My Guardian Angel

Chapter 1

Sixteen years later

I woke up feeling refreshed and relaxed for the first time in days. I got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Our house has four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

This means that I have my own bathroom. I just wished it was attached to my bedroom so that I didn’t have to stroll down the hallway to get to it.

 After brushing my teeth and combing my hair I headed back to my bedroom. On the way my brother bumped into me.

 ‘Could you maybe smile in the mornings?’ he said and gave me a little push on my shoulder and a reassuring smile. I stood there staring at him trying to think of the right thing to say.

 Before I could answer him he headed downstairs looking a bit concerned. Great!

 My brother, Aaron, is two years younger than me. We don’t look anything alike. I am short and have a tiny frame and he is tall and bulky like my dad. I am the only one in the family with blue eyes though. I have long light brown hair and my brother has black hair. When his hair gets too long it starts to curl so he keeps it very short.

 I stand in front of my closet for a few minutes trying to figure out what to wear. I finally settled into denim short with a black tank top and black ankle boots. I stared into the mirror. I don’t know why I was so nervous today.

 I turned away from the mirror and headed downstairs to the kitchen. My mom was busy making us flapjacks for breakfast. When my mom saw me she smiled.

 ‘Morning sweetie, how did you sleep?’

 I can tell her that I have been having nightmares for weeks now or I could lie and pretend that everything is still the same. I hate it when I lie to my mom but I don’t want her to think that I am losing my mind. I hate that they worry so much about me.

 I have been kidnapped, killed, drowned, tortured and burned in my dreams. It is always the same people yet I don’t know who they are.

 Last night was the first time I didn’t wake up covered in sweat or crying hysterically.

 I felt safe last night, like someone was watching over me while I was sleeping. I’ve felt this way for years now. I feel a presence that is comforting.

 ‘I slept really well mom.’

 It was the truth for the first time in weeks. I have lied about this subject so much that I feel guilty every time my mom wants to talk about it.

 ‘I’m so glad sweetie. You’ve been looking very pale these past couple of days I was starting to get worried.’ She said with a small smile. I tried to give her a reassuring smile.

 I ate the flapjacks my mom made. After I was done I put it in the sink and kissed my mom on the cheek goodbye. ‘Have a good day at school you two. I don’t want any complaints.’ My mom warned playfully with her hands on her hips.

 ‘I will look after her. Don’t worry mom.’ He leaned in and kissed my mom on her cheek as well. I just laughed and headed out of the house.

 My brother was on my heels. He knows that if he is not in the car when I start the car I will leave him here. It has happened twice now. I was in a lot of trouble but it was totally worth it!

 ‘Do you have football practice or track today?’ I asked him while I was backing out of the driveway.

 ‘I have football practice thanks for asking.’

 ‘I will wait for you in the parking lot.’ Usually when he has sport after school I do homework in my car while I wait for him. I am a bookworm. I love to study and learn new things. I liked to believe that it keeps me out of trouble. My brother was a jock, I know we are complete opposites.

We go to Northwest High. It is about ten miles from where we live. It has an open plan parking lot and is a small building made out of bricks. The parking lot is in front of the school. I like that it isn’t big. It suits my character.

 I pulled into the parking lot of the school. I parked near the entrance and pulled the keys out of the ignition. When we got out I hear someone shouting our names.

 ‘Ava, Aaron! Wait for me!’ When we turned around I saw that it was my best friend Sam. We used to carpool together. When I turned sixteen my parents surprised me with a blue Toyota Prius Hybrid. So now I have the honor of driving everyone around.

 Sam is short for Samantha. She is tall, has a slim figure with legs to die for. She has long curly blond hair with the most amazing green eyes. Sometimes I am jealous of her. She has the personality and the good looks. She is a boy magnet, unlike me.

 ‘Hey Sam, How are you?’ Aaron asks.                                                                                                                     ‘I’m fine thanks. I was just waiting for Ava in the parking lot. We have a lot of catching up to do.’  she winks at me.    

‘Didn’t you talk to her last night until eleven o’ clock?’ He challenged her.     

‘Don’t you have a ball or something to go and throw? I only try to be nice to you because of my best friend is over here.’ She points at me.

 We have been friends for sixteen years now. My parents, Evan Sanders and Leila Sanders, and her parents, Ryan Lewis and Madison Lewis, have been friends since High School. They stayed in touch after getting married and settling down. Before I was born my parents decided to relocate.

So here I am living in Seattle.

‘Hey Ava, did you hear about the new History teacher that is starting today?’

 Of course I knew. They printed it in the school newspaper to let the students and parents aware of the new teacher. His photo was printed in the newspaper so that we could all recognize him and let him feel right at home. All the girls’ haven’t been able to shut up about him. He looked so familiar to me yet I couldn’t remember from where. So I answered with just a simple yes.

‘I hope he is as good looking as his picture.’

‘Sam you are not seriously considering dating the new teacher.’ I raised one eyebrow at her and gave her a disapproving look.

‘Of course I am girl. Did you see how hot he is? If he is single than I am the girl for him.’

 She was actually going after our History teacher. I don’t know if I was jealous or disgusted at that thought, maybe both if that was even possible. He is a teacher and he is a lot older than we are. What did it matter to me anyway? He is off limits.

 Before I got too carried away at the thought of the new teacher the bell rang for first period. I turned to Sam and said ‘I will see you at lunch’ and rushed off to English before she could make another comment about the new teacher.