[1]

I watch the forest pass by the car window as music blasts in my ears.

The woods are engulfed by darkness and only a few spots are lit up by the moon as it's peeking through the trees.

It was a cold late-summer night when we arrived at the driveway of my aunt's two story house.

The old house is coated with a run down, yellow colored facade. It's already peeling off the walls here and there, and the color is more of a beige than a yellow. But other than that, it's a cozy looking family home in the middle of the woods. No houses are nearby and the town is a little over 3 miles away.

"C'mon, darling," my aunt, Nicole, says. I take off the seatbelt and open the car door, hissing slightly when an agonizing pain erupts in my right shoulder. As I step out of the car, a cold breeze of air brushes my skin and I shiver at the contact.

I walk around the car to the trunk to see my aunt pulling out my small suitcase. I quickly walk up to her and grab it, before I put it down on the ground and sigh at my weak arms. I've never been the type of guy that works out in a fitness center everyday, hence one of the reasons for my none existent biceps.

"I can do it, Chase. Don't worry, yeah?" My aunt nudges my shoulder, calling me by my nickname. She picks up my suitcase and walks up to the front porch. After a few seconds of watching her struggle to find her keys, I follow suit. When she approaches the front door, she puts down the case and plugs the keys into the keyhole.

She opens the door with a brief look over her shoulder, to see if I'm still there, and lets me in after shoving the suitcase inside. I look around the hallway and see a few pictures hung up on the wall on my left. When I take a closer look at them, I recognize a lot of familiar faces like my aunt and my mother, smiling. At the thought of my mom, my chest tightens and tears well up in my eyes, which I quickly blink away, before I slip off my shoes and my jacket.

"Mom!" a voice yells, as loud footsteps echo throug the room. After only a few moments, a girl comes running around the corner, clothed in a purple pajama and her brown hair up in a messy bun. A wide smile breaks out on her face when she spots Nicole, who had just taken off her coat.

"Hello, dear," she greets the girl, who runs up to her and throws her arms around Nicole's neck.

"Finally, I already thought you'd never come home." The brown haired girl sighs. My aunt lets out a breathy chuckle before her gaze lands on me and she sends me a warm smile, which I return.

"Hey, Chase," the girl, whom I know as my one and only cousin, greets with a wave. Her name is Chloe and she's around my age, though she's a bit younger than me.

"Hey, Chloe," I greet back. An awkward silence embraces us and my eyes wander around the room once again.

"Well then, Chloe will you show your cousin his room?" my aunt asks, breaking the silence. The girl nods her head and picks up the suitcase after giving her mom a quick peck on the cheek. She slowly walks up the stairs, struggling a little bit with carrying the case up the narrow staircase.

I follow after her, the creaking of the old stairs under my feet echoing through the room. Chloe walks down the hallway, until she eventually stops in front of the last door on the right, and opens it. She pushes the suitcase inside, turns the light on and then turns her face to me, sending me a warn smile.

"Here's your room," she announces. "It was once the guest room, but we re-decorated it and now it's all yours. It's pretty late already, so just pack out your stuff and go to sleep. Mom will wake you up tomorrow for school, but I think she already told you about that." With that said, she walks off down the hallway, leaving me on my own.

I peek into the room, admiring the sight in front of me. It's a pretty small room, but I don't complain. There's a single bed in one corner of the room, with red and blue pillows on top, and on the opposite side of it, is a wooden desk and next to it, a wardrobe.

The walls are painted in a dark blue color and everything is neatly folded and prepared. In comparison to what I was sleeping in before, this is heaven to me.

I slip through the door and go to the bathroom, which is, much to my liking, right on the opposite of my room. I quickly brush my teeth with a spare toothbrush and toothpaste, that I had borrowed from Chloe, and do my business. Then, I walk back to my room and change into some more comfortable clothes.

My aunt had already been shopping when she found out that I'd live with her, so I have more than just the basics now.

When I glance at the clock, which is hanging right above the desk, it reads 10PM, so I quickly shuffle into bed and turn off the lights. A lot of thoughts cross my mind, so I just toss around for a while, gazing at the moonlight that is shining through the window.

After a while though, I find my eyelids getting heavier and soon the darkness envelopes me.

But so do the nightmares.

"Chase. Chase, c'mon wake up." My aunt's voice fills my ears as I sleepily rub my eyes, feeling the lack of sleep that I got last night. My mind was just too occupied by all the memories and thoughts of that day, so I only fell asleep at around 4AM.

"Get ready, yeah? We will leave in about an hour," she announces and leaves the room. I sit up straight and stretch my hands over my head, a yawn escaping my lips. I stand up and make my way over to the bathroom. I take a quick shower, brush my teeth and put on some deodorant.

