Chapter 2

Monday 18thAugust 2014

It's been three days here and I'm already in my 'at home' phase: Elmo pajama pants with matching tank, unbrushed hair and no makeup. Who could be bothered, honestly?

The two moving boxes I had were doing a good job of making it seem as though I had more stuff than I did: clothes and knickknacks spilled over their open sides. Even though it's not that much stuff, just looking at it made me want to run screaming. Not that it will even begin to fill this massive room. I feel like I'm living in a hotel suite. One of those really expensive ones that you can only afford if you were a CEO of your own business, or your daddy was a millionaire.

While I was loving it, I have no idea what Skylah thought of the whole thing seeing as she barely left her room, even for food, but to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if she had a bar fridge in there. I think she had been a bit upset when she realized I got the bigger room, especially when Mom had ignored her protests about how as the oldest I always get the better stuff.

God. It was like she thought I was doing it on purpose just to upset her, the way she was acting.

Whatever. She can sort out her issues and apologize later.

I had been on board with this whole thing, right from the moment Mom told us her decision. So why was I hiding in my bedroom on a beautiful summer's day? Because I couldn't stand pretending like I belonged here, that's why.

Skylah got it so easy because she had been only a baby when we lived here before, but because I had been able to walk and talk I was now clearly expected to remember every damn person who knocked on the door.

My grandmother was quickly becoming my favorite person around here. Between Skylah never surfacing from her room and Mom obsessively unpacking the boxes from our old life, I didn't really have a lot of other choices.

Well, I could do like Mom suggests and actually go outside. But I much preferred just chatting with Grandmama Saraiyu. It's a no-brainer really. It's important that I learn who my family is, seeing as we won't be going anywhere anytime soon. And she was the best person to tell me about our family's history and its role in the town. Not that she'd told me very much so far; she mostly just caught me up on gossip about people I had never met.

There's a knock on my door, lifting me from my dreamy haze. "Yeah?" I call out, and almost giggle when my voice echoes slightly in the massive room.

One side of the double doors (God I love my double doors) opens and Mom sticks her head in. "Hey Serenity, I have something for you to do," she says, and I narrow my eyes at her suspiciously. She looks tired, and vaguely sad. It makes my heart pang.

"What is it?" I ask, wanting to know what I was about to undoubtedly get myself into.

She pushes the door open a little further and looks around the room a bit. She had said this room used to be hers and my father's and I felt uncomfortable, like I was intruding on someone else's memories.

She shook her head a little, as though to bring herself back to the present, and she held a piece of paper out to me. "We need some groceries. Your grandmother is resting and I'm still a little tired from the drive here." She smiles at me apologetically.

I get out of bed and take the paper. There wasn't too much we needed so it would be easy enough to carry back here. From what I could remember when we drove in, the main street wasn't too far from here. "Sure, looks doable." I smile slightly back at her. I hadn't realized before, but we were almost exactly the same height, except I think I was a little taller. That didn't mean a lot though; I was still shorter than most people I knew back home. Don't think about it, Serenity.

She departed my room and I hoped she was going to go take a nap; I didn't like the look of the wrinkles around her eyes and forehead.

It took me twice the usual amount of time to dress, thanks to my hare-brained attempts at unpacking. I finally found some denim shorts, a bra and a light shirt. I pulled them on quickly enough, ran a brush through my hair, yanked on my canvas tennis shoes, almost fell over doing so, and I was on my way downstairs. I grabbed the cash off the kitchen bench where Mom left it and I was out the door.

It was a pretty nice day outside, and it was even nicer when I was walking through it instead of just gazing out at it through my windows. I found a smaller iron gate a few meters from the big one and it swung open easily enough when I pulled on it.

It was a five minute walk to the main street and every second of those minutes I was fighting to get my heart out of my throat. I was so nervous that someone would stop me in the mile of the street and demand to know what I was doing here. Irrational, I know, but I felt like there was a flashing sign above my head saying 'I don't belong here'. In capital letters. I walked with my head down, only glancing up occasionally to make sure I was headed in the right direction.

Thankfully for my nerves, I didn't see anyone until I stepped onto the main street, where there were suddenly people everywhere.

And, was that a horse? Wait there's two of them. I'm even more shocked to see people actually riding those horses. When one of them trotted past me on the road, I couldn't help but stare. I hope my mouth wasn't open. That would have been embarrassing.

