A/N: As you all should know, the only character in this story I own is Maeve. Everything else belongs to Lynne Ewing, who wrote Daughters of the Moon. This takes place after book 9, but I like Jimena, so I'm keeping her in there. This is my first fanfic ever – my friend got me to start reading some things people wrote, and I thought "Looks like fun…maybe I'll try it out." I can't guarantee how often it will be updated or if it will be. I'm writing a book, and am rather wrapped up in it. Please let me know what you think of it, and I promise it will get more interesting.
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Chapter One
Maeve Reichardt woke up with a start and swore when she looked at the clock. 5' in the morning? Ugh. She didn't have to wake up for another two hours…so why did she feel wide awake after getting an hour of sleep? Maeve was an insomniac if there ever was one. She constantly went to bed at 4' in the morning, or later. She couldn't fall asleep before 2'am, and hadn't been able to since eighth grade. Maeve was 15 years old, and a junior. Her family had moved from Michigan to L.A. last month, and she was forced to transfer to La Brea high against her will.
Maeve hated public schools. She had gone to a private school for seven years, but when her father lost his job, she had to go to a public school. The first day she had walked into the building, she'd had a panic attack. She saw no floor, only bodies, and she didn't want to be there. She contented herself with ignoring the teachers and students while she avidly wrote music for herself. She was a singer, deeply involved in what she did. To be more accurate, she was a coloratura soprano with a seven – octave range. She'd had about one friend in Michigan, called Rachel, who was an alto. They had sung duets together, and been onstage a number of times. Now all that was gone and she'd have to find a new partner to sing with.
The girl sighed and looked out into the dark of early morning. The bright full moon hung elegantly in the sky. Seeing this, she relaxed. The full moon had always calmed her, but she could never figure out why. She liked moonlight much better than sunlight. It wasn't as harsh.
She walked over to her window seat and pulled her manuscript notebook from under one of the cushions. She was writing an aria specifically for her.
She sat, writing, for another hour, and then walked into her closet, turning on the light, blinking as it burned her aqua eyes which had become accustomed to the dark. Out of her closet she pulled a pair of black, low-rise jeans, and a dark, spaghetti – strap top with a low neckline. She exchanged her pajamas for her clothes and looked in the mirror. She looked like she had slept an hour. Rolling her eyes, she clasped her amulet around her neck. The pendant was round, shaped like a teardrop, with a single, white, spherical jewel in it that looked like the full moon. It looked exactly like the night sky. She put her big, silver hoops in her ears and brushed smoky eye shadow over her lids before rolling concealer under her eyes. She slipped a belt, off of which hung a silver chain, through the belt loops and brushed her shoulder blade length blonde hair. She called it blonde, but it was really a mix of all the natural colors. It looked like she had highlights, but she had never dyed her hair in her life.
Because her hair had all the colors in it, her eyelashes were black, and her eyebrows were brown, and perfectly arched, though she'd never done anything to them.
She sighed as she picked up her messenger bag after slipping two hair ties onto her wrist (in case she decided to put her hair up) and, balancing her manuscript book on her hip, she walked downstairs.
"Morning, sweetheart," her father, Theodore, said to her, smiling brightly. She had never met her mother, as she died giving birth to her.
"Morning, dad," Maeve mumbled quietly. She had a light voice. Gentle, really. But that was the voice she used at home. At school, she always tried not to talk. No one could ever hear her speaking voice. It lacked power. But her singing voice was a completely different story. "I'm going to head to the bus stop, alright?"
Her dad tilted his head. "Don't you want any breakfast?" he asked gently. He and Maeve got along well. They pretty much left each other alone aside from dinnertime. When Maeve was home, that is. She always used to go to clubs at night with Rachel and tease the guys.
Maeve shook her head. "No, dad. I'll see you later," she said, and with that, she grabbed her bag and walked out the front door. She walked in the fog for about a minute, and then came to the stop. She set her messenger bag on the ground and leaned against the sign with a sigh. She pulled a pencil out of her bag and added to her song while she waited for the bus.
