Starting Over (RiRiishtar)

Dear Journal
“Here I go, first day of school for me since the…incident man I hate calling it that. I can still hear Savannah’s screaming. They tell me that Savannah was dead before they got there, but I can still hear her screaming for me...

Enough of that, I have now moved back in with my dad, I used to come to this town, no village every summer so people know me and surely they have heard my story and they all know my father Is it really a fresh start?

My step father after losing his wife and daughter, couldn’t stand to look at me so he sent me away. The doctors first recommend that I stay in a hospital for a while; I stayed up to date with my homework though it was my condition for allowing them to keep me that I would not fall behind. Now I am home I don’t know why I have to do this, write in this dumb journal, its not helping me.”

Brook looked it over. She was sure it would raise questions when she had to hand it in to her councilor but she didn’t care. She had done her part write in the blasted Journal. She threw it to the floor stood up and looked in the full-length mirror. Right now she was in her jeans and a short-sleeve shirt. Her arms had scars from the broken glass when the car they were in rolled the glass had shattered and it didn’t help any that she had tired to climb out the window but her seatbelt had trapped her. She slipped on a sweater overtop of it so her arms were hidden.

She grabbed her bag and walked down stairs made sure to take her pills. Her father was already at work so she jumped into her pickup, although it was a pickup that was involved in the crash, the doctors believed and it seemed that they were right, that she had to be higher up to feel safe. At least for now she drove to school.

She made it to school parked and ignoring anyone that was in the parking lot she walked into the office. Once greeted she was given her locker and her class schedule she thanked them and made it to her locker struggled with it for a minute. Someone came up

“I had that one last year” She hit it with her palm then it finally clicked Brook smiled

“Thanks” The girl nodded “So you must be Brooklyn our fathers work together” Brook nodded.

“But its Brook please” The other girl smiled

“I am Kelly” Brook adjusted her bag, Kelly lead her to a group of friends “Everyone this is Brook, she is new”

Brook smiled nervously their small group had grown as more people joined them introducing themselves She was getting even more nervous it was a small school but word was spreading quickly and everyone wanted to see the new girl, they had heard the stories, how she had been in a horrific accident that no one should have walked away from, her father worked with the local police department, she was from a warm climate but was a sickly pale colour and how she used to come to their small town for breaks but hadn’t been for a few years. Finally the bell rang and the crowd dispersed Kelly directed to her first class, and was given a class book.

“Class this is Brooklyn”

“Just Brook please”

The teacher nodded “Alright just Brook it is”

She smiled and took a seat next to Kelly. The Class was normal and she smiled, she hadn’t fallen behind she understood what the teacher was talking about.

When the next bell rang the teacher called her over “Miss Rempell for you to be 100% caught up you must do these assignments” Brook nodded. It was the same in her other class that she had before lunch,

Putting herself into her stuff in to her locker she walked into the cafeteria and looked around finding a empty seat next to Kelly she sat down. “Well made it half way through my first day” She laughed. She liked Kelly she seemed to know not to touch the topic of her accident.

Her attention was drawn to a group entering one a particularly good looking male, looked to be about her age. For a fleeting moment she was normal and immediately felt guilty for it. Savannah could never have a moment about thinking a guy was cute. Shaking her head she turned to Kelly. “Who are they?”

Drake Dire had spent the day feeling pretty good about his school day. His silver hair went in front of his eyes as he entered the lunch room with his group of friends. He senses someone in the room was new but showed no interest at first. He hears some girls talking.

“Who are they?” A new voice asked a girl named Kelly.

Kelly says, “That is Drake Dire and his friends. Drake is the strange silver haired boy. He does not talk much unless a teacher asks him a question. He came here when he was young but just started public school a year ago. The only girl of the group is Nicole. She does not stop talking. She is very social. The twin blonde boys are Chris and Connor. They prefer to only talk to each other.”

Watching the group enter Brooke could not take her eyes off of Drake. She licked her lips nervously, finally turning her attention back to Kelly and the group at her table, of course she was curious about them but she was new and it wasn’t her place to ask more about it she did not want to rock the boat her first day at the new school.

She talked with them; it did feel good to be in a somewhat normal teenager. She felt as if she was being stared at but she was used to that, she knew that people would know her story coming here so she didn’t think anything of it.

