West Heights

A New Day

Copyright: This story, "West Heights", including all chapters, prologues and epilogues as well as any associated content is copyrighted. All rights are reserved by the owner and creator of this work (Cella) and any unauthorized copying, broadcasting, manipulation, distribution or sale of this work constitutes as an infringement of copyright and is punishable by the law.

Also: This is a work of total fiction. Any names, characters, places, incidents or dialogues are all the product of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any characters is completely coincidental.

 ✧✦✧✦✧  

Eleonore,

Monday came and I fought the urge to call in sick and stay at home. I already pretended I was sick twice last week so having my aunt call in again would be suspicious. I lazily got out of the comforts of my soft and fluffy bed and dragged myself into the bathroom.

I took a quick shower, squealing as the cold water poured down on my body. Shocking sleep out of me.

It is a bit cold around here on West Heights. It rains about approximately 185 days a year. Making it one of the least dry place here in America.

I tried to ignore the cold as I washed my body using my vanilla scented body wash. I squeezed out some strawberry scented shampoo and gently massaged my head. Humming a random tune. It was a little strange that I always found myself humming to this tune instinctively but fail to do so whenever I try to remember it.

I shook the thought out of my head and rinsed the bubbles out of my body. My mood slowly improving. I quickly changed into a fresh set of underwear never forgetting to wear my sports bra just in case something fun comes up in the field. I wore a maroon tank top over it and slid on a pair of skinny jeans. I threw on some socks before slipping on my black platform boots. I grabbed my black leather jacket and headed downstairs.

There I found Isabel with her lists of I-don't-know-what spread across the entire dinning table.

"Morning." I muttered before making my way to the cupboards to prepare myself a mug of hot chocolate. "Want some coffee?" I asked.

"Good morning. And no thank you, I've had enough caffeine for today." I am guessing she woke up early today. Isabel owns a flower shop and judging by the papers in the table it seems like she have a lot of orders.

I held my mug of hot choco with both hands and sat on the counter. I blew the steam out of my mug letting the warmth rise up to my nose.

"Do you need a hand with those?" I finally say seeing as Isabel looked stressed than she already was. Finally, for the first time since I went down she looked up and smiled.

"No thank you." She said before looking back to the paper. As if on cue Michael appeared.

"Woah what's up." He said in surprise as he took in the mess in the table.

"Got loads of order piled up that's what's up. And good morning." Isabel said. I watched as she reached for her phone and started swiping.

"Morning sis." Michael greeted.

"Want some choco?" I asked although I know that he didn't like sweets that much. He shook his head and went for the fridge then poured himself some milk.

"Your hair is still wet, you're gonna catch a cold going out like that."

"I'll dry it up later." I replied before taking a sip. The warmth that traveled down my throat is so satisfying. I ignored the two as I happily drink my hot choco. I even ignored Michael when he chuckled and said I am like a child. Well you can't blame anyone for loving hot choco.

After finishing my cup I went upstairs and dried my hair quickly before grabbing my backpack. I found Michael in the living room ready to go.

"Isabel we're off." I yelled. I heard her muffled voice saying 'take care' before Michael and I took off.

As we walk, I couldn't help but notice just how tall Michael is getting. He's on grow spurt despite being sixteen he already towers me at 5'11" while I remain on my 5'7" frame.

"How's the team?" I asked staring ahead.

"It's cool. Mason is doing very good you know." He teased. Mason and I have been dating for a couple of months now but I haven't been able to spend some time with him nowadays given how busy they were for their upcoming games.

"Oh shut up." I countered pretending not to care.

"He's been asking about you."

"Really?" I asked hopefully but all my hopes came down the drain when he snorted. I punched him on the arm.

"Ow." He winced. "Sometimes I really wonder if you're really a girl." I playfully glared at him.

"Seriously, why don't you just go to him already if you miss him this much." I shook my head and continued to stare ahead.

