Forbidden Darkness (The Forbidden Darkness Chronicles, #1)

One

"Come on, Heather, no need to be such a bitch," my best friend, Kristen Mason, said as we sat at lunch just a few days before my birthday.

"I'm not being a bitch," I replied before I took a bite of my burger. "I'm just saying that I really don't think my sixteenth birthday is going to be that interesting, is all."

It was September 1st, just a week into school, and my birthday was coming up. Because of this, Kristen felt the need to make it the best birthday ever, but I questioned how well she was actually going to be able to do that, considering we were two of the least popular girls in school. It wasn't that she wasn't pretty, because in all honesty, she was. With her long, perfectly straight blonde hair, one would think she was a model, but to feel creative, she added a black strip right at the front near her bangs. Not that this took away her beauty because anyone who knew her would say that she was one of the prettiest people they'd met. Her face was almost flawless and I had not seen a single zit in over a year. She also had these gorgeous blue eyes that one just really couldn't forget when they saw them. So why was she so unpopular?

That was a whole other story for another time.

I, on the other hand, did compare in looks, but not because I was beautiful. Actually, I was unique (at least that's what Mom told me, probably to make me feel better). My hair was dark brown with blonde highlights—not too unnatural, right? Wrong. My blonde highlights weren't simply blonde, but were almost like actual strands of gold. The texture was strange, almost like silk, and flowed perfectly through my hair. And if that didn't draw enough eyes, I was pretty sure my purple eyes did.

Yes, you heard me right—purple. But not just any kind of purple, more like lavender, with little specks of blue in the middle. We didn't know how, or why, but we assumed it was somehow connected to a genetic disorder, but there had been none found in my family history. So what did that mean for me? Yep, that meant I was a complete and total freak. The only time Mom took me to a doctor was when I was little and I could barely remember that experience. What I did remember, though, was the doctor telling my mom what he thought—that I was a freak—so I wasn't just pulling that word out of thin air. After that, all throughout school, people considered me to be a freak, and didn't want to be friends with the weird girl. Well, everyone except Kristen, but we'd always been friends because our moms had been friends since they were kids, so when they both got pregnant within a few months of each other, they knew we'd make the best of friends. My whole life, Kristen was there, and was even there the first night I told her I believed I was a total freak of nature.

Kristen didn't agree, and sometimes envied my looks for no practical reason. If she really wanted to trade, I would be totally up for it, but unfortunately, whatever God was out there gave me this body, this hair and these eyes. Wasn't I lucky?

"Um, hello? Earth to Heather, stop daydreaming," Kristen said, taking a bite of her salad, making me envy the fact that she could keep herself so healthy. Here I was eating the world's largest burger, making me feel kind of like an Oompa Loompa, while she ate her greens with a sprinkle of bacon bits. A few bacon bits had to be a little better than this burger. Unfortunately, I was not granted with the unhealthy food resistance that Kristen was. "Your birthday is going to be interesting."

In case you didn't notice, unfortunately was my favorite word, and it was for one reason only: It fit me all too well. I was Unfortunate Heather, who never seemed to have good things happen to me.

"And why do you say that?" I asked. "It's not like I have any other friends besides you."

"You'll make friends," she said with a smile. "Everything changes when you're sixteen; trust me, I know from experience."