When the bell rang ending lunch she smiled to the group, threw out her trash and walked to her locker and checked out her next class. Grabbing her bag she quickly took one of the pills and then walked into the class. Introducing herself to the teacher she was waved to the only empty seat in the room. Looking to the side of her she wondered who would be sitting next to her. She wouldn’t have too long to find out though.

Opening the textbook she tried to read what they were going to be going over so she wouldn’t be completely lost. Her head was down and she was more or less lost in the book. Only looking up when the second bell rang.

Drake could sense that the new girl was staring at him. His lips curved in a smile as he looked at her for a moment before the bell rang. His group was out the door before anyone else even started to move. Connor says, “Her blood tempts you my friend.” Drake nods before going to his next class. He lets the teacher know that he was not going to be in his class next week. His friends, his dad, and him were going camping that week while the sun was going to be out. His natural cover up for when he needed to feed.

When she looked up from her text Brook saw that Drake was standing there. She felt a hint of dread, had he caught her staring at him in the cafeteria. She didn’t know why she had done it, and it hadn’t been for that long. Something had caused her to stare at him but he wasn’t completely sure what it was or why he had done it but it was in the past and she was certain that he had not seen it.

She fidgeted with her sweater to make sure her scars were covered and waited. There were dozens of seats still available and even though the seat next to her was still empty she didn’t think that he would be seated next to her.

The teacher cleared his throat

“Class this is Brooklyn”

“Just Brook please” The teacher nodded.

“Alright this is Brook she is new” He would have gone on but Brook looked up with him and shook her head

“Okay class take your seats and read chapter 4 and do the questions at the end you may work with your table partner. Brook looked around the seat next to her was still empty.

Drake sits down next to Brook and reads chapter four without saying a word to her at first. He says kindly, “Hi my name is Drake. How do you like it here in our small school?” He was not looking at her too much. He did not want to make her uncomfortable. He finishes reading within a few minutes and writes down the questions down along with the answers on a separate piece of paper.

When he sat down beside her Brook didn’t know what to think, she looked to him but he immediately went to work so Brook did the same. She was nearly done the chapter when he spoke. “Hi Drake as you have heard I am Brook” She shrugged “Its fine, just very small my last school had over 3000 students” She smiled “My father is the Sheriff” She shrugged then went back to work.

It seemed Drake was to the point and since he didn’t ask anything else she did not offer it. If he had been in the town since he was little he had heard of her and her story. But she wasn’t ready to talk about it with a stranger.

Finishing the assignment she walked and handed it in, and again given all the assignments that she would need to finish to catch up she brought them back to her table mumbling to herself “Good thing I have a spare last, give a head start on all this work” She stuffed into to her bag and sighed.

When the bell rang she would go to the cafeteria maybe Kelly would have a spare too, or she would be alone which was fine too. She was used to being alone

Drake could hear her every word and says, “It may be smaller than you’re use to but you be surpized what you can find in a small town.” He looks at her a moment with a soft smile before the bell rang again. He says, “See you tomorrow Brook…” His voice was kind as he talked to her. He gets up and decides to hurry and get his last class over with. Brook’s scent was driving him nuts and he really needed to feed.

Nodding stiffly Brook wondered what he meant by her being surpised by what she could find in the small town" But before she could ask what he meant the second bell went and he was gone. She shrugged and went off to the cafetria ,she guessed she could head home but she wasnt really keen on heading home just yet. She opened up her work that she had to do to catch up.

She wasnt really paying attention to what was going on around her though she was too lost in what she was doing. The fact that Drake always seemed in a hurry to get away from her didnt escape her though. But she didnt care, she just assumed that he wanted to get to class on time.

By the end of the day Drake Dire was desperate to feed. He gets home with his friends and goes hunting as soon as he can. His father looks at him as he feeds off a bear and says, “You would not be this way if you would just feed off mortals.” Drake glares at his father as he wipes his mouth of the bear’s blood. He watches his friends feed as he waits for the blood to settle.

When the final bell rang Brook realized that she couldn’t handle sticking around and got to her locker, grabbed her stuff and got into her truck and drove home. Her father wasn’t home but she didn’t mind she let herself in grabbed a pop and sat down at the table and continued her homework. She wanted to be caught up and didn’t feel like sleeping that night working on the work then taking a break to make dinner Brook was fine with the silence.

Around 7pm her father came home “Sorry Brooks”

Brook smiled “Its alright I am fine dinner is on the stove”

“Wow you made dinner ,looks great”

“Well I figured you needed more then Microwave dinners”

“Sounds good to me” Her father replied then sat down and ate. They made some small chatter and then Brook got up and cleaned up the dinner mess and kissed her father on the cheek.