When it came, the brakes squealed, making her ears ring. She shouldered her bag and walked onto the bus. She sighed and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she knew was coming. She saw no empty seats as she walked along the aisle. As she walked towards them, guys moved their bags, giving her a place. She kept walking. She didn't want anything to do with guys. Finally, a girl patted the seat next to her.
"You can sit here. It's always crowded like this. You're new, aren't you?" she asked. The girl was wearing camouflage pants and a one-shoulder black top. Her black hair, ends tipped with red, hung a little past her shoulders. She had an amulet around her neck, too. "What's your name?"
"Maeve Reichardt," she said softly. "Yours?"
"I'm Serena Killingsworth. What's your schedule look like?"
Maeve handed it to her. First hour, she had trigonometry. After that, she had music theory. Third hour, she had honors English, after which came choir (there were three choirs, and Maeve was in the top.) Fifth, she had honors chemistry, and then music history.
"Wow. Tough schedule. You into music?" Serena asked, noticing the three music classes on Maeve's schedule. When Maeve nodded, Serena noticed her manuscript book. "You write music, too? Wow. You must be really good. We have English and music history together. I play cello. How about you?" Serena was nice. Maeve liked her.
She smiled. "I play piano and I sing," she said a little louder, opening up a bit.
"What part?"
"Soprano," she said. "Hey, um…I noticed your necklace. It's really cool. Where did you get it?"
"Oh, this? It was given to me at birth. How about yours? That's the most realistic moon I've ever seen."
Maeve shrugged. "I actually don't know. I've always had it. My mom might've given it to me…I'm not sure. I never really knew her...she died giving birth," she added quietly.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Serena said sympathetically.
Maeve shook her head and pressed her hand against the back of the seat in front of her so she wouldn't be thrown forward as the bus jerked to a halt, picking up someone. A blonde girl walked onto the bus. She was wearing a white top along with light blue jeans.
"Hey Vanessa! Serena called, waving to her friend.
Vanessa smiled and walked over. "Morning, Serena! Hey, you're new, right?" she asked Maeve, who was beginning to feel bombarded. "I'm Vanessa Cleaveland," she said, holding a hand out.
Maeve shook it lightly. "Maeve Reichardt."
When the bus stopped at the school, Maeve took a deep breath and sighed as she walked onto the pavement. She felt her throat tightening as she walked across the grass to the right hand door. Looking behind him, a guy smiled and held it open for her. "Thanks," she murmured as she walked through. She pulled a map of the school out of her pocket and began looking at room numbers.
When she found her class, she walked through the door just as the bell rang. She resisted the urge to clap her hands over her ears. The bell tone was a high E, but it was very flat. When a note was off pitch, Maeve's ears started to throb. She took a seat at the back of the classroom, ignoring the guys who stared at her.
"Class, listen up!" the teacher, Mr. Harding called, closing the door. "We have a new student. Mave Reichardt. Mave, why don't you come up here and tell us a little about yourself?" he suggested to Maeve's dismay. But it would give her a chance to correct him…he kept saying her name wrong.
Maeve stood up with a sigh and walked to the front of the class. "First of all, my name's pronounced 'May-ehv,' not 'Mave'. My name means Goddess of Song…ah, I just came here from Michigan against my will, and that's about it," she said. Sometimes Maeve was hardly audible, but when she got angry, her voice had a different pitch to it, and it tended to resonate, like her singing voice did, in her head. As she took her seat at the back of the class, she pulled out her manuscript book to continue writing.
Two classes later, Maeve found her way to English, where she sat next to Serena.
"Hey Maeve, how's it going so far?" Serena asked.
"Nightmare. They keep making me stand in front of the classroom and talk," she complained.
