If the Sun Can't Shine then maybe the world can't find you (Open)

High school.... she never thought she'd be here again.
Shannon and her 'family' moved to Forks, WA in the last week of summer break here.
Officially, her father was an exec somewhere and was never home. The truth was there were no parents. Not really. Shannon was the natural daughter and Sarah and Andrew were adopted. There was an older brother, too, but was out of the house.
Actually, she was the 'leader' if that term was appropriate. She and the others have been through hell and back... but no one here knew that. Since she was really 35 years old, Sarah and her brother looked to her after their mother disappeared. It was a burden she carried quietly.... suffer in silence.
They didn't live in the town limits. Shannon had wanted an out of the way place that also had room for three horses. They were supposed to be 'hiding' here. Start a new life. She didn't really want attention.
They had a modest split level ranch house off the 101. Surrounded by woods, you couldn't even see the highway through thick jungle of temperate rainforest that surrounded them. A small barn and 2 acre pasture accomodated the horses. Kiba, her wolf, seemed to love it here, though. This was his kind of place. Back in Virginia, she passed him off as a really large husky. He was 120 lbs and a great mentor for Roxie, Sarah's 80 lb rottweiler. They also had two Bombay cats, Lincoln and Penny.... so named because the breed is renown for their copper eyes. Top it off with Horus, the Egyptian Mau which loved to hunt in the barn.


Today was the first day of school... and her first day at a new school. She adopted this role to blend in. Student... hell, she hasn't been in high school for almost 20 years. She and her siblings registered. In truth, Sarah and Andrew were real high school students. This part wasn't on they were pretending. It wasn't a charade for them. Shannon and Sarah had Spanish and Gym together... everything else was scattered around Spanish, English, Biology, Trigonometry, Civics and some music appreciation class. Andrew's was a sophomore and his classes were at that level. Algebra, American history, English, Chemistry, French, Art and Gym. Shannon was mildly surprised that this little school even taught about the arts, although she felt she could either sleep through or teach Music appreciation.

So... Shannon went through day 1 in a melancholy mood. The teachers handed out their course curriculums so the material was largely familiar. The only thing new to her was the Trigonometry but her algebra skills were pretty decent. She actually had a couple of college degrees, one in business administration and the other in biology... although her dreams of ever becoming a veterinarian were halted when she became enchanted.

At lunch, she sat next to Sarah. Andrew had been invited to sit with some of the guys. Shannon supposed the students were friendly enough. They welcomed them... trying to help them find their way around the school. Although, Shannon was really good at reading maps. Both Shannon and Sarah were quiet at lunch... unless something asked them a question about where they had been. Some questions were hard to answer. All three of them had agreed that there'd be no mention of Sarah's father's crimes against them... really attacks.
Sarah's father, by the way, was under federal endictment for a slew of charges relating to organized crimes and ties to the Yakuza and even ties to terrorism. The government had seized his known assets and were frozen. All thanks to some documentation unonymously provided to the FBI and Homeland Security. It was under all that smokescreen that Shannon had convinced Sarah that they needed to move... it had been the perfect time to disappear. The federal prosecutors couldn't protect them... nor were they needed as witnesses.
Yeah... their lives in the last year or so had been damn near Hell.
Shannon and Sarah had actually met about 2 years ago on a community soccer field. Shannon loved soccer, actually, and assumed a younger role to play on the same team with Sarah. They had soon become fast friends. Shannon had been a winger and Sarah was center. They played again this past summer and had a great record. They'd have won the league championship but then Shannon got hurt. A girl on the other team in the final game threw a block for the ball... Shannon couldn't avoid in time and sustained a knee injury in the collision.
Under the left pant leg of her black Levis, Shannon still wore a knee brace although she told no one here. Inactivity bored her. Her doctors had warned her about extended horseback rides. She ignored it for the most part. Yeah, she was as stubborn as an ox sometimes. Besides, an injury was no excuse to put your life on hold. Horses still needed to be fed and other things needed to be done.
So now.... at lunch, she idly looked around the cafeteria while some girl at their table held the conversation. Almost everyone in here looked at them at one point or another... new people. She wanted to tell everyone "nothing to see here... move along." Of course, she wasn't going to be rude. She just didn't want all the attention. Her first trip through high school hadn't been so great. Hell, she'd never even been asked to prom or any of the dances. She'd never been popular. But here, it seemed all the students were waiting in line for a chance to talk to them. She wanted to shake her head and sigh. She'd had to stop the school newspaper staff to not take pictures. She shuddered to think what would happen if pictures of them wound up on the internet. Out there for their enemies to find.
Maybe she was paranoid. Sarah's father would be tied up for years with the Feds. Their would be assassin was actually in prison. Still.....
She decided to study her schedule again. Biology was after lunch... yay.

