Chapter 1: I meet the girl of my dreams literally
Aria sat upright, her feet tangled in her dark blue bed sheets. Her arms flailed as she toppled out of bed. She landed on the wooden floor with a thud.
"Ow," muttered Aria, blowing her long blond hair out of her face. "Can't I just ever get some sleep?" her question went unanswered as she sat there in the darkness before hauling herself off the floor, her blankets in a forgotten, crumpled heap. Unpacked boxes were stacked along her wall. Her footsteps were muted as she headed down the carpeted hallway to the bathroom. She groped for the light switch and flicked it on. Aria flinched from the sudden light and gripped the edge of the marble counter with her hands. With one hand, she leaned over the sink to open the medicine cabinet and rummage through bottles for something that would knock her out. There it was! Some Tylenol PM was hidden in the far corner on the top shelf.
"Better than nothing," she mumbled as she shook two pills into her palm. She twisted the faucet on and filled a glass from beside the sink with cool water.
"What are you doing?" The glass of water shattered in her hand. Startled, Aria glanced up in the mirror and saw her older brother, Zayne, with his shoulder leaned against the door frame and his arms crossed.
"What are you doing?" scowled Aria, forgetting their mother was asleep as she looked at the mess on the floor of water and shattered glass. She knelt down and carefully picked up the largest pieces of glass. Zayne dropped down next to her, but of course, not to help her.
"You woke me up with your screaming. Again." He fixed her with a hard stare. "And smooth move, dropping another glass." Aria ignored him, continuing to clean up. Sure, she was known in their house for her nightmares about monsters, but that was when she was younger. She didn't scream in her sleep anymore. Sleepwalk? Maybe, but definitely no screaming.
"I didn't scream. And I didn't drop it! It shattered in my hand when you made me jump."
"Uhmm, yeah ya' did, Aria. Hate to break it to you. And you dropped it," Zayne grinned because he knew he was getting on her nerves. "Were you dreaming of the monsters again?" Her jaw tightened as he referred to when she used to claim she saw monsters that "only she could see." Aria rolled her eyes as she stood up.
"Nope, no nightmares. I just…woke up." Parts of her dream flashed in the back of her head. She'd been having the same one every night for a month now and it always ended the same way: with her butt on the floor tangled in her sheets with no memory of what she'd dreamed about. Only that she felt it was important.
"Suuuuuure, you didn't," her brother replied sarcastically, pulling her out of her thoughts. Aria opened her mouth to tell him to shut his or else, but her mother, Renee Starwood, appeared in the doorway wrapped in a robe and rollers in her hair.
"What are you two doing AWAKE? It's 3am and it's your first day of school tomorrow!" Her hand holding her bathrobe closed, the other on her hip. Zayne jabbed a finger at Aria. Their mother took in the glass in Aria's hand, the mess on the floor, and the look of disbelief on Aria's face.
"Aria woke me up. I heard something break, so I came to see if she was okay." His widened eyes added the final touch to his "I'm-so-innocent-and-Aria-isn't" act. Aria's mouth dropped open as she shook her head incredulously.
"That's not what happened, Zayne!" Aria shot back, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out like an immature brat at her brother. He sneered at her from behind their mother's back as she turned to Aria. "Mom!" Her mother sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples as if she suddenly had a major migraine.
"I don't really care, Aria. I'm tired; we all are from the move and it's been a long day. Just get this mess cleaned up and get back to bed. Zayne, bed. NOW!" her mother ordered, completely exasperated with Aria's protests. "I'm going back to bed." Aria had to bite her lip to keep from arguing anymore. As soon as their mother disappeared down the hall toward the master bedroom, Zayne smirked.
"Have fun!" He gave her a mock soldier salute and vanished into his room, his door closing behind him with a soft click. Aria sighed and went to get the broom.
"Aria, it's time to get up!" Aria groaned as she blinked sleep from her eyes. The sun's rays filtered through her slanted blinds.
"It's time for you to get up for school!" her mother called what sounded like the bottom of the staircase. She sat up and thought better of it, collapsing back against her pillow and pulled her comforter over her head. A fist hammered on her door.
"Aria! Mom says you have to get up!" Zayne called from outside her heavy oak door.
"NOW, ARIA LYNN! IT'S 7:15!" Her mother meant business when Aria's middle name was tacked on to her first name. Shoot! Aria thought, first day! Don't want to be late!
