Chapter 3

Katherine spent the whole car ride going through all the funny moments, the embarrassing moments, the good and bad. Everything. The friends that moved away, the new ones they've made. The gossip of the year, their yearbook pictures. The smiles, the tears, the laughs, the nights spent sitting by the phone and the multiple fights between the football players. She went on about her complaints about teachers and students and her opinion on what they wear. Every high school drama she could remember, she said it all on the drive to school.

"It's not over yet, Kat. There's still a whole year to fill. A year full of opportunities." Laurissa reminded her.

"Exactly. That's why I'm so excited. This year could be great!" Katherine said.

Or it could be a disaster.

Laurissa rolled her eyes and looked out her window, suddenly thinking of her mother. Five years ago she had committed murder, killing Laurissa's younger sister, Jasmine. Jasmine was only thirteen years old, far too young to die. But their mother had a serious, secret drinking problem and one night Jasmine pushed it too far. Their mother lost control and "accidentally" stabbed her in the neck.

Laurissa and her whole family were angels. Her father was, Jasmine used to be. And so did their mother, but after the Legend's Court found out about the accident, and that their mother had been drinking alcohol daily, their mother was sentenced to be a fallen angel.

After that event, their mother ran away. It's the go-to response for most fallen angels. They leave, despite anything - including family - holding them back. They flee the city, sometimes even the country. Xavier had run away as well. But that was for the best.

Maybe it was best for her mother as well.

Katherine didn't know about her mother, no one really knew what happened. Katherine knew she had killed Jasmine and that she had run away but Katherine didn't know anything about the Legend's Court or the angels. It was a hard secret to keep but at least Laurissa had her father to talk to. Sometimes.

"Hey, why are you so . . . depressed? You said you were excited." Katherine asked.

Laurissa sighed and then looked Katherine, "It's the fifth year anniversary of the day Jasmine died."

Laurissa watched as Katherine's face went white and her eyes filled with embarrassment. "Oh, my God. I'm so sorry, I've been sitting here going crazy about the first day when you're going through this. I'm sorry, Laurissa. Do you want to talk about it?"

Shaking her head, Laurissa took a deep breath, "No, it's good that you're excited, maybe it will rub off on me. I need to be happy as well, I can't let that day haunt me forever."

A smile spread across Katherine's face. They finally got to their school, Rochester Highschool. Students were standing in groups in front of the school, laughing and jumping and having a good time. Laurissa ached to feel the happiness they felt.

Katherine parked her truck and the two got out, greeted by the scent of car fuel and . . . people. "Get ready, Senior. This is where it all begins." Katherine said.

Laurissa felt chills down her spine at Katherine's words. Oddly, they reminded her of Xavier.

Laurissa could feel it inside of her, today would be insane in more ways than one.

Katherine and Laurissa made their way through the crowds of people, getting to the front doors of the school as soon as possible. Once they were inside, they got out the papers with their schedule and locker numbers on them. They searched down their lockers, finding them conveniently right next to each other, and got their books for their first class.

"My first class is Mrs. Kelly, Math." Laurissa told Katherine as they walked down the halls to see everyone.

"Oh, that sucks. I hate having Math first thing in the morning, I'm too tired to focus." Katherine responded, looking down at her schedule. "I have Science first. Ha."

"Well, you're definitely not tired today." Laurissa said, observing Katherine as she walked with a skip in her step.

They approached the main office and both of them stopped walking in surprise. A boy they didn't recognize stood at the desk in the front office. They watched through the glass windows as the boy spoke to the lady behind the desk. "Woah. He's cute." Katherine said. Laurissa frowned at the boy. There was something off about him. Something wickedly familiar.

Laurissa pushed the thought away and focused on the boy from a different point of view. "Yeah, he is kind of cute." The boy had black hair with bangs and he wore a leather jacket. They couldn't see his face but both the girls knew he was attractive anyway.

"I call dibs." Katherine blurted out.

"What? How come you get dibs?" Laurissa protested.

"I saw him first." Katherine said proudly.

"Did not!"

"Man, this year is great. New boys, new classes, new environment. I can't wait." Katherine ignored Laurissa's protest.

Laurissa forced a nod. "Maybe this year won't be so bad after all."

But just then the boy in the main office turned and walked out the door to the hallway. And Laurissa saw his face. His face was all too familiar, and it sent chills down Laurissa's spine like an electric pulse. 

