Chapter : 1

Chapter : 1

The moon hangs like an orb in the evening sky which gradually changes from a lighter to a deeper blue. A cold breeze blows through my hair as I lean out the open window looking at the dense woods surrounding the house. A wolf howls in the distance and it sends a shiver down my spine.

"I'm back" shouts Stacy, making me jump as she enters her room. I turn my gaze away from the window to her. She holds up two dress bags in her hand. Stacy invited me over to her house to get ready for prom together. It was my last minute decision to go to prom after my date asked me. Stacy  said she wanted us to get ready together like how best friends do. I agreed, partly because I never had a best friend like Stacy, and I wanted to share this experience with her. Also  if I said no, I had a feeling Stacy would kill me.

"I'm so excited!" Stacy says grinning "Tonight is going to be the best night of our lives". She dramatically falls onto her bed, facing the ceiling, her blond hair forming a halo around her head. Exited is an understatement, for the way she has been acting.

"Yeah, me too" I say giddly, flopping down beside her.

" Do you think Derek will finally kiss me today ?" She asks out of the blue, face still toward the ceiling.

Ever since Stacy moved here, she has had a crush on the so-called    'hottest guy in school'. Derek's the perfect dream boy - golden hair, gray blue eyes, dazzling smile, six feet tall, broad shouldered,  captain of the boys soccer team. . . . . . it goes on and Stacy is just the girl for him - pretty, platinum blond hair, sea blue eyes, cheerleader, angelic smile, most popular girl, and practically the girl every guy wants.

 Though Derek was easy going and confident with most girls at school, he was surprisingly a bit nervous when it came to making a move on Stacy. But thankfully he managed the courage  to ask her to prom.

"maybe" I nudge her and grinn. "He definitely won't be able to keep his hands off you after he sees the gorgeous dress you're going to be in'' I add with a giggle and she giggles in response, her cheeks  turning pink at what I said.

" Right ! we got to get dressed, we've only got three more hours, not a second can be wasted! Chop,chop, chop!" she says sitting up so fast that her silver hair flies behind her then it comes crashing around her neck. 

I roll my eyes at her "won't three hours be more than enough?" I ask. "NO" she gets off the bed and grabs my arms, pulling them  to get me to sit up with a groan. "After we dress we still have to get our makeup on, do our hair, pick our shoes, . . . ." I groan again as she continues and flop back onto the bed only for Stacy to pull me back up again

Three hours later we are all dressed up and ready. Stacy did my make and hair ( mostly because she said I had absolutely no experience in this field ). She enjoyed it anyway. 

Stacy is in a midnight blue floor length dress littered with small white stones on the net below her neck and the folds below her waist, like a replica of the starry night sky. "You're definitely getting that kiss" I grin at her and she grins back giggling a little, too excited to speak.

I look at myself in the mirror. The deep red of my floor length dress goes perfectly with my olive toned skin. Stacy had tamed my shoulder length brown hair into a neat wavy curtain around my neck.

I grab the polaroid camera from inside my bag " let's take a pic " I say and stand next to Stacy. I hold the camera up in front of us and we grin at it. There is a flash and a second later a Polaroid  pops out from the top of the camera. I take it and hold it out for me and Stacy to see as smudgy colors slowly start to develop on the blank film.  

We take a few more pictures with different poses, make weird faces and then lose ourselves into a fit and giggles and snorts at the outcome before Stacy's phone rings 'what makes you beautiful by one direction "one sec" she says holding up a finger before she grabs her phone and answers the call. I put the camera back in my bag and go over the polaroids we just took while I wait for Stacy to finish her call. She seems a bit frustrated at whatever she's hearing. " OK, I'll be there in five" she groans before hanging up.

"Something wrong?" I ask looking up from the polaroids and she nods "family meeting".

"Oh, like right now? "

" Yeah, but don't worry I'll be back in five or ten minutes " she says making her way to the door. "What time does the limo get here?" 

I look at my phone "about half an hour, it should be picking up Spencer and Derek right now".

" Right, just make yourself at home, I'll be back as soon as possible" she says, giving me an apologetic smile before shutting the door.

A family meeting right before we are about to leave for prom ? I know - it's weird right. But everything is usually weird about Stacy and her family.

Laying back on her bed staring at the baby pink ceiling I remember back to when I first met Stacy at the start of senior year. She had walked up to me while I was rummaging in my locker for my books for the first class, and said "hi, do you know where room 301 is ? It's my first day here and I don't know my way around"

I was surprised that she approached me but I replied nonetheless "yeah, I'm heading there right now"

"Cool! I'm Stacy Jensen by the way," she said, sticking out her hand.

"Ava Hanighan" I replied, shaking it.

" By the way " she said as we headed to class "is there anything different about you" she looked at me expectantly, as if she already had an answer in mind . "No, I don't think so," I said, uncertain. I frowned, taken aback by her question. What did she mean by that anyway ? And who asks that to a person they just met? It was a weird question. Little did I know that was the start of a friendship I would come to cherish very much. 

"oh" she said, sounding  just a bit disappointed "guess you just smell funny then" she muttered so softly that I'm pretty sure it was not intended for me to hear. But I heard it anyway because - I guess that is something different about me - I have a really keen sense of sound, sight and smell. A little better than average if you ask me.

Anyway I heard her comment and was more confused than offended. I had showered that morning and I always brushed my teeth twice a day,even thrice if I ate something that left a strong after taste in my mouth. Why would I smell funny ? I took a whiff of the shirt I was wearing but it smelt mildly like the perfume I always wear - lavender.

But the same thing that happened with Stacy kind of happened in chemistry class as well.

I was in my usual seat at the back of the class when this really cute guy walked in. Tall, lean but broad shouldered, Coffee Brown hair, caramel eyes and a cute smile. Fortunately, the seat next to mine was the only empty one so he sat there.

I smiled at him politely. "Hey, I'm Seth Jensen" he said smiling back, making my breath hitch. 

"I'm Ava Hanighan, are you Stacy's brother ?" I asked, recognizing his last name.

"Cousin," he replied. I just nodded, too entranced by him. I looked away and started to doodle on my book, just so I had something to do.

"You smell strange" he blurted out and my head snapped up to him. Then he realized how weird that must have sounded, because his cheeks changed color and his eyes widened in shock.

" No- I- Not that- I-I- I didn't mean strange - I-I meant different t-than others - in a good way of course - but definitely not strange -" I actually didn't care about what he was saying because he looked too cute when he got flustered.

"It's all right, " I said, trying my best not to giggle like a silly girl.

Ever since the first chemistry class I have looked forward to the next one. Through the conversations we had I learnt more about Seth, like the fact that he was a part of the school soccer team, his best friend was Derek,  how he and Stacy had basically grown up together because of how their houses were right next to each other,  His little sister and how annoying she was and his family friend who was just as annoying as his sister. And he got me to tell me about myself as well, like how I was a part of the girls soccer team, How my parents were always away because of their jobs and how me and his cousin were friends. 

It was nice to meet someone new who got along easily with me, considering the fact that I am an antisocial introvert. I've been more of a lone wolf and often kept to myself, but with Seth conversation was easy.

And the more conversations I had with him during those classes the more he occupied my thoughts. 

Not surprisingly, I wasn't the only girl who had Seth on her mind. He was quite popular among the girls for his good looks. Popular enough to be a Part of the  Triple X or XXX  - the top three hottest guys in school.

And so here I am, in Stacy's room half an hour away from prom.

 And honestly I can't believe one of the triple X asked me to be their date !