Chapter 1

Winking at the woman standing opposite him, the two moved quickly to the front of the lines at the bank. As they both pulled out guns, they all brought up their hands, and at the command, sunk to the floor. The terrified women behind the counter trembled and shook and one had tears and mascara running down her cheeks.

“Open the drawers and give me the money,” the woman with the gun demanded. All of the women did as they were told under the threat of the guns in the robbers’ hands.

The man commanded the women to give him the keys to the safes and while the woman stood making sure everything stayed in order in the main room of the bank the male thief took everything of worth he could find. Thirty seconds later, the two experienced burglars deftly made their way out the glass doors of the store, into their cars, and sped off, far ahead of the police that came two minutes after they were out of sight The robbers, however, did not know that the woman on the far right behind the counter had recognized both their faces.

So here I am again, shopping with Audrey in the mall. As I trail behind her, examining the advertisements for TV shows, makeup, clothes, and food, among other things covering every inch of wall outside the shops, I notice the turn of heads. Of course, their eyes, especially the men’s, were on my beautiful model sister, Audrey. Not me. Not only was her face beautiful, but also her body. Hip-hugger low-rider jeans with flares at the bottom, tight blue shirt that clung to her every curve and hung low at the chest. She had great blond hair (I lot like mine, except without the ‘great’) that was layered and styled professionally and tapered perfectly to frame her face. Her amazing blue eyes shone out from behind blue-tinted eyelids (matching her shirt) and long, black eyelashes, curved perfectly. Her hips swung girlishly as she walked with confidence. She was the envy of every woman and girl, including me.

I brought my gaze from the perfume advertisement nearest me. I felt like we were walking down the runway, and Audrey acted like it. She flashed a rather good-looking guy on the ‘sidelines’ one of her heart-stopping smiles, and I half expected the man to follow her on all fours. She stopped in front of Bath and Body, glanced to the side at me, her usual, to see if I wanted to visit this one. I was already testing the cucumber melon lotion to my left. She smiled and started for the black raspberry vanilla. Audrey always bought a bottle of it when she came: it was her favorite, but not her only regular smell. She only wore it on Mondays, Wednesdays, for photo shoots, and for church and youth group on Sundays. Not that I hadn’t gone through a few bottles of it myself.

When the two of us finally came out, we smelled like every tester in the store. Warm vanilla sugar, black raspberry vanilla (of course), kiwi watermelon, and only God knows what else. I personally have always wished they would make an ‘everything at Bath and Body’ perfume mix. I would go for it, even if it did cost a fortune. It was our routine to stop at Bath and Body before going on to all the other shops: in order to smell good. There was Audrey’s way of attracting attention from everybody within sight, or there was the Bath and Body way. Today, Audrey was using both.

By the time we came out of the mall, twenty men were following us (figuratively speaking), ten women had asked what perfume we were wearing, and we each carried at least five bags full of clothes, jewelry, perfume, hair things, the latest curling irons, and whatever else we stumbled upon and decided to buy. After all, I’d been saving up my babysitting and job earnings for quite a long time, and Audrey had just gotten her paycheck. Which, by the way, was worth a lot more than mine. That always called for a sister mall trip. I’m sure everybody there was delighted.

Audrey checked her watch. We’ve had an hour left to hit Wendy’s, and Audrey was in the mood for a salad. This was, of course, what she had all two meals of the day, with miniature salads in between. I don’t think she had a choice whether or not she wanted a salad, but it was because of her modeling career that she had to make herself want a salad. Don’t ask me how she does it, but if I were in her position, I would pretend I’m eating a nice juicy steak. It wouldn’t satisfy anything, but at least I would get the meal over with.

---

I had just blow-dried my run-away shoulder blade-length blond hair. Now, with the hair straighteners and new curling irons on hand and on the highest setting possible, I was trying to tame it. Audrey was at the other mirror, all dressed and hair wet. She’d have professionals at the photo shoot to do her hair and makeup, of course. Not that she didn’t look magnificent already, but modeling was the first thing she did in the mornings (a few hours of having people snapping pictures of her) before she went to school in the afternoons. She was a sophomore in college, and getting better at modeling by the semester. The class she was taking included who knows what along with lessons for more advanced modeling skills: as in, how to look even sexier while on the runway, how to walk in high heels and impossible dresses while attracting men at the same time, and how to pose perfectly for the cameras. Also, it taught, apparently, how to smile without flaw for hours at a time without flinching. The course was intended for young models already starting their modeling career, going only for a few hours on weekdays and leaving mornings and nights free for photo shoots or dates or who knows what else.