Jay walked into the cafiteria his eyes scooping everything and everyone out eaisly spotting the new comer...Though she seemed alittle different. He brushed it off and then walked over to his usual corner sitting down. No one bothered him or seemed to want to talk to him. When he wasn't in school he was at his house which was located deep in the woods as well...Away from everyone...No road even went to his house. There were a few days when he wouldn't show up at school...People noticed but didn't really seem to care.

Jay pulled out a book and began to read it silently....Or at least pretend to read..That way no one would bother him...His next class was Biology as well and he wasn't looking forward to that...He didn't actually need to come to school and for that matter he him self didn't know why he did...Maybe it made him feel alittle human but who knows.

After about 45 minutes the bell rang to get to class and Jay put his book away then stood up and head to the class room taking a seat in the back where he usually did. No one ever sat beside him thankfully...The class had just enough people so he could be alone...But that was about to change...

Shannon idly looked around the cafeteria at one point. He noticed one boy sitting by himself reading a book. Seemed no one wanted to talk to him. In a way, she envied his solitude. She only hoped that her novelty around school would wear off soon enough.
Shannon didn't buy her lunch here, she brought hers with her from home. At least that way she knows what she's eating. Or that's her thought process anyway. She detests cafeteria food. She even made one for Sarah and Andrew.
When the bell rang signaling lunch was over, she quietly packed her reusable lunch bag.
The girls got up to go to their lockers. She said to Sarah, "See you at gym." Sarah nodded.
Shannon then made her way to the science wing of the school and found her biology class. She looked around as she walked in and saw that boy again. Sitting by himself, too. The other students that were there didn't even say anything to the boy. Several of them looked at her and she caught a couple 'glad' mood vibes from a couple of the boys. She sighed and wanted to shake her head as she checked in with the teacher.
Thankfully, Mr. Walena didn't make a big show of introducing her and told her to have a seat. However, it was now obvious that the only open seat in the room was next to the boy she'd seen in the cafeteria.
She shrugged internally and went over and sat beside him. "Hi," she said quietly to be polite.

Jay looked to the girl when she headed to him his black eyes glancing up for a split second and then back down when she sat down he could smell her and scooted away getting as close to the window as possible his hand moved covering his nose slightly..."Hi...." He says as not making any eye contact for fear of wanting to tear her throat out right there infont of everyone. He didn't talk much threw out class infact he even left eairly claming to be sick...He had to get out of that class....He really had too...He went straight to the office and talked to the person there..Telling her that he need to get out of the class and that he already had the credits for that call...But he was told that he would have to bare with it all the other classes were full...He wasn't too happy about that one...He left the office and then went out side to the school parking lot sitting on a park block out in the open...When the bell rang he watched for the girl to come out....Every thing in him wanted to follow her down and just feed...Once she came out he made eye contact with her and then shook it off as best he could before he started walking down the street heading home.

