"Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try, and fix you" -Fix You by Coldplay
"I will have a steamed vanilla bean with whipped cream and no caramel drizzle" I told the barista, "have a name to call out?" He asks me, "Natalia" I chirp.
I go back to my seat and check Instagram, "Natalia!" A barista calls, as I rise out of my chair and claim my beverage, bringing it to my lips, I take a small sip out of the hot liquid.
Heading back to my seat outside of the heavenly Starbucks cafe, I bump into a stranger, "sorry" he says, grabbing my shoulders, and I look up at him.
The godly stranger smiles softly and pushes my hair out of my face, "oh vanilla bean" he smirks, taking the drink out of my hands and putting it to his lips
I gape at the man, and walk away, slightly upset that my beverage was now gone. I hug myself as I get into my car,
I turn on the news station, because I was a little worry wart, and with all these criminals in my era, I had every right to worry, "and rapist and murderer Shane Blossomer is on the run again, Shane was spotted at a Starbucks in Traverse City, stealing a young woman's coffee, before proceeding to leave the area"
I gasp and stop my car, grabbing my phone, I tell Siri to call my brother Nate, "this is Nate, amazing wonderful king of Traverse City," Nate chimes, "Nate! Shane is back! He's back" I bawl driving down the backroad leading to my house, "Nat just calm down, he's not Jack" Nate assures me.
I park my car and run into my large house, "hello Natalia" my stepmother Susan says to me, formerly, I stop, knowing Susan could be a total jerk, and I wasn't in the mood to face the wrath of her.
"I was hoping we could have some mother daughter bonding time" Susan smiled, I sighed, "do I have a choice?" I asked, "no, your dress is on the bed and I expect you to do your own makeup" Susan spat,
I groaned and drug myself up the staircase, entering my room, I hear a click of a lock as my door shuts, figures.
I stare at the knee length royal blue dress in front of me. "Ugh" I groaned, stripping myself of my grungy white tank top and green cargo pants,
"And Natalia? Wear your contacts" Susan sneered, from the other side of the door, I sighed, brushing at my hopeless brown locks,
An hour or so later, I'd emerged from my room in my dress and godawful heels, Susan was only ten years older than me, why my father married such a woman I don't know, but Susan loved to bring me to banquets, with elderly woman and such, hell, my own stepmother was the closest to my age.
My mother had died when I was fourteen, my mother with her grayish light brown hair, always with a t-shirt on and an old pair of baggy old jeans, it hurt me to think about her, one second she had been my best friend and the next she was six feet under because a person had the nerve to do DUI and kill my mother. And then sue my father for the damage that my mother's car did to the drunk's truck.
Susan shot me a fake grin, "today's banquet will have more teenagers than usual, I expect you to act formal" Susan said,
The thing about Susan was, jeans didn't exist, my mom's baggy old jeans were "the most horrendous things she'd ever seen"
Dad started dating Susan three weeks after my mom died, I remember when she first met me, I was wearing my mom's old t-shirt, I hadn't taken off that shirt for three months.
I climbed into the Mustang, as Susan started driving towards the Mountain View hotel, once we arrived I burst out of the car,
"Mrs. Edwards, what a pleasure to have you here tonight" a man says to her, "and who is this?" He adds, glancing at me, "this is my husband's daughter Natalia Marie" Susan says, I give the man my best fake smile.
I walk through the doors, glancing at a small group of teenagers hanging out by the alcohol, I walk towards the area, "so then I was like, you gotta a problem with me dude?" I hear an all-too-familiar voice say, "and then he just backs off! I mean, what a wuss?" The voice adds,
I push through the group, "ahh, everybody back off, I wanna talk to the new girl" he says, and as if activating a switch, everyone shuffled away, "the name's Shane, Shane Jenner" Shane smiles, "Natalia Edwards" I breathe,
"Let's go, Edwards, Dina's Diner? What do you say?" Shane tells me, I nod breathlessly, "how do we get there?" I ask, "I've got a ride" he tells me.
I head out the doors, Shane holding my hand, I get into the car, as Shane turns on the radio, "can we listen to the news?" I ask him, Shane smiles softly and turns on the news station, "Shane Blossomer, ruthless rapist and murderer was-" Shane changes the channel, "why do we have to learn about that Shane guy? I mean, how bad can he really be?" Shane questions, I shrug, as Katy Perry's Dark Horse comes on.
I walk into the diner, this time not holding Shane's hand, as I reach for the door, Shane pulls me away, "let's go in the back" Shane suggests, pulling me to the back of the building,
"What are we doing back here? You're not gonna rape me are you?" I ask, suddenly alarmed, "I'm not going to rape you Edwards" Shane chuckles, "I'd rape you in a much more confined area," Shane teases, leaning up against me, so I could feel his breath on my face.
I sigh in relief, as Shane knocks on the window, "Dina it's Blossomer-Jenner" Shane called, a waitress opened the back door as we snuck in,
"Shaney! How's my favorite nephew?" A lady, I'm guessing Dina, exclaimed, pinching Shane's cheeks, I smile, while Shane turns beet red.
The lady leads us upstairs to a confined area, with all the curtains shut, and windows locked, (I had learned a lot about locked windows and doors after my dad married Susan)
"I come up here so nobody gets suspicious" Shane whispers to me, I give him a strange look, "why would people-" I start but I'm cut off by Dina "and here we are! You can just have that table right in the back corner!" Dina chirps,
As Shane and I head towards the table, Shane smirks as Dina heads downstairs to probably get us water, "now this, would be an amazing place to rape you" Shane tells me
I feel a buzz in my pocket, (yes my legendary dress-from-hell had pockets), and I pulled my phone out of my dress, the annoying ringtone informed me that it was someone like Susan, somebody who cared about being on time, and having perfect posture, and making sure the salad table was on the right side of the dinner plate,
"This is Natalia Marie Edwards, how may I assist you" I choke out the words, "Natalia!" Susan screeches, "where the hell are you? A man from EYWA wants to meet with you!" I groan internally, "I apologize Susan, tell him I'll meet him at uh, The Olive Garden for lunch tomorrow to discuss my enrollment in privacy" I say, trying to sound as serious as possible.
"Very well, we will discuss your absence later with your father" Susan says, before hanging up.
Slouching in my chair, "I'm sorry, that was my stepmom, she can be a little controlling... All the time" I explain, Shane nods, "my dad can be like that, wants me to go to medical school" Shane shudders at the thought.
"So Mrs. Edwards isn't your mom? So you aren't as terrifying as her?" Shane asks. I laugh, "she locks me in my room at night and my dad thinks it's so I finish all my homework" I chuckle,
"So, this is awkward, what's your favorite song?" Shane asks me, "that's easy, Listomania by Phoenix" I state, Shane grins, "we're going to be best friends, and that song is going to be our song," Shane tells me, I raise my eyebrows, "okay" I say,
Dinner goes by in a blur, and all too soon I have to go home and face the wrath of my parent and stepparent, as Shane drops me off, I wave goodbye, and get into my house.
"Oh Natalia!" Susan wails, throwing her arms around me, I hug her back awkwardly, "hey Susan" I say weirdly, "do you have any idea how nervous we were?" My father scolds, "no, I thought it was safe" I mumble, "baby girl, Shane Blossomer was at the event tonight"
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A/n hahaha!! Do you love my cliffies? I do, I think that as a fan of Rick Riordan, liking cliffhangers is just something that comes naturally to me, so yeah, and make sure to follow my girls, @EnchantedCynder @DragonFlightFire @AllegiantSurvivor64 and @IceSkatingakz because they're my baes,