Serena shrugged. "Yeah, they tend to do that. Oh, you have to meet my friends. This is Catty," she said, pointing to a girl who wore a blue top and darker blue jeans. She had brown hair, and a necklace that matched Serena's. "This is Jimena." She pointed to a tough – looking girl wearing a purple top with a khaki skirt. Jimena had two teardrop tattoos under her right eye, and a crescent moon and star tattoo on her arm. "And this is Tianna," she said, gesturing to a girl wearing a white top and blue skirt.
"Hey," Maeve said to greet them. They all had the same necklace. Maeve wondered how that had happened, but didn't ask. Suddenly, she felt an odd sensation, like worms crawling through her head. She blinked a few times, trying to get rid of it, but it didn't work. Suddenly, she realized that Serena was staring at her with a strange expression on her face. "What?" Maeve asked, hoping Serena would realize she was staring and stop.
"Oh, sorry," Serena said, shaking her head as if to clear it.
Maeve opened her manuscript notebook and wrote as the teacher started talking. She, thankfully, didn't ask Maeve to get in front of the class and talk.
What a change, she thought wryly, letting her thoughts drift to the music on the paper.
After school, Maeve followed Serena to the bus. After finding their seats, they sat down, both a little tired. Maeve had noticed Serena talking to her friends and glancing at her every so often. Had she made a mistake becoming friends with her? If they were going to talk about her behind her back…Maeve wasn't going to do anything. She didn't care what people thought of her.
"Hey Maeve, the girls and I were planning to go to Planet Bang later tonight. You wanna tag along?" she asked, smiling as she moved her cello case so it wouldn't fall over.
Maeve blinked. "There's a club here?" When Serena nodded, Maeve smiled. "Sure, I'll come. I don't know if I have anything to wear, though. I mean, some of my stuff is still in boxes," she said, running her hand through her hair.
Serena nodded. "Vanessa's mom designs clothes. She's used to us borrowing them now, and I doubt she'd mind if you borrowed an outfit. Here's my number," she said, handing Maeve a slip of paper. "Call me if you need an outfit. Otherwise we'll pick you up at around five. How does that sound?"
Maeve smiled. "Sounds great. I'll see you then," she said as she picked up her things and stepped off the bus, spinning her keys around her fingers. She walked through the front door and dropped her bags there. The only classes she ever did homework in were music classes. She sang a scale to warm up her voice. The sound echoed through the house, and made the piano ring. It wasn't loud, just resonant. She opened her manuscript notebook and sang the melody. She closed her eyes to listen to herself sing, and realized that she sounded exactly like a flute. She smiled.
A half hour later, Maeve walked into the bathroom and took a quick shower. Smelling strongly of strawberries, she walked into her room and searched her closet for something to wear. She discovered a few party clothes that weren't wrinkled and decided on a top that looked exactly like a blue morpho butterfly and a long, black skirt with slits up both sides to the top of the thigh. She brushed glitter over her collarbone and over her lids. She looked in the mirror and put her hair up in a messy bun, then sprayed glittery hairspray onto it. Strands from the shorter layers managed to escape the bun and hung loosely at the sides of her face, nicely framing it. She walked into her closet again and slipped on black, stiletto heels.
She looked at her reflection and smiled. She looked hot! She glanced at the clock, which told her it was almost five. She wrote a note on a piece of notebook paper with bright colors and put it on the knob of the garage door so her dad would at least feel it when he went to turn the knob. The note read
Dad – going to Planet Bang with some friends. Won't be home for dinner. Will be home before 2' am. See you when I get back.
-Maeve
She walked back inside and grabbed her purse, then walked down the hall and out the front door. She turned and locked the door behind her with a satisfying click. When she turned around, there was a blue and white Oldsmobile sitting in the driveway. (A/N: correct me if I'm wrong about the car!) Jimena honked the horn, calling Maeve over to them. The girl walked carefully over. "You have a license?"
Jimena grinned. "Don't worry, I'm safe. I used to be in a gang, and I had to know how to drive to jack cars," she pointed out.
Maeve hesitated, then got into the backseat with a shrug. She looked around as Jimena pulled out of her driveway, and turned the car, heading towards Planet Bang.