When I walk back into my room, I pick out some blue jeans and a white shirt and slip them on. I grab my backpack, which was already packed with the school supplies that my aunt had bought me, and hurry down the stairs.

As I round the corner, the smell of honey invades my nostrils and I hear the hissing sound of something sizzling in a pan. I glance around the kitchen to find my aunt standing behind the stove and my cousin sitting on the countertop, engrossed in her phone.

"Good morning," I greet shyly as I walk over to the kitchen island and put down my bag next to it on the floor.

"Morning, darling. How did you sleep?" my aunt greets, a smile dancing on her lips as she tosses around a pancake in the pan.

"It was fine, thanks," I mumble and cover my mouth when yet another yawn escapes my lips.

"You look like shit," Chloe snorts when she finally looks up from her phone, eyeing me up and down.

"Chloe!" her mother scolds, slapping her thigh and pointing the spatula at her, disapprovingly. Chloe just rolls her eyes and mutters out a small apology, before she goes back to doing whatever on her phone.

"There you go," my aunt says as she puts down a plate, filled with three pancakes, in front of me. Then she adds a bit of the honey that I had smelled earlier and some blueberries. I mumble a 'thank you' and pick up the fork, digging into the delicious looking food.

I moan as the tastes of the sweet honey and the slightly salty pancake combine in my mouth, savoring it.

When I finish half of the plate I'm not able to take another bite as my small appetite is already gone. So, I push the plate away from me and send my aunt a sheepish grin. She gives me a disapproving look but lets it slide this once.

"Ok, kids. C'mon, we don't want you to be late on your first day Chester, now do we?" she announces after 15 minutes, making me and Chloe jump to our feet. I quickly scurry into the hallway, swinging my backpack over my shoulder. I slide into my out-worn sneakers, before I put on my black jacket.

Nicole opens the door and makes her way to the driveway, where her car is still parked. Chloe and I follow suit and get in the backseat whereas my aunt gets in the driver's seat.

The drive to the school is quiet as a comfortable silence engrossed the car. I watch all the trees pass by and after only five minutes we are surrounded by buildings, indicating that we arrived at the city side of the town.

The streets are filled with people rushing around and cars honking at each other; it looks like a normal morning in such a big town.

Denver. That's the town my aunt and cousin are living in, whereas I once lived in Seattle. The other side of the state.

I barely ever got to see anyone other than my mother and him, which is why I practically don't even know my only relatives that are still alive. When I was younger, I had visited them thrice, but that was it. I know nothing about them other than what my mom had told me. She always raved about her sister, about how they had spent a lot of evenings together, watching movies until midnight. Or about the many times they went to parties and got themself so drunk that they couldn't even count to ten anymore.

I always loved listening to my mother's stories, because those were the only times where her smile reached her eyes.

"Chester?" My aunt calls out, bringing me back to reality. "We're here."

I glance out the window and look at the building in front of us in awe. It's slightly smaller than my old school, but it's still big enough to make me afraid of getting lost in there.

I scurry out of the car and, after waving at my aunt, I follow Chloe, who's already standing in front of the entrance. She crosses her arms over her chest as she watches a group of girls pass by. She then sends them an icy glare, that I'm sure, I never want to get from her.

"The secretary's office is down that hallway and then right. Have a nice day."

My eyes trail down the hallway on my left. Lockers are piled up on either side of the room and students are already surrounding them, talking to each other.

I let out a shaky breath before I grab a hold of the stripes of my backpack and strutt down the hallway, trying to ignore all the eyes that are burning holes into my sides. A beat of sweat forms on my forehead and I quicken my pace, keeping my head down. All their puzzled stares make me incredibly anxious.

When I finally approach a door with the sign 'secretary's office', I breath out in relief and wipe off my sweaty hands on my trousers, before I knock. After I hear a faint 'come in', I slip through the door and am instantly hit by the smell of perfume.

It smells like something very sweet although I can't quite put my finger on it. Anyhow, I don't like the smell, but I cover up my face with a small smile when I spot a lady, looking at her nails. I take a step towards the desk that she's sitting behind and clear my throat.

"Uhm, I'm Chester Covington. The new student?" I state, though it comes out as more of a uncertain question.

"Oh, yeah of course. Chester Covington. Chester. Coving-- Ah, there it is," she exclaims boredly and hands me a folder. I gently grab it and thank her, before slipping out of the room and sighing heavily.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey there everyone, wassup.

This is my newest story, which I am soo excited about! As the ones of you, who read my other books, can see I changed a bit of the decorations or space fillers or whatever they're called. I also created some 'banners' with the two main characters' names and page dividers.

Well, I love the new style. What do you think about it?

Anyway, I just quickly wanted to mention that this book isn't this cliché type of story, where the badboy becomes a softie when he sees the nerd. This story is a bit different, but we will see a change of character in the both of them at the end of the story.

❤

- L I S A