Evelyn

A little after five, Mamaw pulled into the sanctuary parking lot in her beat-up old Jeep Cherokee.

"Did ya have a good time?" she asked when I entered the car.

With a nod, I said, "I did; I met a boy my age named Clay, and he gave me a tour."

Mamaw smiled, "You must be talking about Clayton Branham. His Grandpappy and father are the local shamans; I buy some of the oils they sell at their shop to help with my arthritis." She explained.

A little while later, I had been sitting in the hammock reading my worn copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare when a familiar wolf stepped out of the trees. I smiled when he walked right up to me, with his tongue lolled out in a wolfy grin.

I scratched his head, wondering why his eyes seemed so similar.

"I should give you a name," I told him.

He cocked his head, making me smile.

"How about I call you… Puck?" I said, looking down at the book in my hands.

"Bark," he replied with a tail wag.

"Puck it is," I said, "Shall I read it to you?"

He laid down at my feet and then looked up at me. With a smile, I began to read.

"I'll follow you; I'll lead you about a round,

Through a bog, through bush, through brake, through brier.

Sometime a horse I'll be, sometime a hound,

A hog, a headless bear, sometime a fire,

And neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burn,

Like horse, hound, hog, bear, fire, at every turn."

'My heart thundered in my chest as I peered into the packed auditorium, smiling when I spotted my mother in the front row.

"It's your time to shine," says Mr. Ferguson.

I squared my shoulders, sucked in a deep breath, then stepped out onto the stage. The whole world faded away as I sank into my role as Belle from one of my favorite movies, Beauty and the Beast.

After the play, I met mom outside the auditorium. "You did great, Lynnie!" She said in her broad country accent, pulling me in for one of her famous bear hugs.

Angelica Monroe was a short, curvy woman in her mid to late 30s.

When I pulled away, I smiled at my mother, taking in her waist-length copper-colored hair, freckle-covered pale skin, and striking green eyes.

The sky was dark and eerie when we stepped outside. A light rain was beginning to fall as we walked to my mom's rusty Dodge Cavalier. I jumped in fright from the loud boom of thunder as we pulled out of the school parking lot.

We were about halfway home when the sky opened up. It was now pouring so hard that it was impossible to see the road. When we rounded a corner, my heart sank at the sight of large yellow lights.

HONK!!!

"Mom!" I yelled, but it was too late. The last thing I heard was glass shattering, and then the whole world went black.'

I jerked awake with a gasp. My heart pounded in my chest as the memories of the accident rolled through my mind. Every time I believe I'm doing better, I have one of these dreams, or someone says something, bringing everything crashing back. I hate jumping at every loud noise or feeling nauseous whenever I eat.

I jumped, squealing in fright when my alarm blared through the room. With a growl, I slammed my hand down on the damn thing, then groaned when I realized that today was my first day of school.

After a quick shower, I pulled on a black t-shirt, black Harley Quinn leggings, my worn pair of black and white checkered converse shoes, and then pulled on a black hoodie with the Cheshire Cat that says, "We're all mad here." Once dressed, I pulled my hair into a messy bun, did my makeup, then headed towards the kitchen for breakfast.

After breakfast, I grabbed my backpack then headed out the door to wait for the bus.

When I got to school, I looked around for my locker. When I finally found it, I cursed when I saw a few boys blocking it. The one leaning against my locker was the boy I met at the wolf sanctuary named Clay.

Clay had to be at least six and a half feet tall, with a square jaw, and was built like a linebacker with lightly tanned skin and short dark blonde hair stuck up in every direction. Today he wore a black Adidas t-shirt, red basketball shorts, and shiny black Adidas sneakers. His mismatched eyes grew wide as I approached.

"Can I help you, little birdie?" He asked, making me cringe as his eyes looked me up and down.

"You're blocking my locker, asshole," I said through clenched teeth.

With a wounded look, he took a few steps to the side.

"Come on, Clay, we're gonna be late," said his friend.

Clay ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, then turned and followed his friend down the hall.

It took me a while, but I finally found my first-period class. When I stepped through the door, I froze, groaning when I spotted a familiar boy.

I flipped up my hood, then kept my head down as I sat in the back corner by the window. I sunk into the chair, hoping to become invisible as the other students filled the room.

But the boy I saw with Clay in the hallway didn't take the hint. I groaned in frustration when he slid into the chair before me.

This boy was attractive, with long shoulder-length raven-black hair, brown eyes, a diamond-shaped face, high cheekbones, and dark-tanned skin.

" Hello, I've never seen you around here before; I'm Asher Denton." He smiled, "The one with the short brunette hair over there is my friend Shawn Altaha, and the big guy is Clay Branham."

Clay slid into the seat to my left while Shawn sat down in the seat in front of him. Clay turned to me but lost his chance to speak when the bell rang. With a sigh, he turned back to face the teacher, who introduced himself at the marker board as Mr. Crowe.

A few minutes later, we were divided into groups to learn about our classmates, and lucky me; I got stuck with Asher.

