Moving In But Wanting Out

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"I've always been told that the first page of any story is the most important."

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The next morning Amy woke up early, heavy with slumber. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and walked outside of her room.

"Where am I?" she asked herself, frowning. Then, she heard a loud ringing. My phone! She went back into her room and grabbed it, seeing she had a text. Who texts me?

Hey Amy. It's me, Hamilton! Remember? Well, I heard you live in New York, so I was going to visit.

The text stopped, but then she got another one, continuing the message.

Then you were gone. Anyway, I got your number by your page thingy on that one site… what's it called? Oh whatever. Anyway, wanna hang out sometime?

Amy smiled. Hamilton helped save her life during the hunt one time, even if he tried killing her before. After Ian's mom tried killing her… doubts came to Amy's mind about staying with the Kabras. But she went back to thinking about Hamilton. He's not a bad guy… maybe not a smart guy, but definitely not a bad guy.

Looking out her window, she found a view of the backyard. Breathtakingly gorgeous… she thought, covering her mouth with her hand in awe.

"My mother and father left on short notice," came Ian's voice, surprising her and making her jump a bit. Her heart racing, she turned around to find Ian at her door in an Armani outfit, as usually. "So they will not be with us until dinner. However, would you like a tour of the estate today?"

She wanted to reject, but she was afraid that she might get lost. After all, this was to be her home for the next five months. Oh that sounds funny to think… She might as well know the place.

"Did you get Dan?" she asked quietly, grabbing a jacket off her bed.

Ian rolled his eyes. "I met him earlier. Our first stop: the game room. He's still in there, I'd assume."

Amy couldn't help but smile. That's Dan alright… Then she met Ian's eyes again and she gulped.

"Shall we?" he asked, offering her his arm.

She turned it down, however, and walked past him with a sheepish smile. He sighed and followed behind her.

"So, are we going to the game room?" she asked quietly, not looking at him but her surroundings.

He shook his head.

She frowned. "But you said-"

"I said your brother and mine's first stop was the game room, but not ours. No, your tour will be better," he answered, leading her down the extravagant hallway.

Amy bit her lip down softly.

He turned to her and amusement was somewhere deep in his eyes. Hard to find, but there. "Don't do that – you'll make your lips bleed."

She blushed, taking her teeth of her bottom lip. She didn't like the fact that Ian had even bothered looking at her lips…

He heard this thought, for it was loud with embarrassment. He held back a smirk.

"Where are we going?" she asked after a minute of awkward silence; awkward for her, at least.

"The garden," he answered, pushing back to French doors.

A fresh scent invaded their senses, but Amy took it in pleasantly. This feels… great. It's like a beautiful Spring day… in the middle of the fall. But that makes no sense – where are we?

"Where are we?" she spoke her thoughts.

"I just said the garden," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Were you not listening?" He knew this to be untrue, but it is best to be a fool in some cases. Though Ian liked for those cases to be rare – he certainly was no fool.

"I mean," she said, now blushing. "Where is your house located?"

"I cannot release that information," he answered. It was dangerous for their location to be revealed – after all, if enemies learned of this, they were sure to be invaded.

The reply made Amy frown though. "But we are near Brooklyn, right?"

Ian scoffed. "With all the buildings and pollution in Brooklyn, and the surroundings here, do you honestly think we are?"

Amy blushed again. She hated how he could do that to her – make her feel so foolish. "But, Dan and I have school today!" Truth be told, however, was that for the first time, Amy didn't want to go to school. School used to be her sanctuary – somewhere to be away from all the drama that goes on at home. But here… here it was peaceful. Peaceful and beautiful – her own private heaven. It was just a misfortune that it happened to be the Kabra's estate. And an even bigger misfortune that Ian was there as well.

"Our private tutors will educate you," Ian said with a wave of his hand. "Do not worry, Amy. Public schools education is nothing compared to our tutors'."

Amy honestly couldn't find the strength to disagree. So she didn't. "Well, okay…"

"Shall we continue the tour?" he asked.

She nodded. For the rest of the tour, Ian formally told her where everything was. From the fountains to the pool, everything was truly beautiful. After the tour, Amy snuck off though. Ian wasn't too happy about this… in fact, for the remainder of the hour, he stayed in the theater, watching a 90210 re-run until his sister kicked him out.

Amy had snuck off to the garden once more, with a book in her hand. Lord of the Flies. She was re-reading it, for it was one of her favorites. The symbolism is one of her favorite things to analyze in the book, along with the characterization.

As she read to herself out loud quietly, she heard chirping. A melodious chirping… She looked up to see a beautiful bird unlike one she's ever seen. It was black and white – black with white spots or white with black spots. She looked closely. It seemed like it was black with white spots. It was, thought, beautiful. It looked innocent, besides its beady eyes. She honestly couldn't look away. Oh how I wish I could sketch! Then I could sketch this beautiful bird!

