Moonlight Passion

Chapter 1: Living a Lie

The end of her peace would come as sun light began to filter in through the window's blinds, and as it did the alarm on her phone would go off until Rayne silenced it. As it did every morning, Rayne's dream would end and she would sit up with a sigh, stretching her arms above her head and yawning as she woke up. Whether she liked it or not, Rayne was obligated to wake up with her alarm, she had no choice but to get up without complaint and get ready for her friends to pick her up in Tasha's car for before school gossip.

Sometimes, as Rayne would walk from her bedroom to her bathroom across the hall where her clothes were already waiting for her to change into once she exited the shower, she would scold herself for allowing other people to schedule her life. Shouldn't her life be her own? Shouldn't she have the freedom to make her own decisions about what she wanted to do with her life? When those questions would arise though, Rayne would just end up shaking her head and coming to the same conclusion that she always did. Even if her friends didn't maintain control over her life, her parents would. She would only have the freedom to make her own decisions once she was in college in some far off state. Hell, she might even leave the country if necessary. As long as her friends didn't make her do anything like break the law or ditch her classes, she shouldn't complain. It was only two more years anyway.

Although Rayne never argued with her alarm clock when it came to getting out of bed, she did not consider herself a morning person. She was on autopilot until she got her morning shower as far as she was concerned. Sometimes when she was angry over how her life was going, she would go back into autopilot mode and pretend to be happy for her friend's sake. They may have been dictating her life, but they still cared and still wanted the best for her. Even if their version of what was best for Rayne wasn't anywhere near what she wanted for herself.

So into the shower she stepped, and the moment the warm water hit her skin and hair she was able to let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. All the tensed up muscles in Rayne's body relaxed and she quickly started washing off any residual dirt from the day before.

Rayne didn't have the luxury of time, even on the weekends. Every single day was planned out for her, and this particular Saturday was supposed to be spent getting any last minute trip details taken care of before heading out to go camping. Well... about as close to camping as any of Rayne's friends were willing to do. They were merely going to spend the night outdoors and head back home Sunday. Tasha refused to go a full day without a shower, Lorraine had major issues with bugs, and Vivian hated all things having to do with being outdoors for any longer than a couple hours tops. The only reason they had agreed to go at all was because next Saturday was Rayne's seventeenth birthday and they were compromising so that Rayne would let them throw her a party.

It was frustrating to say the least in Rayne's opinion that she had to argue in order to get the birthday celebration she wanted, but that was how her friends were and they had at least agreed to what she wanted. So, before she could get angry, Rayne took a deep breath and washed the conditioner out of her long, wavy brown hair.

The one thing Rayne had full control over was her appearance. She had always loved long hair and for the last year she had been growing hers out as much as possible. She had almost reached her goal with her hair falling just over her breasts when wet. So, she finished washing off residual soap and hair products before shutting off the water, wrapping a large towel around herself and wrapping her hair up in a second towel.

Rayne knew she wasn't going to have time to wait for her hair to dry before styling it so she just braided her damp hair back into two braids and tied them off before pulling on a simple black tank-top, grey skinny jeans, and a black jacket. Once she had left her bathroom she slipped her feet into a pair of knee-high black boots that she deemed suitable for walking around in dirt and grabbed her back-pack before heading out of her house just in time for her friends to pull up at the front door in John's jeep.