Beacon of Secrets

Ashley Meade

"Ashley Jessica Meade, we're leaving in five minutes whether you like it or not," my mother exclaimed. We were moving to some small town in California. I had spent my whole life in Chance Harbor, the idea of moving had never really crossed my mind. I took one last look around my room before beginning to carry my bags and suitcases downstairs.

"All set?" Asked my father as he took some of the bags from me, loading them into the truck. "And last but not least," he began as he picked me up, ignoring my cries of protests, "the thing we don't want to leave behind, the most important," he continued as he set me down on the seat of the truck, "my beautiful baby" he said as I burst into a fit of giggles. He got into the drivers side and my mom got into the passengers, I was in between them both.

I plugged my phone into the radio as I began playing music; they began singing along to the first song: Problem by Ariana Grande. I wasn't particularly fond of the song, it was just incredibly catchy.

* * *

I'm not quite sure when it was that I had fallen asleep, but somewhere along the way I had. I was woken by my mom who informed me that we had arrived. I climbed out of the truck, groggily. I helped carry some of the lighter boxes inside, and my own bags. My dad told me to just get settled in as he showed me to my room.

I had gotten a fairly large room, bigger than my old one, which I was quite happy about. One of the many things I needed was space... and privacy which I'm sure I would never get, but I still tried to.

* * *

Once we had most of the things unpacked we called it a night. I laid on my bed, earbuds in, as I listened to music and went on omegle. You know, my parents had always told me that I shouldn't talk to strangers but it was the best thing I've ever done. Besides the occasional perverts there are some really nice people out there.

I would do this every night and it was the most fun I would be having probably for awhile now. I finally crashed at about 2 am, leaving everything on.

* * *

When I awoke, the curtains were drawn, the lights were off, and my door was locked. It was strange to me because if my door was still locked then who turned the lights off or drew the curtains? I got up without a second thought as I heard my father call up to me "breakfast is ready!"

I threw on a sweater and walked downstairs, hugging my dad and mom. "Good morning," I murmured softly as I yawned and plopped down on a chair. My dad began setting our plates down with our breakfast.

"So I was thinking maybe you and I could go shopping today," my mother said as she began slowly eating her breakfast. "You're starting school soon and I want you to have more... variety of clothing," she said with a smile.

"What about dad?" I asked

"He's going job hunting today"

"Already? We just got here," I whispered

"we've got bills to pay," my dad jumped in and I nodded slightly.

I went upstairs after breakfast to get ready, I showered, blow dried my hair and changed into the first pair of jeans and t-shirt I found out of my suitcase. I put on my booties and walked downstairs. It's not that I was really all that girly, but I liked wearing heels because I was fairly short.

"Ready?" My mom asked.

"Ready," I murmured.

* * *

We arrived rather quickly at the mall and walked inside. My mother dragging me into Macy's as I groaned but went along. Two guys caught my eye since they seemed to be arguing. I heard bits and pieces of their conversation, but not enough to make out anything.

One of them looked up at me and I quickly turned around, my mother appearing infront of me. "What's wrong?" She asked

"Nothing," I answered nonchalantly as I turned my head to look at them. Now they were both looking over which only made me more insecure. "Alright, look around pick out anything you like, I'm just gonna go to the bathroom real quick," she said as she walked away.

I began looking through the clothes but nothing really caught my eye... except the two guys approaching yeah, that definitely caught my eye.

"Hey, I'm Stiles," said the kinda geeky one. "So... you new around here?" Asked the other one.

"Um, yeah, we just moved," I answered cautiously.

"That girl you were with... what's her name" he asked

"Diana, she's my mom" I said, both of their expressions turning into ones of complete shock.

"What brings you guys to town?" Asked Stiles as the other guy pulls out his phone and steps aside.

"Um, I... actually don't know, I guess Chance Harbor was just getting old," I murmured.

"You attending school?"

"Yeah, Beacon Hills High..."

"No way! Me too!" Stiles said enthusiastically.

We chatted for a bit more, he asked me a few questions that were a bit strange, but I didn't really mind. We ended up exchanging numbers. As soon as he was gone my mother walked up behind me, "who was that?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Stiles, son of the sheriff," I said with a slight shrug, "he was nice... um, can we go home now?"

"Sure, sweetie"

We walked out to the car and drove home. I changed out of my clothing and into shorts and a sports bra as I laid down, it was still early it only being 5 pm, but I felt tired. I stared up at the ceiling as I felt my phone vibrate.

It was a text from Stiles, 'hope we can hangout soon, or at school' it said. I didn't reply instead set my phone down and plugged it into the charger before laying back, taking a deep breath, and closing my eyes.