The bed was huge, but it was also super fluffy and comfortable! It had huge purple comforters, big fluffy dark blue pillows, and a black bedspread. I fell asleep quickly listening to the lightning and thunder raging outside.
CP
When I woke up the next morning to my alarm, I opened the curtain on the floor to ceiling window up on the loft to see the sun coming up over the forest surrounding the town. It was beautiful here, no doubt about that. It was refreshing to have trees that weren't in a park, to see the sun rising off of mountains and trees instead of the concrete jungle in New York.
I slid down the ladder and ran to my closet. I changed into black leggings, a purple skirt, black fingerless gloves, a purple tunic, and a black long sleeve undershirt. Since it looked like it was going to be cold today, I grabbed a red scarf and a black trench coat. Then I ran to the bathroom and combed my hair out of the braid so it curled around my face, brushed my teeth, then I put on eyeliner, mascara, and red lipstick. I wanted to make a good first impression today. I grabbed my messenger bag and stuffed a book into it, I would get my schoolbooks when I got to school.
Once I was done, I ran downstairs. I heard that creepy growl again on my way down, but ignored it.
I explored the house quickly and found the kitchen, on the counter was a BLT. My dad was a good chef so I wasn't surprised that the sandwich was white bread, with 2 layers of bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and an egg. I poured myself a mug of coffee and started drinking it; but as soon as it touched my lips, I heard the bus outside. I looked at the clock and swore under my breath, I grabbed my sandwich and the lunch money my dad had also left on the counter and ran outside.
I was right, it was cold! My breath came out frosted as I ran down the porch steps and to the gate, I rushed through and ran to the bus waiting for me. I was greeted by a kind looking lady who nodded to me and asked me how I was, after conversing with her I walked down the aisle to find a seat. The bus was full of people for the most part so I stopped at one seat with another boy on it with pale skin, bloodshot brown eyes like he didn't get enough sleep, black hair, and a runner's build.
I took a deep breath and asked, "Excuse me?"
He looked up, he had been grumbling about something like 'How could they leave me alone!' and 'It's not my fault Ben disabled my alarm clock' and he looked surprised I was talking to him.
"Is this seat taken?" I asked, pointing to the seat beside him.
Before he could answer though, I heard several people start jeering, "Little girl! Don't sit by him! He'll eat you!" Then a collective laugh, "Yeah doll! Come sit by me instead!" I ground my teeth together, so much for not being taunted.
I ignored them though and kept my eyes on the boy, finally he shook his head and motioned for me to sit down. The surprised look never left his face as I introduced myself, "Thank you, my name is Jane Arkensaw. I'm new in town, what's your name?"
He looked even more surprised and he pointed to himself, "Me?"
I giggled and nodded, "You." I confirmed.
He looked taken aback but he said, "My name is Jeff Wood."
I held out my hand to him and he awkwardly took it, "Nice to meet you, Jeff."
He muttered something about, "Nice to meet you too." Then look back out the window.
He was playing with a charm on his neck, it was a yin and yang charm. Odd for a boy to wear one, but I didn't judge. What he wanted to wear was his choice.
We made a little bit of conversation on the way there, but Jeff was a very quiet person so he kept to himself more. But the silences we fell into were comfortable, not awkward.
When we finally got to the school I saw a huge, 2 story building with a lot of rooms bulking out, which made it look like someone had just taken yellow and orange colored blocks and mushed them together.
When I stood up Jeff grabbed my arm and asked, "Would you like to walk with me? I could show you around the school."
I had a feeling that he needed a friend as much as I did, so I nodded and replied with a smile, "I would love that, Jeff, thank you." He smiled back at me and led the way out of the bus.
The bus driver wished me a good day and drove away, Jeff looked over the sea of students until he found what he was looking for.
He growled and grabbed my arm, "Come on, I want to introduce my family to you. The jerks who left me to catch the bus today because I didn't wake up on time."
I snickered but let him drag me through the hoard of people to a black SUV with 6 people climbing out. They all had various pastries in their hands and from what I could tell, they all had yin and yang charms.
When we neared Jeff yelled, "You're all jerks! And you got breakfast too! Jerks."
