Sookie's (19 years old) POV:

"This party is going to be soo awesome!" exclaimed Tara, my best friend. Well, she was my only friend. We had grown up together. Tara came from a broken home but she overcame every obstacle that life had thrown her. I guess we had created a bond being the social outcasts in Bon Temps. I didn't have any other female friends, except the fake ones who only wanted to befriend me just to get closer to Jason. After he had grown tired of whatever girl he was seeing at the time, she would go back to treating me like shit. But I didn't care, at least that's what I kept telling myself. Growing up, I was always treated 'special' and not the good kind of special. It was like I had some sort of disease that made everyone stay away from me, especially my fellow peers at school. Most people were afraid of me and didn't know what to make of me. Hearing the thoughts of other people was hard, but I did my best to deal with it. I learned how to manage it. Sometimes it overwhelmed me though.

It was Halloween night and we were getting ready to go to a party outside Shreveport. Tara was still putting on her costume, which consisted of basically black lingerie, a cat tail, and black cat ears. She applied some fake whiskers to her cheeks and her makeup was smoky dark. She looked so fantastic and sexy. I sometimes wished I had the same confidence as she did to dress like that. I was wearing angel wings that I had sewn together and a white long maxi-dress. I kept my wavy blonde hair down and applied a little bit of makeup on my eyes and cheeks.

"Damn, will you broads hurry up!" Jason yelled from downstairs. He was the one who had been invited to this Halloween party and we were just tagging along. Tara made me convince him to take us. I had to promise Jason that I would do his chores for the next two weeks and that included cutting the grass and chopping wood. It was going to be a lot of work on top of my new job that I was going to be starting in a couple days. This party better be worth it.

Tara and I hustled downstairs where Jason and Hoyt were waiting in the living room.

"It's about time," Jason huffed.

"You both look pretty," Hoyt smiled.

"Well thank you Hoyt," Tara replied as she rummaged through her purse for lip gloss.

Just then Gran came into the living room holding her camera. It always seemed to bring her joy to see me and Tara going out to socialize with people our age. She knew the difficulties Tara and I had with people our age.

"Now come on you four, give me a big smile," Gran told us.

We all smiled for the picture to make her happy.

After making sure we had enough gas for the ride there in Jason's old truck and telling us for the twentieth time to be safe and to come back at a decent hour, we were finally on our way.

"So remember, don't be trying to hang around me all night, okay?" Jason said as he drove. "I don't want my little sister and her little friend wrecking my night."

Jason's costume was Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street and Hoyt was, well he was Jason from Friday the 13th.

An hour later we finally reached the house where the party was. We had to park a ways down the road as there were no spots left near the house. The music got louder as we got closer to the house.

It was a split level house and people were making their way around though the back gate. When we got there, there was jack o lanterns along the fence, speakers were in every corner of the backyard. People in costumes were dancing and drinking beer from the keg. There was a table that only had hard liquor and people were taking shots and passing them around.

I opened up my telepathy briefly. I hope I find someone tonight! I better get laid here…. The chicks are hot! I wanna get wasted and forget about the midterms…. I hope someone has weed….

I closed it down again. Yup, just another typical college crowd. I had wanted to go to college after I graduated but it wasn't meant to be. I had a couple part-time jobs after I graduated, but I was going to be starting work at a new bar called Merlotte's. The old bar/grill had been bought by Sam Merlotte who had just recently renovated it. I had done an interview with him just about a week ago. Because of my telepathy, I can usually read anybody's mind easily, but for some odd reason, Sam's brain was fuzzy.

"Let's get our drink on Sookie!" Tara hooted out.

We walked to the keg and were given cups. Right away boys started asking us to dance. I hadn't met any of them and I was kind of glad to be treated normal. Usually no one ever came up and talked to me.

Although the attention was different and nice, it was also a major turn-off as their thoughts assaulted me right away as soon as they began touching me. They didn't care about my mind, they only thought about my boobs, they thought I was just another dumb blonde and they only wanted one thing from me: sex.

Though I was trying to be polite and turn the boys down gently, Tara was doing the opposite. She relished the attention.

"Come on Sookie, let's do our dance!" Tara said excitedly.

I knew which dance she was referring to and it was the one we did for the talent show at school. I tried to say no but she was persistent. When Tara was determined, it was hard to get her to change her mind. So Tara went to the DJ in charge and asked for our song. It wasn't long before we started bumping and grinding in unison. The boys were yelling and hollering during our routine.

At the end of our dance, all the boys were whistling and clapping. The looks on most of the girls' faces were that of disgust and jealousy. I didn't need to be a mind reader to know what they thought about us.

As the night wore on, I was getting tired. I was tired of the crowd and also just exhausted as it was past 1 in the morning. The party didn't look like it was letting up anytime soon. Tara was dancing real close with some guy she met that called himself Eggs. Jason was on a bench drunk and making out with some random chick. Hoyt was standing by the keg still drinking beer and talking with some guys. As for me, I stopped drinking after my second beer. I didn't really like drinking too much and seeing that the people I came here with were drunk, I knew one of us had to be sober enough to drive us home.

