Shadow Wood

Chapter One

My dad had trouble finding us, but find us he did. My mom, myself and three younger siblings were eating lunch in an open field at the park by the river. Looking up at the blue sky that towered above us, even I had to admit, this town was beautiful; just as beautiful as the weather was today.

Today also happened to be moving day. Cliché right?

"Alex. . ." Urging. A voice seemed to call me out of nowhere. "Alex. . ." That sounded awfully like my mother. "Alex!" This time a little more forceful. I could feel a hand shaking me by the forearm that sent tremors up my neck, making my head wobble funny.

"What?!?" Okay, that might have come out snappish, and to anyone else it might have been frightening. But to my mother, Mona; never. She's from Taiwan, and was raised in a very strict and formal environment. Not much frightened her. I mean, it's pretty obvious where I get my bipolar hostility.

Without looking me in the eye (an obvious we-will-have-a-talk-about-your-behavior-later) she said, "Your phone is ringing."

Of course it had been ringing off the hook. That was what I had been trying to ignore for the past three hours. My voicemail was due to be full and the text messages were sure to be crazy; but I managed to hold my head up high if that's what it took. My clingy ex-boyfriend was calling me.

Sigh. Jay Hernandez—no not Jay Hernandez the actor -- but Jay Hernandez the EX from Florida. Clearly he hadn't quite gotten the memo that we were through. You'd think that after months of stone silence that he would have given up by now. So unlike most guys my age (did I mention I was 17?) who brood and mope about moving; I was actually kinda glad. Relieved even. It would give me much needed space from the super clingy Ex.

The thing about Jay is, he wanted to try different people. It took every ounce of will power I had, because we had been together since I was a sophomore. That was back when I didn't really have any friends. In fact, for some reason I was never good at keeping friends. Jay always said I came across as too unfiltered and sometimes aggressive. So no one bothered to take the time to get to really know me. Boo freakin hoo.

So since Jay wanted to try different people, I let him. BUT, Jay didn't fare as well as he thought he would. Bit of a waker-uper for him, because he came back almost on his hands and knees for me, but what was done, was done. I don't play games like that. Silently, I was agreeing with Sia on why I could never conquer love; because before Jay -- there was Caleb Walker.

Caleb was once my closest and best friend. Somehow he would always manage to be sitting at the breakfast counter eating a bowl of MY favorite cereal by the time I made it downstairs every morning before heading to school. I was so in love with him it was stupid. Sadly, for me, Caleb was also straight; and on one drunken night on vodka (which was also the last time I had vodka) I confessed my feelings for him. Now, we're barely acquaintances. That was back when I was 14.

So enough about my pitiful love life. Pft, love?!? Why bother? At least here we're in some nice town called Shadow Wood, Pennsylvania. Turns out my dad, Antonio, received a better job offer. He was a commercial pilot back in Miami but was offered a private commission working for some international investment firm. So one month and six figures later, here we are. This place is definitely not Florida, but hey, no complaints here.

So my dad finally comes strolling our way with a large cooler in one hand and a thick novel tucked under his other arm. I get most of my looks from my dad; he's Colombian. I have his jet black hair, olive complexion and almond colored eyes. Most people are surprised to hear that I'm actually half Taiwanese until they take a closer look. I inherited light freckles from my mother. Like her, my freckles are easily seen below my eyes on both cheeks. I can easily count them on one hand per cheek, but that was only if I paid close enough attention.