Chapter 1

Jolie

The house is dark. Every single window is covered with a blanket, to keep any UV rays from getting in. Mom has already gone around the house and changed out all the lightbulbs to LED. Yes, I can even get burned from lights, so I have to carry a UV measuring meter with me to see how bad the light is. Anyways, the darkened house looks kind of depressing. I can't wait until we can get our windows tinted.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to school?" Mom asks me as she finishing scribbling down a grocery list.

"Yeah. It's too much work for one semester. I'll be fine homeschooling."

"Okay. When the sun goes down, would you mind going to get this stuff? I want to get a head start on unpacking and tweak my lesson plan again."

"You're just tired of driving." I grin and bump her shoulder with mine. "Sure. I got you."

I make sure I'm covered, including my face shield, before heading into the grocery store. The UV meter says there's too much UV in here, so I get to walk around looking like an astronaut that somehow got lost on the way to outer space. At least it's later at night so fewer to stare at me.

After dropping the groceries at home, I head out to the beach. When I heard that La Push had a beach, I was so excited. It's not quite Florida beaches, but it's good enough. The sand is soft when I kick off my shoes and sink my feet into it.

I walk out to the water's edge, letting it lap against my feet. It's way too cold to go swimming at night, but it's still nice weather. It's crisp, and from what I hear is a rarity here, clear. I can see the stars and I amuse myself for awhile by naming the ones I remember Grandma teaching me before she died. I then pull out my book and begin to read with the assistance of the flashlight on my phone.

By the time I've gotten back home, Mom has folded the blankets covering the winds, so that half the windows are uncovered. She's reading back over her curriculum, making minor tweaks.

"Are you going to go to bed anytime tonight? You start tomorrow and you need to be well rested." I check the time on my phone. "It's almost midnight."

"You know me." Mom laughs nervously before slapping her lesson planner shut. "I'm not sure it's good enough."

"Mom! Stop getting in your own head. You'll do fine. Now go get some sleep."

I've flipped my sleep schedule, so while everyone in the house sleeps, I make myself a lunch of leftover pizza. I eat it as I begin the process of unpacking my books. My room has three bookshelves, and I manage to fill them all. Because I make videos about books, it's pretty much a requirement to buy all the books I can, even when I have nowhere to put them. I made a massive donation to the library before we moved, and I still have to struggle to get all the books in their shelves.

I decide to leave off the last of the packing until tomorrow and curl up with my laptop to get caught up with Game of Thrones. My best friend Danielle and I started watching it before I moved, and I can't be caught slacking. I set my alarm and get lost in the show.

When my alarm goes off a few hours later, I head down to the kitchen and get to work. I can't do crepes, so French toast with all the fixings will have to do. It's Mom's first day and I'm sending her off in style. I make her some coffee, pile it onto a breakfast tray, and head for the stairs.

"A gift for the new French teacher, Ms. King. French toast and coffee in the French press."

"Merci." Mom takes the tray from me and kisses my cheek. "I'm one lucky woman." I jog downstairs to retrieve my own tray, and we eat breakfast together while Mom debates between two different necklaces.

"Mom, just pick one! You'll look great regardless."

"I want to look professional. How does this look?" Mom finally picks a necklace and turns to face me.

"Very teachery. Don't forget your glasses. They're a nice touch."

Before Mom leaves, she goes around the house and double checks that each window is properly covered.

"Don't go out today, and if you do..."

"Wear sunscreen, make sure I'm fully covered, and wear my face shield. Got it."

"Okay. Okay. Am I forgetting anything?"

"Your keys?" I hold them out. "You left them in your room."

"Oops. Thanks, Love. See you tonight."

"See you, Mom."

She doesn't open the door to leave until my bedroom door clicks shut, and there is zero risk of exposure. She's a little neurotic about making sure no UV rays touch my skin. I mean, I am too, but not nearly to the same extent.

She's been like this since I was five, and a family hike turned into an emergency room trip with a burn so severe my eyes were swollen shut. That was about two months before I officially received my diagnosis. Even so, I wasn't allowed outside to play during the afternoons after that.

I check my phone before I fall asleep and see that I've got three missed texts from Danielle. "Is Ms. K freaking out about her outfit?" "You already asleep?" "Helloooo?"

Danielle is chronically impatient. But she's been my bestie since we were in diapers, practically. When we were kids, she used to come over after school to jump on the trampoline Mom had set up in our basement. As we grew older, she came over to watch movies or to shop on Amazon. She always said online shopping was more fun with two. For the record, she's right.

I type back a quick response. "She did have a minor crisis this morning, but we got it figured out. I'm about to go to sleep. TTYL."

A/n: Hi, guys. I'm doing a new thing with my stories. I have posted the first chapters of two others, "From the Heart" and "Stronger Together." The story that gets the most reviews by April 1 will be updated every Monday. The story withs second most reviews will be every other Wednesday. The story with the least reviews will get updated Monday. So leave a review and let me know which story you like best. Thanks.

Lauren.