When she first sat down beside him, she was confused. His 'presence' wasn't clear... she could sense the auras of the others in the room. She couldn't distinguish them yet, of course. Not on day 1 of a new place. But the presence next to hers was difference. It was faint... like an echo... it almost wasn't even there. And what was there, all she could get was a blackness and a kind of pain. She didn't understand it.
When he left, it confused her more. She hadn't insisted on talking to him. In fact, she was grateful he wasn't like everyone else here.
However, she stayed for the whole class... which was pretty boring, actually. Day 1 of classes wasn't much to write home about. After Biology, she crossed the parking lot on the way to Gym class. She stopped when she saw him in the parking lot but she didn't say anything. She was still confused over what she sensed. When he walked away, she shrugged and went on to class.
Day 1 of Gym was boring, too. The coach just went over what they would cover over the semester. Most of it was indoor sports or sports that could be played indoors. No soccer. Shannon didn't mention that her leg was in a brace and it wasn't visible since it was under her pant leg. She didn't care anyway. She felt healed enough to play a mundane game of kickball... which is what they did after the coach was finished going over stuff.
At the end of the day, the girls made their way to their lockers and then the parking lot. Although Sarah had her license, it was Shannon who drove. She drove a 2002 dark grey Ford Escape and the custom plates read 'Shadow' which is what she called it. They had to wait for Andrew, of course. Andrew had a license but not yet insured with no vehicle.
After picking up Emily from her middle school, the 'family' went home.
The house had a one car garage. And the garage housed a car under a blue tarp. So the cars they used stayed out in the elements. Shannon parked Shadow beside Sarah's silver 1989 Buick Century. Beside the barn was Shannon's other vehicle... a 2005 blue F-350 parked beside a gooseneck horse trailer. She used that for feed and hay runs, plus pulling the trailer itself.
In the pasture, three horses grazed quietly.
Kiba, Shannon's faithful but aging wolf greeted them and Shannon scratched his ear... fondly. Kiba had saved her life several times in the past. She had a sense from Kiba that he wanted a job so she let him safeguard the grounds. Roxie, Sarah's rottie was also there and all but jumped on Sarah.
Since there was little homework assigned on Day 1, there was little of it to do so the kids went to their entertainments.
Andrew went with his X-Box. But Shannon decided to play Wii Tennis with Emily. Sarah watched from a couch with Roxie at her side. Kiba never came in the house and often sheltered in the barn.
One member of the family wasn't present in the house. Demidra, the dragon, was out hunting. She preferred to hunt rather than be a burden on her human friends. So small deer and mammals, ducks, fish, doves and whatever she could tackle sustained her. However, she'd come across a faint scent trail that concerned her. Though, she did not follow it.
Thus the humans spent that afternoon in their pursuits.
After dinner, and with Demidra among them, they rounded the evening out with a game of Monopoly with the dragon being the banker. It was funny when Lincoln, one of the Bombay cats, decided to walk across the board and knock aside green houses and red hotels.
But.... Shannon's thoughts were often on the boy at school. Who was he and why had he left?

Jay didn't go home he went out hunting as well...He had to feed...And animals were his choice of food. After killing a large deer and draining it dry getting his fill. His eyes changed color to an almost amber look. He picked up the scent of somthing different not far off as well....Too close for his comfort. But his curious side got the better of him. He stalked threw the forest making no sound what so ever. It wasn't long before he came up on a good sized ranch house. He stayed in the tree lineso he wouldn't be seen....His keen ears picked up some ruckus in the house he stood there for about five minutes before heading back to his place not taking long at all seeing as he was quite fast. Once home he took a shower getting cleaned up before heading up to his room and turning on the tv watching the news...And of course it was gonna be sunny for a couple of days....Somthing that was rare for Forks...

Jay didn't go to school for a few days untill the weather was right he fed on small things to keep his thirst down. By the third day he was back at school doing the usual every day thing. He went threw his classes with out a worry knowing that Biology wouldn't be as bad today since he fed. He walked into the class room and took his seat in his usual spot looking up when he seen the familer girl walk in.

