Chapter Two

Raina's POV

"Well Raina it's a pleasure to meet you," said the boy whose face seemed to grow as red as mine.

"It's that way," I told him as I pointed down the hall, after what seemed like an eternity looking into his brown eyes.

"I'm sorry?" he asked.

"umm the bathroom, it's that way…."

"Oh shit! Right! Thanks!" he quickly turned on his heels and almost seemed to leap down the hallway. He was just so happy! I couldn't help but smile as I sprinted back to the bathroom to put some makeup on with a new found motivation. I quickly put on some mascara and lip-gloss and double-checked my appearance in the mirror. Finally satisfied I ran out of my room again and slid down the banister where a very red faced Cindy was waiting for me.

"Young lady! What did I tell you about sliding down the banister?! I don't even want to imagine what CPS would say if we handed you back to them in a full body cast!" she screamed in her Cindy like fashion.

"I'm sorry Cindy it won't happen again," I apologized through my teeth.

"Your right it won't, missy! Now come with me into the dining room, its time for the interviews and I want your help." I followed her into the ornate dining room and strategically placed myself in front of the fruit platter that was set out amongst the other unnecessary platters of finger foods.

"Well now that we are settled, lets get down to business. First up is Seth Harold Clearwater, age 19, from some reservation in Washington called La Push." She flipped a page over in the packet she held and continued to read, "He is a graduate from high school but has no college experience" she looked at me and shook her head, "Not a good start huh?"

"Well I don't know? You didn't go to college and your life turned out okay." I retorted back to her. She let out a big belly laugh.

"Oh sweety, I'm a woman! I don't need college for my life to turn out okay." I rolled my eyes and urged her on.

"So what else does it say about him?" I asked.

"Well lets see, it says that he is willing to work as many days of the week as needed as long as he has nights off. It also says that he would need housing."

"Well would we be able to do that for him?"

"Hmm I'm not sure, but I'm certain we could find an extra bed for him in the workers wing." She sighed and snapped her finger towards our butler Charles who stood unnoticed at the door. "Charles can you let this Seth fellow in for me darling!" Charles opened the door and let in a much more professional looking man then the boy I ran into minutes earlier. He had changed his cutoffs into a pair of khakis and his tee shirt was now a button down polo. He looked so handsome that I couldn't help but blush and pretend to look down at his fairly empty resume. Cindy must have also noticed the good looks of the boy, because she sat up straighter and loosened up the buttons to her shirt. "Hello young man, my name is Cindy and I'm the owner of this household. I hope you found the place okay."

"Oh yes ma'am, the place is hard to miss," he answered as I held back a chuckle. He then looked directly at me. "Its very nice to meet you and the rest of the people that live here." I once again blushed. I don't know why this boy affected me so much! Cindy also seemed to grow affected by the smiling boy's charm.

"Well it's very nice to meet you too, Mr. Clearwater. Now even though my decision is fairly decided about the yard position I need to ask you a few questions, you know, just for the formality."

"Yes ma'am I understand," he answered. I smirked at Cindy's quick change of heart on Seth and began to doodle on one of his resumes.

"Could you tell us a bit about your upbringing and your family? Also I'd like to know what brings you all the way to California looking for a job?" I looked up, curious about his answers.

"Well I grew up in a small town in an Indian reservation so most of my life has involved my tribe. My dad died when I was 15 so I quickly had to grow up to help my mom and my sister run the house," I frowned hearing about the loss of his dad, though surprised that his smile never wavered. "Soon after his death my sister and I joined a group of guys on the reservation that's responsible for the safety of our town. But in light of recent events I found myself needing to take a break and do some normal jobs outside of the reservation. I saw the picture of your family on the ad online and knew I could be of help to you, sooo here I am." He let out an uneasy laugh, which led me to believe that he may not be being completely truthful. Cindy however seemed convinced and stood up letting out her hand for Seth to shake.

"Well Seth I think you will fit in here wonderfully! You start tomorrow. I will have Charles here unpack your things and find you a room while my girl here gives you a tour of the house. My husband Marc will be home around 7:00 and I'm sure he would love it if you would join us for dinner"

"I would gladly join your family for dinner ma'am," he said as he shook her hand.

