Chasing Beauty
Prologue
Everyone has a teacher who makes a big deal out of something, most of those teachers are English teachers. You know, the ones that when reading a story will take the idea of the single man having dark blue curtains as a sign that he’s actually depressed and despises his life. When, in reality, maybe the author actually just liked that color. Some things just have to be taken literally.
Chapter 1
I swirl my number 2 pencil around my fingers, half way paying attention to what Mrs. Winters is saying about the Cold War. Fidel Castro this Bay of Pigs that. It’s like the woman herself could be a professional about the war. She wasn’t even looking at the text book!
I sigh in relief as the bell releases me from her brain crunching lecture and I get up, packing away my empty notebook page. Well, not completely empty. I did take a few notes, but as soon as she started repeating things I already knew, I stopped writing.
“Annebella can I see you for a second?” Mrs. Winters asks before I can exit the classroom. I stop and move to the side to let my classmates past before walking over to my teacher’s desk.
“Yes Mrs. Winters?” I ask politely, but I look down to my watch inconspicuously. I have to be home before 3:30 thanks to the grounding my dad decided was needed after I forgot to do my chores yesterday.
“I noticed that you were distracted during class. Was my discussion not up to your standards?” she asks, seriously, but I can see her eyebrow twitch out of strain to keep her voice level.
I shake my head quickly. “Oh, it’s not that Mrs. Winters, not that at all. It’s just, I already knew most of the information and what I didn’t know I took notes on, I swear!” I say holding my hand not holding books up to demonstrate my innocence.
She stares at me for a few seconds before letting her breath out slowly nodding. “Fine, just try and at least pay attention next time?” I nod quickly.
“Yes, of course, but I have to be home in about 15 minutes and it’s a 12 minute drive so do you mind…”
“No, of course not, you’re excused.”
“Thanks, have a good night!”
“You too,” she replies back, smiling a little before going back to her stack of tests.
I quickly walk out the door, rubbing my neck as I do.
I wish this school offered a way you could opt out of classes like my last school here. I mean, I guess this school isn’t all bad but I’ve only been here for a month or so. Not nearly long enough for me to really get a feel on a place.
I let out a gasp as I bang my head against a wall, before falling on my butt. How I manage to hit a wall, I have no clue. I see a hand in front of me picking up one of my scattered books. I freeze and look up to see not a wall, but a jock by the looks of his letterman jacket. Well, that explains that.
“I am so sorry,” I say earnestly as I join him with picking up my books and papers.
“I’m not,” he says and I look up as he hands me the last of my belongings. He gives me a wicked grin the scrunches up the planes of his tanned skin. “But, I need your number, for insurance reasons of course.”
I give a huff and shake my head. “Sorry, but not interested,” I mumble as I push past him and towards the front entrance.
“Aw, but don’t I at least get your name?”
“I’m not allowed to talk to strangers!” I say without looking behind me as I open the large red door and into the sunlight. Why are some men pigs?
Oh, I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by a cover, but I know who that boy was in there. That was, in fact, Gary Lewis, the all-star, well, anything. He’s the head of the school and let me tell you, he a jerk. He’s the stereotypical jock that would throw a cup of soda at someone just for kicks.
I open my car door and stuff my bag and belongings into the passenger seat before getting in myself. I sit there without turning the car on, just thinking. I watch as the majority of the students jump into their shiny new cars and drive off to their large estate more than likely. That’s one of the first things I’ve noticed here. Everyone has money. How my dad is even affording to live in this town is a mystery on it’s on. A salesman doesn’t make a lot of money.
And then there’s the residents that reside in good ‘ol sunny town of Columbus. Most of them act like they're family. Of course, the more popular you are, the more you fit in. In fact, there’s a group that actually gets bullied a lot, and the teachers don’t even comment about it. The people are weird, the town is weird… and then there’s Adam Bailey. He’s the reason dads have shotguns. His name itself seems to speak of trouble. Even I know to stay away from him. His family is the biggest of the big here in the lovely town of Columbus. But that’s not a reason to stay away from him. No, the reason is his street credentials. He has supposedly been arrested twice for fighting and once for vandalism. I even heard that his parents paid his way out of Juvi. That’s the reason to stay away from him and his dark self. I swear, it’s like hatred is a cloud hovering around him.
My eyes magically draw to the black motorcycle at the end of the parking lot. And, coincidently to Adam himself, just as he looks up and looks in my direction. And, I swear, it seems like his blue eyes bore into my own brown ones. That’s when I finally had the sense to turn the key in the ignition and drive away maybe a little too quickly.
Okay so this idea has been spinning for a while and I couldn't go to bed, so I decided to write. Yes, this is a spinoff of Beauty and the Beast and I hope I wrote a good introduction, but it is 4 in the morning haha :)
<3
Rachel
