Prologue

 

PROLOGUE

Viola’s P.O.V

 

          The snow fluttered to the ground in soft - looking white flecks. I watched it for a moment, my eyes following the trail of each snowflake as it sailed in the sky, twisting with the wind and then letting itself drop to the

snow - drenched earth, blending in with the rest of the snowflakes. I tilted my head back and looked up at the branches crossing overhead of me. Peeking through them was the hopelessly gray sky. If I squinted my eyes and looked hard enough, I could see a sort of misty blue undertone. But if I honestly had to look that hard to see it, it may as well not be there at all.

          I kicked a chunk of ice on my way to the bus stop. The pavement scratched underneath my snow boots. I could not see the pavement, though, for it was covered in a thin medley of snow and ice.

          It was lucky that the plows had already been here, or I would be up to my kneecaps in snow. Instead my only problem was the biting wind. I should’ve put a hat on, but I don’t like hats, so I chose not to. I don’t know exactly what I have against hats, I just don’t like them. And I do not plan on changing my mind anytime soon.

          I was a little excited to be going back to school after the two week long winter break. I had missed my friends -- especially Lilly. And I had missed … other people as well. Like Jack.

          I don’t know what it is about Jack that makes me like him so much. Maybe it’s his wonderful laugh, or his breathtaking smile. Or perhaps his overall perfection. Well, he was perfect to me at least. And Lilly too, I was guessing, considering she was his girlfriend.

          Lilly is my best friend. She is also beautiful, smart, athletic, funny, and perfect. That’s why I think her and Jack are good together. Me? I’m smart, and only funny when I trip, which is often. That’s my new year’s resolution: Be graceful, be poised, and do not trip.

          Hah. It’s hard not to laugh out loud while thinking that.

          Anyway, back to my original thought -- Jack. I think I love him. I think I always have. I’ve known him since kindergarten, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t conscious of my love for him until the fifth grade. I’m also nearly positive that he does not return my love. Nearly positive? Make that totally positive. Really positive. So positive that it’s negative. Okay, now I’m just rambling. I do that sometimes whilst thinking -- or speaking -- of Jack.

          Lilly knows I love Jack, I’m pretty sure everybody does. It’s hard to keep one little fact a secret from the fifth grade to the eighth. And I know she’s my best friend and it’s totally strange for a her to go out with guy that I love while knowing that I love him … but the thing is, it’s not actually weird at all. She asked me first if it was okay that she dated him. I had said yes. I wasn’t going to be a big drama queen about it. She’s my best friend and I only want what she wants. I love her just as much as I love Jack.

          Sighing dreamily at the internal mention of Jack, I approached my bus stop where Emily and Mark Poole, my neighbours, were waiting. They always got there incredibly early, though I cannot say why. They are those must eat healthy, must do my chores, must never miss the bus type of people. I got to the bus stop about three or four minutes ahead of time everyday. They got there about eleven or twelve. How they can wait that long in the freezing winter cold, I do not know.

          I smiled at them. “Hello,” I said simply, as I stood beside Emily.

          “Hi,” Mark said blandly. I was surprised he could hear me over the music of his iPod Touch. Then again, I was always able to hear people when I was listening to music -- but I had thought that a gift of mine.

          “Hey,” Emily gave me a small smile. I was never sure which one of the two had more personality. At the moment, I was leaning towards Emily.

          “How was your trip to Florida?” I inquired, feeling almost obligated to ask the question.

          “Good.”

          “That’s … nice.”

          “Yes.” Emily nodded, fixing an out of place blonde hair.

          She could be a little more helpful with this conversation. “Um … are you going to try out for the volleyball team?”

          “Yes.”

          “Cool.”

          She didn’t say anything, so I assumed she didn’t want to talk either. Well, good. Thinking of things to say was becoming difficult.

          We waited in silence for the bus to come, which suited me fine. I couldn’t wait to get to school and see my friends so I could just be me and not have to strain myself for a hopelessly boring conversation.

