The Alpha and the Rookie

Chapter 1

No one has ever had this experience before. No one's ever done this before. No one's ever been me before. Everyone's story is a bit different. This is my story.

I rolled over, exhausted, as I looked up at the night sky. The stars twinkled down on my face through the trees. I sighed. So beautiful. So little time.

It had to be reaching midnight now. I scanned my surroundings, looking for anything unusual. Nothing. I sat back contented. Nothing.

"Aren't they beautiful? The stars?" I asked. Christina, my best friend in the whole world, put her hands behind her head. "Yeah, they really are." She replied. I've never really paid attention to the stars before. But tonight was different. I just kind of felt like I had to.

I felt Christina's eyes staring at me. "What's wrong?" Dang it. Christina was my best friend, but she was very good at reading people. She must have seen the worry and annoyance in my eyes.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just..." I trailed off. I couldn't tell Christina. I couldn't tell her anything. Which, I had to admit, made me feel really guilty. Don't get me wrong I want to tell her. About everything that's going on, but I literally can't.

"You can tell me anything, Mackenna. You know that right? I tell you everything." Christina urged. She had me kind of cornered now. But I still could not tell. I'm not capable. I sighed and turned to face her.

"Christina, let's just say I have a lot on my mind right now." Guilty, guilty, guilty. Ugh! Christina just rolled her eyes. "Okay..." She said.

I looked back up at the sky. The stars were just beyond gorgeous tonight. It probably wasn't the warmest night in history out, but still I didn't notice. The trees danced slightly in the breeze, the wind whistled past my ear.

Christina pulled her sleeping bag over her shoulders. "Geez, it's so cold out! Are you sure you aren't cold? At all?" I shook my head. "No, not at all. I don't really get...cold, anymore." I shrugged.

"Hey look! A shooting star!" Christina yelled. My eyes flew up towards the sky. "Make a wish!" Christina whispered and closed her eyes. I closed my eyes too, hoping to god that my wish would come true. I thought long and hard until Christina finally shook me. "You can open your eyes now." She said.

I slowly opened them and sighed. I don't think it worked. I don't think anything will work to reverse this curse.

"I'm kind of getting tired." I said, not really wanting to talk anymore. Christina nodded. "Okay, see you in the morning." She replied then I slowly fell asleep to the sound of slight breathing and crickets in the distance. I also swearing I heard something like footsteps in the trees to my left, but didn't hear it again so I dismissed that and fell into unconsciousness.

When I opened my eyes it was daylight. The sun beat down on my tan face and the grass underneath me was a little damp from dew. I propped myself up and looked to my right to see that Christina was still sleeping. I rolled my eyes a laughed a little to myself. Christina was usually the first to wake up. I'm never up first.

I sighed and stared up at the morning sky. The sun was warm and bright. The sky was a pretty bright blue and there were a few big, fluffy white clouds passing by. A smile spread across my face. Daytime. My favorite time.

A slight giggle escaped my mouth and I immediately turned to see if I woke Christina. She groaned and rolled over slightly, but she didn't wake up. I sighed and smiled. Christina looked so innocent laying there. If only she knew what really went on in the world.

I shook my head and got up off of the slightly dewy grass. When I got to my feet I had to stretch to pop my sleepy bones into place. A yawn escaped my mouth.