Seaside Series Book 2
Autore
Rachel Van Dyken
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Capitoli
25
Chapter One
Natalee
It was a normal day in my normal life, and it should have been everything I've come to expect in the sleepy town of Seaside, Oregon.
I'd wake up, brush my teeth, careful to sing Happy Birthday at least three times before I stopped. I was paranoid like that. I often had dreams my teeth would fall out.
If only.
I know that sounds harsh, but then at least something beside the norm would happen to me. Not that I was insane enough to start wishing for family members to keel over.
Maybe it was all this teenage angst. At eighteen, I was just finishing out my senior year of high school.
To say I could not wait to go to college would be the understatement of the century.
I had a calendar with giant red x marks over each day.
Nine months.
That's all I had. And then I was free.
Free of this boring oh so normal place, and free for change to happen. Crap, even getting my hair dyed a different color than the golden blonde it was would be enough change for me.
But my mom hated artificial anything.
What can I say? We live in Oregon. We hug trees and all that.
I spit the last bit of toothpaste into the sink and looked into the mirror.
“Ugh.” I cringed at my reflection. Why couldn't my eyes have been anything but brown?
I blamed my parents.
Their boring genes became my boring genes and voila, here I am.
I slipped on a pair of faded skinny jeans, threw on a pair of tennis shoes and a tight-fitting V-neck Henley.
I walked into the bathroom and pinched my cheeks. My parents wouldn't let me wear makeup.
I know, weird.
Eighteen and I'd never kissed a boy, never worn makeup, and I drove a semi-new pickup to school.
My only saving grace was that I was actually one of the cooler kids at school. I wasn't sure if that was a positive mark in my favor or another way of explaining just how lame Seaside was.
I put on some lip balm and ran downstairs. I needed to stop acting so moody or my mom would think I was on drugs. Usually, I'm a very happy-go-lucky girl, but last night had been another rough one.
I had that stupid dream again about the boy with blonde hair. A boy I've never seen before in my life. He drove up to the school and proclaimed his love for me.
I was wearing makeup.
A killer dress.
Oh yeah, and he kissed me.
I always dreamed like that. The dream only occurred once a month, and it was always different. My psychiatrist mom would say I was projecting, or possibly suffering from some sort of delusion.
Which I probably was.
However, I thought it was just another sign that I needed to lay off the double mochas and late-night TV.
I ducked into the kitchen, grabbed my slick rain jacket, put a banana in my backpack, and took a bite out of an apple.
“Mom!”
No answer.
I sighed. “Mom! I'm leaving for school!”
Still no answer.
With patience I knew I didn't possess, I screamed her name a third time and waited for her to emerge from her study.
Sure enough, after three minutes the door to her study opened. Her glasses were slightly tilted on her face as if she put them on in a rush, her hair in a messy bun.
That was good old mom. Her slight build just made her look that much more innocent.
“Sorry, Hon, late night client. Do you need money for lunch?”
“Nope.
“Oh, alright. Well, have a good day.”
“Yup.” I was already turning on my heel to walk out the door.
Always the same.
She always fell asleep in her office. There was always some depressed client in this tiny town that wanted to kill themselves. Needless to say, she never needed more work.
I blamed the dreary Oregon weather and my mom's inability to say no to anyone. Even me. It sounded like every girl's dream. A parent that said yes all the time?
It wasn't a dream.
She was more of a… I don't know, maybe a roommate? My dad wasn't any better. He was a surgeon. I hardly saw him, but when I did, he usually missed mom so much it was hard to get a word in edgewise.
They were brilliant and would often hole up in her office with a bottle of wine and talk philosophy.
The idea of drinking wine and talking philosophy literally made my stomach ache. I'd rather watch Reality TV all night while eating sardines.
Sometimes I think they wished I hadn't been born. It wasn't that they didn't love me. I knew I had their love. They just seemed happier without me.
It sucks, but at least I knew what to expect. If you know what to expect, you never really get let down. That's what I chanted the entire way to the truck.
I threw in my messenger bag and slammed the door.
The drive to school was short. I had a pretty awesome view of the ocean on the way, too. It helped that my parents lived in a legitimate Better Homes and Gardens beach house.
As I drove into the parking lot, an involuntary shiver ran down my spine.
Weird.
I bit my lip and turned off the ignition.
I don't know how long I sat there, five minutes maybe, and then someone was banging on my window.
“Nat! What the heck? Where have you been?”
My best friend, though I hated to claim her at times considering she had the tendency to be neurotic and slightly irritating, banged on the window again. “The meeting? Did you forget?”
Crap.
I pushed open the door and hopped out. “Sorry, Alesha. I totally spaced it.”
She folded her arms across her chest and scowled. “What's up with you lately? We only have thirty days until the dance and Homecoming has to be the best! I mean it's like one of our final hoorays!”
