In the morning I found myself standing in front of my painting room. A mysterious force kept drawing me back here but the reason remained unclear. I stared at the 5 panel night sky with questions in my heart. As I stared I ran my fingers along each painting to feel the textures. The more I searched for answers the more unclear the picture's meaning became.

I felt a headache coming on so I went to the bathroom. I grabbed some from the medicine cabinet hoping to find quick relief. When I closed the medicine cabinet I looked at myself in the reflective mirror. I wore a black t-shirt with black jeans and my favorite hoodie. I looked nice with my long red curls the color of fire hidden under my hood. I was glad to be back in my old clothes thanks to Aunt Tabby.

I went downstairs to grab a cup of coffee. The fact that I needed it showed that I had a serious caffeine issue. Aunt Tabby dressed in a suit which could only mean that she had a client to deal with this morning.

"Hey Aunt Tabby. Somethings bothering me", I told her. I remembered that I wanted to ask Aunt Tabby about Serenity Falls. Ever since Valerie told me about the Serenity Falls camping grounds I felt unsettled. "I was talking with Valerie about different towns. She mentioned a Serenity Falls. Have we ever been there before", I asked her.

Aunt Tabby nearly dropped the briefcase with all her work in it. "I'm not sure. Your parents lived two towns over. You never entered those woods ever", Aunt Tabby said in a frightened tone. Aunt Tabby avoided meeting my gaze as she gathered her paperwork together.

"Are you absolutely sure because i remember being in the woods one night", I said to Aunt Tabby. I wanted to push her for answers but knew that she had plenty on her mind.

"I have to go to work. Maybe we can talk more about this some other time", Aunt Tabby said and with that i was alone. I knew Aunt tabby lied to me about Serenity Falls. I put a pin in it for now but this wasn't the end of my questioning.

My phone beeped notifying me that I had a text message waiting for me. 'Here' the message from Valerie read. I stepped outside to brave the morning cool air. I wondered how many cars Valerie owned because she always seemed to come in a different vehicle each time. This time an SUV parked outside of my house honked at me. I ran to the vehicle too quickly. I felt the hoodie falling off with each step. The movement caused my long red curls to tumble down my back. I ripped the door open with a wide grin only to see Nixon's icy blue gaze.

"Nice to see you too", Nixon said as all my excitement from earlier disappeared. I sat down in the seat next to Nixon reluctantly. Valerie was in the back looking really cute in a blue dress. She hugged me from behind the seat nearly choking me.

"Ian couldn't drive us so I asked Nicky boy here to give us a ride to school", she as she released me from her tight grip. She ruffled her hand through Nixon's hair which pissed him off.

"Val, be lucky I didn't leave your lazy ass behind. Just remember, Ian isn't here to protect you", Nixon said. Nixon seemed frustrated this morning with the situation.

Although he wasn't the first person I wanted to see this morning, I had an important question for him. I had to ask him to help with the homework assignment. Our homework assignment was due sometime next week. I didn't want him to be the reason that we failed English class.

"Nixon, I had a question for you", I said cautiously. His head whipped around to stare at me attentively. He gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "About the English assignment. Can we work on it today", i asked him.

"Ooh Rowen. We can all go over your house tonight", Valerie offered from the backseat. "If you guys are alone you might get ideas", Valerie stated while winking suggestively. My face turned beat red but Nixon appeared unfazed. Nixon pulled into the school lot in a smooth manner. He parked close to the entrance probably because it was easier to get to class on time.

"Are you going to let this go", Nixon asked as he turned off the car ignition. "Or are you going to make me work with you", he asked. If this was a test I knew the answers to pass this time around.

"I'm going to make you do the assignment with me. I'm not afraid of you", I said bravely. Nixon stepped out of the vehicle to avoid responding. I ran out of the vehicle, bypassed Valerie and blocked his path. "Stop, I'm not running away you don't scare me", I said.

"You should be afraid of me Rowen. I'm a murderer", Nixon roared his face inches from mine. He was so close that I could feel the heat of his breath against my face.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore. You will do this assignment with me. You will message me. And you will go to Valerie's house later", I said as I shoved my finger against his chest. Nixon looked furious but if anything moved closer over to me to show his dominance. Valerie took that exact moment to push me forward.

Our lips collided but not in a good way. Nixon backed away with his lip leaving a tiny trail of blood down his mouth. My first kiss stolen as a joke. My hand flew to my puffy lips in horror. Nixon touched his hands to his lips while watching me silently. He wiped the blood off onto his hand then turned away from me.

"Val, now you're dead", Nixon stated as he made the move to chase after her. Valerie dashed into the school leaving me alone in the parking lot with every single person staring my way. I listened to the hushed whispers as I made my way through the crowd. They called me names like 'slut' and 'whore' as I walked to first period.

I found Valerie, looking very much alive, with a wide smile on her face in first period class.I sat down next to her, thankful to be in her presence. I didn't like all this new attention that seemed to be focused on me. She was someone who provided me a safety net from people's stares.

"Nixon gave me hell for hurting your feelings", Valerie said with a grin. I didn't want to think about Nixon or that god awful kiss we accidentally shared. "It's not like its your first kiss or anything but I may have gone slightly overboard with my teasing", Valerie stated.

"It was my first kiss", i mumbled the words too fast. Valerie turned to look at me inquisitively. "It was my first kiss", I said this time slightly louder than before. A bunch of heads turned to stare at me as I embarrassed myself.

"Oh my god", Valerie stated clearly. "No way. I'm real sorry Rowen. It won't happen again. If you want I can ask Nixon to give you a do-over kiss so it can be a real kiss", Valerie suggested sweetly. I stared at Valerie with narrowed eyes because that would make it way worse.

"I'm OK", I said. "Can we just pretend it never happened", I begged. Valerie nodded her head to agree as the teacher walked into the classroom.

After first period the day went surprisingly very smoothly. I spent lunch with Valerie and Nixon, in the actual lunchroom, without anyone dumping food on me. I tried to focus on these positives but my mind felt haunted. I had too many questions. 'Why did Nixon hate me so much? Why did Aunt Tabby lie earlier? If Aunt Tabby lied, what had I done in Serenity Falls?', I thought to myself. I needed answers to the questions tossing in my head and I needed them soon.