"You know I'm the one who always does that. I want him to do the same for me." I said softly. I admit it. Mason and I haven't been in very good terms these past few weeks. As I've said, he's been busy with practices. We barely see each other and he almost never had time to text me.

"You are all making this relationship thing so problematic." He said, sighing exasperatedly. I ruffled his hair and laughed.

"You'll understand once you get a girlfriend." He huffed before starting to talk about his annoying seatmate who keeps farting. I was laughing my ass off by the time we reach the school. It is not that far away from our house. About twenty minutes walk or so.

I gave Michael a hug when he said he had to run off somewhere else. Just in time Joey ran up to me and hooked her arms on mine.

"I have news for you!" I look down at the pretty caramel skinned girl beside me.

"What?" I asked, raising a brow at her. He seems awfully cheerful for some reason and I'm guessing it has something to do with her news.

"The Demians moved back from Iceland!" She squealed and I looked at her confused. I let her pull me towards wherever we were going.

"Demians?"

"You know? Dr. Demian? His children? Hello? Earth to Eleonore."

"Oh!" I said in realization. It was them, the family who lives in that beautiful mansion down south. I've heard of them when I was little but I stopped hearing about them at some point.

I looked around and saw that we've reached the cafeteria. The other students are gathered around having breakfast of their own. I went to the counter and grabbed an apple just to calm my stomach so I wouldn't be that hungry by lunch.

Joey grabbed a sandwich and a juice pouch for herself. We sat by our usual seat and continued gushing on about the Demians as if they were the most interesting thing in this world.

"I hope at least one of them gets to be in our class. And I hope he sits beside me!" She said excitedly making me laugh then it dawned me.

"I sit beside you, where am I suppose to sit then?" She stopped for a second then smiled.

"You can sit at the back with Skater Jay." I scrunched up my nose at the mention of the name. Jay Atkins. He was one of the coolest guys in the campus before he got involve with drugs. Well, he's not really that bad. His parents got divorced and I guess the stress was just too much for him. In fact I feel bad for the boy.

"You would throw me at the back just so a 'hot' transfer student can sit with you?" I asked making air quotations with the word hot.

"Yes." We both paused before we burst into fits of laughter. I took a few bites off of my apple and listen to my friend's continues rambling about the rumored siblings. He went on about their names, their looks and their stay on Iceland. I don't know how she knows all of this information but I listened anyways.

When the bell rang, Joey and I went to class. It was history and I knew for a fact that Joey hates history. She flicked her curly black hair behind her back and dug onto her bag before taking a seat. I took my usual seat and checked my phone.

Much to my dismay, there is no sign of Mason. Maybe I should really just go to him? I shook the thought away and straightened myself. Right on cue, the bell rang and Mr. Beckerts walked in looking posh in his black button-down shirt.

"Good morning class." To my surprise, a boy around my aged walked in. He was wearing a blue collared shirt underneath a brown leather jacket along with a pair of black jeans. Whispers rose from my classmates which Mr. Beckerts didn't bother to notice. "We have a new student joining us today." With that the whispers started to melt into loud murmurs.

Joey painfully grabbed my arm and started shaking me.

"It's him!" I tried my best not to rudely rip her hands off my now aching arm. I turn my attention back to the new student. There was no denying how handsome he is. With his styled golden brown hair which looks incredibly soft if I may add, his dark eyes hooded by his thick and long eye lashes, his chiseled nose and well defined jaw and cheek bone. His face was void of emotion but that doesn't lessen the fact the he looks like a model fresh from a fashion magazine. This might sound exaggerated but he low-key looks unreal.

I turned to Joey and started nodding approvingly. This Demian dude is not so bad. Well, he looks hot.

"This is Vaughn Demian. Some of you might be familiar with his father Dr. Demian who visits us every year to do a medical mission." The class was shaken. I know what they all are thinking. It was probably in between how strongly he took up with his father's look or that he is filthy rich. My assumptions were clarified when I heard the whispers.

"Now, now. Settle down and leave the poor guy alone alright?"