          When the bus came around the corner, I smiled. It was ridiculously cold out here and all I wanted at the moment was to be warm. My ears were numb, my face frozen, and I couldn’t even feel my fingers and toes.

          The bus door opened and a whoosh of icy air blasted in my face. I climbed the steps and sauntered into the isle as gracefully as I could. Which I hope passed for at least slightly coordinated. Me, coordinated? The words didn’t seem to go together well at all.

          I wasn’t necessarily ashamed of my clumsiness, I was just tired of it. At first it was amusing to see the laughter on people’s lips when I tripped, but now I’d rather be known for something much more … significant. I don’t know what yet, but I will think of something. Hopefully.

          I slid into a seat near the rear of the bus. Most of the high school kids occupied the back, but I usually got a seat. Chris, Aaron, Mark and Ryan are the only high school kids on the bus, the numbers aren’t that great. Mark and Ryan don’t bother me much; they just kind of listen to their music and laugh along whenever a joke is told by Aaron. Aaron thinks he’s really funny and really cool, but he’s not. I’m sure he’s been told that, but it barely makes a mark on his huge ego.

          Chris, well, Chris is interesting. He seems to enjoy randomly talking to me and calling me Violin.

Haha, very original, Chris.

I looked around the bus for fellow eighth graders. Kevin and Julius are the only ones that go on my bus. I didn’t see Kevin today, but Julius was in the seat across from me, listening to his iPod.

Don’t look at me like that. People on my bus like to listen to their iPods, okay?

“Hi!” I called happily to Julius, flashing him a smile. Julius was a good friend of mine, and he was also really hilarious. In his own, random kind of way.

“Hey Viola,” He smiled back and a dark piece of hair fell into his eyes, he quickly pushed it away. “Why are there chickens on your backpack?”

I rolled my eyes. Julius asked me this every morning. “They are birds, not chickens.”

My backpack had these little birds on it that go in a sort of argyle pattern. They do not even remotely resemble chickens.

“Chickens are birds.” Julius stated matter - of - factly.

“More in the poultry section, though, don’t you think?”

He looked at me. “I don’t know.”

I shook my head and pulled my cobalt blue iPod out of my backpack. I turned it on and put on a Taylor Swift song, staring out the window and trying to find the blue in the sky as we drove to the school.

 

 

 

 

 Lilly’s P.O.V

         

          I brushed my teeth hurriedly. I checked the clock out of the corner of my eye. I had ten minutes, I could do that.

          Why had I insisted on blow drying my hair this morning? If I had of just towel dried I would have been ready a lot faster. My hair would have still been fairly wet when I got to the school, but it would dry eventually.

          It was too cold outside for fairly wet hair, though.

          I glanced at myself in the mirror. The bags under my eyes were noticeable. If only our flight back from Jamaica hadn’t gotten in so late, maybe I would have actually gotten some sleep last night. Ah well, it was too late for that now, wasn’t it?

          At this moment, I wished my parents would let me wear makeup so I could put some on to make myself look a little better. Or at the very least, some lip gloss would be nice.

          That’s when I remembered the lip gloss that Viola had given me because she thought it was terribly sad that I had none. I left the bathroom and traipsed across the wide hall to my room. It was my little sister’s room too, but I tried to overlook that fact.

          Maybe I should take Viola’s advice and ask my parents if I can move downstairs to guest room. It’s not like we ever have any guests. I’m surprised Viola had such good advice about getting away from my hyper - active little sister, considering Viola was an only child. Lucky. Well, maybe it was just one of those things about Viola. She knew nothing about herself, but she knew everything else.
          So weird.

          I reached into my drawer and pulled out the sparkly pink lip gloss, pasting it across my lips. Viola may know strange facts, but her I’m glad one of those strange facts was that I needed to own lip gloss. Really glad, actually.

          I smiled to myself and left my room, practically bouncing down the stairs to the second floor of my house.