The next couple of days were routine. Shannon was usually always first since she fed the horses in the morning. Turning them out to pasture before getting ready for school.
At school, Shannon didn't see the boy the next couple of days. This puzzled her more. She only talked to her family about what she had sensed before. Demidra was concerned plus she'd found that scent near the house a couple days earlier.
So on the third day, Shannon walked in the Biology classroom and was surprised to see the boy there. She hadn't seen him at lunch.
With a sigh, she cautiously took her seat beside him but didn't say a word. She'd started a sketch of a running horse at lunch and decided to pass the time by adding in some more detail while waiting for the class to start. She was also trying to focus a little of her sense on the boy beside her... but it was still very faint.

Jay watched her as she sat down..."Hi.." He says with a smile as she sat down beside him. He then watched her adding to the drawing..."Your pretty good at that." He says as he looked back to her..Him being full made it eaiser to be around her with out the intense need to rip her throat out..."Sorry about yesterday....I was having a really bad day..." He added

Shannon nearly jumped in surprise when the boy beside her spoke to her. Her head whipped around like a cat's does when it's startled. She quickly regained her composure, though. She looked at her sketch when he mentioned it. She was glad at the distraction and used it to calm down a bit more.
"Thanks," she said quietly. "Umm... yesterday? More like 3 days ago. You missed 2 days of school." She wondered if he'd been in a time warp or something.
She turned her head at normal speed and looked at him. She noticed his eyes were different.
"I just figured you were sulking over no longer having a table to yourself," she said... she didn't really think that but she couldn't admit any of the truth. Someone might have her committed.

He looked to her and cocked his head to the side..."Your welcome." He says with a grin as he then nodded..."Yes I got sick...I had the flu for a few days is all....No worries...I have no problem getting caught back up..."No not sulking just sick." He says with a smile..."I'm sorry if I came off as rude." He says as he looked back to the desk..."I'm Jay by the way"

She had high doubts of the flu story but she didn't call him on it. She already knew he was different than the other students here. Of course, she was different, too.
"I'm Shannon. Although, I'm sure there's not a soul in this school who doesn't know my name," she replied.
She also then looked back from him and back at her drawing. She only had the image of the horse and no sort of background. This particular horse had pillar like legs and featherings around its fetlocks. The head was long and body was rather robust, suggesting a heavier breed of horse. She was beginning to add in lines for varying colors on the horse... a paint pattern.

Jay smiles nodding his head. "Ya they tend to get like that for a few weeks then it will slowly fade and you will just be another person." he says as he cocked his head to the side slightly.."So im guessing its your family that bought the ranch?" He asks her curiously though he already knew the answer to that.

To call it a ranch was a bit of an understatement. However, his question caught her off guard. Very few in the school knew where her house was. It was outside the city limits. She'd wanted it that way.
"I don't know about a ranch. We got a place a bit north of town off the 101. It's hard to give directions but it's nice and quiet out there. My family has three horses so we had to have somewhere we could keep them. They don't exactly fit on a couch," she joked. "Well, I suppose miniature horses do... but ours aren't pint sized."

He looked to her.."I see..well its a nice place none the less.." he says as he then chuckled slightly..."hmm that is very true.." he added as he then looked to the window.."looks like its gonna rain today.." he says as he looked back to her. "So what other things do you like to do other then drawing?" he asks her curiously. One of the students walked by breezing her scent into his face. He took a small breath holding it in..his mouth was nearly watering...she smelled sooo good.

"It is nice... it has what we wanted. We were lucky," she said. "The rain doesn't bother me. I'm originally from Louisiana. It rains so hard there that sometimes you can't see past your windshield. I haven't seen it rain like that here. Just a steady soaking rain," she said, looking out the window.
She wasn't sure that she wanted to talk about her hobbies. At least, not all of them. Drawing was something she did to pass the time. She looked around the classroom and the teacher was setting up a lab for today. A study in cellular mytosis. Sarah had mentioned that at lunch and had trouble with the lab. Shannon already knew what to look for.
"I guess pretty much the usual. You know.. read, listen to music. I played soccer over the summer where we used to live. Almost won the championship," she said.

