Repaired

Chapter One

Anabelle

"Anabelle, it's time to get up. It's time for school!" My stepmom, Catherine, said excitedly, shaking me all the while. I groaned and rolled over, to which she responded be ripping my blanket off and throwing open the curtains and window, while saying something about my depression.

After she left, I kicked my legs over the edge of my bed. I shook my head, my distaste for her growing. Don't get me wrong, she's really nice to me, it's just that she is sometimes, I don't know, too nice? I let out a sigh, silently preparing myself for the day ahead.

I made my way over to my closet, got changed, and went through my normal morning routine. Catherine was already downstairs with breakfast made, as usual. My dad and her were sitting and eating already, which was a surprise because my dad usually went to work before I even woke up.

"Hi sunshine." My dad said, taking another bite of pancakes. " How did you sleep?"
"I slept alright. Still a little groggy, though." I replied as I sat down, putting two pancakes on my plate. "I thought you had work today?"

My dad smiled. "They're letting me have this morning off. We're working late into tonight, so they want us to be well rested so we don't fall asleep." I nodded, remembering that he can't exactly share the details of his job. I know that he works for some part of the government, but I'd never been allowed to know exactly which part.

I finished my pancakes slowly, leaving just enough time for me to take my meds and grab my bookbag and phone. My dad stood up, pushing in his chair. "Let's go, kiddo." He said, grabbing his keys from the counter.

The ride to school was fairly quiet, just the usual talk about insignificant things. My dad and I didn't have a whole lot in common; he was rarely ever there when I was growing up. He was always away at work. I remember when I was really young, maybe five or six, he worked for the FBI. But then the accident happened with mom and he got transferred and wasn't allowed to speak about his job anymore.

When we got to the front gate, my friends were already there waiting. I got out of the car, telling my dad to be safe, like usual. As he drove away, I turned and walked towards my friends.

"Hey guys." I said. I was greeted by my best friends, Bianca and Cole, throwing their arms around my shoulders as we walked. They loved to do this, mostly to display how short they thought I was.
Bianca was 5'6 and Cole was 5'11, but I stood only 5'1, and they really loved to joke about the height difference.

I laughed as we walked to our first period classes, but stopped when I noticed a kid I'd never seen before. He was tall, with black hair and dark green eyes. He was wearing a grey t-shirt and some Levis. was quite good looking, but he looked really familiar.

I had trouble concentrating all through first period, I was too busy trying to figure out where I had seen that boy before.

When the bell rang, Cole walked me to my second class where, talking with the teacher, was that boy. I sat down at my usual desk, still baffled as to where I know the boy from. As class started, my teacher, Ms. Bradley, got the boy to introduce himself in front of the class.

"Hey. I'm Ray. I just moved here from Texas." He said, his southern accent strong. "Do you have any hobbies?" Ms. Bradley asked, her head tilted to the side. Ray smiled, and laughed. "If I shared those," he said "I probably would get my ass beat." Ms. Bradley laughed uncomfortably, and pointed Ray to sit down next to me.

"Hey, I'm Ray. What's your name?" He said, giving me a kind smile. "I'm Belle." I replied, taking note of his strong features. "What a lovely name." He said, and I smiled thinking to myself that the school year was about to get a lot more interesting.