The bird stayed under her eye for a second before flying off. She set the book down and watched it roam freely, circling above her. Suddenly, she had the urge to name it. It didn't seem right – naming a free animal as if it was hers- but she couldn't help it. So quietly, she whispered, "C.H. Clouded Harmony."

"What kind of name is that?" came a new voice – Dan.

"You're finally out of the game room?" she asked, looking at her brother now.

He shrugged. "I was looking for the bathroom, then I found myself here."

She shook her head.

"Anyway, why are you naming a bird Clouded Harmony? That's so weird, even for you," he said, rolling his eyes.

She rolled her eyes in turn. "Clouded, as in tainted, and Harmony, as in pure. She, or he, is two colors: black and white. They stand for a lot, but they also stand for impurity and purity. Ironic how the bird is both, but that's nature. And thus, I named it C.H. So don't be such a jerk about it."

Dan shrugged. "I gotta pee. See ya." And he walked off, back into the house.

Amy rolled her eyes and looked up to see the bird but it wasn't there. She sighed and closed her book, then leaned on her elbows as she watched the sky.

"Having fun?"

"Indeed I am," she replied quietly.

"Yes…" Ian said, looking at her strangely. "Well, Natalie and I are about to have lunch. Would you care to join us?"

Amy nodded. She was quite hungry – she hadn't eaten the night before. "What are we having?"

"What would you like?" he offered, looking at her.

She blushed when he looked at her, but answered, "I, uh, have a craving for Italian…"

Ian chuckled. It wasn't a harsh chuckle either – which was what caught Amy off guard.

"I'll go tell Chef Divonte, if you'd like," he offered, raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head vigorously. "I don't want to impose-"

"You wouldn't be – we're eating Italian anyway," he interrupted, grinning.

"Then why would you…" she trailed off, confused.

He shrugged. "It was a gesture."

She blushed furiously. She hated how he made her feel like a fool.

Ian heard this wild thought, and for a miraculous moment, he actually felt guilty for his doing. And it's a known fact that it takes a lot to make Ian Kabra feel guilty about his actions – a lot. He even remembers the day he first shot a bird – he watched it get hit, its wings jerking about as it fell to the hard floor below. He was only seven, but he watched it mercilessly. He was trained and raised to be unfeeling and power hungry; not to feel bad about hurting a girl's feeling. Even if the girl intrigued him a lot more than he'd like…

He opened his mouth, ready to apologize, but no words came out. They didn't seem able to.

He watched as Amy watched him, frowning and blushing at the same time. When he caught her stare, it made her blush even harder.

"Sorry," she mumbled, walking off.

At the dining hall, Dan was there… and so was Natalie. Natalie was staring at Dan in disgust. The funny part is that they hadn't started eating yet. Natalie was just purely disgusted at the sight of Dan. He stuck his tongue out at her and she scoffed, turning away.

Amy entered, sitting beside Dan.

"How was your boring bird?" he asked, leaning against the table on his elbow.

She hit his elbow off, scowling. "It's impolite to put your elbow on the table," she hissed to him.

"Well, I'm not exactly polite," he admitted, placing his elbow back in the same spot.

She sighed, crossing her arms.

Then, as if on cue, two very important people walked into the dining hall. Two very important, and very scary people.

Ian and Natalie's parents.


A/N: Even though storyteller221 has boosted the time available to complete the fabulous stories competing, I have yet to come to a complete knowing if I can complete this story by then. My homework has suddenly increased and all, but hopefully that's just this week.

I also want this story to be longer than a couple of chapters, because I don't want to rush it. So, if I can make the contest is still undecided. I'll have news by the end of next week hopefully… When I might watch the Percy Jackson movie! AH! Cough, sorry… got off track there. But I love the series : ) I'd be done with the last… if it wasn't for homework. Gr…

Also, this story was going to be shorter, like I said, and cut into months for chapters. But I found it way too hard to write that much… yeah, I get distracted easily.

Anyway, on another note, I'd like to draw attention to an interesting review posted by anonymous. He/She really is anonymous, by the way xD

He/She took a totally wild guess at what would happen in the book – and I LOVED it! I have to admit that that never came up in my mind, and I won't say whether or not I will use it because I'm not going to spoil it : ) But I honestly loved that review!

So, I'd like to know… what do you think will happen? Go ahead and answer that in a review please! I mean, I love your guys' reviews, but I'd like to hear more than "I love it!" or "please update soon!". I mean, they're sweet gestures… but I like to know what's wrong with my story or what you guys think will happen! Creativity is the answer! : )

Anyway, bye bye! Until next chapter!

P.S. Oh look… Hamilton's in this chapter… hmm… curious anyone? He isn't gone just yet… And sorry this chapter isn't as long as I'd like it to be... I just wanted to get something out before you guys got bored xD