Two boys laughed at him, one was very tall, about 6'2, with black hair, gleeful yet slightly eccentric hazel eyes, and pale skin. He was also very lanky. The other one was about 5'10 with brown hair, green eyes, tan skin, and was also lanky. He had a pair of steampunk goggles on his head and he looked slightly eccentric.
Then, the adult who had gotten out of the driver's seat walked over to us, "I apologize Jeff, next time try to wake earlier." He had a very proper voice, he had pale skin, silver eyes, and he was very lanky and about 6'6. He wore an expensive looking suit and looked very polite.
He glanced at me and asked, "Who is this, Jeff?"
Jeff rubbed the back of his neck and stuffed his hands into his white hoody and replied, "This is Jane. She kept me company on the bus, she's new in town. Jane, this is my adoptive father, Silas."
I held out my hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Silas."
He nodded and took my hand, "As it is to meet you, Jane. Thank you for accompanying Jeff."
He was then shoved out of the way as the two boys who had laughed at Jeff earlier both seized my hand, "I'm Jack!" The tall one said.
The other one crowed next, "And I'm Toby! How on Earth did you manage to get Bonehead to talk?!"
I realized that said bonehead was Jeff and said boy was sulking, he finally growled and threw a punch at Toby. It connected with Toby's jaw and sent him flying back. Silas sighed and yelled, "CHILDREN! THIS YEAR I WILL NOT BE CALLED TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE FOR YOU TWO GETTING INTO A FIGHT!"
I laughed, feeling strangely at home with this odd crowd. Then three more people approached me, one was a girl about my age and a boy about my age. The girl had an athletic build, wavy brown hair, and one green eye. I say one, because the other was white. It looked as though she was blind in that eye by the way she turned her head around to see something to her left.
The boy was also athletic, he had blonde hair, green eyes, and slightly pointed ears. The girl was around my height while the boy was about 5'10. They had a little girl with them who looked about 8 years old, she had curly brown hair, green eyes, and pale skin. She looked up at me with a smile and I waved.
She giggled and broke free from the older girls grasp and ran at me, she hugged me tightly and said, "I'm Sally! It's nice to meet you, Jane!"
I laughed and replied, "It's nice to meet you too, Sally!"
Sally released me and gave me another grin, then she skipped back to the SUV. The older girl came up to me and held out her hand, "My name is Natalie." She informed me in a 'matter of fact' tone.
Then the boy held out his hand, "And my name is Ben."
I smiled at them both and replied, "It's a pleasure to meet you both. So, are all of you adopted siblings?" They all nodded, Toby was still on the ground, cradling his jaw.
Silas nodded and grabbed Sally's hand, she was now holding a teddy bear in the other. She had on an adorable pink dress that suited her entirely. "Well," he began, "Sally and I need to get home, her homeschooling is waiting. It's a pleasure to meet you, Jane, I hope we can meet again."
I nodded, "The same here Mr. Silas." He smiled at me before taking Sally and getting back in the SUV.
I could hear him saying, "If you get your schoolwork done before lunch, we'll come back and see Toby and Jack."
"And Jane!" Shouted Sally before the door closed and they drove off.
Jack laughed again and said, "You know, Jane, I think Sally likes you."
I looked at Jeff who was inching closer to me, "What did he mean when he said that they might come back at lunch? Do you guys go to a restaurant to eat or something?"
Jeff shook his head, "Nope! But Sally somehow convinces Sl- Silas to bring us pizza if she gets her schoolwork done before lunch. Who knows? Maybe you'll get to join us today."
I smiled, "I would like that. So, are all of you 17?"
All of them nodded. "Yes, but Natalie and I are in the grade ahead of you because of our test scores." Ben informed me.
Natalie nodded, "Which means you are stuck with these three idiots."
Toby looked downcast, Jack laughed, and Jeff yelled, "Hey!"
Natalie laughed and walked towards me, "Hey, we should exchange numbers so that if you need rescuing from them you can call me."
I laughed and nodded, we exchanged numbers and all of the guys looked over Natalie's shoulder and began to input my number into their phones as well.
