Chapter 1

LUCE

I plopped down on my bed wrinkling my comforter, as I looked around my new room I sighed. Everything was unpacked and put in its place, yet it still didn't feel like home to me. I was born here but I couldn't feel any less out of place. I know mom had no choice but to move back here after dad left, but I was so far from my friends and life back home.

There was a knock on my door, "Come in". I said without sitting up.

My mom came in and sat down next to me, placing her hand gently on my knee. "How are you honey"? she asked.

I couldn't help but let out an exaggerated breath. "I'm just great". Her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying. I could see the guilt in her face. I knew she didn't want to uproot me and the life I had.

"I'm sorry mom" I hugged her softly "I know this isn't your fault. I'll adjust. We will be okay."

Her eyes crinkled with her smile, "You don't have to be strong for me Luce. I know this is hard for us both." She kissed the top of my head "Thank you for being so understanding, I think you'll end up liking it here."

"Dad never talked about it here like you did, If you loved it so much why did you leave?" I asked

My mom and dad were both born and raised here, but he never talked about it and when I would bring it up he told me to stop talking about it or would change the subject.

"Honestly I didn't want to leave, but I loved your father and he wanted to get out of this town so I followed him." She sighed

"But why did he want to leave?"

She shrugged, "Your father never talked much about his life here honey, even though we went to school together its like I hardly knew him. Even being married to him it felt like I never knew who he was."

My heart felt heavy, I never knew how much my father was hurting her. I changed the subject to spare her from having to relive all that she had been through recently.

"Well, It's kind of cool i'll be going to the same school you went to."

She laughed, "I hope it's changed since I went there, you know back in ancient times"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah hopefully they know what computers are and the internet" I joked.

She pushed my arm playfully. "I'm not that old!"

I chuckled "I know I'm kidding, but you are pretty close"

She made a shocked face and rolled her eyes. "You know what I might just have to drive you to school tomorrow and embarrass you on your first day"

"Okay , I take it back! I'm sorry." I knew she would embarrass me too.

"That's what I thought. Okay honey I'll let you get some sleep you have an early day tomorrow." She kissed the top of my head.

"Goodnight Mom."

"Night." She shut the door behind her.

I laid back down, it felt good to lay down finally. My head had been pounding ever since we arrived. I was ready to get some sleep.

* * * *

The alarm pierced the silence of my room, I shot out of bed slapping my alarm off the nightstand. It angrily beeped, echoing in my ears. My head was still heavy and ached and the alarm was only making it worse.

I managed to turn off the alarm as I stumbled through my dark room. The only light was the early morning sun sneaking through the cracks of my blinds.

I groaned as I flipped my light switch on, the brightness burned my eyes. I finally glanced at the clock it was 7:30, I only had about an hour before school started if I didn't hurry I was going to be late.

I threw on jeans and a warm jacket, it was a lot colder here. I guess I would wear a pair of my cozy boots to help keep me warm.

I caught a glimpse of my hair in the mirror and stopped, I brushed it profusely with my hands and fingers to no avail. My blonde baby hairs stuck out in every direction. It looked like I had hardly slept as well, my blue eyes had bags under them. I dabbed a little concealer under my eyes to help mask my tiredness. With a flick of mascara I was ready to head off to school.

I hoped into my car an old school Volkswagen beetle. I put my key in the ignition and gently started her, her engine sputtered for a few seconds before catching and revving to life.

The drive to school wasn't long, only about 10 minutes. The trees flickered past me as I sped down the road, leaving a wall of green on either side of me. Small droplets of rain slapped my windshield, leaving tiny streams across it.

An old brick building came into view, with a wooden sign out front reading "Kettle Falls High School". I pulled into the parking lot and parked in the area labeled student parking. To my surprise the parking lot had a lot of cars, mostly newer and expensive cars.

A few people stared at me as I walked toward the building, I could hear the whispers already. It was hard being the new person but this being such a small town I knew I was stirring up gossip already.

"Hello." I said catching the attention of the woman at the front desk, the heavy office door slammed behind me.

"Well hello!" She gleamed flashing me a warm smile. She was an older lady probably around her mid 60's. Her grey hair was tied in a neat bun and her eyes were welcoming as she greeted me. "You must be Luce Walker! It's so uncommon for us to get new students I've been waiting for you!" She chuckled

I gave her a small smile, that must explain the looks I've been getting.

"Here, you probably came for this," she handed me a piece of paper. I examined my schedule and gave her a small smile.

"Thank you ma'am" I said

"Now if you have any trouble finding classes or need anything just come and find me. Have a good day dear."

With a wave of my hand, I hurried out of the office to avoid small talk. Luckily the school was easy to navigate, all the 100 classrooms were on the first floor and the 200 classrooms were on the second. My first class was English which was right down the hallway from the office.

The bell rang as I opened the door to my class, everyone's eyes were on me. I was probably red as an apple as I felt the heat creep up to my cheeks.

"Welcome, you must be Luce." A man stated. "I'm Mr. Brooks, welcome to my class. Why don't you tell the class a bit about yourself."

My hands were really clammy and I didn't know what to do with them so I shoved them in my pockets. I looked around the room and everyone's eyes were still on me. I quickly dropped my gaze to the floor.

"Well-" I paused. There was nothing much to tell about me. "My name is Luce Walker, I just moved here from California." I looked over at Mr. Brooks. He had an encouraging look on his face like he expected me to say more.

After a few seconds of silence he clapped his hands together startling me. "Well class lets welcome Luce. Why don't you take a seat in the back, your textbook is under your desk." I nodded and quickly found my seat.

Half the day had passed and everything was pretty much the same. Every teacher made me introduce myself and everyone stared at me. Now it was lunch time and I was even more nervous, where would I sit? By myself in the bathroom was starting to look like a good option.