Abbey's POV

I wasn't ready to wake up when my alarm clock went off the next morning. Waking up at 6 A.M. for school was not ideal, but I had to get there early to pick up my schedule and get a feel for the school.

I lay there for a while, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the day that was to come. Even though this was only my second high school, I still hated changing schools. I already missed my friends back home and the day hadn't even started.

"Abbey," my mother says, coming into the room and sitting down on the bed beside me. "Time to get up, sweetheart."

"Can't I just be home schooled?" I ask.

"No," she chuckles. "I know you don't want to start a new school-"

"You have no idea," I interrupt her.

"But," she continues. "Think of it as an opportunity. You can start fresh, make new friends."

"I don't want new friends."

"Why?"

"Because if all of the girls here let Dusk take over their lives, then I can guarantee you that I'm going to be miserable."

"That was only one girl," my mom assures me.

"Yeah, who's crazy," I say.

"Not all fans of Dusk are crazy," my mom says pointedly.

"You're crazy," I say. "You just don't realize it."

"I am not," she defends.

"Really?" I ask. "No other mother that I know has a poster of Dirk Battison hanging in their closet."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she lies.

"Yeah, sure. I've seen it, you don't have to convince me."

She sighs and gets off of the bed.

"I'll let you get dressed," she says and walks out of the room.

I finally decide to get up and take a shower. The hot steam would help me clear my head.

I head to the bathroom and turn on the faucet. I had to wait a few minutes for the water to heat up.

When it finally did, I got in and started singing like I always did.

"You escape like a runaway train,

Off the tracks and down again.

And my heart's beating like a steamboat,

Tugging all your burdens,

On my shoulders.

And in the mourning,

I'll rise.

In the mourning,

I'll let you die.

In the mourning,

All my worries.

And now there's nothing but time that's wasted,

And words that have no backbone.

And now it seems like the whole world's waiting.

Can you hear the echoes fading?

In the mourning,

I'll rise.

In the mourning,

I'll let you die.

In the mourning,

All my sorries.

And it takes all my strength,

Not to dig you up from the ground in which you lay.

The biggest part of me.

You were the greatest thing,

And now you're just a memory,

To let go of."

I could never get past that last part without crying. It reminded me so much of my dad. He had died about a year ago from a car accident. It seemed just like yesterday.

My parents had gotten a divorce about six months earlier and I had been at my dad's the day that the accident happened. He had dropped me off at my mom's because I had school the next day, and I hadn't gotten my license yet.

He didn't want to come inside because my parents still weren't totally comfortable being around each other just yet because the divorce had become final a week earlier. I watched him drive away with an omnious feeling in my gut. I knew something was wrong.

In the next hour, my mom and I had gotten a call from the police department asking my mom to come and identify a body.

He had been at a stoplight and it turned green, and he went across the intersection, but another car ran a red light and t-boned him in the driver's side. He was killed on impact.

Part of the reason my mom had taken a job in Whitechapel was because of his memory. There were so many memories that they had shared all around our old town, that I think she decided to leave and not deal with the daily reminder of her late ex-husband. I honestly think that she truly still loved him.

I figured that I had spent enough time in the shower, and cut the water off. Wrapping myself in a towel, I get out of the shower and walk towards my room.

"I'm not going to think about my dad anymore today," I told myself.

When I get to my room, I walked over towards my closet, trying to decide what I would wear my first day.

About thirty minutes later, I was on the sidewalk walking towards Whitechapel High.

There were butterflies in my stomach. And I felt like I was going to throw up. I was debating on whether or not to turn around and go back home.

"Don't be a coward," I whispered to myself.

I held my head up high and started walking towards school again.

I was still a little tired, and it felt like the only thing that was keeping me awake was the smell of the coffee I had bought at Lotta Latté.

When I'm almost to school, someone runs into me making me spill my coffee all over my shirt.

"Dude!" I exclaim. "What is your problem?!"

"I am so sorry," the person apologizes. "I didn't see you."

I look at the guy who ran into me. He was kind of short, blond, and had really blue eyes. He was cute, in the a-dork-able kind of way.

"It's fine," I say. "I guess it's good thing I'm wearing black."

"Won't you smell like coffee all day though?" he asks.

"I guess," I answer. "But I'm just glad that the coffee stain won't show."

"I haven't seen you around before," he notes.

"Well, I just moved here," I explain.

"Oh," he says. "Cool. Welcome to Whitechapel. I'm Rory."

