~Chapter 1: The Guardian~
There he was again. The boy ran past speeding cars easily as if he were walking. I stared at him as he passed our car, and I could have sworn that he'd flashed a smile at me. My brother glanced over just when I had shot my hand up to wave at him, mesmerized.
"Close your mouth, Meg," said my brother Marc.
"Huh," I answered, dazed. I quickly closed my lips.
"We're here, get your stuff," he said, assertive as ever.
"Okay," I shouldered my bag and placed my hand on the armrest of the passenger seat and looked through the corner of my eye at Marc, where he was smoothly maneuvering the car into a snow filled parking space with the steering wheel. The second he pressed the brake and unlocked the car, I opened the door and was about to run out when Marc's hand was on my shoulder.
"Megan," he started," Don't get into trouble on your first day of high school, got it?"
"Marc," I mimicked," Stop treating me like a child." I placed my hand on his and promised him with a sincere smile and a look into his deep brown eyes. I always wondered why he thought he had to treat me like a kid. That was supposed to be a dad's job. Well, that's what I thought, even though my dad never came home from work one day from his job seven years ago. Well, we actually never knew what his job was in the first place.
I sighed and jumped out of the car just as my blue-eyed dark brunette friend, Rachel, wrapped her thin arms around me and whispered, "Seems like your brother is as hot as ever, Meg."
I took her at arm's length. I didn't get why people liked Marc so much. He was just a senior. I glanced his way and found him holding my gym bag. He had his quarterback gear on his back, along with his bag, and his guitar case in hand. Okay, so maybe he was sort of perfect.
Claire, my other best friend, was quietly giving the evil eye to Tina, the freshman diva and drama queen. Claire's blonde hair was pulled back into a low and loose ponytail with her newly cut bangs hanging over her sparkling emerald green eyes.
"Be nice, Meg, Be nice," Marc whispered as he gave my shoulder a final squeeze and walked to the front door in easy strides, Rachel's eyes following every step. Then, Tina shows up, already ruining my day with her bright red smirk. "Who's the hottie? And why in the world would he talk to you!?" she asked, eyeing my up and down, smacking her gum loudly.
"Well, the 'Hottie' just happens to be my brother, and trust me you are sooooooo out of his league," I replied in the nastiest voice I could manage.
"Uhuh, Yeah. What's his name?" she asked, completely ignoring my response.
"David," I lied while twirling my brown curls and watching her hazel eyes scan my dark brown ones for any clue.
"David huh..." she trailed off. I could already imagine her brain trying to find a way of getting her hands on him. Finally she strolled off towards her own posse.
I turned to my friends and found Claire's, supposedly, 24/7 poker face and Rachel's eyes say Why'd you let her go after him?
"You know I would love to see Tina rejected by Marc," Claire said, her voice as daring and challenging as ever.
"Um, Meg is he really single?" Rachel asked, hopefully.
I looked at her coolly, "You know, you would be the first to know if he was single, Rachel. And right now, he just happened to start dating the valedictorian."
Rachel kicked at the freshly cut grass with her boots in frustration. I hugged myself, bringing my coat tighter around myself. While Claire stood as if the fall weather was nothing but a small breeze.
And just when I had forgotten about him. He came walking back into my life.
And he just bumped into Rachel.
Rachel fell to one knee while an arm was clinging around her waist, supporting her. I followed the arm and found it belonged to Runnerboy. "Sorry," he muttered in a deep voice, that had a hint of a British accent.
"Oh no, I'm sorry! I'm Rachel, by the way," Rachel beamed. You could tell she loved the feeling of having his full attention.
"I'm Ryan. Are you sure you're okay?" The boy asked as he scanned her for injuries."So. Ryan. I haven't seen you around. Where did you move from? And by chance, do you have a girlfriend?" Rachel asked, waving away her health and focusing on hooking up.
I sighed. Ryan glanced my way, his hazel eyes flashing with humor.
"I'm from Germany, but I moved to the U.S. when I was 3. I was homeschooled. Until now that is. And no, I don't think I have a girlfriend," displaying a smile that can take your breath away.
"Then why do you run to school?" I found myself blurting.
"What? My sister just dropped my off. My mum's in the UK, but my sis is married and she has a job."
I noticed that he had slipped on a brown overcoat and had a green backpack that resembled a pickle slung over his shoulder. I looked at his face. He had a head full of tousled brown hair and muddy green eyes. Wait, I thought his eyes were just hazel. Weren't they? Or was that an illusion? He took a look at my gaping mouth and drew a confused right eyebrow. I saw that Rachel and Claire had started walking towards the front door, leaving me and Ryan with our little stare-off contest. I asked, "So, are you a freshman?"
"Yeah. You?" he asked.
"Yeah. How old is your sister?"
"Twenty- three. Do you have any siblings?"
"Yeah. An overpowering senior brother and a whining little brother that's in pre-school."
"Well, well. Seems like someone isn't a family person, "he said with a smile, "How about your parents? What do they do?"
I looked down and pretended that his shoes were the most interesting thing in the world. "My mom's a doctor," I muttered.
"And your dad?" he asked after what seemed like hours.I didn't reply.
I looked at my shoulder and started playing with the zipper of my bag. He shifted his weight, impatiently.
I saw them open the doors to the school and found it a welcoming chance to race to the my first-period class-art.I zoomed past Ryan, heading towards my locker and rushed into classroom 225 with a binder and pencil pouch. I sat in the right back corner and slouched into my seat, waiting for anybody who dared to join me. Apparently, I hadn't picked a very good spot because as if appearing out of nowhere, sat Ryan.
He turned in his seat and gave me the oddest look and now I knew that it wasn't an illusion. His eyes were now gray! He was seriously scaring me, even if he had several pairs of contact lenses. I really hope he wasn't an Edward Cullen from Twilight. The last thing I wanted was to fall in love with a vampire.
"Hey, what happened out there?" he asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"I like getting to class early, especially the first day," I responded fully alert of the concern in his voice.
"How come you like getting here before the teacher does?" he asked, glancing around the room.
"I would say the same to you," I responded busying myself with drawing a flower on my binder.
"Mrs. Ronald, may I have a word with you?" someone asked from the hallway. I was surprised someone would come this early to talk to the teacher.
Ryan stared at me, while I looked up at the door. In walked in none other that my brother, Marc. He stared at me, while I could see that Ryan had turned his head to face Marc now.
"Hey Meg, where's the teacher?" he glanced at Ryan, "And who's the kid?"
I closed my eyes and shrugged. When I finally opened them I found Marc pushing Tina off, as she tried to hold on to his biceps.
"Hey!" Tina screamed, reject filling her face.
"Who in the world are you?" Marc yelled at her.
"Oh, David!" Tina sighed.
"Who's David?" he asked, catching me covering my mouth as a smile had grown on my face. Marc gave me one more confused look and ran out, in search of Mrs. Ronald as Tina followed close behind.
"What did you say about your dad?" Ryan repeated again, unexpectedly. I could tell he wasn't gonna let the subject drop. Why did he care anyway? He just met me not even ten minutes ago.
I started spinning my pencil trying to ignore him, but Ryan grabbed it and shot forward. "Your dad," he said, irritated.
"I don't know," I shrugged, fighting the tears that came to my eyes as an image of my dad came into my mind.
"Have you asked your mom?" he said easing back with an unreadable expression on his face. I nodded in response.
"Well, what if I told you I have an answer to your question."