I pulled my long hair up into a messy bun to keep it off my neck. Unlike my mom's angelic look, I had inherited my father's darker skin and almost jet-black hair. It was only her emerald eyes I got from her, but whereas on her they look innocent and beautiful, they were a stark and strange blue-green on my freckled face. My father had always called me his Angel, and called me by my middle name, Angelica, the one thing I hated having to change when I registered myself in Ravenshaw Academy.
As we drew to a stop in front of the dated, neat three-bedroom blue house we had bought, my smile grew even wider. The front steps were wide and inviting. The grass could use a little trim, and the front door badly needed a new coat of paint, but it was home to my eyes. Looking around, I could see newer, bigger houses in the neighborhood, but they were generally of a similar style. Across the lawn a tall guy with floppy light brown hair was shooting hoops, and he stopped when he saw us and gave a small wave.
I hesitated, and then decided it wouldn't hurt to return his gesture with a wave of my own. Unfolding my long legs and stepping out of the truck, I stretched out my sore arms. Shoving my hands into the pockets of my skinny jeans, I walked over to my mom to grab the house keys.
Opening the front door, I saw that the movers had placed our worn-out kitchen cupboard nicely against the wall, and our ancient box-like TV was on the table in the small living room. I mentally made a note to rearrange the sofas so that they would face the large bay windows where I could see myself poring over a novel.
I sighed happily. It was the beginning of a fresh new start. I was determined to put the past behind me and make the best of the present. Baking, reading, maybe an occasional trip to the mall or a hike - I fully planned on doing all the normal teenage stuff that I had missed out on.
Looking through the windows, I could see the guy lift his top to wipe the sweat off his brow. He had a chiseled body, which I was sure was the result of hours of working out.
"He's not too bad on the eyes, huh?" I turned to see my mom smiling, a twinkle in her eyes. She had always thought it strange that I didn't date. I didn't have the heart to tell her why.
"Nyeh, I've seen cuter, " I replied flippantly. The guy was cute. I was also not looking. Studying hard so I could be on my own two feet by next year was my goal, and no cute guy was going to mess up my plans. Even if they had six-packs to die for.
Chapter 2
There was a knock on the door. Mom and I stopped unboxing the kitchenware and looked at each other. We didn't know a single soul in the area. I wiped the dust off my arms and stood up to check who our visitor was.
It was the tall guy with the sandy brown hair I had seen earlier. He wore a lopsided smile and held out to me a small tray - of cookies, if the delicious scent was anything to go by.
"Hi. I’m Jack Westbrooke. I live next door. These cookies are from my sister, Lily."
I stepped aside to let him in. "Thanks."
The tray was still warm, and my stomach rumbled from the buttery scent.
"Do you guys need any help?" He looked around the kitchen. The sleeves to his button-up were rolled up, and he looked ready to get down to work.
My mom flashed him a thankful smile.
"That's really sweet of you, but we're good, there's not much left to do. Do you go to the same school as Angelica here? You two look about the same age."
I refrained from glaring at my mother and her attempt at intervening in my social life. We had barely arrived two hours and I could see she was already worrying about me.
"Uh, I go to Ravenshaw Academy? It's the only high school around here. I'm in my senior year."
My mother's squeal told me and the rest of the neighborhood how delighted she was. "Well, Angel here is joining senior year too! Aren't you, sweetheart?"
Finding my voice, I replied with a nod and said, "Yes, maybe I'll see you around in school. Shouldn't be a long walk from here, right?"
"About fifteen minutes. But why don't you just join me? I can drive you. Since we're heading the same way anyway."
I mentally kicked myself for opening my mouth without thinking. "Uh, thanks. Sure. Maybe just until I get myself a ride. Um, say thanks to your sister for the cookies. That’s really thoughtful of her."
I will never be able to afford a car! What am I saying?
He smiled charmingly and walked back towards the door and left.
"Wasn't he cute? And so nice too. What do you think, Angel?"
I hadn't clued my mom in yet that I wanted to go by the name Cara in school. Figuring that no time was better than the present, I replied, "Was he? I didn't notice. Do you want one?"
The cookies were warm and had white chocolate chips and macadamia bits in them. Whoever Lily was was attentive to detail and caring, too.
As I brushed off the crumbs of the second cookie from my mouth, I took a deep breath and said, "Ma, just so you know, I wanna be called Cara at school, okay? Cara Bradley.