          “Lilly! You only have five minutes, hurry up!” My Mom shouted once I had sauntered into the kitchen.

          “I have ten?” It sounded more like a question than a sure statement.

          “The clock upstairs is fast. Come on, eat your toast!”

          I shrugged and sat on a black leather bar stool that was pulled up to the island. I bit into the toast that was sitting on a small white plate and crunched on it, swallowing it slowly.

          “Oh, come on, Lilly! Eat faster, your brother and sister are already at the bus stop!” My Mom was standing in to doorway of the kitchen, hands on her hips, watching me eat with an intense stare.

          “They are?” I gaped. It’s not like them to be quick. Well, my little brother Colin, maybe. But Anna, fast? Never.

          “Yes, so take your toast with you and eat on the way to the bus stop, okay? You can’t miss the bus on the first day back after winter holidays, especially since I can’t drive you in today. I’ve got to get to work.”

          “Okay, Mom.” I sighed and shoved the toast in my mouth, chewing it as I went over to the laundry room to grab my coat. I slid on my boots and my mittens, eyeing it all in disgust. I’ve had this coat for years, these boots for years and these mittens for years. I never got anything new. Okay, well that’s not completely true. We did just get that giant fifty - two inch flat screen television, and I had just gotten my new iPod. And we had just been to Jamaica for two weeks … but still.

          I smiled at my white hat as I slid it on my head. My hat was new. I suppose that was going to have to be enough for me.

          “Lilly, hurry!”

          I almost laughed out loud at my Mom’s persistence in making me move as fast as possible. I zipped up my jacket, grabbed my red and gray backpack, gave my Mom a hug and opened the door, bracing myself for the frosty air.

          I stepped outside and felt like I had been through some sort of time warp. After being in Jamaica for so long, snow just seemed ridiculous. The tan on my skin felt completely out of place. Everything just looked so … weird. It was so white … I didn’t like it one bit.

          I made a face as I walked down my driveway and down the big hill that led to my bus stop. This was disgusting. Jamaica was so much nicer, what with its welcoming sun, vast ocean and its acceptably hot temperature. This place had a dull, bleak sky without a hint of blue in it, giant piles of snow and a temperature that would put the ice age to shame. Ew.

          But it was Huntsville, and it was home.

          Unfortunately.

          I shook the pessimistic thoughts out of my head, and smiled at some friends of mine that were gathered at the bus stop as I approached them. There was Brock, Kennedy, Craig, Adam, Hailey and … Jack.

          Well, that was one good thing about Huntsville.

          Jack had asked me out sometime in late November. I suppose I felt a little guilty about saying yes, even though I was aware that Viola liked him. But I told her I was sorry a million times, and she said it was fine anyway. I could have sworn I saw her eyes tearing up, but she said she had hit her head. That wasn’t an unusual thing to happen to Viola, but I still doubted the story. But I liked Jack, and it’s a free country. So I can say yes if I want. And Viola said it was okay, so it is okay, right? Even though I knew she was lying …

          I hate guilt.

          “Hi Lilly!”

          I grinned at Jack, putting on a perfectly normal face on the outside, even though on the inside, my mind was spinning.

          “Hey Jack.” I said and walked over to him.

          He pushed a piece of blonde hair away from his eye and smiled. “You got here just in time.”

          I followed his gaze to the bright yellow bus that was appearing in the distance.

          “Good. My Mom was worried that I would miss it.”

          “How was Jamaica?”

          “Warm. Sunny. Amazing. I wish I was there now. How was Whistler?”

          “Cold. Snowy. Awesome. I wish I was there now.”

          “Of course. Hit any double diamonds?”

          He gave me a doubtful look.

          I rolled my eyes. “Who am I kidding? I know you did. Did you nearly kill yourself?”

          “No!”

          “Sure you didn’t.”

          “I actually taught myself how to do a three sixty.” He smirked.

