Being the new girl in a new town is hard enough, but for Brayden Hayward it's damn near impossible. Especially when Ashton Philips, the king of the school, is determined to make her life a living hell. He tells her to stay out of his way, yet everyw...
Brayden turned on her left blinker as she stalled at the stop sign. That was the downside of this small town, or really any small town she was beginning to realize: the endless stop signs. She was also a fairly new driver, her license only six months old. So the endless starting and stopping was a little nerve-wracking. As she was waiting for a child and mother to cross the street, Brayden took the opportunity to look around. She hated to admit it, but this little blip in Geography known as Evergreen Grove, Oregon was breathtaking. The town was very aptly named. Green everywhere. She could already see some spots where she wouldn't mind running. The last few moves her family had made landed them in more desert areas, as well as cities like New York, so she was thankful for the change and the much cooler air.
Finally, after what seemed like a century, the road was clear. Brayden pushed lightly on the gas and almost immediately slammed on the brakes. She was thrown back into her seat by the seatbelt and the impact knocked the breath momentarily from her lungs. She shook her head to clear it of the cobwebs, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. She looked at the road again, but it was still there.
A pure black wolf with silver eyes was standing in the middle of the road looking back at her. It didn't look frightened or surprised, it almost looked bored about the fact that she'd almost ran it over with her car. Brayden took a few deep breaths, wondering whether she should move, or if the wolf was going to attack, but it didn't look remotely interested in her. She wondered if the impact from being thrown back into her seat had addled her brain because the wolf looked like it was smirking at her before, if this was possible, walking arrogantly to the other side of the road and disappearing into the trees.
"This place is fucked up," she whispered to herself before glancing at the clock on the dash. "And now I'm going to be late on my first day of school. I'm going to make the Honor Roll for sure."
Brayden stepped on the gas again, after making sure nothing else was going to jump out at her, and continued driving. She just hoped that her almost run-in with the wolf wasn't an omen for what lay ahead of her.
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Rowan Philips
Brayden pulled into the parking lot and idled in her spot for a moment. She looked around and realized she couldn't be that late. There were still students milling about. She dug her phone out of her bag and saw that the clock on her dash ran ten minutes fast.
"Now I'm going to have to get that fixed," she muttered. "Great."
She got out of the car, locked it, and looked up at the building in front of her. It was no different from every other high school she'd attended in the last two years, and there were a few of them. Same original stucco architecture, same tall windows designed to keep the students in even though the outside provided the temptation to escape. She sighed and walked through the door. Now she had to deal with the fact that she didn't know her way around.