"Yes sir." I muttered along with the few ones who were not busy gossiping to each other. The chatter didn't die down even when Joey started to shove me out of my seat.

"Go sit anywhere you like. I know your classmates will be very eager to share a seat with you." Mr. Beckerts called out. Joey and I are laughing as she tries so hard to push me off. I stuck my tongue out at her and moved away from her reach.

"Excuse me." A deep voice stopped our playful demeanor. Joey and I both looked up and saw the Demian guy standing in front of her seat. Joey shot up from her chair hitting her knee under the desk in the process. We all laughed as she started wincing in pain but her wincing melted into a dreamy sigh as she stare upon Demian's handsome face. I choke out a laugh making her glare at me. I raise my hands up in surrender as I try to calm myself down.

We all looked at them curiously before it dawned on us.

"Would you mind?" Demian said with a smile. Joey scrambled out of her seat, clumsily dragging her things with her.

"Sure." She dusted off the nonexistent dirt from the chair and went to the back not taking her eyes off of him like a love sick puppy.

"I'm sorry, I really like to sit beside the window." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly before putting his bag on the desk. "Thanks-" He said, looking at Joey expectantly.

"Joey." She says in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Thanks Joey." There Joey sat, beside Jay Atkin's seat but the boy was nowhere to be found.

Class started and I would occasionally find myself stealing curious glances at the boy beside me. He didn't even bother to take out a pen and his notebook when Mr. Beckerts asked us to take down notes. But when Mr. Beckerts surprised us with a quiz, he surprisingly got a perfect score.

The class ended and Joey was quick to come pester me about what he's like up close. I lied and told her I didn't even looked at him throughout the entire period.

We didn't see him until lunch came. I bought some pasta refusing to take the usual lunch meal. The lunch lady was kind enough to pick a good bread for me before wiping some butter on it. I said my thanks before going back to our usual table which is now packed with the rest of the gang.

Isaac Hayes stood closely beside my best friend Joey Gregory. His short blonde hair looks almost funny as it grow two months away from his old buzz cut hair. He was our group's clown. Throwing jokes and pranks whenever he gets the chance.

Georgia Flynn was flailing her camera around as Eric Lockey tries to reach it. Eric was a few inches shorter than Georgia who was the same height as me. We're pretty tall for a girl but most guys in our area grows as tall as six foot or so. Both of them are part of the student paper and I'm guessing they arguing about a contradicting topic as they always do.

"What's up fam." I greeted as I playfully shove Zac out of the way.

"Miss you too Elea." Zac sarcastically said before moving back to his seat while fixing his varsity jacket. He tossed me a strawberry from his tray which I expertly caught. He knew how much I love strawberry.

"Nice catch." His boyish grin made me look at Joey who was busy with her phone.

I ate the strawberry and peaked through her phone. I saw her scrolling through her f*******: page before switching to snapchat. I sighed and placed my tray on the table.

"Eric stop!" Georgia yelled, pushing Eric's face away from her with her hand. I couldn't help but laugh. The brunette was so annoyed that her glasses almost fell off of her face.

"Oh my god." Everyone stopped what they're doing to look at the horrified face of Joey.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"There was a hiking accident. Five are dead." I took her phone and read the report out loud. A grim look washed over our faces. No one spoke for a moment until Zac spoke.

"That's a third for this year." It was as if he was thinking out loud. Georgia was shaking in fear. Her cousins were killed in an accident similar to what I have just read about two years ago.

"Don't worry Georgie I'll protect you." Eric said, pulling her close to him. It's almost comical seeing their height difference. Zac snorted.

"As if. I'm betting twenty bucks Georgie will be the one who'll do the protecting." Zac successfully lifted the veil of fear as our table burst out in laughter. I smiled but the strange feeling didn't leave me. All of a sudden, our group is back to normal. Zac started throwing his corny punchlines and the rest responded with a hearty laugh. I on the other hand remain silent. I would smile and nod occasionally just to show I am alright but clearly, I am not.