CHAPTER ONE

She was sitting on the beach; her toes were placed in the perfect place. The water would splash just before the water and sand met, pushing up the water so that it wet her toes and the front of her feet. The full moon shone, leaving its bright picture on the surface of the moving waves.

She looked back at the party a few houses down, there was a fire in the middle while kids sat around and talked, gossiping, and all the other wonderful stuff teenagers did. She wondered why once again she wasn’t invited to a party when she was home. When she couldn’t come up with a reason her thoughts changed course.

She never expected to be invited to parties. Why should she? But it was different when your best friend was the one throwing it. You were supposed to be invited, but when you're not…she sighed and stood up. Boarding school was to start in a few days any way. She wouldn’t see Olivia again till summer. Maybe then the girl would pay attention to her best friend.

Jamie stood up, the water hitting her feet one last time. She brushed the sand off her bottom and the backs of her legs before tuning and walking back to the three story house she was almost embarrassed to say she lived in. It was a modern house, with a few older features and a beautifully painted beige outside that complimented the make of the house perfectly.

Her parents made lots of money. Her mother had been a model and sometimes still was. While her father was a surgeon who inherited a fair amount of money from his father, who died of liver failure caused by chronic alcohol poisoning.

Half way up the beach she came to a sudden stop as she was surrounded by the different buildings that made up Hailsworth Academy, founded by Jim Hailsworth. The buildings were all a lighter beige then her house, more like a khaki color. She was near the back of the school where the dorm rooms were placed. If she turned around she knew she’d see the same monotonous beige hue along with a small blue line of paint at the foot of the cafeteria.

She quickly looked around, trying to find out how she’d gotten to school. The sun shined and she wondered how, from the walk from home to school, the sun had so suddenly appeared. Time didn’t seem to be agreeing with her subconscious. She noticed kids running past her from all over campus. Some of them held their books close to their chests and followed the ones that were screaming and pointing to the courtyard. “There’s a fight! Come on!”

She looked around; normally she wasn’t the type to run toward fights. But with the amount of kids running she was tempted. She walked toward the filling courtyard.

As of now, the school was one that harbored both girls and boys. The courtyard served many purposes: Initially it was just a hang-out and outdoor study hall, but that was when the school was for girls only. Now it took on more roles, as a way to separate the dorms, boys on one side girls on the other. It was also a date spot after curfew and where rumors were spread in the morning before classes began.

As in most high schools there were the unofficial cliques. There were the Jocks, Nerds, Preps and Populars--as most of them befriended each other causing them to be one singular group--and then, last but not least, there were the Peeps. The Peeps never spoke at all, hence their name.

The cliques were not really known per se, though they were formed readily. They all sat together in the cafeteria and traveled in flocks about the campus.

The Jocks were basically the male “Populars” and sat with both the Preps and Populars or with each other.

Most of the Nerds sat with Peeps, or they were a Peep themselves. The main difference between them was that Peeps not only kept to themselves but also received bad grades. Instead of A’s they usually received D’s with the occasional B.

Jamie and her friends weren’t anywhere near the cliques. They were, if they needed to be given a name, the Anybodies.

When she started the school in ninth grade she’d been a Popular. When summer came and went, returning back to school hadn’t been all the same. Instead she kept her close friends and also made new ones. Her new group of friends were like her, having friends all over school. She was friends with at least one person in every clique. Though, just because they were her friend didn’t make them an Anybody. She was outgoing and popular by the amount of friends she had, not by the amount of money she had--which no one realized--and she could sit at any table and be welcomed.

Unfortunately the last time she checked there was still a week of winter vacation.

She stopped when she was suddenly in the front row of people watching the fight. Two boys threw punches at each other. One was tall with shaggy blond hair while the other was about an inch or two taller with wavy locks of brown.

The guy next to her was screaming at the blond one, “Hit him square in the jaw Josh!” And Josh did, heeding the thrown advice.

A boy a few people down was screaming at the brown haired one. “Hit him in the gut Brendan! Make him pay!”

Obviously Josh had done something to piss off Brendan, thus instituting the brawl.

But then all of Jamie’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt. Brendan? Wait...since when did he go to this school?

Just as she could see blood was about to be split, she heard a teacher pushing past students breaking them up, screaming at them to head to their classes. The teacher got to Jamie and walked right through her, literally. Feeling shocked and misted, she suddenly looked down to study her outfit. She was wearing the same things she had on the beach. A low-riding red tank-top and a pair of light jean shorts.

As she looked up the scene in front of her eyes flickered before she was back home, with a week of winter vacation left. She was back on the beach, the sound of the waves hitting the beach behind her. She looked around then rubbed her eyes. She was still standing in the same spot half way up the beach as before. She ran her fingers through her hair and quickly tried thinking of an excuse for what just happened.

