Love, Emma

Chapter One:

"Emma, I swear to God, touch the radio and I will throw you out of this friggen' car." Beau threatened, gritting his teeth in annoyance.

I didn't have a death wish, so I let the radio be, even though I hated his stupid rap music. It sounded too angry and violent with all the swearing and what not, it made me feel sad.

Beau knows this, but I figured since he's driving me to school, I can live through my suffering for the ten-minute drive.

Trying to distract myself from the harsh music, I turn and look out the window, watching the houses fly by as we head up our street.

Being 16, I'm old enough to get my own drivers license, but I don't see the need for it considering I have nowhere to go that isn't within walking distance. Besides, we couldn't afford another car, and my mom needs hers all the time for work. I highly doubt Beau's in the mood for sharing his, so I stick to walking and getting driven. It's not like it bothers me, and Beau doesn't seem to mind driving me anywhere I can't walk.

He's a good brother in those ways, even though he listens to angry music.

"Hey, I got football practice after school, you okay to wait out? I'm going to give Luke a ride home too." Beau pulls into the parking lot and quickly finds an empty spot, near the school. Shutting off the engine, he turns to face me, and I smile encouragingly.

"That's fine. I can watch you guys practice while I do homework." I say, getting up out of the car with my book bag on my shoulder, I wave goodbye to my brother before disappearing into the sea of teenagers loitering around the parking lot, by the school steps and- once I'm inside -the hallways.

I wave happily to people I know as I pass them, making my way towards my hunter green locker in the science hall. While I'm taking textbooks out of my locker, the hall seems to go quieter, as if someone turned the volume down. I look up, confused as to everyone's sudden actions, when I catch sight of a tall figure, making his way down the hall.

Dressed in black jeans and a black hoodie, he looked utterly and completely normal. But that's not why people stare. His dark brown hair was disheveled, but that's not why everyone's staring either. No, everyone's staring at the jagged, red, crackling scar that crosses over his right eye, down to the middle of his cheek.

Despite having been going to this school for a year already, people still stopped and stared at him. Rumors spread like wild fire his first week, revolving around how he got it. I've heard them all;

Car accident...bar fight...abusive dad...house fire...running with scissors...

The stories got more and more extreme as the mystery remained, and by the end of the year, people were going as far to say he got caught up in some serious gang trouble.

Nathan Walker is quite the character- with his brooding, shy, loner personality he has the whole antisocial thing down, which is rather easy since people avoid him like the plague. It's hard for him not to stand out though, and I'm not even talking about the scar- he's 6 foot ten. The guy's almost two feet taller than me, it's crazy. Despite his height, he isn't particularly muscular, he isn't a toothpick, but he's no body builder. Nathan Walker is just average, and the persona he gives off says he's totally okay with that.

Personally, I felt bad for him in a way. Another part of me just wanted to understand, to make him happy. I'm a very optimistic person, and having him so pessimistic and angered all the time sort of bothers me.

As if sensing my thoughts about him, he looks in my direction, both of his dark blue eyes piercing through mine. His questioning gaze was sharp, and while half of me wanted to cringe away, the other part of me wanted to hug him.