          I was about to respond when the bus pulled up. I climbed up the steps behind Jack, being careful not to hit my head off of the ceiling of the bus. I was pretty tall and I usually had trouble with that, but I ducked just enough today so that it missed me by inches.

          Jack took a seat and I slid in beside him. He pulled his silver iPod out of his jeans pocket, so I attempted to do the same, but then realized that in my rush to leave, I must have forgotten it at home. Ugh.

          Jack noticed my look of despair and lack of iPod and handed my headphone which I took graciously.

          Did I mention how fortunate I am to live in Huntsville?

 

 

 

 Jack’s P.O.V

 

          The bus was nearing the school, but I can’t say I was glad for it. Normally at school, I rarely got to talk to Lilly. Sometimes at recess, but she was just usually near me but mainly just talking to her friends. And since we were in different classes, I didn’t get to talk to her there either. The only time I ever really got to talk to her was on the bus.

          Lilly smiled as she handed me back my headphone. I shut off my iPod and shoved it back into my pocket, not taking my eyes off Lilly at all. She was just so … pretty, beautiful? I don’t know. But she was different than every other girl. Her personality was real and down to earth, and she was probably one of the best sports players at school. She didn’t wear makeup or anything, though today I noticed that her lips seemed to sparkle. Odd. Odd for her, at least. She was still beautiful anyway.

          Lilly straightened out her white hat, which I could tell she was very proud of. She tightened her low ponytail which kept her sandy blonde ringlets in check and smoothed out her red jacket. She’d had the same red jacket for, what? Two years? Three? She didn’t care about getting new things, or at least not as much as to throw a tantrum about not owning them.

          The bus stopped in front of the school and Lilly stood up, her aqua blue eyes shining with excitement. Excitement for what? I don’t know. Probably excitement about seeing her friends or something.

          “I hope we have a desk change.” She commented as we stepped off the bus and rounded the school to the backyard. We had to wait there for about twenty minutes every morning until nine. It’s stupid, I know.

          I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me if we have a desk change or not. Where I sit is fine.”

          “Well, I want to sit beside Viola.” There was a slight change in her tone when she mentioned Viola’s name. Almost like a cringe or something. That’s strange.

          “Did you and Viola have a fight or something?” I asked as we walked towards where everyone else was.

          She gave me a confused look. “No, what makes you think that?”

          “It’s just that when you said--”

          “Lilly!” Came a voice. I turned and saw Viola, Regan and Maggie running towards us. Or rather, towards Lilly.

          “Hey!” Lilly smiled beautifully. Regan and Maggie pulled her in for a hug, while Viola just stood there, looking completely awkward.

          Regan ran her fingers through her curly, dark brown hair and looked over towards me with her light green eyes. “Hi, Jack.”

          “Hi, Regan.” I smiled. Out of all of Lilly’s friends, Regan was probably my favourite. She was the only one who even bothered to acknowledge me. Maggie was all caught up in gossiping, and Viola was silent, staring at the pavement. Viola was never like that with most people; she was more outgoing around everyone else, but not around me. I assumed it was because she didn’t like me and didn’t feel like wasting her breath. Not like I cared, because I didn’t want to talk to her either.

          “Viola!” Lilly shouted and pulled her into a hug. “I missed you!”

          Viola rolled her eyes, but smiled and said “I missed you too.”

          “Read any good books over the holidays?” Lilly asked.

          Viola became more animated at this. “Yes, tons!”

          They walked away together, talking and laughing, leaving me with Maggie and Regan.

          “They are so obsessed with books.” Maggie said in disgust and then walked away.

          Okay, so now just Regan.

          “Where did you go for the holidays, Jack?” She asked pointedly.

          “Whistler.”

          “What did you do there?”

          “The only thing a person can do in Whistler.”

          “Whistle?”

          I laughed. “No, I went skiing.”

          Regan smiled shyly, her eyelashes brushing her face as she looked down at the pavement. “Oh, right.”

