Chapter 1

“Time to wake up,” her mother cooed sweetly, as if Shauna were five and not sixteen. Shauna’s mother reminded her of a housewife from the 1950’s: hair always perfectly pressed, nails neatly manicured, and white clothing stiff and bleached. Work for Alice, Shauna’s mom, involved cooking and cleaning. There were no such things as briefcases or work portfolios in her vocabulary, unless she was lovingly talking about her husband who was never home.

“Get off me,” Shauna mumbled, turning over in her bed and attempting to push her mother away.

“It’s time for school. Rise and shine,” her mother cheerfully said, completely ignoring Shauna’s protests. Alice walked over to the blinds, flinging them open, causing sunlight to pour into the room.

“Ugh, close them,” Shauna muttered, pulling the covers over her head.

“What would you like for breakfast?” her mother asked, once again, ignoring Shauna’s complaints. Shauna groaned and her mother began to tidy her room. This was how every morning began.

OOO

Ten minutes later, Shauna was throwing herself in the shower, at a pitiful attempt to wake up. It was only one week into the school year, and she was already sick of it. Actually, she was sick of school after the first day, not that it mattered. Over the jetting sound of water pressure, Shauna could already hear her mother vacuuming. Seven-thirty in the morning, she thought, is that a new record? Shauna and Alice are mirrored opposites: Shauna with her cheaply black painted nails and lack of color wardrobe and Alice with her perfect French manicure and array of pastels. Shauna with her shoulder length black, blue striped hair and Alice with her neatly arranged bob that would get her a lead role in a remake of any television show aired in black and white. Shauna with her moody attitude and “life sucks” motto and Alice with her perky “stop and smell the roses” outlook. Yes, they were complete and utter opposites.

Shauna turned off the steamy jet of water, though continued to stand in the shower asking herself, what if I just slipped and cracked my head? She often thought of death, though she would never commit suicide. It wasn’t that she was a manic depressant; she was just exceptionally curious about anything that was unknown. And the dead were probably one of the most unknown things in the world.

“Breakfast will be ready in a couple minutes sweetheart,” her mother told her, opening the bathroom door. Most mothers would scream this from the kitchen or stand outside the door, but not Alice.

“Mom, I’m not dressed! Don’t open the door!” Shauna screamed, even though the shower curtain completely concealed her.

“You don’t have anything I don’t know about,” Alice said sweetly, “now hurry up or you’ll be late again.”

“God forbid I’m late!” Shauna exclaimed sarcastically.

Her mother, deaf to any rudeness, said, “Come on. Hurry up sweetie pie.”

Sweetie pie, Shauna thought to herself, where the hell does she come up with these names? Begrudgingly, she stepped onto the tiles of the bathroom, wrapped towel around herself, and slid out of the already open bathroom door. Her wet feet were warmed by the just-vacuumed carpet as she made her way to her room. Shauna asked herself, who would’ve thought that my mom’s OCD cleaning could be good for something? Dressing in the morning took less than five minutes for Shauna. Unlike most girls, she didn’t care about her outward, or inward, appearance; she chooses her outfit by what is on top of her drawer. It didn’t matter, because most of her clothes looked the same anyways. This morning she ended up wearing black cargo pants, a black t-shirt with some band name sprayed across it in purple, and her worn out converses. She quickly shook out her soaked hair, not bothering to brush it; it never knotted anyways.

In the quiet of the house, she could easily make out her mom’s tapping fingernails on the kitchen counter. This was her mother’s way of expressing impatience. “All right, I’m coming,” Shauna screamed, racing down the steps; maybe she wouldn’t be late today…and maybe two-year olds’ toys would savagely take over the world.

Shauna was barely at the end of the steps when her mother placed a plate in her hand, “Now hurry up,” Alice said, “so we can get going to school.”

Once again, Shauna had missed the bus, so her mom had to drive her. “Why don’t I just eat in the car?” Shauna asked, at least slightly attempting to make it to school on time.

“Because I don’t want a mess,” Alice said. Of course, god forbids a crumb was dropped in her minivan.

“Fine. Whatever,” Shauna answered, dropping into one of the wooden chairs. Shauna began to eat and Alice began to stare at her watch, as if it were a television. “Anything good on?” Shauna asked.

“Stop with your jokes and eat,” Alice said, not lifting her eyes from the glassed timer around her wrist.