“Good night” Then grabbed her stuff and walked up into her room. She had a balcony with a chair on it. Sitting on it she turned on the lamp she had put on the table and continued her homework. It was past midnight but she wasn’t tired, she had finished nearly all the assignments for the first class.

Sensing something was watching her she looked up, but they lived in a small town with wild animals everywhere it wasn’t a shock that she would feel that so she shrugged and went back to work. Her cat Comet jumped on her lap and mewed.

“What do you think I should go to bed?” She sighed. “Soon just let me do a couple more assignments for the second class” Sighing she went back to work. Finally around 3am she packed up her books and went inside closing and locking the sliding door. Forgetting that she was in a small town and probably didn’t need to have the door locked.

She then went into her bathroom and stripped, sighing at her scars she rubbed on the protective cream and slipped on her nightie and climbed into bed. Her alarm was set for 7am so she doubted she would be going to sleep, instead she flipped on the tv.

7am came and she got dressed, not having slept at all and got dressed packed her bags and walked downstairs. Her dad was just leaving “Have a good day” Brooke smiled

“You too” That’s what she liked about her dad, she allowed her to be normal, he treated her as she was normal.

Getting into her truck then to school she parked her truck and walked into the school.

Drake wait until late at night before heading to Brook’s place. Her scent teased him more than any mortal he has come across. He sneaks into her room and watches her sleep for hours before returning to his home to get ready for school. He wanted to know why her scent taunted him so, but his father did not know this type of thing.

He gets to school and sees Brook with her friends and is tempted to go see her but doesn’t. Conner and Chris sighs and tug him to class so they won’t be late.

Talking with Kelly and the friends Brook got the feeling again that someone was watching her, but didnt bother to even turn around, it was a small school and she was new so she assumed that people would still be watching her. She smiled at Kelly as she started talking about the upcoming Dance.

"No I will not be coming I have two left feet" Brook said with a bit of a laugh. Kelly shook her head

"You have to come, I need someone to sit and talk too"

"I will see I guess" Brook said with a sigh, she wasnt up for a dance but she didnt want to disapoint her friends either.

As the first bell rang she went to her locker and grabbed her books and went to her first class, it just happened to be the one she shared with Drake, she found it strange in such a small school they only had one class together.

She handed in the work that she had worked on the teacher looked at her surprised.

"I gave you a lot and you are nearly done"

Brook shrugged "I dont sleep much"

She then took her seat and waited for the class to begin.

Drake smiles as Brook enters the room and hands the teacher her complete work. When she sits down in her seat, he says, “I am surprised you got so much done in one night.” He looked much better today. His skin was not so pale and his eyes seemed to shine brighter. The teacher starts writing assignments on the chalkboard. Drake writes them down quickly in a notebook without looking down at it.

Turning to Drake she looked him up and down. Something was different about him today but she pushed it out of her mind, why did she notice the small things with him, the fact that he was less pale, why would that matter. Kelly had made it clear that him and his group seemed to like to be alone.

She licked her lips at his comment. How to tell him that she rarely slept without being considered a freak or having to answer a load of questions but she found herself telling him the words sort of just spilt out of her mouth and she couldn’t stop them. “I uhh don’t sleep that much, most nights I go without sleep. Anyways its overrated” She stopped at telling him his story though.

Sighing in relief when the teacher wrote the assignment down finally a distraction, she went to work on it straight away. She wasn’t much of a talker, well at least not anymore. She would let him direct the conversation if he so chose.

Drake listens to her as she talked about her not sleeping much. "I see so you do most of your homework at night to give yourself something to do." He looks at her slightly as he finished what he needed to do for this class. "I don't sleep much either so I understand. More of a night person myself." He was happy to be around her now he had some blood in his system.

Nodding her head. “Why not catch up, I don’t want to fall too far behind, I did keep up with school but seems you were all doing something different so I needed to do what ya’ll did” She was grateful that he didn’t ask why she didn’t sleep, she didn’t want to go in to the fact that when she slept the nightmares came and she was forced to relive the crash over and over. She did sleep once in awhile, after all she was human and needed to sleep once and a while.