          “Yeah, well … I see Julius. I think I’ll go talk to him now.”

          “’Kay.” Regan gave me a small shrug and one last smile before joining Viola and Lilly who were deeply entranced in some random conversation -- about books, I was guessing.

          Regan: I like her, but she can act weird sometimes.

          Julius was in a circle that consisted of various people, most of which I didn’t care about so I just stood beside him.

          “Hey Julius,” I greeted him.

          “Hey Andrews.” He preferred to call me by my last name.

          “Have fun this holiday?”

          “Yep. Dirt bikes work well in the snow.”

          “You’re such an idiot.”

          “They do! Honestly!”

          “Whatever.”

          “Get anything awesome for Christmas?”

          “New skis.” I answered plainly, watching Lilly as she laughed at something Terry was saying out of the corner of my eye.

          “Cool.”

          “What did you get?”

          “A new iPod.”

          “Yeah, your shuffle was kind of … well, completely useless. It didn’t even have a screen.” I pointed out.

          “Don’t diss it. Regan’s mad at me now, though.”

          “Why?”

          “She was obsessed with my shuffle, remember?”

          “Oh yeah,” I smiled at the memory of Regan trying to steal his iPod every recess. “Do you still like her?”

          “No!”

          “Sure.”

          “I honestly don’t. She’s so …” Julius trailed off, searching his mind for the right word.

          “Regan’s fine.” I told him. “It’s Viola and Maggie who are weird.”

          “Yeah, Maggie is really girly. But Viola’s cool.”

          “She hates me.”

          Julius glanced around slyly, as if he knew something I didn’t. “Yeah …”

          “What?”

          “Nothing. Hey, have you met the new kids?”

          I shook my head.

          “They’re twins. A girl and a guy. The girl’s pretty hot, actually.”

          I gave him a doubtful look. “It’s just like you to say that.”

          “It’s true!”

          “Whatever.” I shrugged.

          Almost everything was worthy of a “whatever” lately. Everything except for Lilly.

          As if she could read my mind, Lilly ran over to me, Viola at her side.

          “Come on, Jack!” She trilled. “You have to see what Regan’s doing!”

          If anyone else had of said this to me, I surely would have responded by saying: “Whatever.” But it had been Lilly, probably one of the coolest girls I’d ever met.

          “Okay.” I grinned, and followed her.

 

 

 

 Jamie’s P.O.V

 

          This was stupid.

          I don’t understand why we couldn’t have waited until my sister and I had at least graduated from the eighth grade to move. Or better yet, if we hadn’t moved at all. This town was so … small. Too small. Toronto was so immense, pulsing and bright. Huntsville was completely dull compared to it. Or so I imagined, I hadn’t exactly explored the town yet. But I’d been to my new house, the grocery store and now the school and so far I was not impressed. Then again, had I really expected any of those places to be exciting? Not exactly. But still, dull town.

          My Dad had just dropped my sister, Isabel, and I off at our new school, with a name so boring that I can’t remember it, and we were standing alone together, feeling totally out of place.

          The school was made of bricks and not very tall. There were so many trees and so much snow … it was terrible.

          In the city, there had been snow, of course, but it had been pushed up and out of the way so that you could still see the sidewalks and the street. I missed the blinking lights, the traffic jams, the towering buildings. And as stereotypical - city that all sounds, it’s what a city is. And Huntsville is just a sad excuse of a town.

          Isabel played with the zipper on her coat. “This place is so … tree - ish.” She muttered.

          I nodded but didn’t say anything.

          “I mean, shouldn’t they be cut down? All they’re doing is taking up space.” Isabel made a face.

          I didn’t feel like explaining the importance of trees at the moment, so I just nodded again.

          “And the snow! There’s so much of it!”

          “Stop talking so loud, you’re going to attract attention.” I murmured.

          She ran a hand through her chin - length black hair. “So what if I ‘attract attention,’ Jamie?”

          “Just … don’t do it.”