“I think you mean hoorah.”
“Whatever.” She blinked several times, trying to clear the clumps from her heavy mascara, and threw her bag over her shoulder. “All I'm saying is we need your help.
“Yes?” I said it as more of a question then flashed her a smile. “Yes, Alesha. I promise I'll make it and I'll do wonderful things with the decorations. Great theme by the way.”
“What is it?”
“Life's a Beach?” I guessed.
“Lucky guess…” she muttered then stormed off.
I exhaled and again a prickling awareness washed over my skin. Seriously, I needed to get more sleep. The bell rang.
I trudged to my first class not really paying attention to anyone around me, which was just a bad choice, period. I mean, I'm a teenager. We're clumsy and all that.
Needless to say, I tripped. My messenger bag went flying out of my hands and my books spewed out of my bag like they were angry they were there in the first place.
“Crap.” I knelt down and reached for my Poli-Sci book just as another hand brushed mine.
Chills spread throughout my entire body. Alarmed, I pulled back and looked up, straight into the greenest eyes I've ever seen.
Period.
I felt my skin heat as he wordlessly passed me my book, and then held out his hand to help me up.
I took it, mainly because I was in such shock I didn't know what else to do.
And just as I was about to speak, or exhale, or do anything that would prove to this very beautiful boy that I was in fact a human and not a robot, someone walked up beside him and scowled.
“Knocking girls on their knees already, hmm, Alec?”
It was like looking at the sun and moon at the same time. Alec had messy black hair and green eyes. His chin was pronounced, his jaw had a five o'clock shadow on it.
No way was this guy a teenager. The boy next to him stretched out his hand and grinned, revealing perfectly straight white teeth.
His hair was blonde and curly, his skin the perfect tan, as if he had just spent the last few weeks on vacation in Hawaii.
His dimples were so deep you could tell he smiled a lot, whereas the other guy, Alec, hadn't said a word. Nor had he smiled. Not once.
“Um...” I took the guy's hand. “He didn't knock me down, he was helping me. I tripped and…” Why the heck was I defending myself like some guilty prisoner?
“No worries.” The guy shrugged. “Demetri. And your name?”
“Natalee,” I said slowly. “But everyone just calls me Nat. Nice to meet you… both.”
Demetri shrugged. “Yeah, well, we're new in town, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more of us.”
There was something vaguely familiar about both of them, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Again, it's probably all that late-night television watching. No way do I actually know two guys this hot.
I stole a look at Alec. He seemed to be flexing every muscle in his body, almost like he wanted to punch me, or eat me, or maybe just kill me with his bare hands.
Great start to a day.
At least it wouldn't be boring.
“Right, um, like I said, nice meeting you.
“Nat!” Evan jumped out of his seat and plowed toward me. “Where were you this morning? We waited, but then, you know I got hungry and… well, you weren't there.”
I rolled my eyes. “Evan, when are you not hungry? And I totally forgot, sorry.”
He shrugged. “No apologies necessary. I just hate having to be the only sane one in that estrogen fest.”
I smirked. “Right. You just hate being surrounded by beautiful women.”
“It makes it hard for me to eat.”
“Why is that?” I took my seat and grinned.
“Well…” he leaned forward.
“Ah, this is true. Here.” I reached into my backpack and took out the banana I had snatched from the counter earlier. “My peace offering.”
“Thank God.”
“Boys. Give them food and they're putty in your hands.”
Evan peeled the banana and took a huge bite. “Please. Any guy would be putty in your hands, Nat. You're freaking hot.”
I rolled my eyes, as I did whenever I got a compliment, and was relieved when the teacher told us to take our seats.
“Now, as you all know, this school is part of an exchange student program with other schools around the world.” Mr. Meservy cleared his throat and continued, “Because of this program—Evan!
“Throw that banana peel elsewhere, perhaps the trash can? Not the floor, or I'm going to make you scrub it with a toothbrush.”
Evan threw up his hands and made a giant show of throwing the banana into the trash can and returned to his seat. The chair squeaked against the floor.
“You may continue, sir.” Evan saluted and winked.
I rolled my eyes and turned back around to face Mr. Meservy. He wasn't my favorite teacher, probably because he was freakishly young and reminded me somewhat of my dad. Weird comparison, I know.
In all honesty, he looked exactly like pictures of my father when he was young. I only know this because upon seeing him for the first time my mom nearly had a heart attack.
But that's beside the point. Teachers aren't supposed to be only a few years older than students. It's just not right.
Mr. Meservy shook his head. “As I was saying…” He gave Evan a pointed glare.
Two students? Were those the boys I saw this morning? Were they brothers or just friends? They looked like polar opposites. I bit my lip and began tapping my pen against my desk.
“Let's all give them a warm welcome, and please try to be civil, people.
