One

"Seeing isn't believing. Believing is seeing."- The Santa Clause (1994)

It was a typical Monday morning in the sleepy town of Ashtone Hollow. Everyone in the town was waking up at six o'clock, as they had done every day for the past several decades, getting ready for their job, school, or whatever else they did to occupy themselves to keep their community a safe and happy one. The sky was dark and ominous, like a rain storm was brooding overhead, but the townspeople paid it no heed; they just continued their "picture perfect" lives. Not one house was out of place, each residency perfectly built in similar structure and landscaping; every home was a two-story town house recently rebuilt within the past twenty years or so, not differentiating from the neighboring house except in color. To the people of the Ashtone Hollow, their town was perfect in every way, well, every way except one: The Blackwoods.

The Blackwood family had lived in Ashtone Hollow for as long as any of the other residents could remember, possibly being the oldest family to reside in the entire town. Their house differentiated from all the other homes in the town; it was a three story Tudor-styled home built back when the town was first established. The family refused to conform to the people of the town, wanting to keep their home's uniqueness and historical appearance alive.While they never stepped out of line and got into trouble, the people of Ashtone Hollow always felt uneasy around the Blackwood family, never fully trusting them and keeping their distance as often as they could. 

The head of the family, Nathaniel Blackwood, was a respectable lawyer in the town and was the only person from his family whom many felt somewhat comfortable around. His silver-lined brown hair, soft green eyes, and open, caring face made him a catch for women throughout the town, but only one landed him. His wife, Sophia, had been the only person in all of Ashtone Hollow to have the courage to get to know the Blackwood family and eventually found love in the man who headed the family. Sophia herself was seen as quite the odd young woman for unknown reasons, but that didn't matter, she and Nathaniel had found each other and for once in their lives, they were happy.Their happiness did not last though; shortly after Nathaniel and Sophia's child had been born, Sophia died in a mysterious fire at The New Leaf, the town's local newspaper headquarters, where she was an Editor in Chief.
Nathaniel and Sophia's child, their daughter Elizabeth, was seen as a very unusual girl. Like her mother, the townspeople saw her as odd; she kept to herself, and even though she was always open to being in contact with others, she never made any lasting connections with any of the children in her age group. As she grew older, she blossomed like a beautiful rose, growing into a stunning young woman more and more every day. Her eyes were the color of a tropical ocean with flecks of gold and long, dark eyelashes with hair the color of a summer sunset or kindling flame. 

Even though Elizabeth was admired, she was mainly seen as an outcast, although no one knew exactly why they treated her as one. For some reason, they just felt wary around her, like she was a cunning, yet feral jungle cat analyzing them and waiting on them to slip up in order to pounce. Elizabeth herself didn't even know why everyone treated her this way, but it didn't matter; all she needed in her life was her father, her grandparents, and her music, the only way she could escape from the dull and judgmental world around her.

Still, the Monday morning continued on all the same with everyone in town beginning their productive ways, while the Blackwoods slept in, keeping to themselves and prolonging their beloved solidarity for a few moments longer. Elizabeth was always the last to wake up in the morning, right after her father, who knocked on her door softly to make sure she knew it was time to get going.

"Elizabeth, come on. It's quarter of seven; you're going to be late for school if you stay in bed any longer."

" Alright Dad, I'm getting up now."

Long, wavy, red hair in a mess of curls, Elizabeth rolled out of bed and quickly got dressed, throwing on a simple baby blue dress with black leggings and a jean jacket with black leather boots to match. Moving to the mirror, she put on her school's class ring and adjusted her necklace, her mother's wedding ring hanging on a gold chain. It was her only token of the woman she had heard so much about and greatly admired, but never got to meet. Elizabeth lingered at the necklace for a moment more, but then moved on to finish getting ready. As she walked down the stairs from her room on the third floor, which she had to herself, to the living room, she found her grandparents, Jim and Sarah, and her father up and about, rushing to get themselves ready and throwing things around the room. 

"They have never seemed organized or able to keep themselves stable," Elizabeth thought to herself with a smile, "It's a wonder how they even get out of bed in the morning."

Elizabeth had always liked the chaos of her family in the mornings, it gave her a sense of security to know that her family didn't have to be perfect and copies of everyone else in Ashtone Hollow; their faults made her love them even more and made her proud to call them her family. 

"Morning honey," Elizabeth's grandmother, Sarah, said, slightly out of breath from running around making breakfast, "Want anything to take to school?"

"Just some toast and bacon is fine, Memere. Morning Poppa!"

"Good morning sunshine," Jim Blackwood said to his granddaughter with a kiss on her forehead, "You ready for your recital next week?"

"Yeah, I think I've got the song all figured out. The piano accompaniment I've been working on is coming along well with my singing, so I think I'll do okay. But I've really got to run, I'm going to be late for school. Love you guys!"

Before running to her car, Elizabeth caught hold of her father and pulled him into a hug.

"Good luck today in school, rosebud," Nathaniel affectionately told his daughter, "I know your senior year is going to be great, look how far you've come already."

"Thanks Daddy, that really means a lot. Well, I'm off! See you after school! Love you!"

Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, Elizabeth ran to her car, a little pastel green Volkswagen Beetle, and took off for school knowing that senior year would be exactly like junior, sophomore, and freshmen year; she would be the freaky Blackwood girl no one bothered to get to know because they were creeped out and intimidated by her.

"Oh well," Elizabeth said jokingly to herself in her car, "Maybe for once something interesting will happen and I won't be seen as a freak for no reason."

Little did Elizabeth know that she couldn't have been more right about her future...

Reviews

[Neon]

What a wonderful book or a chapter... I loved this. Everything was perfectly penned. The usage of commas sign .. the questioning peace, the volume of everybody well in great flow. Your this chapter's really a very good one, your imaginary's unique. Here i can see the talent of great writer. Keep writing i'd say because i've got some talent in you.. in your cool skills. You've cleared everything ... every individual character with some unique identity's of all characters. Wonderful chapter, an excellent Novel.

[Alisha Heistand]

Fantastic. Captivating. And a great setting, I must admit. Buuut...
I gotcha! After Elizabeth's thought, Ashtone is spelled Ashetone. ;)

[L. Catherine]

Thank you for the spelling error! I literally was writing this at 9:30 at night so there was a lot more before I actually posted it haha
And thanks for the review!

[Grace Catherine C.]

Good start love!

Nathaniel and Sophia, I see what ya did there! XP

[L. Catherine]

Hahaha thanks Gracie!!! :D