She looked at him. “I love the night, so peaceful, I was going to go for a walk last night around one am but I felt like I was being watched, and since my fathers house is near the woods I wasn’t sure if they were animals” She giggled softly “Guess I am a bit of a city girl still”

Drake looks at her and says, “The night is much more calm than the day so yes it is rather peaceful.” He smiles some at the mention of her feeling of being watched at one o’clock. He says, “Well a lot of animals come out at night more now because of all the hunting that has been going on lately.” He gets up and hands in his completed work before sitting back down beside her again.

Working on the assignment as Drake spoke she numbly nodded. But when he mentioned the animals and the hunting she turned and looked at him but he was already gone. She blinked in confusion and when he came back she looked at him.

“What did you mean hunting?” She asked worried “I was hoping on going walking tonight if I cant sleep but if the animals are unsettled then I will not” The bell rang and she was gone in a flash. She wanted to get away. She wasn’t herself near Drake, her heart beat quicker her palms where sweaty and she couldn’t keep a thought straight in her head.

Making it to her locker she ran into Kelly who was beaming

“So how is he?”

“Who?” Asked a confused Brooke

“Drake silly” Kelly said with a sigh.

“Uhh fine” Brook said

Kelly was not impressed “You mean to tell me that you sit beside him and class and that is the best you can give me?”

“Listen I am not sure what you are looking for” She shrugged and went off to her next class.

Drake looks at her as she left the room. He smiles and says to himself, “You will have nothing to fear as long as I am here.” He goes to his next two classes with his friends staring at him as he walked. “Oh will you guys relax. I just wish to know her that’s all.” He gets ahead of his friends and goes to his classes ignoring their glances. When lunch came around, he got his food and sits by himself waiting for Brook to arrive.

Making it through her other classes handing in assignments and receiving more homework. At lunchtime she made it to the cafeteria, bought herself a salad she saw Drake but remembering what Kelly said about him and his friends liking to be left alone so she took a seat by herself, Kelly and her friends hadn’t arrived yet either so she just sat down and opened up a text book and started to read it.

She was lost in her own world again, reading the text book she had bought food but she suddenly had lost her appetite. Her mind was wondering back to that night, the icy roads the screeching tires the fire. Suddenly she shuddered as she had brought herself back to reality. She slowly calmed her breathing and opened her eyes. It was normal for her to have these but not normal to have them at school she hoped no one had seen it.

Drake takes his tray of food and sits down beside her. He asks as he slowly eats small bits of his food, “Are you alright? You keep shuddering…” He looks at the book she is reading and asks, “What are you reading about?” Everyone around them was shocked to see Drake exactly spending time with someone that was not one of his closest friends. He ignores the stares and waits for her reponse.

When Drake joined her she looked up shocked. She looked around for his normal group but she did not see them. She wondered why he was joining her. Kelly had said that he only hung out with his own group but here he was with her. She looked around at the other tables she noticed other people watching her and him they all looked as surprised as she was too.

“I am alright, I just get lost in thought sometimes” She shook her head “Just reading the Textbook for the next class” She took a bit of her salad and looked at him. “Where are your friends?”

Drake looks at her and says, “My friends are outside just talking probably.” He could not help but smile at how shocked she looked just by him sitting with her. “You know I can tell there is more to you than what you show people…” His eyes look into hers calmly as though he was looking to her heart. “You have nothing to feel guilty about…”

So his friends were likely outside, so why was he in here and not with them? She found herself wondering surely he would rather go outside with them then be inside here with her. She was about to tell him so when he made his comment. She felt her mouth going dry and her heart quicken, she felt as if the walls were closing in around her.

She shook her head. “Nope what you see is what you get” She lied, she hated to lie but she hated people knowing her secret more. She was about to get up and bolt when he made eye contact with her then she felt as if she was frozen and she move.

When he made his finally comment she abruptly got up from the table grabbed her books and smiled “I have no idea what you are talking about” She shook her head. “Now please excuse me I must be going”

She made it to her locker in record time then to the office. “I’m signing out for the rest of the day” The secretary nodded.

“Shall we call your father?”

Brook shook her head “Nah I am just heading home” Then she was gone. She was grateful that they had worked it out that if she ever needed to leave that she would be allowed, as long as she didn’t abuse it.

Making it to her truck she put it into drive and drove home. She parked in her drive way and went inside her house. She went to her room and laid down on his bed. Why did she run away? Why did Drake effect her such? She shook her head and pulled out a photo book and looked it over.

Looking over the pictures of her and Savannah and their mother. She sighed shook her head and put it away then flipped on the TV, she needed something to distract her.