Bloodlines

1.2 Salted Wound

 Wood River High, Hailey, ID (Present Day)

Russell found himself staring at his reflection in the mirror that came with the school locker. His skin was flawless. He couldn't find any faults, no imperfections, not even a pimple. Instead of feeling happy as most teenagers surely would, looking at this perfect face left him feeling nothing but angry and discontent.

I didn't want this.

"You're doing it again," a voice coming from behind him says.

"Doing what?" Russell looked at over at the new reflection standing beside him even though he already knew the person behind the voice.

"If you're checking your hair, again. It looks fine. It always looks fine. Come on, you're gonna be late for your class," the red-headed girl said while grabbing his arm to pull him away from the trophy case. Russell took one last, painful look at the hideous falsehood in the reflection before turning to look at Brooke Linx, the owner of those strawberry blond curls.

"I was not checking out my hair." Russell didn't know why, but he felt like he had to defend his actions.

"Oh, so it's supposed to be doing that thing?" Brooke replied, pointing at his head while sporting a look of consternation on her face.

"What?" Russell did a double take at the reflection, before realizing that Brooke was just teasing him. He had fallen for it yet again.

"Very funny." Russell readjusted his backpack and started walking away to class. Brooke was right on his heels.

"Don't be like that, you know I'm kidding. I like it, it's very R-Patz from his Twilight era. Come to think of it, you got that brooding thing going on too. If it weren't for that reflection I could totally peg you for a vampire. You don't sparkle by any chance do you?" Russell stiffened at the accusation. Damn that horrible movie for ruining brooding as an otherwise perfectly acceptable emotional state.

"So you're back?" Russell asks changing the subject rather than answering while walking along side Brooke and noticing her own skin looked gorgeously tanned.

"I am! California was amazing! Too hot though. Met a cute guy too who was easy on the eyes among other things. Why... Did you miss me?" She asked as she played with a loose strand of her hair and asked the last question in a falsetto breathy voice, clearly indicating she was joking, but it still had the intended affect of making Russell nervous. Thankfully, he didn't reveal his embarrassment by blushing, but he still ran his hand through his hair. A nervous tick she had picked up on long ago, but never revealed she knew.

"Oh it's all ruined now!That was what, 6 hours down the drain and so much hair product?" she joked, looking at his now dishevelled hair. Which, even in its messy state, the asian guy still managed to pull off effortlessly.

"You know what, I didn't miss this at all. Enjoy your new private school, maybe you can find someone else there to annoy." Russell replied, adjusting his pace and walking just a little bit faster to leave Brooke behind.

"Relax, it was just a tour thing. But I don't think I'll be transferring. Sadly,you're gonna be stuck with me." Brooke states, while catching back up to him and giving him a warm smile.

"What was that place called again? I don't think you said the name of it before."

"Like I said, it doesn't matter, it was just some preppy rich kid school full of boring people with more money than some third world countries."

"Then why'd you go down there?" Russell asks. Brooke bites her lip and shakes her head slightly.

"Mmm- my mom wanted me to go there from what I can remember anyway. My real mom, I mean." Brooke looks down at her feet. "She went there when she was my age, so technically, I'm a legacy."