The Shifting Breeze (name not finalized)

Chapter 1

My dad once told me, "Life is an adventure full of wonders, you just have to look closely to find them." I'd like to believe him. I'd like to think that there's always a positive side to everything, that bad things happen for a good reason, all that mushy stuff- but sometimes life doesn't really feel that way. Don't get me wrong, I'm not like one of those guys who broods in the corner with their ripped jeans and spikes pretending their life is so "unbearable". I wear cute cardigans and bright colors, always get to class on time and greet most people with a smile. All things considered, I should be allowed to be a little discontent. Maybe even a lot discontent from time to time. Recently, however, I've been even more on edge than usual. My life has never been all that interesting, in fact it used to be quite boring- but lately things have been changing. It feels like a storm is on its way, and I don't like it one bit.

It was a few weeks ago that I started to get the feeling- a strange tingling sensation telling me that something wasn't right. It was pouring outside, hard enough that the school was worried about students walking home safely. I had walked to school without a problem that morning, so I wasn't worried about anything more than the water getting in my shoes, but some of the more pampered kids were whispering to each other about the storm, spreading rumors of buses hydroplaning and people almost being washed down gutters. I blamed the strange feeling I had on them. It always made me uneasy when large numbers of people were all whispering together, even when I knew what they were discussing was of no concern. During class I watched out the window as the rain drenched every surface and flooded the courtyard, hoping it would let up a bit by the end of the day and trying to get my mind off of the whispering; but the feeling wouldn't go away.

The next day was the same. It wasn't raining as hard (, though still enough to drench my shoes), but despite the lack of whispers the feeling still lingered. After a few days of this, I began to think it was the lack of sun making me irritable. I tried finding other sources of vitamin D, but that didn't help either; in fact, the feeling only grew. In the beginning of the second week, I realized it was the feeling I got when I was being watched. I began to get a bit paranoid, glancing around every other second to make sure I wasn't being followed. My best friend even took notice that I seemed uncomfortable, which was a rare occurrence since I tend to be subtle about my emotions and Jared is pretty damn dense.

It was on Friday of that week that I saw him for the first time. Jared had peer-pressured me into going to a party with him. I usually avoided parties whenever possible, especially ones like this, but Jared had his ways of convincing me; usually it was something like, "If you don't come I'll get slobbering drunk," which is never a good idea. I've seen Jared drunk once, it was a nightmare. Anyway, we walked into this party, and half of the school was there. It was in Daniel's house- he was the school's legendary rich playboy- so of course there was a lot of alcohol and half-naked girls. The moment we opened the door, I wanted to turn around and go home, but I had made a promise to Jared and didn't want him to end up doing something stupid in my absence.

"Relax," Jared muttered to me, "You look as stiff as Daniel's dick on a Saturday." I made a face at the rather disgusting image Jared had lodged into my head.

"What, have you seen it?" I teased. He let out a short, loud laugh.

"Hell no, I'd sooner date my own mother than sleep with a dude. Especially a sleaze-bag like Daniel- but don't tell him I called him that." We passed a group of girls who looked like hookers, and I moved a little closer to Jared. "You really need to loosen up a bit. Maybe you should go back there and say hello to those girls, I think one of them was looking at you." He gave me a mischievous look, and I replied with a glare.