*Arrow*

*Chapter 1*

     Life isn't too enjoyable for me right now.           

     For one thing, thanks to the eye-damaging brightness of the California sun, I woke up early on a Saturday morning. Not on top of my to-do list for that day. 

      And, of course, I was going to be tested in archery class.

     I know there are probably bigger problems than that in the world, but nonetheless, they made it seem like the entire weight of the world was on my shoulders. Maybe not so much the waking up early, but at least the archery test. Thanks to my incredible accuracy in the sport, my classmates were going to make me shoot an arrow from two hundred feet away, seeing if I could shoot a bull's-eye from there. An enormous amount of pressure would be riding on that moment, riding on me. I could almost imagine me missing the shot and everyone whispering, "See? She's not as good as we thought she was."

     All in all, I've had much better Saturdays.

     Of course, my eight-year-old brother, Jason, wasn't making it any easier for me. As soon as I got out of bed he bombarded me with questions about his math homework. Then he knocked his cereal bowl off a counter, spilling milk all over the floor. Then he dropped my cell phone while he was running with it to tell me I had a text message, then stepped on it. Then he . . . . Oh, never mind. It's not worth it. 

     And now he was going to make me late for my archery class. 

     "Jason! Come on! I'm going to be late!" I called up to Jason who was still in his room. Obviously the warning I had given him five minutes ago to hurry up didn't change his speed. I knew he was mad at me for forcing him to tag along to my class, but what other choice did I have? Leaving Jason alone by himself? Not a good idea.

     About two minutes later, Jason came sprinting down the stairs, muttering, "I'm coming." I snatched my car keys off of the kitchen table, grabbed my equipment sitting by the door, and raced after him. After I took a second to make sure Jason was buckled up, I sped to San Francisco High School where the class was and where I went to school. To my delight, Jason was silent the entire time, clearly not happy with me. Let him be upset - if it meant that he wasn't going to talk, I'd take it.

     With minutes to spare, I arrived at the school. Jason, having gotten out of the car before me, still sported a childish scowl and had his arms crossed. His blue eyes were narrowed into slits.

     "C'mon, Jason," I pretended to beg. "At least try to lighten up. It won't look good if I walk in with a grouchy little kid by my side."

     Jason mumbled something incoherent as we entered the school's gymnasium. Once inside, I saw my classmates standing in a tight group, whispering to each other. Jason found a seat high up in the bleachers and sat down, leaving me by myself.

     One by one, my friends noticed that I had arrived, and eventually they all fell silent. Their expressions varied from inconspicuous looks of curiosity to jealousy. What they would be envious of I had no idea.

     "Um . . . hi?" I squeaked. What I meant to be a statement came out sounding like a question. Luckily, it seemed to break the tense moment. The group broke apart and my classmates went about their own business. I saw my best friend Ashley bounding over to me.

     "Hi, Nicole!" she chirped. Her curly blond hair bounced around her thin shoulders as she walked.

     "Hi," I said back with fake enthusiasm, hoping it would get by unnoticed.

     It didn't.

     "What's wrong?" Ashley asked, her nose crinkling as it always did when she was concerned. "Nervous?" she guessed before I could answer her. I nodded. Being my best friend, she could read my emotions better than anyone else I knew.

     Ashley patted me on the head, a habit she had picked up from me. "Don't worry about it. With your skills, you'll do fine."

     "Thanks, Ash." She always knew how to make me feel better. 

     From across the room, someone called Ashley's name and she ran towards them. I sighed, took a seat in the bleachers, and put my head in my hands, hoping no one would talk to me. After a minute or so, I felt someone sit down next to me, but I didn't budge. Eventually, though, I figured it was rude to ignore whoever it was, and looked up. The person next to me was male, but he didn't appear to be someone I knew. His back was to me, but when he turned, my breath caught in my throat.

     I felt like Bella seeing Edward Cullen for the first time.

     He looked around eighteen years old, with lean muscles that were prominent under his clothes. His hair was straight, layered, and dark brown. The light made his astonishing pure blue eyes sparkle. If it were possible to be perfect, he would have been. 

     "Hello," he said coolly. Although the icy gems that were his eyes held mine, waiting for a response, I said nothing back. I could tell my mouth was hanging open slightly, and I quickly clamped it shut. When I averted my gaze, trying to escape from his eyes, I saw that he was holding his hand out to me. "I'm Sean Conrad, by the way." Hesitantly I shook his hand. "And you're Nicole Smith?" he continued, one eyebrow raised in question.

     That got my attention. How would he know my name when I'd never seen him before in my life? Was he stalking me or something?

     "How do you know my name?" I demanded. Confidence colored my voice, which surprised me.

     He - or Sean, I should say - didn't respond. Instead he fidgeted in his seat and raked his fingers through his hair. 

     I wasn't going to wait any longer so I repeated my question. 

     Sean sighed. "Because I just know."

     "What kind of an answer is that?"

     Sean sighed again, louder this time. "Look, I'm really sorry, but I can't tell you. At least not here." 

     "Why not?" I hissed, possibly too loud.

     Sean put his hand on my shoulder. Sparks seemed to fly underneath his touch, and all of a sudden I felt this strong connection to this boy. Suddenly his eyes looked ten times brighter, and I had to work at not getting totally lost in them. I wanted him. I wanted to believe every word he said. Nothing else mattered except Sean's grip on me.

     "You'll find out, Nicole. You won't understand now, but you will become a part of something bigger than you know. Than you'll ever know. In time, you will find out. Trust me."

     "Why can't you tell me now? I want to know," I breathed, still transfixed on his smothering gaze. It was then that I realized Sean wasn't looking at me anymore.

     "Because I think you have something you need to do." With a clever smile, he pointed to something behind me, and the spell broke. I whirled around in my seat to find myself face-to-face with my friend John.

     Oh, man. Time to be tested. My stomach did an uneasy flip. 

     "Nicole," John boomed, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "Please step forward." 

     So formal, yet so serious at the same time. I really did not like this.

     But I had no choice. It was going to happen, now - the moment I had been dreading forever, or what seemed like forever.

     It was going to happen, and there was no way that I could escape.