illumination

Chapter 1

1

Being the only seventeen year old girl in a twenty mile radius of these suburbs who can't seem to get her own father to call her proves how boring I must be. As I stare at the offensive cell phone in my hand, the darn thing refusing to ring, I think of how he must really trust me to be on a month long business trip to Singapore. Or rather, he doesn't have any words for me beyond "Hi honey", and "I will be gone for a few days, you'll be fine, right?" 

Dad can't seem to face me since my fifteenth birthday. Somewhere in my too high cheekbones, wide gray eyes, and narrow jaw he sees my mother. My pale, almost white skin and thick, wavy, dark auburn hair which stops at my waist are the only things in my appearance that reminds me of her. To me, my body seemed slightly gawky, with my long legs, almost nonexistent curves, and heart shaped face. My grey eyes, which swirled with a little of a purple-blue tint, were one thing I truly liked about my appearance. 

I sighed, shoved my phone into my pocket and walked into my high school, knowing Dad will call when he can tear himself away from the captivating world of being a large corporation's defense attorney.   My high school is like any high school. There are cliques, jocks, and the populars. I comfortably fit in the 'loner with only one friend' group, my one friend being Lauren. She and I have been best friends since fourth grade, where we bonded over our similar fondness for irony and sarcasm, as well as a good book. She waits for me in the dreary, fluorescent lit hallway of the school, leaning casually against the dented metal surface of my locker.  

"Hey sweetie!" she exclaimed. Wearing her favorite bright purple jeans, pale yellow tunic shirt with a white belt encircling her waist, and four inch heels, she looks slightly eccentric, mostly attention grabbing, and completely and utterly safe. Pushing her dark ringlets haphazardly out of her eyes, she beamed at me.   "'Bout time you got here! Guess who just broke up with Katie!"

  Lauren always brings me out of my gloomy moods.   Laughing, I pushed her off of my locker so I can get my books for the day's classes.   "Who?" I ask.  

"Jerry!" she sighs dreamily.

She has been hooked on this guy ever since he auditioned for the lead male role in the school play. And when I say hooked, I mean know-his-schedule-by-heart-so-she-can-bump-into-him-"coincidentally" hooked.   He'd have to be blind not to notice her. She's sweet, funny, and can quote lord of the rings. Every male's dream come true, despite her slightly stalkerish tendencies.  

After she is done filling me in with the details of the breakup, we walk to first period. We pretty much have the same classes, except for my advanced art class and her drama class. Our first class is English, which is one of my favorites, mostly because of the teacher's dry sense of humor.  Flipping my hair out of my eyes and teasing her about her obsession, I look up.  

Darkness, swirling around me, swallowing me into the depths of a liquid black gaze. Feeling heat rise from my neck to my cheekbones, I take in features one by one, as if my mind can't handle them all at once. Dark hair, long enough to cover his intense gaze, curled around the edge of his strong, angular jaw line. High cheekbones sharpened the planes of his face, and a straight, sculpted nose completed his face. His full, perfectly shaped lips were forming an arrogant smirk.  Leaning against the wall, he regarded me with his dark, almost black eyes that were framed thickly by long eyelashes. A black T-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, and revealed his long, lean muscles. He was built like a jungle cat, taunt and dark, and his narrow hips and long legs exuded sinuous grace and stealth. 

He was more than handsome; he was an unearthly kind of beautiful.

  As I stared at him, his focused, almost predatory stare caused a shiver to make its way down my spine. I felt like I should have been feeling an emotion other than how I currently felt. Something that made me sharply intake a breath. Something like fear.  

"Avalon?"  

Blinking out of my daze, I looked at Lauren. She stared at me with concern, and I realized she had asked me a question.

"How's your dad?" 

"Oh, um, he's okay I guess..."  I answer her vaguely, saying something about him being away on business. We walk to the classroom door, and I pause before entering. When I look over my shoulder, he's gone.

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Hey awesome people! Thank you for reading my story. This is my first time publishing on wattpad, so any tips or ideas you have are welcome. I try to update every week or so, but I might miss a few in the summer. Thanks for reading illumination!