She scowled at them all and Jeff hid behind me while the other three took off towards the school, I elbowed Jeff in the gut and Natalie nodded towards me before racing after the other three. "GET BACK HERE!" She screamed, the rest of the students sighed and shook their heads. Like this kind of things happened a lot, even if it was the first day of school, they were probably here last year too.
CP
Jeff stood up straight again and cast a rueful look at me, I laughed and said, "If you want my number you could've just asked!"
He gave me a sheepish smile, then he cast a long, thoughtful look at me and leaned closer, "Are you….. scared, of me?"
I laughed and shook my head, "Jeff, you're about as scary as a kitten."
His lips stretched into a grin and he nodded, "Alright." He said simply, then he threw an arm over my shoulder and began leading me to the school door.
I was slightly confused by his actions, was I supposed to be scared of him? All of the other students appeared to be wary of him, some flat out ran away from us. Why? He seemed harmless! Oh well, I would have to figure it out later, but I didn't want to pry into my new friends past. Not yet.
I snapped my fingers, making Jeff jump, I pulled out my uneaten BLT and split it in half. Then I gave half of it to Jeff, "Here, since neither of us have had breakfast yet." I said, he took it gingerly and look at me with a confused expression.
Then he grinned and bit into it, "You know, Jane? I think we'll be great friends." Was all he said before taking another bite, and you know what? I couldn't help but agree.
CP
I had just walked out of 3rd period History with Toby and he was explaining excitedly that he was happy he would have someone else who enjoyed History to talk to. Jeff detested History and Jack laughed at him when he tried to talk about it, so Toby and I were having a conversation about the Ming Dynasty when I was suddenly tackled to the ground.
My head hit the tile floor hard and I saw stars at first, before regaining my vision and seeing Jack on top of me. He shook his head and looked at me, "Jane?"
He asked in a puzzled tone, before either of us could comprehend what had happened, Jack was thrown off of me and I saw Jeff staring at me worriedly. "Jane? Jane are you alright?" He asked, I shook my head and sat up.
My head hurt terribly but I muttered, "I think I'm ok. But, where's Jack? And what happened?" I looked around Jeff to see Jack leaning up against the wall and looking around in a daze.
I scrambled to my feet and staggered over to him, when I reached him I heard laughter surround us.
"Oh look! New girl is checking up on the clown! Hey clown! Watch wear you're going!" I whipped my head around to see a boy laughing and pointing, I staggered over to him and a 'CRACK!' echoed through the hall.
The laughter stopped completely, the boy looked at me in surprise and pressed his hand to his cheek. I had just slapped him…. But what was even more surprising was what I growled next, "Don't mock him. He's my friend, all three of them. So do not mock them." Then, I turned on my heel, grabbed all three boys, and stalked away.
CP
I drug them through the school and finally stopped outside in the chilly air, I finally released all three of them and sat down angrily on a bench. I pulled my jacket tighter around me, why did I feel so loyal?! It's only been a day! Not even that! Yet I felt protective of my three new friends, and I had just slapped someone twice my size defending them. What was wrong with me? I usually wasn't violent! I began to shake, from both the cold and the adrenaline leaving my body.
Jeff looked at Toby in shock while Jack kneeled down in front of me, "Hey, are you ok, Jane?" He asked cautiously.
I nodded and sniffed, "Yeah, but, I've never slapped anyone before."
Jack snickered, "It was impressive! Thanks by the way, for standing up for me. That prick tripped me, so I fell on you."
I waved my hand dismissively and sniffed again, then Toby snapped his fingers together and said, "Hey! We could call you 'Jane the Killer'!" Instantly, he and Jack both began laughing hysterically and Jeff's pale face flushed red.
Then he yelled, "GUYS! NO!" I giggled in response and all three of them started laughing, Jeff was slightly embarrassed for some reason, but we all had a good laugh.
We were still laughing when we heard Ben's voice ask, "What has you 4 all riled up?"
I looked over my shoulder at him and Natalie to respond, "Jack fell on me, I slapped someone, and Toby say's I'm a killer!" That brought on more laughter from the four of us and Ben and Natalie stared at us in confusion.
"What does that mean?" Natalie asked. Ben just shrugged.