With a smile, Asher dragged our desks together, then read from the list of questions on the paper that the teacher handed out.

"First, what is your name?" he asked, "I just told you mine."

Sighing, I wrote down his name and then told him, "Evelyn Monroe."

"When's your birthday?" He asked, "Mine's July 23rd, 2006."

I wrote that down and said, " December 4th, 2005."

"What are your parent's names?" asked Asher, "My dad's name is Nosh, and my mother is Loretta."

Trying not to cry, I said, "My mother's name was Angelica Monroe, and I don't know who my father is."

Asher's eyes widened, "Was?" he asked.

I sniffled, then nodded, "Yeah, she died last month in a horrible car accident."

"Oh…" he replied, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks"

After the bell rang, we returned our desks to how they were and then handed in our papers as we left the classroom.

I pulled my schedule from my hoodie pocket to see where to go next when Asher snatched it from my hands.

"What's your next class?" He asked, looking over the paper. "Well, from what it looks like, I will be accompanying you to the second period." With a smile, he returned my schedule, then motioned for me to follow.

"Hey," said Clay, stopping me with a hand on my shoulder, "Don't get upset; Asher means well." I nodded to let him know I understood, then turned to follow Asher.

I was so confused… weren't the hot guys supposed to be assholes?

I was so caught up in my head that I walked right into Asher's muscular back.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, grabbing my shoulders so I wouldn't fall.

I nodded, rubbing my forehead, "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention"

Man, this is embarrassing. I tried to turn away so he wouldn't see the flash of heat as it rose to my face, but he still had his hands on my shoulders.

"Hey, no need to be embarrassed," He said with a smile while squeezing my shoulders. "Where would you like to sit?" he asked, pulling away.

Sadly, there weren't any windows, so I pointed to the empty desk in the back corner.

"You do know, trying to hide isn't going to help you make friends," he said, sliding into the seat in front of me. I answered with a shrug, then slid into my chosen seat.

"Hey, Ash. Who's the girl?" Asked a female version of Asher, who slid into the seat next to him.

"Hey Bee, this is Evelyn," Explained Asher. "Evelyn, this is my twin sister, Shelby."

She crossed her arms, curling her lip as she looked me up and down, scrunching her nose at the sight of the cut in my face. She rolled her eyes with a scoff, then looked away with a flick of her hair…

She was a bee with an itch, that was for sure...

When class was over, I headed to my next class. Sitting in the back corner, I looked up when a girl sat beside me. The girl had copper-colored hair braided into cornrows, freckle-covered light brown skin, and amber-brown eyes.

"Hello, my name's Penny," she said with a smile.

"I'm Evelyn," I replied

When the bell rang, I decided to stop by the bathroom on the way to my next class. After taking care of business, I was washing my hands when three girls walked in. I recognized one of the girls as Asher's sister Shelby.

The girl in the center had dark tanned skin and was built like a model with long wavy black hair and brown eyes. The girl to her left had short black hair, chocolate-colored skin, and dark brown eyes.

The girl in the center stepped forward with her arms crossed and had a look on her face like she smelled something awful as she looked me up and down.

"This is the girl?" She sneered

Shelby nodded, "Yep," she said, crossing her arms with a smug look.

The girl in the center stepped closer with an ugly sneer on her pretty face, "Stay away from Clay Branham; he's mine," She said with a growl. With a curl of her lip, she turned with a flick of her hair and walked out of the bathroom.

Well, this is just fabulous I thought as I left the bathroom. I caught the attention of this school's mean girls on my first day. The exact thing I was hoping to avoid.

When I walked into the gym, I groaned, forcing myself not to turn and run when my eyes connected with the mismatched eyes of a familiar giant. Why did seeing him cause butterflies in my stomach when all I wanted to do was knee him in the balls?

"Hello, Little Birdie," He said, running a hand through his already messy hair.

Is this how he saw me? A broken little bird?

With a roll of my eyes, I ignored him, then turned to listen to the teacher, who introduced himself as Mr. Bear.

Today everyone just did their thing. I couldn't help peeking over at Clay occasionally as he ran around the gym playing basketball with the guys; he was pretty fast for a guy his size.

I was sketching in my sketchbook on the bleachers when a sweaty Clay sat next to me.

"How are you liking Nantahala so far?" He asked while wiping his sweaty face with the bottom of his shirt, exposing his chiseled abs.

My face burned as I forced myself to look away, "I haven't seen much yet."

"If you want, I could drive you into town after school; my father owns a shop there. It's the herb shop across the street from your grandma's pet shop." He said

"I don't think your girlfriend would like that," I said with raised eyebrows.

His face scrunched in confusion, "I don't have a girlfriend."

Crossing my arms, I scoffed, then said, "Oh really? I was threatened to stay away from you by a pretty black-haired girl on my way to class."

Running his hand through his hair, he let out a deep sigh. "Harmony is not my girlfriend. We dated briefly last year, but she felt more like a little sister, so I broke it off."

"Not interested," I said; luckily, the bell rang, so I just got up and walked away, wondering why he wouldn't just leave me the hell alone.