The Letter Project

Chapter 1

I stumbled over my brother's rocket ship as I flew down the stairs to the breakfast table. "Sawyer!" I called rounding the corner. My brother grinned cheekily at me behind his bowl of cereal. I rolled my eyes and dropped it after my mom gave me a pointed look.

Checking the clock, I noticed that I didn't have time to sit down for breakfast. I was meeting the group outside the library for school and Norkilia would probably kill me if I was late. "I'm just going to grab a granola bar," I announced to my parents from inside the pantry.

"Haven?" my brother asked from behind me. "What's up buddy?" I replied as I glared at the granola bars on the top shelf. I couldn't quite reach them, being 5'4" and all. "Mommy and Daddy were talking about going to get coffee, and I don't want to go with them... can I go with you?" he asked, giving me his best puppy dog eyes.

My previous annoyance with him and his rocket ship melted away, "Of course you can buddy but we have to leave right now," I sighed. In a split second he was bounding up the stairs to his room, grabbing his backpack I presume.

After successfully climbing up the shelves and grabbing a granola bar, I walked over to my keys on the counter. "Sawyer is coming with me," I informed my parents who barely looked up from what they were doing, both absorbed in their Sudokus. "Okay Haven, drive safe, love you," my dad called out to me as I walked out the door.

My phone buzzed as I unlocked my car. Once I was sitting in my seat I glanced down at my phone to see a few texts from Norkilia. I cursed under my breath and shifted my gaze up to the door to check if my brother had come outside yet.

I cursed again when I failed to see his curly brown hair coming out to the car.

Nor - Where are you??

Nor - We have 15 minutes before class starts!!

Nor - HAVEN?!?

I was about to text my reply when the back door opened and my brother all but threw himself into the seat. "About time!" I muttered and immediately reversed out of the driveway, barely missing the mailbox.

About 5 minutes later, I pulled up the elementary. Sawyer was a first grader at the elementary just down the street from the high school that I went to. "Bye, love you have a good day!" I yelled to him through the open window as he shuffled away from my car. I never promised I wouldn't try to embarrass him. Much to my dismay he embraced it and blew a kiss back at me.

I pulled out of the drop off-lane and sped, as fast as I could in a school zone, to the high school. When I got into my senior parking spot, I raced to meet everyone outside the library. This was a rare case, me being late, for I feared Nor too much to be late to anything. So when I saw that I was the last one to show up, I squeaked and shuffled over to my best friend.

I double checked to make sure I really was the last one and avoided Norkilia's pointed stare. But my eyes did not fool me the first time, my group of four friends were here.

First off we had my best friend, Norkilia Marie Smith. She's the cheer captain at our school. She has blonde hair with pink highlights that fall to her collarbones. Nor is taller than me and stands at 5'7" and also has the body of a goddess.

Across from me in our little circle stand the twins. Savannah Sky and Luna Eve White. They are also taller than me but only by an inch and a half, making them 5'5" Both girls have long auburn red hair that went to their waist. I don't understand how they managed that much hair, I probably never will. The twins have matching hazel eyes. They were the palest out of five of us and could run Snow White for her money. For most people, the only way to tell them apart from each other is the fact that Savannah has a pair of black, wide-rimmed glasses. 

Last but not least, we have Malachi Grey Thompson. He's been the only constant guy in our group of friends. Malachi towers over all of us at 6'1". He has these bright green eyes and darker brown hair. Believe it or not, Malachi is the mom-friend of our group despite being the flirt of the school. 

Me on the other hand? Well, my name is Haven Nikol King. I have brown hair that goes to my shoulders, brown eyes and freckles. Like I said before, I'm 5'4".  And well, that's about it.

A noise draws me out of the trance I'm in and I'm met with Norkilia's bright blue eyes. "Haven!" she whined, "This is very important news, we need everyone's attention!" I should mention that although I love my best friend, she can be quite the control freak sometimes. I blame it on the fact she's cheer captain. 

"Sorry," I smile sheepishly at her, "what is it you were saying?"

Satisfied that she got my attention she turned to everyone in the group. "I heard from the Martins that Mr. and Mrs. Grayson are assigning the letter projects today!" Bursts of excitement echoed in the hallway from our small group and through the library doorway I could see Mrs. Hansen, the librarian, glaring at us. 

"Already? I thought they were going to make us wait til second semester?" I chimed. Norkilia shrugged, "Who knows, maybe they're changing it up." A gasp came from Luna, "maybe, they're adding onto the project?" At her suggestion Malachi added, "What if they're changing the anonymous factor?" I laughed at the groups sheer terror, "That's essential to the project, I highly doubt they'd change that."

Before the others could add their input the bell rang signaling that everyone needed to get to class. I didn't have my first period with any of the group so after saying goodbye I quickly left for my Spanish class, alone. 

All day I overheard my peers talking about the letter project. This project has been the highlight of the year for each class of seniors the past couple years, and now was no different. 

When lunch came along I met the group at our usual lunch table in the cafeteria. Malachi approached the table when we were talking about what gossip we've heard throughout the day. "What's up girlies?" he beamed. That's when we noticed that he had a girl hanging off his arm. "This is Macy!" She giggled and waved at us. "Hi besties!" she practically screeched. 

Savannah and I shared a look, her being directly across from me, when the pair sat down. Norkilia being the bubbly person resumed her normal chatter and included Macy. 

"Do you think you're going to get someone cute?" Lu Lu asked me, referring to the project. I shrugged, "I have no idea to be honest, we'll all probably get someone we least expect." She nodded in agreement, "I'm still hoping I get someone cute, then I'd have a cute love story to tell my kids just like Mr. and Mrs. Grayson.." she sighed. I chuckled and left her to daydream and tuned into Nor and Malachi's conversation, noticing that Macy was now gone from the table. 

The end of lunch bell rang about 20 minutes later and we all headed to our next class of the day. Our anticipation was barely contained as we walked. I had English with Nor and Malachi, while the twins had Art. 

When we walked into the class, Mr. Grayson wasn't there yet, as usual. When the late bell rang, and he walked into the classroom, a hush immediately fell upon the class. 

"Alright class! You probably have heard the rumors, and I'm here to say that.." he paused almost seeming as if it was for dramatic effect, "they are true!"