"Ahem." I turned my head to see a group of teenagers standing there. Oh no. I hadn't even been here a week and I was already going to die. They all looked huge. Like seriously, I'm pretty sure some of them were on steroids, judging from the muscles bulging from under shirts.

Despite my irrational fear, I want to roll my eyes.

"You're new." He says it as a statement, as though the answer was already obvious. It was the dark-haired guy standing at the front of the group. The rest of them seemed to orient themselves around him, which was strange. Before I could say anything an almost quizzical expression crossed his face. "How old are you?"

The enquiry surprised me enough that I didn't even think to not answer. "I'll be seventeen in October. Do I know you?" Why the hell would he even want to know my age?

A hint of a smirk appeared on his face at my attitude. He was really good-looking, but in a natural way that really suited him. He looked about eighteen or nineteen and had a working man's kind of tan. His hair was black, along with the stubble covering the bottom half of his face. My blush deepened as he continued to just watch, although that look on his face remained, the one that suggested he couldn't quite work something out. His bright green eyes were unsettling, and the hidden emotions behind them only managed to make them more captivating.

"That's Luca, ignore his macho guy act, we all try to," a girl standing to his left pipes up, gesturing to Mr. Mysterious-and-Brooding. "I'm Mai." She smiles widely and sticks a hand out towards me. It takes me a second to realize she wanted me to shake it. I do so, albeit nervously.

She's really pretty, with masses of curly ebony hair all over the place. When I let go, a guy next to Mai elbows her, laughing. She returns the favor, much harder, and laughs at him when he pretends to grab at his side in pain.

When he straightens up, he's grinning like a fool, his light brown eyes twinkling. "This is my cousin Jesse," Mai gestures to him. "He's a total douche. This is Kailya," she points at a bored-looking girl with strawberry blonde hair standing towards the back, "she acts like a bitch but she's a complete sweetheart on the inside. Even if she likes to beat people up when they blow her cover. And that is Avery," a hand waved towards a black-haired guy who was – if possible – even taller than Luca. "He's in love with himself, so don't waste your time going there." Mai pouts and I almost laugh.

Out of all of them, she definitely seemed the most approachable. Even if her legs could make a supermodel feel insecure.

"You're the Oaken girl," Luca says unexpectedly, a suddenly understanding look on his face, as though he had just figured out some great riddle. And again with the statements that should be questions!

Everyone looks from him to me, their faces filled with interest, except for the bored-looking girl who just regards me impassively. Did it even occur to them that I might be someone else? What makes it so obvious?

Sure, my name is Serenity Oaken, but still.

"Oh, of course! We saw you drive past the other day," Mai says. "Serenity, right? How are you settling in?" She seems so genuinely interested in how I'm doing that I feel a little more comfortable.

"Pretty well, I guess. I'm actually on my way to get some groceries for the house." I hold up the shopping list for evidence. Mai's face lights up like it's Christmas and I know what's coming. I had seen that look on way too many of Sky's friend's faces.

"I'll totally show you where the store is," she says, and I could see everyone in her group roll their eyes. So this must be a fairly regular thing, judging from that reaction.

"Must you continuously take in strays, Mai?" Jesse drawls, that twinkle in his eyes as he winked at me. Yes, an actual wink. Who even does that?

Mai rolls her eyes. "Shut up, Jesse. Just because you're an asshole doesn't mean I have to be." She grabs my hand and starts to pull me down the street. I glance at Luca quickly and see he is in deep conversation with – what was his name? – Avery. He didn't even look at me before I'm swept away.

Two minutes later we're in the air conditioned comfort of the grocery store. It is quite a bit larger than it looks from the outside and I'm glad. They might actually have some of the stuff we need.

"You'll have to buy your bread from Aunt Faye's bakery across the street, but other than that everything's here," Mai said, throwing her arms open as if to envelop the whole store.

I laugh at her dramatics and grab a basket.

She was surprisingly helpful with the shopping. I had expected her to just float around beside me chatting about a million and one things I didn't know about. Well, she still did do that, but only while helping me find the cereal aisle and sandwich stuff, so that's okay.