She immediately took back her words.

She almost fell to her knees and began shaking as fear took over her whole body. Her heart nearly stopped and her breathing became heavy. She took a step back, wanting to run miles away from the school and never stop. Her dream this morning came racing back through her mind and she suddenly felt unsafe and vulnerable.

This year was not going to be great. This year was going to be horrible. Laurissa knew it, danger was amongst them all. Feelings of confusion, anxiety, pain, curiosity, and fear ran through Laurissa's veins as she watched the boy. She felt her heart sink. Suddenly she was overcome with anger and she clenched her fists tight.

Xavier Floyd, Laurissa's ex boyfriend, the fallen angel, the traitor.

The murderer.

Laurissa couldn't take her eyes off Xavier. She watched him at his locker, studying his every move. What would he do next? Where would he go? She watched as he scanned the halls and Laurissa took a step behind a group of people when he looked her way.

Katherine didn't recognize him yet, she didn't realize who Xavier was. "Kat." Laurissa said to her friend. "Look at that kid closely. Recognize him?"

Katherine gave Laurissa a weird look but did what she said. She studied Xavier for a long time, and then looked back at Laurissa and shrugged. "Riss, who is he?" Laurissa rolled her eyes and took a peek at Xavier.

"Remember Sophomore year, the guy I was dating?" Laurissa hinted. Katherine took one more look at Xavier and then suddenly it was like a light bulb went off in her head.

"That's . . .?" Katherine starts. Laurissa nodded. "But that can't be . . ." Laurissa nodded again. "He looks so different." Laurissa rolled her eyes.

"Kat, stay away from him. At all costs, don't talk to him or be friends with him or anything. He will ruin our Senior year." Laurissa warned. But Katherine was too busy staring at Xavier. Laurissa couldn't help but stare as well.

"He looks different though. Maybe he's changed." Katherine said sympathetically. Katherine didn't know that Xavier had killed Roy and Trevor. The day after Xavier murdered them and the day Xavier left town Laurissa had just told Katherine that the three moved away. She really didn't know anything. Laurissa told her the reason she hated Xavier so much was that he had a past full of awful secrets.

"People like him don't change." Laurissa said. "Just, please, Kat, don't get involved with him."

Katherine thought about it for a minute and then nodded. 

Laurissa continued to watch Xavier. Maybe Laurissa should go to talk to him, ask what he's doing back here. She wouldn't get answers on her own, and she doubted Xavier would give them to her, but she should try.

But then Laurissa shook her head and turned away. "Let's just go. Find a few more friends, hang out, forget about him until it's necessary to take action. I don't want to be upset before the first period of school even begins." Laurissa said, erasing Xavier's image from her head like she'd been working on the past two years.

Katherine nods and smiles at Laurissa's confidence, "Alright. Let's go."

They walked away, and every step they took lessened Laurissa's fear. The further away they got from Xavier the more she felt at home, the more safe she felt. She knew she could handle this in the best way she could. Xavier wouldn't ruin her Senior year, she would not allow it. And neither would Katherine. 

It's best to just forget about him. Ignore him until a situation comes along where she can't anymore. But she would do her best to avoid a situation like that. She would succeed at a happy Senior year. Stress-free and safe.

But Laurissa still didn't feel unnerved. She knew she wouldn't ever again, no matter how far away she got from Xavier.

Author's Note

I'm not too confident about this chapter, definitely not one of my strongest. Please tell me what you think.

Reviews

[Jacques]

I couldn't see any typos or mistakes as i was just putting my eyes to the story . It's a very good chapter and the first chapter isn't like i thought , it's more of a narrator's view on things of what's happened but i liked it because it put you into control of what's happened and gives you more interest in what's next . I have a feeling like this is going to be a very good book because from what i see , it's going too be very character - based and i loved the words you used and how they flowed and fitted very well . One thing though i think one of the things i noticed , how you mention Xavier being a fallen angel , you do it a lot in the first two paragraphs i think . My favourite paragraph had too be the last one and i'm interesting into seeing what's happened as we got some sort of vision but i would like something more to visualise it . I think you've wrote this first chapter very well and it gives me more of a mood and feel of what this book will follow and it'll be interesting for me as a reader too see how far you've really come and grown as a writer . Amazing write , keep it up and i wanna see more .