"Perfect!" Cindy screeched excitedly and then looked at me, "Raina please show Mr. Clearwater around while I make the arrangements," she demanded just before flittering out of the room.

"Well that was easier than I thought it would be." Seth said as he opened the door for me.

"Yah that's what happens when you're a good looking guy around Cindy," I laughed. Seth looked at me with a smirk.

"So you think I'm a good looking guy?" Once again I blushed and looked down at my bare feet.

"umm that's not entirely what I meant. I just meant that Cindy thought you were good looking!" Damn! I was really out of practice with this whole flirting thing. To my surprise Seth looked disappointed and mumbled something under his breath. To disperse the awkwardness I grabbed his hand, which was surprisingly hot, and pulled him towards the kitchen.

"Come on! I want to introduce you to Martha! She's the real lady of the house around here," I laughed and to his surprise pulled him with ease.

"Jeese you're strong for such a little thing," He laughed uneasily.

"Yah it must be my diet," I shrugged him off.

About an hour later I had introduced Seth to pretty much everyone who worked in the house. He charmed them all over easily with his infectious smile and goofy laugh. I was starting to scare myself with how drawn to the boy I was. He was so easy-going and easy to talk to. Most of the boys at the high schools that I've been too just looked at me like I was an easy lay. But Seth looked at me like he was longing for something. It was very interesting. We had finally reached the workers wing when he looked over at me.

"So tell me something about you! I feel like I've been talking about myself for the past two hours," he laughed. I smiled at him and pushed his shoulder.

"Yah, that's usually what happens at a job interview," I joked sarcastically.

"No, but for real, what's your story?" he looked at me more seriously.

"Oh, well, my story is kind of complicated I guess." I looked up at him embarrassed.

"It's okay you don't have to tell me anything, I understand having a complicated life."

"Oh no its fine," I looked back down at my feet, "I've just been through some stuff that I don't really talk about."

"Well why don't you start with the basics, and we can go into major life secrets tomorrow," he laughed.

"Okay, well my name is Raina, I'm 16 years old and I'm a foster kid."

"That's a good start!" he smiled at me.

"Yah well that about covers everything." I retorted

"Okay okay, be secretive if you want, but I will figure you out Raina, with no last name" Seth said as he opened a door that had a note on it with Cindy's handwriting proclaiming it his room.

"Well welcome home," I said as I looked around the simple yet grandiose living quarters. The room was decked out with a huge flat screen tv and a king size bed with more pillows than 10 people could use. The workers wing faced the back- side of the mansion and towards the woods, so Seth got a great view of the tall trees that make up the northern California's forests.

"Wow this is… wow," Seth was speechless.

"Yah I know, unfortunately you don't get used to it. Personally I think it is obnoxious. But you get the best view of the woods. I wish I had that."

"Yah I love the woods to, and anything that involves the outdoors," he then smirked at me, "well, hey maybe if your good you can come visit me when I'm off!"

"Your only off at nights though?" I looked at him questioningly.

"Yah I know," he wagged his eyebrows at me while I grabbed one of the pillows from his bed and chucked it at his head. But he easily grabbed it right before it hit anything breakable.

"Well if you're settled I should go get ready for dinner, Cindy likes to make them a formal affair," I sighed and started towards the door.

"Oh, Raina," Seth called after me, "thank you for showing me around, I know I'm gonna like it here." I didn't bother turning around to face him because I had become bright red again.

"Yah no problem." I said as I gently closed the door behind me. As I walked down the long hallway to get to the family wing, towards my room, I began to reflect on my past. Seth reminded me a lot of my previous boyfriend, which I think was why I felt so drawn to him. Daniel had the same cheery disposition that Seth had. He was handsome, caring, and very drawn to nature. He was perfect. I had to shake off any of these feelings I had for Seth though, it was just to dangerous. By the time the hunters were through with Daniel, I wasn't able to heal him. He died in my arms and I would never forgive myself. That's why I decided I would never endanger another human again just to feed my selfish feelings. I had kept that promise for 160 years and I wasn't planning on breaking it now. I switched on the light to my room and walked towards my dresser to find a cute outfit for dinner. Just because I wouldn't date Seth, didn't mean I couldn't look pretty for him at dinner…right? Right.