Chapter One: Hmm, New Beginnings?

"So, how do you like our new home?" Aunt Juniper queried as our truck pulled into the spacious garage.

"I love it!" And it was actually true this time. The red-brick house was smaller than the other buildings in the neighborhood, but it seemed more homely and cosy than the huge intimidating houses towering over the young trees. The door was neatly painted a brilliant white, and the window frames were over flowing with pot after pot of cheerful periwinkles. Trailing vines of star jasmine climbed over one side of the house and curling over one clear glass window. Perfect.

"You like it Lola?" I asked her, hoisting her furry body up so she could get a full view. Wriggling her white button nose, Lola burrowed back into my chest, nuzzling my shirt happily.

"She seems to like our new home," Aunt Juniper laughed, patted Lola's fuzzy brown head. "Well come on Jasmine, those boxes sure aren't gonna move themselves!"

I giggled and gently placed Lola on the soft grass, where she chased her fluffy butt in a frantic circle three times before finally settling down on the ground lazily. Suddenly, Lola swiveled her head around, staring intently at one of the tall oak trees shading the house. An ancient, weathered face appeared at the center of the trunk and peered at me grimly. Moss laden branches morphed into crude arms, and a slow rumble echoed through the ground vibrating the soles of my bare feet. A treant, the male counterpart of dryads. It didn't seem menacing, and I've been seeing faeries long enough to know a touch of the tree language. The deep, almost throaty sound that emanated from his roots meant, "Hey tiny insignificant human, you stay out of our way, we stay out of yours." Coming from the fey, that's a pretty nice comment.

Panting, one by one I helped Aunt Juni lug the furniture into the house and arranging it in an eye appealing and comforting way. The glittering stars were climbing ever so higher in the sky when we finished unloading and placing all of our belongings, and I collapsed into my bed, eyelids already closed before my body even reached the mattress.

Ringggg! Rinnnnggggg! Ugh. I groaned and stretched. The first thing I saw through my bleary eyes was my crystal hummingbird windchime. Wait, it's in the wrong place. And the ceiling was the wrong color, it was brown wood, not powdery white... Slowy last week's events unscrambled themselves in my mind. Oh. How do you forget you moved into a new home? Not to mention for the 26th time? I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and looked around my new room. My favorite flowered wallpaper was up already, along with most of my furniture. Lola's new shiny play pen was in the corner, and I spied her furry brown rump sticking outta her sleeping hutch. Silly, sleepy bunny. I was lucky enough to get the bedroom with the star jasmines growing over on one side. Throwing open the sunny yellow curtains, I leaned out to spray some water into the ground near the roots. Inhaling the fragnant flowers, I looked outside to the neighborhood. Ms. Corral, our next door neighbor seemed nice enough. She brought us a tray of cookies when we got here, and Aunt Juniper greeted her as if she already knew her. Which, knowing my aunt, she probably did.

Now, I've had my fair share of unwelcome surprises everywhere I've moved. There was this particulary snooty girl who pretended to welcome us to the neighborhood. I'm pretty sure her name was Jessica. Anyways, on my first day in Elmcreek Elementary, she gave me a plastic rose, and I put it in my shirt pocket. Harmless, right? That's what I thought before I realized the petals were coated with red paint. Fresh paint. I went through my first day looking like I spilled tomato sauce all over my shirt. Talk about embarrassing! I had half expected the cookies to blow up or something.

Turns out they were more than just harmless, they were delicious! Go figure.

"Jasmine," my aunt called, "Hurry up, you're gonna be late for your first day in middle school!"

Oh my goshies, it's 7:45! I whirled around, memories forgotten, jerked my closet door open, and rushed in. Shaking out my knee-length, dark brown hair, I yanked my brush carelessly through my soft, long tresses, and put on the outfit I chose yesterday. I eyed myself in the mirror. Light green top, camo knee-length skort, and exactly three ulti-colored hair-ties on my right wrist. Decent and cute. I moaned when I spied my birthmark, not hidden at all by my T-shirt, but no time for that, I'm late! Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I ran downstairs and grabbed a bagel.

"Oh my! Jasmine, look at your hair!" Aunt Juniper exclaimed, rushing over to triple braid my hair. Hey, with locks that long, I seriously needed some way to avoid tripping over it.

"Nevermind, just braid it Ah Yi Ju Ning," I muttered in Chinese as she fussed over how they looked, "I'm going to be late if your triple braid it!" Quickly she twisted and jerked my hair into a neat braid in thirty seconds flat, looping a green leather hair tie at the end to secure it.

"Bye!" I shouted to my aunt as I rushed out the door and onto the bus. It was crowded and noisy, not to mention the smell in the air. All the front seats were filled. Sitting down at the back, I noticed I was sitting next to two girls. They both stared at my long locks, and I blushed, not meeting their eyes. "Hello," a soft voice said.

And that's Chapter One. Short, I know, I'm kinda new to this writing thing. Reviews are very very welcome!