A Moth to the Flame

01

He sat on the curb with his chin propped on his arms, bored as he waited for his late bus.

'This school's not much different.' He thought, now looking over at the group of kids waiting for the same bus. 'At least I have a bus this time.'

"Bored, sweetheart?" She came in like wind, he hadn't even realized she was standing behind him.

"The bus takes long." Was his reply as she sat down next to him.

"If you're impatient, you must have some bad karma. Ms. Brown is always late." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, noting her flawless, tanned skin and curly black hair. Her eyes were a mesmerizing chocolate brown.

He groaned. "Lovely..."

She laughed and, he noted, it sounded like the chiming of small bells. "You're the new kid, right? My name's Fallon."

"Emmett." He was surprised, he didn't think anyone would notice he was new in this large school.

"I know everyone around here. But your pretty face is one I've never seen." He was once again surprised as she seemingly read his thoughts and though her flirting was playful, it still sent shivers down his spine that such a beautiful person would say something like that.

The bus pulled up and they both rose to their feet and walked on and he chose a seat near the back. He felt so out of place next to her, who moved with such confidence you would think she was part of the landscape itself.

When she sat down next to him, Emmett realized she would only continue to surprise him. "How long since you moved in?"

"Three days ago, officially, but I was with my grandmother until last night." He stared at her profile, the gentle curve of her nose, the sharpness of her cheekbones, and the length of her dark lashes as she stared out of the window.

"So you haven't had much time for exploring, have you? The town may be small, but there is a lot to see. The old railroad tracks, the 'Witches Hollow'"She put up quotation marks with her fingers, rolling her eyes, "And a lot more. But my favorite is the lake. I'll be going there with some friends in an hour, would you like to join us? I promise they're all friendly and they love new faces."

Emmett opened his mouth, ready to jump on the idea but hesitated. "I can try, but unfortunately, my parents are pretty strict."

"Strict parents, huh? Don't worry, any parent will jump on the idea to let there kid hang out with new friends after moving." She stood as the bus reached it's third stop. "Well, dear Emmett, I hope I'll be hearing from you." She slipped a piece of paper in his hand, winked, and stepped off the bus.

Emmett shivered at how she drawled out his name and looked at the paper. The only predictable thing about Fallon so far, this piece of paper held seven digits.

It looked rather old, was she so bold as to pre-write her number in case she met someone?

Emmett believed she was.

-

"So I can go?" An ear-to-ear grin spread across his pale face.

"Yes of course! Just promise me you won't go in the water unless you know it's safe. I'm only allowing you to go in at all because you were on the swim team for four years straight." His mother pointed a wooden spoon at him in a very threatening manner.

He threw his hands up, laughing. "Of course, Mom. I promise."

"Take your father's car, and drive carefully Emmy!" She tossed him the keys to the truck and his grin, if possible, got bigger.

He rolled his eyes at the nickname.

"Sure thing. Thank you, and I love you, Mom!" He yelled over his shoulder as he headed out the door.

-

Emmett : heyy its emmett im able to go . where do i meet you guys?

Unknown :well hello there ~ meet us at the 7/11 across from the school babe

Emmett : see you in 5

Fallon : o btw dont stare. daniel has more than a few scars and he gets angry when people treat him different. other than that hes a sweetheart i swear

Emmett : alright

-

He placed his phone on the dried, ripped up leather of the seat next to him and pulled out of the driveway, and soon found himself in the parking lot of 7/11.

"Hey! Over here Emmett!" He smiled as she jumped up and down, waving her arms, spilling slushy all over a shorter girl with vibrant purple hair.

"Fal what the hell!" Her face turned red and she smacked Fallon on her arm lightly.

"Oh..." Her face went blank for a second before she burst out laughing. "Oops."

The shorter girl scowled but seemed to get over it pretty quickly. "So, I'm guessing your Emmett?" She looked him up and down and he offered her a smile, which she returned.

"Yeah." He spared a glance at Fallon, who was frowning down at her black crop top which now had yellow slushy slowly melting on it.

"Well, I'm Leilani." She shifted her weight so that she was back in his view and he opened his mouth to reply when loud voices sounded from the entrance of the 7/11.

"Leilani we got you gummi bears and Fallon what in god's name is a Skor?"

Emmett and the two girls looked at four new arrivals, one of which Emmett noticed, had burns coating his arms like sleeves and scars striping his face like a tiger, though faint.

"You must be Emmett." Who Emmett assumed to be Daniel by the scars tossed him a bag of Doritos. "Welcome to the carnival, exits are to your left," He gestured to the parking lot, "The ride is in front of you," He gestured to a stereotypical hippy van, "Please, keep in mind we have three rules in this park. No snitching, no backstabbing, and most importantly, no cops."

Emmett immediately liked him. "I love rides."

"Good." Fallon spoke up and jumped in the back of the van. "Then lets head to the lake!"