Chapter 1: Mystery
PLEASE Read and Review! This story has been shelved for a while and if it doesn't review well it will end up shelved again. I hope everyone enjoys it.
* * *
Jael Maxwell woke up to the sound of the alarm shouting annoyingly. She looked at the red numbers on the clock and yawned.
5:51 a.m.
Time for school.
The weekend never seemed to be long enough.
The week went by slowly and agonizingly, but Saturday and Sunday passed in a blur, completely gone before she knew it.
Half the time Jael had trouble remembering what she'd done on those days.
She kicked off the sheets and walked over to the mirror and looked herself over.
The girl that stared at her was beautiful.
Green eyes that danced about lively, with tiny golden flecks in them. Blonde hair, straight as a board that hung to her mid back. Long black lashes that curled at the tips. Pink lips that felt chapped as she rubbed them together.
Jael opened the tube of chap stick and covered her lips, then returned her gaze to the image before her.
She threw the tube at the mirror angrily.
The girl in the mirror looked like Elena Gilbert, her older sister.
Her whole life Jael had tried to shake the legacy her sister had left behind, but to no avail.
She had been born to the name Margaret Jael Gilbert, but started going by Jael in junior high. She lived with her Aunt Judith and her husband Robert Maxwell. In an attempt to completely shake the identity that associated her with Elena, Jael had allowed Judith and Robert to legally adopt her, thereby turning her into Jael Maxwell.
But appearances didn't lie, and Jael looked like Elena.
Not identical, but the resemblance was there, and it bothered her.
She was a sophomore at Robert E. Lee high now, and she wanted to be herself, not Elena. Not a day went by that she didn't hear someone whisper about how much she resembled the dead girl.
Her sister had drowned twelve years ago, when Jael had been four. She hardly remembered her. Elena was almost completely forgotten in her mind, and she wished everyone else would do the same and...forget.
The only reason Jael knew she looked like Elena was from the old photos that Judith had around the house. Photos she wished she could burn.
She'd found little ways to differentiate herself from Elena. For instance her sister had dressed to impress. The latest fashions and designer threads. Jael kept things simple. T-shirts with catch phrases on them and either boot cut jeans with her Docs or baggy cargo style pants with her Vans.
She had millions of cargo pants.
All different colors.
And she had dyed the underneath part of her hair hot pink and wore a variety of bracelets to show she was not a preppy fashion plate, whose one and only goal is to rule the school.
Jael walked to her closet and looked over her things.
Finally she selected a white Quicksilver shirt with her baggy, khaki capri's.
She placed them on her bed and hurried off to the shower.
* * *
Micah Smallwood yawned and hit the alarm clock angrily. It hit the floor with a crash and Micah jumped at the sound.
"This is going to be the best week ever." Micah muttered, "I can already tell."
He threw his legs over the bed and rolled his eyes.
He stumbled to the closet and threw a t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans onto the dresser.
He ran a hand through his brown hair, which he was certain stood in every direction and walked to the bathroom. He grabbed the handle and twisted it, but the door didn't budge.
His brother Tyler had come home for a visit and for some reason woke up at the same time he did every morning. It never failed.
Tyler would doddle in the bathroom and Micah would be late as usual.
Micah beat on the door annoyed, "Hurry up." he shouted.
"Chill out, kiddo." Tyler called back.
"I am not a kid." Micah responded, "You're just old." He leaned against the wall, "I'm glad I'm not thirty."
Tyler opened the door and allowed Micah to pass.
"When are you going home?" Micah asked in an irritated tone before slamming the door.
He looked into the mirror and he had not been incorrect in his assumption about his hair. It stuck straight up, but the shower would take care of that. His blue eyes looked tired and sleep deprived.
The truth was he hadn't been sleeping well lately. If his problems weren't plaguing him, his dreams were.
Micah got into the shower and let the cool waters cover him.
Robert E. Lee awaited and he didn't want to be late.
* * *
After shoving a piece of French toast down her throat and murmuring a hello to her aunt and uncle Jael ran outside and started the walk to Micah's house.
Maple Street was quiet and abandoned at this time in the morning. Most people were still in bed, but not the high school students. They were up with the sun ready to endure eight hours of torture at the hands of their teachers.
Jael stopped in front of a huge two story house.
The light was on in the upstairs bedroom, but despite that the house was dim.
Micah's black Dodge Ram was parked in the driveway. The piece of shiny metal and wheels was Micah's pride and joy. He had saved up all summer to get that truck. He waited tables at The Olive Garden and did odd jobs for the neighbors.