Finally, my hair was tamed, after a half hour of working. I could swear I was sweating. And then, of course, I’d have to spend another half hour working on scouring my teeth, putting on mascara without flinching and smearing, and putting on cover up without having lines of it on my cheeks. This meant blending it perfectly: what a job. Well, I won’t bore you with the details. I’ll just skip right to the more interesting parts. In fact, putting on makeup never was my favorite activity in the morning, though it certainly beat working on my hair by a long shot.

Anyway, I grabbed a granola bar and a Styrofoam cup of coffee with a couple gallons of sugar and creamer on my way out, and sat in the car waiting for it to warm up. My mother came back from her jog just as I was exiting the yard. She waved to me and I waved back with my pinky, since one hand was on the steering wheel and holding my granola bar at the same time and the one I was attempting to wave with held my coffee.

We live on a farm. Yes, I’m technically a farm girl, and yes, my dad does grow various green plants in mass quantities. Plus, in probably another year, a farm girl I will be no more. The housing developments about a fourth of a mile away are creeping up on our house. We have a large yard (all the more to mow), a large house (all the more to clean), and a huge driveway (all the more to sweep). We also have a few miles out toward the south and west. There are paths all around those hills for farming, but we use them for jogging. Audrey doesn’t: she uses the treadmill at her fitness trainer’s place and eats salads. Did I mention that her fitness trainer is also her boyfriend? Frederic… a rich (also said to be hot) guy in his twenties that probably has numerous girlfriends that are models that train with him (though I never tell my sister these presumptions). He has a mansion of a house, about fifty of the hundred rooms in it containing treadmills, weight machines, and whatever else he needs to get lots of hot model chicks to come lose weight with him.

So I’m driving down our dirt road, full of muddy, snowy slosh from the snow that happened yesterday. It was the beginning of March; probably one of the last snows of the winter, at least the last ones with snowflakes that stuck. In fact, the sun was bright overhead and I slipped on my sunglasses. This snow wouldn’t last till lunch break. My cell phone’s ringer tone played, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…”

I looked at the ID. Audrey? ‘Hel-lo?”

“Hey, Autumn?”

“Yeah?”

“Didn’t sound like you. You’re just about out of school, right?”

“As in graduating? Yeah.”

“Well, I just found an awesome job for you.”

“I’m not interesting in modeling, Audrey.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Your specialty is Italian food, and there’s this small town only a fifteen minutes’ drive from where we found our apartment, and they have a pizza place there. Apparently they get a ton of business since it’s the only nice restaurant in town, and one of the residents’ major food groups is considered pizza. It pays well, so you wouldn’t need to take so many other jobs like you were planning, and it will be close to where we’ll live.”

Italian food! “The classes I’m taking right now are not required. I’d like to check this out. Thanks, Audrey!”

“Hey, meet me after school. Bring Michael, we’ll stop at Fazoli’s or something and catch a movie, and on the way back we’ll ‘check it out’. Deal?”

“Sounds good. Get a break from your posing for cameras to call me or something?”

“No, I was just talking to Frederic, and I just so happened to mention that you made delicious Italian food, and he told me of the place. Well, I’ve probably got to get back to work. Good luck!”

“For what?”

“High school… modeling is a lot easier than high school.”

I laughed. “Thanks, Audrey. Talk to you this afternoon.”

“All right. Later.”

“Later.”

---

I arrived at the high school. Grabbing my backpack, I got out of my car and jogged up to the glass doors. “Good morning. You’re early.”

“I came to see Mrs. Finsbury.”

“I’ll tell her you’re on your way down,” said the school secretary, Tina, who is a good friend of Audrey’s.

“Thanks.” I took the stairs two at a time, then turned right into the hallway. I knocked on Mrs. Finsbury’s door.

“Come in, Autumn,” Mrs. Finsbury the principal said cheerfully, probably the result of the Starbuck’s Coffee sitting on her desk. It looked to be about almost gone. “How are you this morning?”

“Good! You?”

“Awesome,” the smiling Mrs. Finsbury said. “Why did you come early?”

“I’ve taken all my classes. I’m just taking some of the college prep classes that I didn’t take last trimester, but they aren’t required, and neither are the other classes I’m taking this trimester. So, I’m looking at a few jobs, one is out of town and I won’t be able to make it to school if I take it…”

“Are you sure you want to take it? You’re the editor of the school newspaper and secretary of the student council. You’re also president of the art and science clubs. We won’t be able to spare you easily, though if you really want the job and you won’t be able to get it unless you take it now, I suppose we could manage,” Mrs. Finsbury sighed.

