Chapter 2

The 11-hour flight passed quickly it was exactly 12noon when we arrived. My dad's car was waiting in the car park. As we drove to his house. I noticed that trees surrounded us, everywhere i looked. I saw a small family of rabbits on the side of the road by the trees. And I saw a deer prance so merrily and gracefully through the trees.

After about half an hour of driving, the sea opened out in front of us. We were driving along the top of a cliff. I saw a row houses on either side of my now, only small houses.

My dad pulled up in the driveway of a two-story house. It was a light yellow colour. Not sickly yellow, just a nice pale yellow. It looked a very nice house.

We went inside and my dad gave me a tour. He left my room until last, so I could settle in. I loved my room. It had pale pink wallpaper and baby-blue carpet. My bed was in the far corner, with a wooden frame and a pink quilt and pillow. The door to my closet was painted the same colour as my walls. I had a quaint little computer desk in the opposite corner from my bed, with the latest model of computer on it. There was a little lamp on my bedside table. But the best thing of all about my room, was that it had a sea view. Every morning I would look out of my window and see the beach and sea. I opened my closet and to my surprise my clothes were already hung in there.

I was very pleased with my new room. I took my spare time that I would have spent unpacking and went to E-mail Connor. I kept it simple.

"Hi,

Just saying that I've arrived. It's actually nicer than what I thought it would be, I love my room. And it has a sea-view! Can you believe it? I miss you so much. And I only left you yesterday. I must be insane to think I can survive without you. I got my first day of my new school tomorrow, it's going to be horrible.

I love you so much, mail back as soon as you can.

Love from

Helena

Xxx"

My dad woke up the next day. "Time for school" he said. I got up, got dressed, washed, cleaned my teeth and got my bag ready. I only had time for a quick bowl of cereal. I drove my dad's car to school; he wasn't working today. I needed to get a new car for here. I parked up outside school.

School was a drag. I managed to make some new friends. One called Elizabeth and another called Bethany. I got picked on for what I wore, because I wore very plain clothes and very dark ones at that. I was glad I had made some new friends; at least I wouldn't be alone in school. A boy had caught my eye at school, he was incredibly beautiful; the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. His face looked like it had been carved by angels. I didn't see his eyes he was wearing black sunglasses; that clashed with his deathly pale skin. He wore a black leather jacket and dark jeans. It clashed so much, like oil on snow. He was very slim, but had muscle. He had long wavy black hair. He was the most amazing I'd seen since I'd first seen Connor, but not even Connor added up to this beauty. Handsome was an understatement. Beautiful was an understatement. There was no word to describe this amazing boy. I'd heard him talk in class; even his voice was perfect, almost like music. Perfect, that was a good way to describe him. I sat directly behind him in History, he smelled so sweet. But there was something weird that kept happening, every time I thought of him trying to work out, what his name was, he would always shuffle uncomfortably. It's like he knew I was thinking about him. Or maybe I was just being paranoid, or just too dazed by his beauty to think straight.

A week of school passed by quickly. I hardly got picked on anymore. I was old news now. The beautiful boy was hardly at school. I had one lesson with him in it. He held his nose as he got to his seat in front of me. I became very self-conscious around him after that. Did I really stink? No one else seemed to think so. I'd also had a run in with Courtney. She was one of the most popular girls in school; she had three followers who tagged along behind her, who did everything for her, just trying to claim some of her popularity for themselves. It seemed like every boy in the school was after her. She was seventeen, same age as me. She had tanned skin, like she'd just been on holiday. She had long blonde hair that sparkled in the light; her bright amber eyes gave her a mysterious look. She wore very tight tops and short skirts to school. She had a body to die for. I sighed as she giggled at my plainness as she walked past. Her followers did the same.

It was a dull Friday night. I stared out of the window, thinking of how much I missed Connor. Dad was at his friends' house to watch the football. The house to myself, I thought, I should throw I party. I wanted to throw a party so badly, but for a proper party you needed a lot of friends. I only had two. Well two was better than nothing. I picked up the phone from my bedside table-I'd asked my dad to install it for me-and dialled Bethany's number first. She agreed to come round and bring Elizabeth with her. She was bringing her boyfriend with her and Elizabeth was bringing her two older brothers and her boyfriend. Great, I thought sarcastically as I hung up, a house full of boys.

I heard the doorbell ring. Wow, that was quick I thought. I ran to the door, checking my reflection as I ran past the mirror. I opened the door. I stumbled back a few inches when my eyes met the beautiful amber ones.

"Hi Ellie." Courtney said, a little smug that she'd startled me. Ellie, I grimaced, I could put up with Ella but not Ellie. I tried to smile.

"Um…hi Courtney." I said, trying to sound happy. What was she doing here? Was this another way to torment me? I didn't that right now. "Come in." I stepped aside to let her past. I smelled her sweet perfume as she walked past; she sat down on the living room couch and waited for me to sit down. As soon as I was she began.

"I'm sorry about school the other day," she began, "I shouldn't have laughed at you, you seem a really nice girl. And I just wanted to welcome you to our town. See as hardly ever visits, or moves here. I thought it would be nice if you had a few friends." She looked nervous for a second and glanced at her shoes. "Which is why I was wondering if you wanted to be my friend? You don't have to, but it'd help your popularity in school, and I really want a normal friend who isn't just a friend because they want to be popular and you don't really seem interested in popularity and you seem very nice so, please, will you be my friend?"