Mr. Smallwood had offered to buy him a vehicle; any vehicle he wanted. But Micah had said, "No, I'll take better care of a car I have to earn myself."
Jael couldn't believe he'd done that. She would have jumped at the opportunity.
Aunt Judith and Robert couldn't afford to buy her a car, so she went without. She was jealous of Micah's money and privilege, but respected him for being responsible and paying for his own truck.
Micah walked outside and smiled, "Hey Jael, you're looking good this morning." It was not a compliment, he was being a smartass.
Two could play at that game.
"And as usual, Micah, you're looking quite stylish yourself." Jael smirked back.
She had known Micah for as long as she could remember. They were good friends and though they had their share of fights they could never stay angry for long.
Micah looked over himself, "What's wrong with what I've got on?" he asked.
Jael smiled and looked him over. He wore a pair of baggy jeans that hung off his waist slightly, and a tight fitting blue shirt that made his electric blue eyes look bluer. His hair was perfectly spiked up and gelled, an art that Micah had perfected and Jael imagined took the longest in his morning routine.
"Shall we?" Micah asked smiling, his perfect, straight, white teeth shining.
Not like his brother Tyler's teeth, which were too big for his mouth. Tyler would have been attractive if it weren't for his teeth and bad attitude. Not to mention a few burns that scarred his arms and back.
"Yes, take me to my prison!" Jael cried dramatically.
They loaded into the black truck and headed down the road towards school.
* * *
Robert E. Lee high school was tall and proud.
Fell's Church, Virginia was a place of history.
Ghosts of the Civil War roamed the land as well as rumors that the undead had once been amongst it's citizens.
They were just that.
Rumors.
Jael did not believe the tales of Stefan Salvatore, the dashing Italian boy who happened to be a vampire. Rumor had it that he had killed a homeless man and Mr. Tanner, a history teacher. Somehow her sister, Elena, had been wrapped in these stories.
Aunt Judith said Elena and Stefan had dated, but she had called him a nice boy.
The vampire rumors, she said, were teenagers way of being cruel.
Jael and Micah walked to their group.
Jael was the only girl in a mass of boys.
Micah's best friend, Sterling Daniels leaned against the wall. His for the moment green eyes were hooded and drowsy. His brown hair was disheveled, which was unusual, but it was Monday and Jael could forgive him. He wore a skin tight red shirt, that left nothing to the imagination.
Barry Marshall sat on the floor. His headphones concealed by the hood of his green sweat shirt. His head was against the wall and his brown eyes were closed.
When Jael and Micah approached he opened his eyes and Sterling straightened.
"Jael." Sterling arched an eyebrow.
Jael punched him in the arm playfully and sat down beside Barry.
"Micah." Sterling smiled, and they did their secret handshake; a boy ritual Jael found silly.
"So was your dad mad when you came in late on Saturday?" Sterling asked.
"He was too drunk to care." Micah replied.
Micah's father had started drinking heavily about twelve years ago, which was the reason for a lot of fights in the Smallwood household.
"He has bigger problems now than me being late for curfew." Micah smiled, "Tyler's in town."
"Isn't he like thirty?" Sterling asked, "He needs to get married and go away."
"Don't tell me! I know." Micah shook his head.
Jael smiled, "Your brother is a loser."
Micah nodded vigorously, "I can't wait to get the hell out of here...and he hangs around like he enjoys being under my fathers nose 24/7."
There was a moment of silence then Sterling spoke up.
"Is he still bothering you about that...thing?" Sterling asked.
Jael had no idea what "that...thing" was. Every time she asked they said it was FGO, for guy only, and she wasn't allowed to know.
"What are you talking about?" Jael pressed.
"Nada." Sterling replied, in a perfect Spanish accent.
"It's so annoying when you guys do this." She crossed her arms.
Sterling got inches from her face and smiled, his Cool Water cologne filled her nostrils. A pleasant smell.
"Jael, an innocent girl like you wouldn't be able to handle the crazy sexual liaisons we guys talk about." Sterling laughed and Jael swatted at him.
"Micah!" She complained, "Tell me!"
Micah smiled, but said nothing.
"He's going to tell me later anyway." Jael replied, "He tells you everything Sterling, but he tells me even more."
"He ain't telling you this." Sterling smiled.
Jael looked at Micah again, "Micah David Smallwood, tell me!"
The two minute bell rang.
"Not this time, Jael." Micah said, and headed off to class.