Annabella Dawson was just a normal girl, her mother moved to Kansas three years before she was born, and feel in love with her father, Kenneth Dawson. Her mother's name is Aelis, her maiden name was O'Donnelle, and Annie is the spitting image of her mother. Two years after moving to Kansas, Aelis got married, young, only eighteen at the time, barely a legal adult, but her love for Kenny was true. A year after the wedding, Annabella Margaret Dawson was born to the happy couple. A beautiful baby girl, with her mother's carrot-y, curly locks, and her father's hazel eyes that change depending on her mood, and what she is wearing.
Growing up, Annie was very shy, she was also very small for her age, like her mother always was. She was a petite thing, and as soon as she learned how, she loved to read. She also loved to write and take pictures, but she mostly loved to read. Annie always wanted to be a reporter when she got older, but her mother wanted her to take over the flower shop that her family owned. It was an average sized shop, filled with every type flower that her mother could get to grow, and considering her green thumb, that was a lot.
But, gardening never interested Annie, she honestly tried, but could never quite get the hang of it. She preferred to take still shot's of her mother's flowers, and help arrange posters to advertise them, and just make scrap books. Sometimes she'd try to draw them, but she preferred to take a photo.
One day, in the summer after sixth grade, her father decided to enroll her in the seventh grade at another middle school, one with better academic acheivements. Annie put up a fit, but eventually gave up, there wasn't much that she could do about it, she would just have to make the best of the situation.
It was just the start of the year, in early September, when the school bus arrived at her home. Taking a deep breath, she boarded the bus, and shyly looked around. All eyes found her, and she was suddenly self concious. Every eye watched her progress down the aisle, boys stared in wonder and awe, some girls did too, mostly with longing, but most girls glared at her, and she didn't know why. The whole bus was full,save for one seat next to a skinny, lanky boy with black, shaggy hair looking dejectedly out the bus window.
She tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to cringe, and pulled her hand back as he spoke.
"What do you want?" The boy said turning to look at her, and stopped, staring as all of the other's did. He looked down, seemingly ashamed. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."
"It's alright, hey, is anyone else sitting here?" Annie asked the strange boy.
He looked up in surprise. "Umm..no, no, there isn't." He said pulling aside his bage to make room for her. She sat down next to him, a confused look on her face.
"My name's Annabella." She said shyly, holding out her hand. "But, most people call me Annie." He grasped her hand, it felt warm and strong, like the kind of strong when you know the person is with holding that strength.
"Clark Kent." He responded. "Nice to meet you, Annie." Clark said with a warm smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle, and his blue eyes sparkle. Her heart skipped a beat, his hand was still grasping her's, and she could feel the involuntary blush creep into her cheeks as he continued to smile at her.
Finally, he let go, probably sensing her discomfort, but the smile remained.
"So, are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around here before." Clark inquired, curiosity evident on his face.
"Y-yeah, I am. My parents transferred me. Thought this school had better academics, or something." Annie answered, barely audibly.
"I see." Clark said pursing his lips. "Well, they are right, Garvin's has some of the best academics in the area. You seem like a smart girl, I don't think you'll have any trouble with the system." Clark finished, nodding reassuringly.
"I don't know, it doesn't seem like many people like me, I mean. They ALL were glaring at me when I walked onto the bus." She said in a whispeer, not wanting the other kids to hear her talking about them.
Suddenly, Clark grabbed her hand in his, and gave it a gentle squeeze. Again, Annie could sense, rather than feel how careful he was being, could feel how much of his strength he was holding back. Her heart raced, adrenaline pumping through her veins. What if he was just trying to be nice to her so that he could gain her trust, and then hurt her without her expecting? She looked into his eyes, and saw the worry in them, 'No' she thought, 'He wouldn't hurt me, all he feels right now is worry because of the fear in my eyes.'
"What's wrong, Annie?" Clark said, worry evident in his voice.
"Nothing, just a little nervous about the others." I lied, but my voice still shook a little with fear, so it was convincing. Understanding filled his eyes, replacing the concern.
"They won't do anything to you," Clark reassured, wrapping his arms around her small frame, "I won't let them." He whispers in her ear, making her heart jump at the feeling of his breath fanning across her neck. But, despite her heart racing, she felt safe in his arms, reassured.
"Thank you, Clark." Annie said sincerely, snuggling into his embrace, wrapping her arms around him, and giving a gentle squeeze of her own. Now, it was his turn to blush.
"No problem, Annie." He said, smiling, and returning the gentle squeeze. Yet again, Annie felt that he was only using a minute fraction of his strength, and was being VERY careful with her. Annie rested her head in the curve of his neck and could have sworn that his head tilted down slightly, and that she felt his lips press into her carroty hair in a prolonged kiss on top of her head. She sighed, hoping he didn't hear her, for this could just be an older brotherly type embrace, she used to have friends of the male variety in upper grades who had embraced her similarly. They did this when she was upset, or scared, and would often kiss her atop her head as they comforted her. But, she felt different about this embrace, nevertheless, she wished that they never had to let go. And, of course they had to. He pulled away, as they had arrived at school. Both grabbed their bags and stood up, getting ready to exit the bus. The girls who had glared at her snickered at her and Clark. He glared at them all, and Annie kept her head low, and had her eyes avoiding the other's.
This was going to be one hell of a year.
