The Chill Bar was a very strange place. Zoe took it all in with stunned green eyes. There was a round bar made entirely of glass smack in the middle of the diner, displaying everything from steamy hotdogs to iced teas. The floor was entirely of white and mirror mosaic, but what Zoe found startling was the fact that there were no tables or chairs. Instead, metallic rainbow coloured continental pillows stuffed with something thick and comfortable were scattered about. Two of the walls were painted a deep blue, and the other two walls were made up of floor to ceiling windows beside which Zoe was seated. The sun bathed half the diner in a pool of brightness, and reggae music played from an unseen stereo. The place was buzzing with kids of all ages, and Zoe wondered if it was some playground meant only for children.

"Jess owns this place," Haley interrupted Zoe's thoughts, and she turned to look at the other girl. "Well, he works here all the time so I just see it as his. It's a family business, really."
Zoe arched her eyebrows and pursed her lips, desperately trying to think of what to say in response. If she had to be honest with herself, she'd become somewhat anti-social since the home-school gig. She'd lost the simple touch of holding a decent conversation.
"There you go rambling on about him again." Kyle rescued her from the awkward pause. "It's stupid that mom and dad haven't caught on. Everything you say is 'Jess this' and 'Jess that'. It's sickening."
Haley straightened up on her red pillow and opened her mouth.
"I'm starved! Come on, Haley, before you two start yet another debate about your boyfriend." Tanya piped up suddenly, rising to her feet and looking down at Haley with an expectant expression on her face.

Haley blinked, and sighed in defeat. "What do you guys want, we'll go get it for you."
"The normal for me." Kyle said. His eyes met Zoe's encouragingly. "You should go see what you'd like, Zoe. They've got an impressive variety of food."
Zoe made to get up, but Haley held up a hand to stop her. "How about we surprise you, Zoe? Trust me, you'll be rounding the bar for half an hour just trying to decide what to eat. There's just too much stuff. Unless you feel like something in particular?"
"Well, no." Zoe admitted.
"Really, Zoe, you should rather go see for yours..." Kyle started.
"There will be plenty of time for you to check out what's on offer another time. Really. It's not like you're here on a short holiday, and the bar definitely won't be going anywhere." Haley cut in, sending an odd look at Kyle. Her hazel eyes shifted to Zoe a second later, and her lips twitched into a brief ghostly smile before she turned her back and walked toward the bar with Tanya.

Zoe frowned lightly at their retreating backs. That was weird, she thought and glanced out the window beside her. The beach was literally in arm's reach, the glittering cream sand spilling onto the red brick pavement surrounding the diner. There wasn't much wind as far as she could tell, and the deep blue ocean looked peaceful. For a moment, she itched to kick off her shoes and go outside to feel the grainy warmth of the sand between her toes. She sighed softly, and suddenly became self-conscious when from the corner of her eye, she caught Kyle watching her. She straightened up slightly and looked back at him uncertainly.

"What?" Zoe asked awkwardly, feeling her cheeks heat up despite her best effort to hide it.
Kyle's gaze darted to her lips for a fleeting moment before meeting her eyes again. A small smile touched his lips. "So what do you think of the place?"
"It's... different." Zoe said, gazing around the room again.
"The Thornton's are different. Except for Mrs Thornton, she's the only one that seems relatively..." Kyle seemed at a loss for the right word.
"Normal?" Zoe asked helpfully.
"Sane," Kyle said after a moment's thought. He shrugged. "No offence intended, of course."

"Of course." Zoe echoed.
"So when did you move in?" Kyle asked curiously.
"Oh." Zoe blinked back at him, drawing a blank for a minute. "Ah... about a week ago."
"I can't believe you've been here that long and I haven't seen you around." Kyle shook his head.
"I haven't really gone into town just yet. I thought I should try get settled in the new house before venturing out." Zoe said.
"Hmm. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Zoe shook her head slowly. "No." She paused, and added jokingly. "None that I'm aware of, at least."
Kyle smiled. "Must be nice to be an only child. I can't tell you how many times I wished I was."
"Don't you and Haley get along?" Zoe asked, surprised.
"We do, on occasion. She's good fun to have around, but it's when I have to start covering for her momentary disappearances, or when I have to show up and play the hero to get her out of trouble, that's when I start wishing I didn't have any siblings." Kyle sighed, and shrugged sheepishly. "Although I wouldn't trade her for the world. She just doesn't know what's good for her, that's all."
"You mean her dating this Jess guy?" Zoe asked thoughtfully.
"Exactly. She's meddling with things my parents spent all their time trying to prevent since I was born. My mom hasn't been dragging us to church and Sunday school for nothing, and the house doesn't have a Bible in just about every room because my mom is religious. It's supposed to be protection." Kyle said and pursed his lips.
"Protection?" Zoe repeated blankly. "From what, dating?"
Kyle looked briefly embarrassed before he let out a chuckle and seemed to relax. "Something like that. Everybody has a little weirdness in their family somewhere, right?"

"Right." Zoe nodded. She thought about her mother for an instant, but dismissed the thought. Her mother was perfectly normal, because Zoe knew that she was the really Weird thing in her family.
"So you haven't been around town yet?" Kyle asked, casually changing the subject.
Zoe shook her head, and felt her cheeks turn a deeper shade of pink when an expression she was quite familiar to crossed Kyle's face.
"I could be your tour guide, if you like." Kyle said warmly.
Zoe turned her head to look toward the bar, attempting to hide her reaction and fighting to keep her conflicting emotions in check. She didn't often fall for guys – Kyle would only be her second crush – but when she did, she fell with an intensity that was both deeply invigorating and extremely frightening.
"Unless you have other plans?" Kyle said, uncertainty creeping into his voice.

Zoe closed her eyes for a second, weighing her options. Common sense was telling her it would be a bad idea to get involved with this guy. Not that there was anything wrong with him; he was handsome, decent, and he seemed like a real gentleman.
But then that was the problem. He's too good for me, the thought flashed through her mind. Her mother would have a fit when she found out Zoe was seeing someone behind their backs. Her father would need to be restrained from having an all-out temper explosion. She would lose her parents' trust and inevitably disappoint them with her disobedience and dishonesty.

But then common sense was futile in its battle against the scorching feelings she felt. It's not like she fell head over heels for every charmer that crossed her path. It had to be okay that she liked Kyle so much, it had be because he obviously liked her just as much. It's got to be fate, Zoe thought fiercely. People didn't just suddenly fall in love with each other on day one for no reason. They had to be meant for one another. Damn anyone who doesn't like it, Zoe decided, ignoring the ominous whisper in her conscience that there was deeper and more bizarre grounds on why it would be a bad idea.
She turned to look at Kyle, and smiled. "No, I'd like that very much."

Ooo888ooO

A/N: Thank you for all your reviews, and thank you for reading! I apologize if it seems like the story is dragging, it's not, there really is a purpose why these 'normal' events take place. It would make for more interesting reading when the dung hits the fan, because there will be so much more to mess up and complicate :) Did that make sense? It's better like this rather than jumping straight into the pit of screaming horrors right away. With that said, it's only starting out slow because the pace is going to pick up and build up speed later. Think of it as a rollercoaster ;) The excitement and screams will be worth the slow climb.
Anyway, as always, your review gives me a kick up the beeehind to get on with the next chapter!