PROLOGUE

"Ugh! not so roughly. It's still attached to my scalp," I growled trying to keep my head still as my mother ran a brush through my unruly hair.

"You know, Crystal, if you didn't want it tangled you should at least take care of it," she said locking eyes with me through the mirror.

When I noticed her look turn into a smile, I crossed my hands over my chest with a permanent scowl imprinted on my face in retaliation and I got a soft chuckle and a pat on my right shoulder. Her way of asking me to cool it.

" Just stay still, I'm almost done," she assured as she took a comb from my dresser top and ran it through my ends. This time, a little more gently.

" Please hurry, will you? I don't want to be late to school on a Monday," I responded already considering a hat or cap instead.

I looked down at my watch and it read 8:15.A.M. "Shit! I only have fifteen minutes to get to school. Mom, let go!" I said pulling away from her to grab my; backpack, coat, and a baseball cap that hang behind my bedroom door.

I threw my hair into a messy ponytail then wore a cap over it. I then slide into my coat and threw my bag over my shoulder, completely zoning out my mother's comments on my foul language.

I almost toppled over and fell as I raced down the flight of stairs that appeared longer every time I was in a hurry. With my mother right behind me.

I breezed in and out of the kitchen grabbing an apple and a granola bar. I sprinted to the front door sparing my mother a glance and wave before I slammed the front door shut behind me.

When I reached my car, my phone was blaring with back to back calls from kids who needed me to hand them their assignments before class. I tossed my things in the back seat and slid into the driver's seat backing out of the driveway and onto the road in one fluid motion, changed gears, and sped off to school.

Five minutes later, I was rushing through the doors of my school only to find the halls empty. No surprise there. I mean, what did I expect? For everyone else to be late just because I was? I dashed over to my locker and put in the combination but my locker wouldn't budge.

"This is great, this is just so fucking great!" I cussed letting my leg collide painfully with the metal that was my locker's door, "ouch!" I cried in pain and resentment as my locker flew open in turn.

"Don't tell me you didn't expect that to hurt," a deep voice said from behind me as I shoved my books into my bag and then turned around to meet the intruder.

There he stood, Ethan Grants, in all his greek god glory. He never really talked to a lot of people but that didn't mean masses of people, boys, and girls alike didn't flock around him in hopes that he'd spare them even a glance. I, Crystal, who was used to lurking in the shadow's corners found myself staring at him, wide-eyed and he smiled in the most cunning of ways.