A sudden knock at the door interrupted his speech.
Every head in the room turned.
The two guys from the hallway walked in. Alec, the brooding one, looked like he'd rather be run over with a car than be in the classroom.
“Welcome, welcome.” Okay, why was Mr. Meservy bowing to them? He clasped his hands in front of him as if he was in the presence of George Clooney and bowed.
Yes, our very lame teacher from Seaside, Oregon just bowed to the exchange students. I could have died.
Shocked, I could only watch as Demetri smirked in my direction then returned Mr. Meservy's bow with one of his own. Alec, however, was motionless.
His eyes seemed to darken even more as he looked at every person in the room but me. I know because I was waiting for it. Stupid, but I wanted him to look at me. And again, I blame TV.
I liked his brooding attitude even though I knew it was just a sign of his immaturity and lack of personality. I couldn't help it.
Demetri winked at me then looked at Mr. Meservy and pumped his hand. “Thank you so much for the warm welcome.
Mr. Meservy blushed to the roots of his hair, probably just now realizing that yes, he had indeed bowed to the Canadians. “Well…” He cleared his throat. “Again, welcome to Seaside High.”
Demetri nodded and made his way to the back of the class. Alec trailed behind, but not before stopping at my desk. Our eyes met, and I couldn't pull my gaze away.
He was staring through me, uncomfortably so. I opened my mouth to speak but wasn't really sure what to say.
“I think you dropped this.” He placed a pink pen on my desk and continued to his seat in the back. My heart thumped wildly in my chest.
It was as if nobody had seen the intense exchange between us.
Except five minutes later, I realized I was still clenching the pen and hadn't yet opened my book. It was like I had spaced out or something.
“Geez, Nat, it's just a pen,” Evan mumbled behind me. I laughed right along with him even though my heart was still hammering in my chest.
The two new kids were gorgeous, that much was obvious, but a small part of me seemed to find them familiar. As if I'd seen them before?
I stole a peek behind me, irritated that Evan tried to block my view. Alec looked away but Demetri flashed me another heart-stopping smile.
And then it hit me.
I knew exactly who those boys were.
Unfortunately, my realization came at the same time as every other girl in the classroom.
The whispering grew louder and then some of the girls shrieked. I looked back at Evan who seemed to be slowly trying to figure out the same thing.
I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone careful not to let my teacher see.
I searched AD2 on my phone and held it up to Evan.
“Holy sh— I mean, crap.”
Nobody ever said boys were intelligent, or tactful for that matter.
“Those are the dudes from AD2!” He did a fist pump and turned around to give them both a head nod which apparently in boy world meant, “What's up, you're cool, let's hang.”
Because he got two very cool-looking head nods back. I rolled my eyes, a little disappointed that my fantasy had ended just as fast as it had begun.
The day was no longer boring, but now I knew without a doubt that Alec would not be smoldering in my direction, and Demetri was fortunate enough to be the type of guy that had every STD listed and probably some of them that weren't.
The guy was known for his conquests. TMZ followed them everywhere, which begged the question — what the heck were they doing in Seaside?
I scrolled through the pages on my phone trying to find any sort of rumor as to why they were going to school rather than touring or whoring around.
“Miss Murray, your phone.” Mr. Meservy held out his hand. Irritated, I slapped it into his hand, but not before clicking the top of it so he'd have to use a password to get in.
“Anyone else want to tempt fate today?” Mr. Meservy looked around the room, challenging more students to pull out their phones.
Someone made a choking noise behind me, and suddenly Alec was at the side of my desk. “Um, actually that's my phone. She was probably confused, which is why it was out on her desk.”
Mr. Meservy rolled his eyes. “Fine, I'll play. And how would she have your phone?”
“She tripped.” Alec shrugged, giving a cool smile to the teacher. I shivered when his hand gently touched my shoulder. “Her books and phone fell out of her bag, and then the bell rang.
“I helped her grab her stuff, but had to set my phone down on the floor to do so. Simple mistake.”
Even I believed him, and I knew it was a bald-faced lie.
“Besides…” Alec leaned his tanned hands against my desk and smirked. “We all know how many times my phone goes off. It was probably burning up in her hand.”
At this, the entire class began chuckling, because really it had to be true. The guy was a celebrity. Grown women wanted to rape him. Naturally, his phone would be blowing up the cellular universe.
“Fine, Alec, you'll get your phone back at the end of class.”
Alec turned his back to Mr. Meservy, making me want to gasp. You didn't turn your back on teachers. Clearly I was sheltered.
“Here's your phone, Nat.” His smile disappeared. He handed me the iPhone 5, slipping it into my hand before walking back to his desk.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
I now had two things he had touched, and I was ready to fall out of my seat. Seriously. Must. Stop. Watching. TV!
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