Was she going insane? No, she was perfectly sane. Maybe it was just her imagination; it did have a tendency to go wild every now and then. But it was so real…she stopped the thought and just figured that it was a day dream. Maybe. It could have been anything really. She shook her head; day dream. She began walking back up the beach to the house she called home...when she was there at least.

****

The sun shone brightly through the slightly opened curtains. Jamie groaned and rolled over in her bed so that the sun was to her back.

“Morning!” she heard the familiar, perky voice say as she was just about to drift back to sleep.

She looked at her best friend through tired vision and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Olivia was pretty, she had auburn colored hair and beautiful light hazel eyes, thin lips and an almost completely round face. Olivia was a thin girl that was often concerned about the shape of her body and had shared the concern with Jamie multiple times. Always comparing her friend’s slight curves to her own subtle ones.

“I can’t believe you’ve been here a week and haven’t come over?”

Jamie sighed, “Well, I keep calling, but your phone is always off.”

“Yeah,” she shifted uncomfortably “I kind of only checked my messages this morning.”

Figures, she rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised.”

Olivia just smiled.

“What time is it?”

“Um, nine? I don’t know. But since I missed you being here for an entire week I’m taking you shopping. You’ve got to stun them when you go back.”

This brought a smile to Jamie’s face. “Then what are we waiting for? I’ll get dressed and you’ll get out of here for five minutes.”

“Yes madam!” She saluted her and walked out of the room.

Jamie climbed out of bed and went to her dresser. She pulled out a pair of dark-blue skinny jeans and a gray Aeropostle v-neck shirt.

She rapidly threw them on, along with a pair of platform flip-flops. Quickly she brushed her hair and drew it back into a high pony-tail. Jamie then applied a little bit of mango flavored lip butter before throwing it in her purse and walking out to the hall where Olivia was waiting patiently.

****

The two girls walked out of the mall with an abundance of bags in their hands. They laughed as they chatted and caught up. Olivia told Jamie about the three different relationships she’d been in since Jamie was last home. But when her turn came to speak there wasn’t much to say.

As they reached Olivia’s red convertible she was talking about Jamie’s old friends. How Patrick was dating Hannah, and how this person was dating that one. Jamie paid little attention to the couples, wanting to brag to her friend that she had been correct before she left, on every single couple.

“--and Brendan is still single. No one knows why though. Hey, you know he’s being transferred to your school after winter break.”

Paying attention again she looked at her and blinked twice, allowing the information to sink in. “When did this happen?”

“I don’t know. I just found out yesterday.” Olivia buckled her seat belt and started the car.

“Really? As I recall you don’t hang out with ‘Brendan’s type.’”

“Well...” she paused.

“I know about the party yesterday.”

Olivia turned around and backed out of the parking spot. She avoided looking into Jamie’s eyes, especially when they were on the road. “How?” she finally asked.

“I was on the beach last night.”

“I’m sorry. Like I said, I didn’t know you were here till this morning...”

Suddenly in a dreamlike haze the road disappeared and it was twilight. Jamie sat in the back of a black Camaro. The windshield was shattered, but through the hole she could see that the couple sitting in the front seats had hit a tree. Both the boy and girl were unconscious.

She stood up and went right through the roof. Her waist down was still in the car while waist up was outside. Remembering what had eerily happened with the teacher last time this happened she walked through the car to the front and inspected the damage.

There was nothing that could be done to fix it. The car was destroyed. She turned around to look at the couple. The girl had a mess of wavy brunette hair that covered her face. Blood added color to the blond highlights in the locks. The boy also had wavy brown hair and blood dripping down the side of his face from a deep cut. The window next to him was shattered, and probably the reason for the gash.

The girl moaned and Jamie returned her attention to her. The girl tossed her head up but grabbed it suddenly with a grimacing, definite look of regret.

Instantly Jamie knew the girl’s face. It was her own. Jamie stopped breathing and her eyes grew wide. She watched herself take her hands from her head and look at the blood on them and gasp as she looked around.

“Jamie!? Jamie!”

The car accident vanished. She blinked at her friend who was too close to her face.

“What the—!” She cut herself off and pushed Olivia off.

“What just happened?”

Olivia emitted an exasperated sigh. “You just totally spaced out with this blank look on your face. Am I too boring for you?”

Jamie sighed. “No.”

“Then don’t space out on me.”

I didn’t space out, She thought. But...What the heck just happened?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*`

Author’s note: Hi, I wanted to try something different, so I just sat down and began writing. I don't know how good it is though.

Anyway, so review! Please. It gets me to write faster.

Just a quick Shout-out to my beta reader Writing Outside the Lines. Thanks for being so quick!

Stacy!!! :)