“Well, actually, when I came early this morning I was just planning on taking a few jobs around town to keep me busy, plus do some volunteering. My sister will be graduating from college in a little while and will be doing more serious modeling, and we’re planning on moving in together in an apartment place where some of her modeling friends also live. I’ll need money to pay the rent, and I’m still saving up for college. But my sister found this good job that pays well, and it’s nearer our apartment than the places in town…”

“All right, I get the picture. You’ll need to take the job as soon as you can. I’m sure there are people willing to take your jobs for the remainder of the year,” smiled Mrs. Finsbury. “I might be lettering you go, but no one said I want to.”

I laughed. “I don’t think you’ll miss me that much.”

“Get out of here,” Mrs. Finsbury growled playfully. She was always a nice principal, and I’d had some horrible ones in the past… she’d be sad to not see her every day, but it would be great not to see the homework every day!

“I might check out my schedule and volunteer to help out the teachers or something,” I smiled. “And you’ll need to talk to my parents about everything. I wasn’t even sure that I could graduate early until my sister and I spoke of our plans and my parents actually suggested I graduate early.”

“Sure. Another thing added to my long list of to-dos.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Mrs. Finsbury.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

I stepped out of her office and set off to my locker to find Michael and Kathryn and to get my stuff. I was sliding my books into my backpack to get back to the teachers when an arm slid around my waist. I knew it was Michael, and it sent shivers up my spine: what Kathryn and I always described as good shivers.

“Didn’t you just clean out your locker a few days ago?” he asked in my ear.

I laughed. “This time it’s permanently empty.”

Michael let me go, and I turned to him. He had a frown on his face. My smile faded.

“You’re graduating early?” asked Michael.

It was my turn to frown. “I told you I was going to.”

“It’s a big thing to graduate early. I didn’t take you seriously.”

“That’s your own fault,” I tried to smile as I explained. “Audrey found this well-paying job at a pizza place just a little while away from where our apartment’s going to be. I’ll probably just need that to pay for my apartment and only a little more for college because I’ve got enough money in my college account. That means that we’ll be able to move into the apartment earlier!”

“That’s great!” Apparently he was trying to act cheerful, too. Well, I didn’t buy the façade.

“You know, I don’t know why you’re so sad. I’ll have way more freedom with my sister than with my parents. You can come see me any time, plus I’m not moving for a month or so anyway,” I reasoned. Why was I always worrying so much about him? I was the one making the major move here.

“I know. I’m sorry. I should be happy for you,” Michael said. He kissed my cheek. I moved away on impulse. “Forgive me?”

“Of course.” He was too good and smooth at making apologies. You just had to forgive him. What was wrong about that? But he was so good-looking…

It had always been a habit of mine, going off about Michael. I mean you couldn’t help but obsess over his hazel eyes, dirty-blond hair, perfectly straight teeth, and killer smile. Why he chose me, no one will ever know. Including me. He always said it was because of my personality, or maybe it looked good to the teachers, having a smart girlfriend. I didn’t look that bad, but then again I did work on myself in the mornings for a long time. I deserved a hot boyfriend. All those gorgeous cheerleader girls probably didn’t have to do much to make themselves desirable…

Anyway, I finished plunking my math and science books into my backpack, and I slung it over my shoulder. “How come you’re here early?”

“Called your house and your mom said you left early. So I came to see what you were up to.”

“How am I getting the impression I’m being stalked?” I teased, trying to erase the frown off of my forehead. Why did he care so much where I was? It wasn’t as if I needed a babysitter.

He smiled. Kathryn approached. My parents used to say we have super powers because we could communicate without talking. Just one pointed look and one knew what the other was thinking. I guess that’s understandable, considering we’ve known each other since third grade. The minute she was with us, she knew.

“You’re finally graduating early?” she asked. I’m graduating earlier than you, and you’re saying finallyI thought. Ha-ha.

I smiled. “Your reaction was quite different from Michael’s. He looked like he was going to tie me up and never let me go.”

“I expect you’ll reserve all your free time for us?”

“That’s a given.”

We smiled. Michael was standing there with one eyebrow raised. I didn’t want to frown but could feel the muscles on my forehead tensing as he looked at me that way. That was how I always thought of that look he gave me, the one that said something I couldn’t understand. It was a mixture between confusion, affection, and desire, as far as I could distinguish. He moved toward me and slid his arm around my waist again. It was obvious that Desire had won the war waging in his eyes. The next time it was victorious, I would have to take serious action…

“I’ve got to go give all my books back to my teachers,” I said, and as I slipped out of his grip and speed-walked away, I shouted over my shoulder, “My house, lunch!”

“Pizza!” Kathryn shouted back

I spun and gave her thumbs up. Secretly, I smiled; I knew that Michael would think it meant him too. It didn’t.