Seventeen-year-old Scarlett Hayes is living her life by her own rules. Losing her parents at a young age has made her strong and fiercely independent. She knows exactly who she is and nothing is going to change that.
Everything starts to change for...
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Scarlett
One thing I hated most about school was waking up early. Why did school have to start so early? I loved to sleep in and I rarely got out of bed before eleven most mornings when I didn't have to wake up for school.
I yawned when my snooze time ran out and my alarm began to buzz again. I sat up and rubbed my face. I'd set my alarm for earlier than normal so I would have the extra time to get my schedule and find my locker.
I kept promising myself once school was finished, I'd make sure I never had to wake up early again.
Unlike most girls my age, I wasn't interested in fashion and what the latest trend was. I dressed in what I liked irrespective of whether it was considered fashionable or not.
I pulled on a pair of black hipster jeans and a button-up dark blue shirt, then I finished off my outfit with a pair of black, flat, strappy sandals. The only makeup I wore was some lip-gloss. These days I never bothered with jackets or a jersey because I never got cold anymore.
When my senses had grown stronger, my internal body heat had increased as well.
Gary had suggested I get some tests run to discover why I'd suddenly developed changes when I'd turned sixteen, but I'd refused. Physically, I felt fine. I didn't see any reason to get tests done, and I'd learned to live with the new changes in my body.
The smell of fresh coffee caught me as I descended the stairs and I followed it into the kitchen. Most mornings I couldn't function until I had my first cup of coffee.
"You're up," I heard Gary say as I entered the room.
"Yeah, I'm up," I muttered as I went straight for the coffee. I poured some of it into a cup and took a sip.
"Mmm," I murmured as I took another sip and felt the caffeine begin to take effect in my body. Gary just shook his head at me and laughed. He knew better than to try and interact with me before I finished my first cup.
"Are you taking your new car or do you want the driver to take you to school?" Gary asked, sitting at the kitchen table as I finished my coffee.
"I'm taking my new baby," I answered.
"I've installed a tracker on the car," he notified me. I nodded my head. It was something I was used to and it was his way of keeping me safe. If I let him put a tracker on the vehicle I was using, then he wouldn't have to send a bodyguard with me. There was no way I was going to school with a massive bodyguard following me around. If Gary could, he'd keep me locked up at home. I wasn't going to live my life in fear of what could happen, though.
My parents' deaths had been tragic, but there was no proof that their murderers were out to get me, too.
I was running late so I skipped breakfast and I grabbed a protein bar, which I shoved into my school bag.