"Abbey," I introduce myself.

"Why're you on your way to school so early?"

"How'd you know I was going to school?" I ask, confused.

"Your book bag," Rory explains.

"Oh," I say, feeling like an idiot. "I start at Whitechapel High today, and I needed to get there early so I could get my schedule and find my classes."

"Do you mind if I walk with you?" he asks.

"Not at all. I could use the company."

"How do you like Whitechapel so far?"

"It's okay…" I trail off. I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

"You'll come to love it," Rory promises. "If you want, I could show you around the town."

"That's okay," I assure him. "I think I can find where everything is."

When we get to school, there were already people in the hallways, leaning against the lockers talking or walking around.

Rory shows me where the administrative office is when we get to it.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Rory asks, before I open the door.

"I think I can manage on my own," I say. "Thanks, though." I add when I see Rory's expression sink.

He nods his head and walks away. I felt bad for that, but I didn't need any distractions from boys right now.

Rory's POV

Rory liked Abbey. The first thing he noticed about her was how pretty she was. She was shorter than him with dark brown hair, deep green eyes, almost like emeralds, and a beautiful olive complexion.

When they parted ways at the office, it took all he had not walk away smiling like an idiot. He spotted Ethan and Benny by their lockers and walked over towards them.

"Why're you so happy?" Benny asks.

"I think I'm in love," Rory replies, dazed.

"With Erica?" Ethan asks. "Yeah, so is Benny."

"I am not," Benny, shoots back.

"No," Rory says. "Her name is Abbey, and she's new to town."

"She's not one of Jane's life-sized dolls, is she?" Ethan asks.

"No," Rory explains. "That was only once, and I learned my lesson."

Ethan and Benny look at him with doubtful expressions.

"What? I have," Rory defends. "She's got this long beautiful dark brown hair and emerald-green eyes that I could just get lost in."

"Whoa, buddy," Benny says. "When did you meet her?"

"Like ten minutes ago…" Rory trails off.

"It sounds like you're fickle about love, my friend," Benny says.

"Hey guys," Sarah says coming up to them with Erica. "What's up?"

"Apparently, Rory is in love," Benny explains.

"Really?" Sarah asks. "With who?"

Before Rory could answer, Abbey walks out of the office with her schedule.

Abbey's POV

I walk out of the office with my new schedule and a map of the school. I spot Erica by the lockers with Rory and three other people, two boys and a girl. I start to walk over towards them, and the two boys with Rory are staring at me like they've never seen a girl before.

"Guys," Rory says, when I get over to them. "This is Abbey."

"Hi. I'm, uh, Ethan," blurts out one of the guys. He was average height and had dark brown hair and eyes.

"I'm Benny," a tall guy with wavy brown hair and green eyes introduces himself.

"I'm Sarah," the girl introduces herself. "And this is-"

"Erica," I interject. "We met last night. Her and her mom came to welcome us to the neighborhood."

"That reminds me," says Erica. "I promised I'd show Abbey around the school."

Erica looks at me, signaling for me to follow her when she left.

Rory's POV

Before Erica leaves, she turns around and flashes her fangs at the boys.

"Stay away from my new project," Erica threatens. "I don't need you dorks falling in love with her and messing everything up."

"It's kind of too late for that…" Benny trails off when Erica gives him an evil look.

Erica just rolls her eyes and starts walking towards first period.

"C'mon, Abbey," Erica calls over her shoulder.

Abbey looks over at the remaining members of the group.

"It was nice meeting you," Abbey says, "Maybe I'll see you guys around."

"Abbey!" Erica hollers.

"Coming!" Abbey says, following quickly after Erica.

Ethan looks at Sarah.

"Project?" he asks, confused.

"I have no idea," Sarah sighs.

"No wonder she wanted to blow me off this morning," Rory says.

"Why is that?" Ethan asks.

"She's Erica's new 'friend' and she'll probably be like an Erica clone in the next few weeks," Rory says, glumly.

"I'm Erica's best friend," Sarah says. "And I'm not that much like Erica."

"That's different," Rory say, starting to sulk.

"How?" Benny asks.

"Just forget it," Rory says, and walks off to go sulk by himself.

The thing was, he really liked this girl. There was something different about her, and Rory couldn't figure out what it was that set her apart from the other girls. He had never felt this way about a girl before and he truly believed he was in love with Abbey, and he had just met her.

I don't own the song Abbey was singing. It's In the Mourning by Paramore.