“What? Am I being timed?” Shauna asked, wondering how much she could say without getting a lecture. Of course, her mother didn’t call them lectures; she called them conversations in which she was the only one talking.

“Shauna, eat.” Alice said sternly.

“That sounds like a dog command,” Shauna said, standing up, “I’m not really hungry; let’s just go.”

Shauna slung her beat-up, army green colored, book bag onto one of her shoulders and headed for the garage, her mother’s heels clicking behind her, going to clean up the breakfast dish. Her mother’s minivan was the symbol of suburbia life. So, of course, Shauna hated it. Shauna had hoped that she would get a car for her sixteenth birthday, but instead she got, ‘a darling little pearl necklace,’ according to her mother. Maybe I’ll pawn it off, Shauna thought, climbing into the car. She should be driving herself to school, but her mother wouldn’t let her after she caught Shauna skipping for the third time.

A minute later, Alice appeared out of the garage door and made her way to the car, clicking her heels and jingling her keys. “Sit up straight,” she told Shauna, as she buckled her own seatbelt. Shauna ignored her, staying in her reclined position; the only movement she made was putting her feet up on the headboard. If Alice truly was the perfect mother, she would have forced Shauna to listen, but she was only faking the perfect mother thing. So, predictably, she started the engine, and pulled out of the garage.

OOO

Alice rolled up to the school building, dropping Shauna off. She stared longingly at the neatly dressed girls entering the brick building. How she wished that Shauna would take pride in herself. What had she done wrong as a mother? She loved her daughter, but she also despised the disobedience that Shauna carried around with her. When she was younger she dreamed of having the daughter that would match clothes with her and go shopping at the mall with her. Instead, she got Shauna.

OOO

Shauna ambled down the empty school hallways; she was already late, so she might as well take her time. She hated school; it made her feel so confined. And nothing ever changed at schools, no matter which one you went to. The cold floors were always covered in black marks from sneakers and the lockers were always painted some bright color that eventually faded to an ugly brown. The florescent lights were always giving her headaches and the few scattered windows only gave her a false hope of freedom. School was like prison, minus the abundance of bald tattooed guys.

“Late again Miss Lyles?” Mr. Akinson, her Literature teacher, asked. Mr. Akinson was a balding man with wire-rimmed glasses and a decent sized stomach supported by a thick leather belt. His attire was always the same: black pants, white shirt, and a red tie. Most people were pretty sure that he didn’t own any other clothes.

“Apparently so,” Shauna said, making her way to her back row seat. The class was eagerly listening. Even though most of them wouldn’t dare be seen hanging out with Shauna, they still knew her to provide entertainment in the classroom.

“And why are you late?” Mr. Akinson asked.

“Simply so I could repeat this wonderful conversation we have every morning,” Shauna answered in a fake-perky pretense.

The class let out a few snickers, smothering them when Mr. Akinson looked their way. “Well maybe,” he said, “we could continue these ‘wonderful conversations’ in detention tomorrow. What do you think of that Miss Lyles?”

“I think it sucks,” Shauna said bluntly.

The class once again began to laugh, a bit louder this time. Mr. Akinson seemed a bit put-off, wondering what to say next. “Well too bad,” he said, and then realizing he sounded like a toddler, he continued, “I’ll see you tomorrow after school Miss Lyles.”

“Can’t wait,” Shauna answered, annunciating each word. “Though,” she continued, “I must tell you, that I’m known to be late.”

The class burst out laughing, as Shauna settled in her seat. Though she was cool spoken on the outside, she was really wondering what her mom would say when she learned that Shauna landed a detention in the first week of school.

OOO

Morgan tried listening to Mr. Akinson, but it was nearly impossible with Shauna’s continuous snide remarks. Morgan hated Shauna. She didn’t understand the lack of respect that Shauna held for her elders. Why couldn’t she just listen, Morgan asked herself. The other students found Shauna weird, but amusing; Morgan personally hated Shauna. She hated her with all her heart, and sometimes, she didn’t even know why. “All right, attention everyone!” Mr. Akinson screamed, trying to be heard over the rude snickers of the class. “Attention or I won’t let you choose your partners for our new project!” he yelled. This got the classes attention. Once the class quieted, Mr. Akinson continued, “Okay, I lied.” He said, “I’m picking your partners.” The class groaned, but they were now at least semi attentive. “The project will begin next Monday and end the following Friday. You and your partner will be writing a one page editorial on what they think of our school, Piedmont High. The reason I’m giving you a week to write a single page is because I’m sure you and your assigned partner will have plenty of disagreed views to work through,” he said, emphasizing the word ‘assigned’, “Now for the partners. Let’s see…” he mumbled, looking down at his clipboard with the class registration. “Grayler and Thompson; McIssac and Riley; Weiss and Hitchens…” Mr. Akinson continued in a bored voice as Morgan silently pleaded at her desk. Anyone but Shauna, she thought, anyone. “Turner and…” Please not Lyles, Morgan thought, hearing her last name, “and…Lyles.”

