Annabel

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Annabel

The note was in the same place it always was, laying on the counter next to the coffee maker. I picked it up with shaky hands and began reading even though I had a pretty good idea what it said. It's honestly always the same.

Annabel,

Sorry I had to go in for a while this morning. I made coffee and there's some money on the counter for lunch. Have a good day. See you later.

Love, Mom

I glared at the crisp five dollar bills on the counter. They looked like they had just been printed. She always left money so this was no surprise. My mother is a cardiac surgeon and is supposedly one of the best, not that I would know. I stood there in the kitchen, my bare feet cold on the tile as I finished my coffee. The strong roast was the only thing that could get me up and moving, my insomniac habits always taking a toll on my sleeping patterns. I looked around the kitchen, curling my hands around my mug to bring warmth to them. The place was spotless; nothing out of place and the familiar smell of pine sol filled my senses. It was a wonder how my mother ever found time to clean.

I walked into the living room where a back to school commercial was playing on television. This reminded me that summer was almost over and I'd be a senior now. I hated school and wanted it to be over. I thought about what this year would be like, what it would entail. I should've liked school. I sure was good enough at it but my social life was almost nonexistent with the exception of Greyson Ward. When my phone beeped, it pulled me back to reality and I tried to clear my head. I dug my cell out of my pocket and read the text message from Greyson asking me to meet him for lunch at a sandwich shop in town. 'Okay' was all I said, leaving it short and to the point.

I hadn't talked to Greyson much over the summer, not since Prom night when he stood me up for a study group at the College of Charleston. He'd already been accepted on early admission and had been nagging me about applying ever since. He has connections at the university but then again, considering my mother, so do I.

"Your SAT scores are killer Anna. You will get in for sure." He had assured me. Maybe Greyson was right. Maybe I would get in with a decent scholarship but I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go there, not that it mattered.

After getting ready to meet Greyson, I went over to my computer to check my emails, scanning the sender's names, consciously scanning over the promotional crap that always clogged my inbox. There was one from my dad, filling me in on the things happening in his new life, like his girlfriend Lyla. My dad moved to Florida when I was younger, after he and my mom split up. I only saw him maybe twice a year so the emails and brief phone calls were all I had to go by, all I had to hang onto. I typed a quick reply and grabbed my bag, pocketing the two five dollar bills on the way out.

Today was hot but not too hot. That was one of the things I loved about Charleston, South Carolina. It got hot in the summer but wasn't extremely humid or muggy except at the beach. Once on the road, I drove a few miles before pulling into the parking lot of the small café just off the road. Greyson was already there. I immediately spotted his BMW. It didn't shock me that he was already here, considering he did arrive five minutes early for everything, always making a statement and giving impression every single time. He was just about the most punctual person I'd ever met. Once inside, he stood up and walked over to where I was, kissing my cheek in a polite gesture as his hand gently caressed my elbow.

"Hey." He said.

"Hi." I replied, sitting down across from him, his laptop in between us.

"So are you getting ready for school?"