"I'm up!" shouted Aria as she bolted out of bed. Being a major procrastinator, Aria had yet to unpack any of her clothes and looked at all the unpacked boxes around the edge of her room in dismay. Vowing to resolve it later, she ripped open a box at random. Luck was on her side today; a pair of black skinnies, her lucky black-and-gray striped hoodie with the thumb holes in the sleeves, a band t-shirt, and her skater shoes were all nestled neatly on top. Aria threw on her clothes and grabbed a hair tie. Last but not least, she put on the necklace her mom had given her when she was young. A beautiful light blue, almost white seashell on a little chain. It had a cursive A on it for Aria. She wore it everyday. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed her gym bag as her mother shouted "Soccer tryouts today, don't forget, Aria!" She was halfway out the door when her mom called her back to eat breakfast.
"I don't have time, mom! I'm late!" Aria called over her shoulder.
"You should have gotten up when I told you to! Have a good first day!" came her mother's response. Aria rolled her eyes and closed the door. She imagined her mom shoveling scrambled eggs onto a clean plate for her. That was the kind of mother she was. As she threw her long blond hair up into a messy knot, she mapped out her route to school in her head. Okay, she lived four blocks from her new school, Goode High School, and school started at 7:45am. That left her twenty minutes to get there. Zayne had left early enough to catch the bus. She tried to juggle her gym bag and her backpack on one shoulder.
"Look out!" Aria glanced up just as someone ran straight into her, knocking her flat on her back. If that weren't enough, a bunch of heavy textbooks were dumped on her.
"Ohmigod! I. Am. So. Sorry. Here, lemme help you up! Ohmigod, really, I'm so sorry! Are you okay!?" Aria sat up, colors and shapes dancing across her vision. She held a hand up to her head.
"Uhm, ow," she muttered, rubbing her head where it had cracked on the pavement. Someone was trying to help her up by hauling her up by the elbow, which wasn't much help. Aria stood up slowly, testing her limbs to make sure everything was intact. She glanced at who had humanly t-boned her. A girl shorter than her stood in front of her, staring earnestly at her with big, blue eyes rimmed with plastic turquoise glasses. She had a turquoise messenger bag stuffed so full of textbooks, the bag looked as if it'd rip at any second. Aria looked at the books scattered on the concrete.
"So you have a bag full of textbooks and you were carrying another three?" Aria looked at the girl strangely. She nodded vigorously for a few seconds until she realized she wasn't a bobble-head.
"I am soooooo sorry. I didn't see you! Are you okay? I could ask my mom to drive us to school if you're hurt. Really, I'm sorry! The least I can do is make sure you're not late for school, which you probably will be if you walk. I don't recognize you, either, so you're probably new here. And I managed to make your first day anything but easy. Are you sure you're okay?" she said all in one breath as she tucked a stray curl behind her ear anxiously. Aria bent down and gathered up the girl's textbooks.
"-not your fault. I'm so freaking clumsy. Seriously, can you please, like, say something so I know I didn't cause you to bite your tongue off or become mute. Ohmigod, forget I said that! What if you are mu-"Aria clapped a hand over the distraught girl's mouth and pushed the textbooks into her arms. The girl's eyes widened as she clutched them tightly to her chest. Aria kept her hand clamped over her mouth.
"I'm okay. No permanent harm. I'm going to take my hand away from your mouth now, okay?" The girl nodded again rapidly, her dark brown curls bouncing. Aria took her hand away uncertaintly; she was afraid if she asked a question, the girl would launch into a speech longer than the Gettysburg Address. "So are you always dropping stuff?" The girl nervously chewed her bottom lip.
"Yeah. Not my fault. I have the Montgomery Klutz Kurse," retorted the girl. Aria laughed and shifted her soccer ball to her other hand as she shifted her weight.
"I'm Aria Starwood, And you?" she asked.
"Elizabeth Fae Montgomery. But just call me Fae. I hate Elizabeth. I don't know what my mother was thinking when she named me Elizabeth." Fae crinkled her nose as she said Elizabeth. "Nice to meet you, by the way!" she added as if she forgot to say something really important. Aria grinned, shaking her head; she liked this girl already.
"I'm going to need a tour of Goode High School. Care to be my escort to make it up to me?" Aria held out her hand and Fae shook it.
"Of course, it'll be my pleasure….and we need to get to school before the bell rings, which is in ten minutes," informed Fae, glancing at the turquoise watch on her wrist. Aria moaned; she couldn't be late her first day! A horn sounded as a car pulled up.
"Aria, do you need a ride? I'm heading that way. Zayne forgot his lunch and his gym clothes and his lacrosse stick," Her mother saved the day as the window rolled down. Relief washed over Aria as she nodded.
"Fae needs a ride, too, mom." Aria hesitated, wondering if she was pushing her luck. Her mom waved Fae in as if to say Get in, I don't have all day. The girls scrambled into the car.