Bound By Nature [ A NaNoWriMo Novel]

Chapter One

There was a crack in the window.

Rain tip-tapped on the pane and lowered the branch of a birch outside. A few drops seeped in through the crack in the window, crawled across the sill, and proceeded to fall to the magazine on the end table. It was a slow, dreary process, taking a long time to accomplish anything. The drop would be dried by the time it reached its goal of making the magazine a habitat for mold and mildew. It was determined to do it anyway.

"Annie Snow?"

My eyes jerked up at the sound of my name to land on an Asian woman with shiny, black rectangular-framed glasses. An overly-faked smile stretched red-stained lips to reveal extremely white teeth. A gray business suit gave the woman a real-estate-agent look; but I doubted that was her area of work, given the setting.

"Yup, that's me," I responded. I stood up from the motley couch. Fake smile in place, she made her way over to me and held out a hand.

"Hi, I'm Principal Hamilton. We're glad you'll be attending Sanderson High School," she greeted me. Suppressing a sigh, I shook her hand put on my "happy face."

"Thank you; I'm glad to be here," I stated politely.

"According to your files, you're quite a bright young woman. I expect we won't be seeing much of each other, but I do think you'll like it here," Principal Hamilton stated as Mom exited the office she'd previously entered, calling friendly goodbyes to the administrator within.

"That's good to know. Well, I think I'm leaving soon. It was nice to meet you!" Mom strode over as I finished speaking and we said goodbye to the principal. Wasting no time, we exited the building. As soon as the door closed behind us, my happy face dropped.

"Do you like the school?" Mom asked optimistically. I gritted my teeth. I was trying to be happy about the move, really, I was- I just couldn't.

"Yeah, it seems pretty nice," I lied. I may not be happy about this move, but everyone else in my family was. Mom had grown up here- a nice town in Virginia. Her mother lived and died here. We'd moved back now because my dad was relocated for work, and it was closer to my older sister's college. Maggie was going to Virginia Tech for two reasons: a full scholarship and a good medical program. There's also the fact her boyfriend Jon goes there.

"I know it's hard leaving your friends behind, but there's always texting and social networks, and those other things kids do these days." I just shrugged. It wasn't just the fact that I was leaving my friends behind- it was the fact that I was leaving on hard feelings. Blocked phone numbers, deleted off Facebook, all because of a stupid guy. Well, he wasn't stupid- our fight was. Kayla and I had been friends until Brian; but once he showed up, so did a four-year-friendship's end. Sure, it's not his fault he's perfect for me, and Kayla and I are so similar he's perfect for her, too; but I'm blaming him. It's complicated.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the driveway after a car ride with a stifling silence weighing over the car. Mom doesn't know the radio stations and only has audiobooks- no CDs. She doesn't believe in spending money on music we can hear for free on the radio. I tried buying a CD once and the ensuing fury from her made me never even ask for one again.

"Honey, I'm home!" Mom greeted Dad with a light kiss and I fake-gagged before heading to my room. Inside, I opened my laptop, turning on music and flopping on the bed. A haunting, sad song poured through the room. I groaned- not at my apathy over moving, but instead at how cliché and overdramatic I'm being. I rolled off the bed and walked to my dresser, looking at my reflection in the mirror above.

"Annie, you're being ridiculous," I told my reflection, "Now you're psycho and talking to yourself. Stop, turn on something happy, and finish unpacking."

I began following my own instructions, switching from Billy Joel's "Vienne" to Aerosmith's "Dream On." I was basically trained to love classic rock- parents did good, though. I started tacking my posters to the walls, a tedious task that had unleashed the procrastinator in me up till now. It seemed like finishing unpacking would be what made moving really tangible.

"Dinner time!" Mom called a few hours later, once my room was completely set up. I liked my room- it was simple but nice. The door was at the end of a hallway, and my room opened to the left of it, with the door opening against the right wall. To the left of the door frame, centered between the room door and closet door, sat my dresser. In the corner in front of the door, against the right wall, my bed sat with my Batman bedspread. On the left wall, my desk sat in one corner, with a laundry bin between it and my bookshelf. The wall across from the door only had the window in its center, a night stand next to it. The decorations now included posters; pictures; awards I was proud of; a stuffed elephant I'd had since I was two; a lava lamp; and a few other smaller things. On the floor, a row of shoes was lined just under the bed and a circular zebra stripe rug sat on the hardwood floor in the middle of the room.

After my extra-check of my room, I headed out to eat. The meal consisted of pork chops, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, sweet tea, and buttered bread- guess our Georgia traditions followed us. The three of us talked about my new school, Dad's new job, Mom's run in with her prom date, and other pointless things families discuss over dinner.

If there was one thing I couldn't complain about, it was my family. We'd been close-knit even after my teenage years started. Now, at seventeen, I still joined in family conversations, prepared for Christmas next month with them, and just had fun in their company.

Dinner ended around half-past-seven, and it was my chore to clean the kitchen. I did as I was supposed to and finished mopping the floor an hour later. After heading into the bathroom with a towel, clean underwear, and a baby blue bathrobe. I took a long shower. I stayed in there until it seemed I had legs of silk, and all my worries had evaporated into the steam. I eventually got out and changed into my good-luck pajamas and laid down to sleep.

After all, I needed a good rest for my first day of school tomorrow.