"Are y'all ready for some fireworks?!" some guy from the crowd yelled.

Everyone started hollering 'yeah!' and suddenly fireworks lit up the sky.

I watched in awe and smiled up.

It was at this moment I felt a strange sensation. I could feel someone near me. I reached out with my telepathy but it was blank, like a void. I looked to the trees behind the fence and could sense someone there.

I didn't sense any danger so I left through the gate and followed the sensation. The fireworks were still going as I looked for the void.

"Good evening," a cool, male voice said to me from behind.

"Eeek!" I shrieked.

I whipped around quickly and at that moment I forgot how to breathe. Standing about seven feet away from me was the most beautiful man I had ever laid eyes on. He had a handsome chiseled face and long blonde hair. He had the most incredible blue eyes I had ever seen in my life and he was so tall. He was wearing a gray t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He had broad shoulders and muscular arms.

He literally took my breath away.

I suddenly realized I must've looked like a moron with my mouth agape, so I quickly shut it, trying to rein my libido in.

"Hi," I said breathlessly.

He gave me the most incredible smile as he walked toward me slowly.

"I am Eric," he said.

I still couldn't breathe.

"I'm, I'm, Ssssookie," I stammered.

He was standing about two feet away from me now and he just looked at me, like he knew me, even though this was the first time I had ever met him. For some reason I started to feel like I knew him as well.

"I am glad to meet you Sookie," he said softly as he smiled.

I smiled back at him. "I am too, Eric."

"Are you from here?" I asked. I wanted to know more about him. I tried to peek into his mind so I opened up, but nothing came from him. For the first time ever, I couldn't hear him. It was strange but also a nice relief.

"Yes, I live in Shreveport," he replied.

He didn't look much older than me, I'm guessing he was in his late 20s.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"I'm from Bon Temps," I said.

"Are these your friends?" he said as he pointed towards the loud party that was still happening behind the fence. The light from the Jack O'Lanterns were shining on us.

"No," I smiled. "I have never met any of them till tonight. I came here with my brother and his friend and my best friend Tara."

"Are you here for the party?" I asked stupidly. Of course he was, why else would he be roaming around? He probably has a girlfriend here already. No guy that looked like him would be single, I thought to myself.

He didn't reply but just smiled at me and took my hands. His hands were cold, but at the same time warm. I could feel the tingling sensation as we touched. The sensation caused me to gasp. Even though I couldn't hear his thoughts, I knew he felt it too.

"Min alskare", he whispered.

He started to lean in closer to me and I knew what he was going to do. He kept eye contact with me to make sure I approved. And boy, I sure did. I was dying for him to kiss me.

When he finally touched my lips with his, it was mesmerizing. I didn't have a lot of experience with kissing guys. I had only kissed just two other guys beforehand, but this man was an incredible kisser. It felt like we were the only two people on the planet. I could no longer hear the party music and the drunk college kids. He moved his tongue against mine gently and his hands glided across my back in a soothing motion. I could feel his hard muscles as my hands went up his arms. I don't know how long we made out for, but I didn't want it to end.

We finally broke off our kiss. I was panting as we kept our foreheads together. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of his arms around me.

He continued to whisper in a different language. Was he really from around here? It was then I realized he had a different accent as well.

"Are you really from Shreveport?" I asked, still trying to catch my breath.

"I live in Shreveport, but I come from Sweden," he replied.

"Oh," I smiled.

He kissed me again. I could feel my hoochie responding and it wanted him, like really bad. I was still a virgin though. When you could hear the thoughts of the other boys, it was hard to find a decent boyfriend to take that important step with.

"Sookie!" I could hear a faint voice yelling my name.

It was Jason. I could tell from his voice that he was really drunk.

"You must go," Eric said to me.

"Yeah," I lamented. I just finally met the guy of my dreams and now I had to leave him.

Usually when Jason got really drunk, he was looking to fight someone. I wished he didn't drink so much. He usually got involved in drunken brawls.

"Did you want my number?" I asked. I think I may have sounded a little bit desperate.

"Don't worry, I will reach you," he responded.

"What's your last name?" I smiled. "I don't even know your full name."

"Northman, my name is Eric Northman."

"I'm Sookie Stackhouse," I said to him. "It was great meeting you. I hope we can see each other again."

"We will see each other again soon without a doubt," he smiled.

I turned back to yell at Jason "I'll be there!"

After I turned back to face Eric, he was gone.

I was a bit startled that he was gone and the sadness started to kick in.

I looked around a bit more and reached out with my telepathy. I couldn't sense the void space anymore.

Did I hallucinate Eric?

I smelt my hands and touched my skin. Nope, I can still smell him on my skin, I thought to myself.

I closed my eyes and replayed our brief encounter in my mind. I knew that he meant what he said, that we were going to see each other again.

I cannot wait, I smiled to myself as I walked back to the party to find my brother and our friends.

A/N: So I decided to do a couple flashback chapters before coming back to the present day. I was going to just jump right into the present but I thought it'd be nice to have some background on Sookie's new future.