Letting Go *Completed*

Chapter 1

*EDITED*

The cold water snakes down my back as I run my hands though my soapy hair, washing the shampoo out.

I turn off the water and reach for the dry towel that hangs on the closed bathroom door. Wrapping myself in it, I step into my room. My phone beeps on my desk, and I walk past the window towards it.

The text is from my best friend Clare talking about her latest boyfriend drama. A shout outside draws my attention away from my phone. 

I peek past my curtains and see one of my neighbors, who I had not bothered to meet, even though she had lived there for 13 years, standing in her driveway in a tank top and some skimpy denim shorts. 

Her black hair, cut to shoulder length, is bobbing up and down as she shouts at a tall, blonde haired boy who is leaning against a black mustang.

I can not hear what she is saying, but I can tell that she is pissed. The boy says something and I watch the girl stomp back into her house. He seems unfazed about what just happened and steps into his car. 

I release a breath that I had not known I was holding and start to turn away from the window. 

Movement outside catches my eye and I turn my gaze back towards the driveway. I found the boy staring up at me from inside his mustang. When I see his face, my breath catches in my throat, he is drop-dead gorgeous. Like one of those fake celebrities. 

His blonde hair is short and although he seems easy going, I can tell that his face is guarded and cautious. 

He smirks when he sees me looking at him and his smile grows even wider when he sees what I am wearing; a towel. 

Oh crap, I forgot all about it. I quickly close the curtains and sit at the edge of my bed. My heart is pounding in my chest and all I can think about is his beautiful face.  

The next day, I wake up to the annoying beeping of my alarm clock, which can only mean one thing; school.

 My hand hits the alarm off and I try to decide whether I should get my exhausted body off of my bed and go to school, or just stay in bed and ditch. 

The decision is determined by a tired yell from downstairs calling me down. I groan inward and rolled toward the edge of my bed. Minutes later, I stand at the bottom of the stairs rubbing my eyes and walk towards the kitchen.

"Hey honey, good morning." My mom says with a smile.

"Hi, Mom." I kiss her cheek and walked past her to my true love; the coffee pot. (A/N: Am I the only one who literally cannot do anything in the morning before having coffee?)

"Anna, could you take me to the store in the afternoon, I need supplies for a project." My younger sister, Emma, says with a big toothless grin. I walk towards her and rub her hair affectionately, at the same time messing up her pigtails.

 I sip a hot cup of coffee as I gather up my books that I had left in the kitchen last night, and stuff them into my black school bag.  

I step outside the house, and onto my driveway, as a silver BMW pulls into it. 

"Hey Anna." Clare pops her head out of the rolling down car window, with a big grin on her face and pink headphones that sits loosely around her neck.

 I smile at her as I get into the passenger seat. 

"So, how is Kenny?" I ask, referring to her boyfriend. 

"Oh my god, don't even get me started on him..." Her words fade off into background noise as I stare out the window, watching houses pass by. 

Minutes later, we stop in front of a big white house. We drive up to the gate that blocked the driveway and Clare reaches out and presses the doorbell. 

Seconds pass, but then the gate opens. At the door of the house, a boy with long black hair stands, slumping against a column. 

The scene looks odd, him dressed in street clothes in comparison to the elegant and regal house behind him.

When he sees us, a big grin appears on his face.

"It's about time you got here." He says in a playful tone. 

"Hi, Tristan." I said, smiling back at him as he gets into the back seat of the car. Tristan is my best friend, even before I had known Clare.   

We drive to school in utter silence, with the exception of deciding what radio station is to be put on. 

Clare parks near the corner of the building and we jump out of the car. When we are inside, we part ways and head to individual classes. 

When I find my door, I walk into it and almost slam into someone. 

"Sorry." I apologize, and when I look up at the person, I realize that she is my neighbor. 

"It's okay." She said, attempting a smile, but it never reaches her eyes. She looks exhausted and, almost, sad. 

"Um, I'm Anna by the way."

"Sam." She replies and then struggles to get around me because, I just realize, I was blocking the door. I quickly step aside and walk over to my desk. 

The teacher of history, a small man with a slowly declining hairline, starts to talk about the fall of the roman empire in 410 C.E., or was it 410 B.C., maybe it was 410 A.D. Or is that the same thing, I don't know! This is why I am failing this class, I think sadly. 

When first period is over, I go to math and meet Tristan there. He waves to me, then moves his chair so I will have room to sit next to him. 

We are the only juniors in this class; the rest are seniors.  Math is the one class I am not failing, and Tristan is acing almost all of his. 

He is one of the smartest people I know. After a few lessons, the teacher, a kind, gray-haired lady, hands out worksheets. Tristan and I easily finish them and spend the rest of the class, about 10 minutes, just talking quietly. 

"So, you know my soccer team?" When I nod, Tristan continues, "Well, a new boy joined the team, and he is a utter bitch." I snort. 

"No, I'm serious, his name is Ryder, and he is acting like he owns the team." He pauses for a second to hand the teacher our worksheets, since she is walking around collecting them.

"Ryder?" I repeat his name, saying it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. (A/N:Sorry all Ryder's out there)We start to walk out of the classroom together and we pass a group of girls crowded around their lockers. 

When they see Tristan they start to giggle and turn on their flirty smiles. Giggling, really. I roll my eyes as we walk away. 

I turn my gaze for a second and focus on Tristan. He is definitely handsome, more that just handsome, but I had never looked at him that way. 

His arm suddenly snakes around my waist and pulls me in front of him. I felt my heart quicken it's beat and my eyes widen. 

"Are you okay Anna?" He asks, his brow furrowing. "You almost walked into a door." He told me, nodding his head towards an open door that would have been directly in my path if he had not pulled me out of the way. 

"Yeah." I say quickly and we start to walk to our next class again. We meet up with Clare in the hallway and endure another boring hour and a half, learning useless things that we will forget by the end of the day.

At lunch, while I am eating a sandwich and trying not to laugh as Tristan starts to imitate his teacher, Sam approaches our table and taps my shoulder. 

I swallow a lump of sandwich and glance back at her. "Yeah?"

"On Sunday night I'm having a party at my house, do any of you want to come?" She asks, tilting her head to the side. 

 Tristan raises an eyebrow in her direction, "That seems like a really inconvenient time for a party." He says, still trying to figure out the problem, but stops when I shoot him a glare.  "Where is it?" Clare asks with an uninterested look. 

"I'm Anna's neighbor, so just go there." Tristan and Clare give me surprised looks and I shrug, uncommitted. 

"I'll go." I offer, knowing my Sunday night would consist of eating ice cream and watching corny movies. 

"Great." Sam says with a smile and tells me the details.