          “I don’t have to listen to you.”

          “I’m older.”

          She threw her arms in the air dramatically. “By three minutes!”

          “Three and a half.”
          “Oh, big difference!”

          “It’s big enough.” I said and then fell silent.

          “Why aren’t we going inside?” Isabel whined after a while. “We’ve been out here forever! I’m cold!”

          I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

          “This is a weird school! I bet whoever runs this place wants us all to freeze to death! Freeze!”

          “Isabel,” I sighed. “It’s not all that cold out. You’ll survive.”

          “I will not!”

          I rolled my eyes.

          “You’re just mad because I got the bigger room!” Isabel accused.

          “I am not angry because you got the larger room.” My tone was bleak.

          “Then why are you being so … personality - less?”

          I didn’t bother answering her.

          “Ugh. This place is so fun - missing that it sucked all the joy out of you! Well, it’s not going to happen to me. I’ll go … I’ll go flirt with a boy or something.”

          I raised an eyebrow at the term ‘fun - missing’ but otherwise just said, “Knock yourself out.”

          She narrowed her eyes. “I will.” She thought for a moment, and then added, “Not literally.”

          I watched Isabel as she randomly walked off in a random direction. She didn’t have a clue where she was going, which was common for Isabel. She always did things without thinking.

          I hated this place even more, now that I was alone. It’s easy to hate any place when you’re alone. It’s also easy to hate anything or anyone. It’s just a side effect of loneliness.

          Well, maybe I could go … talk to someone? I mean, I’d prefer not to, but I’d have to sometime so I may as well start now.

          Luckily [or unluckily, it depends on which way you look at it], someone beat me to it.

          “Hello, new person!” A gravelly, yet cheerful voice called. I turned around to face a girl with curly, dark brown hair and emerald eyes, a mischievous smile on her lips.

          “… Hi?”

          “So where are you from?”

          “Um, Toronto.”

          “Amazing. What’s your name?”

          I glanced around for a second and then drew my eyes back to her. “Jamie.”

          “I’m Regan.” She held out her hand and I looked at it. “You can shake my hand, you know.” She said after a while.

          I nodded, feeling very incompetent, and shook her hand.

          “I thought you had a twin …” Regan mused.

          “I did. I do, I mean. I don’t know where she went.” I stammered. “How did you know that?”

          “Julius somehow found out and is telling everybody.” She rolled her eyes. “But, hey, you have to come meet all my friends.”
          I didn’t agree, but she started walking away anyway. When she realized I was still standing by the wall like an idiot, she waved me forward. “Come on!”

          Wordlessly, I followed her, feeling completely awkward.

          I soon realized I wasn’t the most awkward person here, though.

          A girl, I couldn’t exactly see her very clearly at the moment, but she had a mess of black hair, was stumbling towards me, completely out of control as if she had been pushed. I wasn’t sure whether to step out of the way or catch her, so I just stood there, not moving.

          She tumbled into me, but the force wasn’t quite enough to knock me over, so she ended up falling to the ground and into the snow.

          “Julius! Why did you push her?” Regan called.

          “Breaking her new year’s resolution.” He shrugged, and everyone laughed a lot.

          I extended my hand to the girl on the ground who was, to my surprise, smiling.

          “Hello,” She grinned, staring up at me.

          “Hi.” I answered, almost stunned by her smile. It was … a very nice smile.

          I helped her up off the ground and shook her hand. “I’m Jamie.” I told her.

          “Viola,” She beamed, shaking my hand right back.

          Well, maybe Huntsville wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it was.

         

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Note: The voices of the characters are young and naiive because late ron in the story, it skips ahead to two years later. Anyway, I hope you like it at least a little. And I'll appreciate all the reviews I get, even the harsh ones! Thank you for even glancing at this, it means so much to me! :)

Reviews

[Sleepless]

Great beginning! Can't wait to read more!

[Broken_Hearted_Phantom2..]

Loved it! Keep it up!