I was stunned into silence, her face looked hopeless, like she expected me to say no. To be honest, I wanted to be her friend; she was different for what I thought she would be. She was actually really friendly.

"Sure, if...if that's what you want. I just never thought you would be asking me to be your friend." I stuttered.

"Thank you, Ellie!" She said jumping up and hugging me.

The doorbell rang again. Oh no, I thought, I'd completely forgotten about the others coming over. Bethany and Elizabeth hated Courtney. Well I was going to have to tell them the truth sometime. I answered the door, they all rushed in, casually saying hi as they walked into the living room. I sighed as I saw them all freeze when they saw Courtney.

"Hi." She said politely. Bethany and Elizabeth turned to look at me, their faces full of shock and fury.

I walked past them all and sat down next to Courtney. The boys seemed at ease and sat on the floor in front of the TV. Bethany and Elizabeth sat on the couch on the other side of the room. Elizabeth's oldest brother called Alasdair, who was twenty-one now. Turned to look at me. "Where's the remote?" he asked.

I took it off the arm of the chair and threw it to him.

"Thanks." He said, gladly changing the channel to watch the football.

"So Courtney," Elizabeth began, "What brings you here?" there was a touch of bitterness in her voice but Courtney didn't seem to notice.

"Helena and me are friends and I just dropped by to say hi and welcome her to our town." Courtney said sweetly.

"Cool," Elizabeth said coolly, not showing any dislike for Courtney. Elizabeth's other brother Jasper who was eighteen- one year older than me- stood up and came and sat on the floor in front of me. I was a little shocked. He tilted his head back to look at me. "Hi Helena." He grinned, "You look very pretty tonight." Did I? I thought looking down at what I was wearing; it's what I usually wore. Was there a sudden change in fashion? Or was he looking at Courtney and confusing her with me. I looked at him again. He was definitely looking at me.

"Thanks." I muttered, rather embarrassed. "I'll be right back." I got up and walked upstairs. I went into my room and sat on the bed. I let the embarrassment drain a bit. I could hear the conversation downstairs continuing. Elizabeth and Bethany were talking to Courtney. I had a good excuse for Courtney coming round now. I would say that I should try make as many friends as possible. It should work. Strangely my thoughts turned to the beautiful boy from school. What a perfect couple him and Courtney would make. Both so beautiful. A twinge of jealousy hit me. If nearly every boy in the school was after her, that meant he might be after her as well, there was no way I could compete with Courtney's beauty. I fought back my tears and sighed. Well there were consequences with being friends with a goddess I thought. I giggled at myself; I compared Courtney to a goddess.

"Ella?" The sudden voice broke my chain of thoughts. "Are you ok?" I glanced up to the doorway. Jasper was standing there, looking very out of place.

I stared at him for a long moment. "Sorry did I startle you?" he said looking guilty.

"No, sorry, I was miles away." I forced a laugh; it didn't quite sound right to me. He came and sat next to me on the bed and put his arm around me. Now I was feeling a little uncomfortable. There was something telling me this was wrong and there was reason to keep Jasper away, but I just couldn't think of what it was.

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." He apologized. Then a small fiendish smile crept across his lips. "But I do think you look very pretty tonight, good enough to eat." The smile was now a grin. He moved his head closer to mine. The voice in my head was screaming now, stop no, this is wrong. As Jasper's lips brushed my cheek I remembered. Connor-the voice in my head screamed-don't do this, think of Connor. I quickly pulled away from Jasper.

"I'm sorry but I have a boyfriend." I whispered. Almost in tears that I hadn't thought sooner.

"Oh, no it's my fault." He said looking a little disappointed but managing to keep a small smile. "I should've known that a girl as pretty as you would already be taken."

I smiled half-heartedly. I knew I'd hurt Jasper's feelings.

I checked my E-mails after everyone had gone. Connor had E-mailed back. I opened it with a thrill that I knew was a little childish. As if I expected news that he was coming to visit. I read it carefully.

"Hi Helena,

I miss you too. I'm glad you've had a good week at school. But you really didn't need to put all that detail in. it took me about an hour to read, Ha Ha. Anyway, there is something I was meaning to tell you. If you like anyone over there, don't let me get in the way. They always say long-distance relationships never work out. Haha. But seriously, I'm ok with it if you want to date someone over there. We probably won't be seeing each other for a while anyway, and I want you to have a good time so you know, have fun. I'll still love you.

Connor

Xxx"

I was horrified. Had he seen what had happened with Jasper? Was he watching me, was he already over here? No I was being silly now. But that could only mean one thing. He'd found his soulmate. All werewolves did. I sighed knowing that mine and jaspers relationship would never be the same, he would have to be with the girl who was born to be with him. I wasn't upset that much, I was mostly happy that he'd found the right person for him. I wrote back-

"Hi

I guess you've found your soulmate then. Cool, whats her name? Is it someone from school? And sorry about going into details last time. And I wouldn't date anyone over here; I love you too much. I'll have fun without dating. I love you too.

Bye

Love from Helena

Xxx"

After that I signed off and went to bed. I had nightmares about Connor with Courtney. I woke up the next morning in a cold sweat and on the floor.