won't be asking anymore."

I smiled. "Thanks."

We walked back into the living room and sat on the couch. When it was ten, the bit of jet leg I had was catching up to me. I fell asleep sitting up.