I couldn't help but be a little jealous of her. She skipped around with much more elegance than what her bubbly personality called for, and her curly ebony hair bounced down her back like it was in a shampoo commercial. Her denim shorts made her legs look supermodel long and the cropped shirt she wore showed off her trim waist and pierced belly button. The dangling ring kept catching the light and distracting me whenever she turned. Which was often.

So yeah, she was beautiful. But I was finding it extremely difficult to hate her for it; if any person deserved such beauty, it was her. She radiated kindness and generosity.

I really hope we could be friends.

"There are a few more of us that you didn't see today," Mai was saying as we walked out of the grocers and towards the bakery. "I think they were out at the stables. But I just know they'll love you." Stables? I remembered the horses I saw earlier. Why am I not surprised?

"I'm sure I'll get to meet them eventually. I'm going to be a permanent fixture here soon enough," I tried to joke. It's been a while since I had a friend, especially one so interested in my life. So naturally my joking skills are a bit rusty. Mai takes pity on me and smiles kindly as she pushes open the bakery door.

The smell of warm baked items and icing sugar assaulted my nose the moment I walked in. I think I was in heaven.

"Mai, my baby! How's your mama doing?" A big dark-skinned woman came out from behind the counter and wrapped Mai in a huge hug. I almost expected my new friend to push the woman away in embarrassment, but she hugged her back with just as much enthusiasm.

"Hey Auntie Faye. Mama's good, she's making jams tomorrow and wants you to come by and help." She smiles fondly up at the woman and I feel awkward witnessing such a loving moment.

"Tell her I'll be around tomorrow morning with some of my scones. I'll have to get Stephan to take over here." She pats Maiara's cheek gently. Then she looks up and spots me. I feel frozen to the spot and unable to move under that intense gaze.

"Auntie, this is Serenity Oaken. She's getting some bread for her mom," Mai introduces me, smiling to herself for some reason I couldn't fathom.

"Of course," Faye murmurs. Then she seemed to shake herself. "My apologies, sweetheart. You just look so much like your dear father it took me by surprise. I'm Faye Lujan, the beloved baker of bread and cakes alike." Mai giggled behind her hand at that, so I decided it was safe enough to smile.

"It's nice to meet you," I reply, hoping that was an acceptable response, and shaking the woman's outstretched hand. So is this where Mai got it from? None of the others had bothered with a handshake.

"So what kind of bread do you need?" Faye asks, bustling back behind the counter, business-like once again.

"Um," I glance towards Mai and back, "wholemeal or rye would be good."

The woman deftly locates a couple loaves and places them in brown paper bags. I feel my heart swell when Faye slipped in an apple Danish.

"It's all free of charge, sweets. Welcome to Serenity Falls." She says as I pull out my purse and smiles kindly at my surprised expression, handing over the paper bags.

"Thank you," I say, my throat constricting weirdly as I follow Mai out onto the street once again.

"Do you want something cold to drink?" She asks, eying the grocers we were in before.

"That'd be great," I say and before I could even offer her any money she was off across the street.

I smile to myself and glance around for a seat. There was one a few meters away so I plop the grocery bags down on it and put the bread in one of the emptier ones. When I look up again Mai was back, holding up two cans of Coke and grinning.

I laugh and take one, thanking her.

"So I was thinking … you should totally come hang out with us tonight," she said, looking uncertain. "It would be awesome for you to meet everyone else."

"Mai!" We both look behind us to see Luca, Jesse and Avery. Mai blushed. I don't understand why she was blushing, or why Luca was giving her such an intense look. Or where Kailya had disappeared to in the last twenty minutes.

"What?" She asks defiantly. "She should come with us. It won't be long anyway before-"

"Seriously, Mai!" Jesse cut her off, glancing at Luca. I'm beyond confused. What don't they want Mai telling me?

"Sorry, but you can't come with us," Avery says bluntly. The harshness of his words is lessened slightly by his lilting and musical voice, but the look in his eyes is frightening. I see it mirrored in Luca and Jesse while the three of them just stare at me, with Mai staring at a point in the distance over my shoulder.

Okay so this was how it was going to be. Mai wants me to join them but these three were too set in their ways to let someone else in. I get it.

I pick up the shopping bags. "That's okay, I've got stuff to do," I say and brush past them, my shoulder bumping Luca out of the way, and the can of Coke now a heavy weight in my hand.