OOO

Great, Shauna thought, hearing her new partner. I’m paired up with Miss. Perfecty Perfect. Morgan turned around in her seat, staring hopelessly at Shauna; Shauna rolled her eyes and turned back to the drawing she was creating on her desk. She wasn’t particularly talented at drawing, but she had interesting ideas that made simple cartoon caricatures become quite amusing. At the moment she was drawing an explosion of Mr. Akinson’s stomach, showing all the items he confiscated blasting out of his abdomen. Yo-yo’s, magazines, and hats sprayed out of his innards, along with a dazed looking student. Shauna, smirking to herself, lifted her head upwards to check the time. There was only a minute left of Lit class, which was great, but there were still six hours left of school, which sucked. Maybe I’ll just skip during lunch hour, Shauna thought, but then decided against it, knowing she would be suspended if she skipped one more time.

The bell rang, and Shauna shouldered her bag, heading for her next class. She was taking health in a trailer due to lack of classroom space, so she had to pass the administration office on the way out. And when she passed by the door, something very interesting caught her attention.

There was a boy sprawled out lazily on the administrator’s bench, half sitting and half lying. He was wearing dark denim jeans and a light olive green jacket over a black t-shirt, his brown shaggy hair lying loosely around his head. It would be lying to say that he wasn’t gorgeous, but that wasn’t what caught Shauna’s attention. The boy suddenly pulled up his head, as if knowing he was being watched. His gaze warily searched around until it found Shauna. Usually this would be when Shauna would give a brief smile, turn around, and hurry to her next class, but she simply stood there, feeling confused and astonished. She felt power pouring out from this guy. What kind of power, she didn’t know, but he had plenty of it.

The boy stared at her curiously, as if thinking about an impossibility. His eyes flickered up and down her frame, landing back at her stare. He gave her a questioning look, but Shauna knew he was not questioning why she was staring. She knew he was questioning something else, unfortunately, she was not sure what. And then, a second before understanding, the boy was called into the office, leaving her staring into nothingness.

OOO

His name was Jesse, according to the excited conversation of girls around Shauna. He had transferred from some school up north to Georgia’s suburbia hell. Really, thought Shauna, who would want to the utmost of boringness in Georgia, Piedmont High? Also, according to conversations, everyone agreed that he was some sort of “male goddess.” It would be a lie to say that Jesse wasn’t unbelievably gorgeous, but Shauna knew there was something else. It was that power that she felt surging through him, it was freaky how much strength radiated from him; not muscle strength, though there was probably plenty of that, but something else. Shauna didn’t even know what; she simply knew it was there.

Throughout the rest of the day, Shauna kept a look-out for Jesse, hoping he would be in one of her classes. But all hopes died as she left the building and headed for home. The walk to her house from school was actually extremely short. The only reason she didn’t walk in the morning was because her mom didn’t trust her to actually go to school. Shauna’s mood was lower than usual, after finding out that she shared no classes with Jesse. She was also upset at herself; she had sworn that she never would get hung up on a guy, but here she was, already obsessed with someone that she had never even talked to. It wouldn’t matter anyways, she told herself, he’ll get sworn into the in-crowd and would never want to be seen with me anyways. Yes, he was a shoe-in for the fake plasticy preps at her school, even though his clothes didn’t seem their style, he was still gorgeous, and gorgeous people are always accepted with the popular kids.

Normally, Shauna wouldn’t think twice about the popular kids. She truly didn’t care about them, and most of them left her alone. They were invisible to her and she was invisible to them, except when she made comments in class. Most of her friends didn’t attend her school. Her best friend, Steph, had graduated last year. And the rest of her friends were mostly made up of: drop-outs, older kids, and a bunch of randoms who didn’t live in her school district. The few that did attend her school, barely ever show up for class. Strange as it may seem, Shauna was the good kid in her group of friends.