Temptations

Prologue

Prologue

Fate is something that is always attached to you, but you can never see it and you can never feel it. It holds the power to change your life entirely. It is a story that is written in the palm of your hand in a language you cannot read or understand. That's what fate is.

The thing is, though, that ever since I laid my eyes on him for the first time, I'd known that he held the key to my future. It wasn't a dramatic first meeting. It was just, well, I can't explain it. I just knew that he was important. I felt something between us that I later learned to ignore.

I moved to the town of Fallon when I was thirteen years old. I'd been moving around constantly ever since I was young. My mom held a high position in a company and we found ourselves travelling frequently. When I'd arrived to the small, almost nonexistent town of Fallon, I'd been surprised because it was unlike any other place we'd been to.

I had a hard time adjusting to the place. It was a small town and all the other kids had practically grown up with each other. In their eyes, I was an outsider and I'd always felt like one. I turned fourteen just a few months after I'd arrived here and I spent my freshman year lonely.

I met Valerie Thompson a few months before my school ended. We were paired together in an art class and we instantly connected and I was glad I'd finally found a friend. I'd always had a hard time finding friends. When I was younger, I'd done some pretty wild things trying to fit in, many that I regret. When I came to Fallon, I wanted to put all that behind me and start afresh.

I met Ian Cavanaugh on my first day of sophomore year. Well, met is a very loose term, considering that I'd never spoke a single syllable to the guy.

I'd been in the cafeteria with Valerie as we went over the events of the past summer, events that I don't remember at the moment. We were chatting away happily when the doors to the cafeteria opened. I didn't look up until a familiar silence took over the entire room. It was familiar because it was the same welcome I'd received when I'd arrived here for the first time.

I looked up and he was right there.

He was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt. That was a surprising outfit on its own because summer had ended and it had started to get a little chilly in the area. He wasn't even wearing a jacket. That was what I noticed first.

Valerie had noticed my attention had shifted from her words and she also turned to see what everyone was looking at.

Ian had looked like a god in that room filled with kids who looked like they'd never seen anyone like him before. Unlike me, he didn't seem fazed by the attention. He behaved like he was used to it, like he got this sort of attention wherever he went.

He marched into the cafeteria, a tray in his hands and then walked right through the room to the door on the other side of the room. He opened the door partially, stepping only partially out before he halted. One hand gripping the handle, he quickly turned around, his eyes scanning the room before coming in my direction.

When his beautiful hazel eyes connected with mine, something changed inside of me. Something inside of me connected. A gasp left my lips and I felt something electric surge through me. I felt hypnotized by his gaze and I had no idea why.

His lips partly parted and he seemed to take a step inside, in my direction. Then, something inside of his eyes changed and he quickly pushed the remainder of the door open and escaped the room. I stayed frozen in my spot, trying to determine what it was I had just experienced.

After that encounter, I almost never saw him again. We never had a class together, which was a miracle in a school as small as this one. I occasionally saw him wandering the halls. He soon became old news because it seemed that he wasn't interesting in talking to anyone.

He was a mystery. Ian was very attractive. He had beautiful hazel eyes and dark hair. He was tall with a lean figure, but he was also very strong, which we discovered through rumors. He was also very tall, and he made me feel like a midget.

He became old news for everyone including me, but there was a part of me that seemed to always know that he could never become old news. One day, something would change.

I just didn't know how soon that day would come.