He looked to her and then smiles getting the feeling that she wasn't telling him everything. " I see...sounds like a pretty normal lifes." he says as he too looked to the teacher and back to her.."don't worry this will be an easy lab." he says as he looked to her..."maybe we shouldn't be talking...im not a.good friend.." he says out of the blue

She almost sighed but that would have given too much away. Normal life? Hers was anything but. She didn't wallow in self pity, though. This enchanted life of hers did have some highlights in it. It did have plenty of drawbacks which she'd accepted long ago. "I've done this lab before at my other school," she said.
"I'm not a good friend either," she mumbled under her breath.

He looked to her and then nodded his head slightly.."should be easy then" he says as he then looked to her arching a brow. "well then I guess that's settled then...were both not good friends..." he says as he was curious now..."what makes you not a good friend?"

She looked at him and was surprised he heard her. But then she wasn't. There was one other she'd known several years ago with eyes his color... she'd been rather aloof around her. Though, Demidra hung out with her a little. She shrugged when he asked.
"It's... complicated. It's better if you don't ask," she said.
Then the teacher started the class, calling everyone to attention. It was explained that using the microscopes everyone would have to work with their partner to look at the samples he'd placed on each team's table to identify the phases of mytosis. Because they sat at the same table meant they were each other's lab partner.

He looked to her.."i see then..so we both have secrets as well." he says as he looked to the teacher and then back to her..she really intrigued him not too often did anybody.."this is the most boring class i think there is.." he says

"I actually like Biology. I just don't find this level challenging. I had been in an AP class before," she said. She didn't respond to the secrets comment.
She took the microscope and put in the first slide. She'd barely looked a second before she said "anaphase" and pulled away from the microscope. She started to write it down.

He looked to her.."mind if I check?" he says as he looked into it as well anaphase he says as he wrote it down as well and then looked to her.."so why did you move down here? That is if you don't mind me asking." he says curiously as he sat up more in his chair.

In comparison to her drawing, her handwriting was a bit of a scrawl. She let him go first for the next slide. In answer to his question, she went with the 'official' version that everyone in school had. "My dad's job moved him to the Seattle offices... but he travels a lot so he's never home. I think they're doing some kind of venture with Microsoft. I don't follow the details."
Just then, another kid... a boy approached her. He was in another one of her classes. "Hey, umm... Shannon. Do you have the notes from Mr. Wagner's history lecture?"
Shannon had anticipated this, actually. The boy had slept through the lecture and smirked. "Sure," she said and pulled out her history notes. However, they were all written in katakana characters.
"What the? I can't read that!" said the boy... Mitch, if she remembered right.
Shannon smirked and said, "Funny... I can. Maybe that'll teach you to stay awake in class and take your own notes," she said... putting the notes in question away."
Mitch looked flustered and a bit irritated. It was then Mr. Walena told the boy to return to his own table.
Shannon had wanted to laugh. That actually was a relief from the tedium.

He looked into the scoop..prophase." he says with a smile as he wrote it down...he then looked to the kid that came over asking for the notes before looking back at her and to her notes reading them easily before shaking his head as the kid walked off.."multi talented as well I see." he says as he then sat back in his chair..and stretched slightly with a grin.."its been a pretty long day.." he says

When he was done, she took her turn at the microscope. "Prophase," she agreed after a second.
She chuckled at his comment. "I had a feeling he'd try something like that. Good luck to anyone trying to copy my notes. Serves Mitch right," she said. She felt a little smug after putting the kid in his place.
"Yeah. It's been an okay day, though... average," she said. She changed the slide again and looked. "Telophase," she stated before letting him have a turn and writing it down.