Heartbeats

Chapter One

Mason had been the new kid. He was sixteen with brown curls, innocent blue eyes, and a major case of self-absorbment. He played football, wore Hollister, and didn't have to work for a dime. Scratch that; he didn't have to work for a penny. He had it so easy. All he had to do was show up the first day, flash a few smiles, and everybody loved him.

I hated him. But of course, he didn't notice. He still flirted with me, asked me to dances, and glared at all the other guys I'd actually converse with.

I guess I could've done more. Slapped him a few times, filed a restraining order, stopped making lists of three...

But I didn't; I gave in, and that's how I ended up stomping around my house grumpily (and hurriedly) that Friday evening.

"Dude," I screamed from the top of the stairway. "Where's my straightener?"

My sister's head popped out of the magazine she'd been dissecting. She glared at me with her hazel eyes. "Where do you think?" Her voice leaked poison. "The bathroom!"

"Oh, that totally narrows it down!" I snapped back. "Which bathroom?"

"Mom's!" she hissed.

I turned away, not bothering a 'thank you'. Tess was such a freaking pain in my side. She was a tumor. Actually, no. You'd get more sympathy from a cancerous tumor. Tess was a parasite, feasting off all my happiness and fun. Not that I had much of either now a days...

When I entered my mom's room she was passed out on her bed. Her blond hair was lying around her head like a platinum corona. On the T.V. was ABC family with some old movie I didn't know. I shook my head as I crossed the room to the bathroom door.

I loved my mother's bathroom. It was huge. Like, bigger-than-my-room huge. It always smelt like jasmine or rose or some other scent you could bottle up and sell by the ounce. The whole bathroom was pure white (Becka, our maid, made sure of that) with gold trim. I glanced in the mirror above the sinks and saw my straightener on the edge of the bathtub.

"Smart, mom," I muttered. "Real intelligent." I went and got it and returned to the sink. I looked in the mirror and stared back at myself.

The me in the mirror was wearing a slim black mini-dress with fishnets and high top converse. The dress was just shy of ridiculous, but I loved it. The straps purposefully hung off my shoulders but the corset helped hold up the rest of the dress. It flared at the hips, but only enough to emphasize the waist. My hair was a dark brown (almost black), give or take a few red or purple streaks. My eyes glittered green, a first in my family.

I pulled my eyes away from the figure in the mirror and began to focus on my hair when the doorbell rang. "Dammit!"

I heard my sister shuffle to the door. It squeaked when it opened. "Hello," she greeted, except it sounded surprised like, "Hell-oh."

So help me, I thought as I tried to keep my bangs from lying flat on my face. If my sister starts flirting with Mason...

I heard a giggle. "Really?" Tess asked. "That's funny."

"I'll be down in a sec." I looked in the mirror again, making sure my eyeliner was neat, my eyes smokey, and mascara not clumped together. Pretty sure I would regret tonight, I blew my bangs up dramatically and hurried downstairs.

Boy was I right about the flirting.

Tess was putting her eyelashes to use. She leaned across the counter as she chatted with Mason, staring deeply into his baby blue eyes. I wasn't too comfortable with how often she was licking her lips, or how one hand was held to her heart while the other reached out to push his shoulder as she laughed at something he obviously didn't find that funny.