People say that high school is the best time of their lives, but from what I've experienced so far, that's a big stinky load of crap.

It took every bone in my exhausted body to hide my disgust as Aunt Debbie and her delightful daughter, Missy, eagerly discussed colleges over breakfast. Nothing about college sounded fun.

I mean, yeah, Missy and I were both seniors, but college was the last thing on my mind. If I could only figure out a way to disappear after graduation, my life would be happily complete.

High school was nothing but four stupid years of hell. I wanted to believe that these years meant diddly squat when it came to my future, but I knew that wasn't exactly true.

High school is a necessary right of passage containing the formative years of a child's development, or at least that's what my infamous mother would say.

And crap, why was I thinking about her? I hated her.

She was the reason I was here in the first place. For the next ten months, my beloved mother was on her stupid Spread the Love tour. My mother, otherwise known as Dr. Martina Pearl, was a world-renowned psychiatrist. She taught people how to deal with relationship issues or some crap like that.

The funniest part was that my mom couldn't keep a man to save her life. And don't even get me started on our so-called relationship.

"Ember, are you even listening to me?" Missy's annoying morning voice ripped apart my scattered web of thoughts.

Slowly, my gaze moved away from the dependable comfort of the endless yellow line and landed on her iced coffee brown eyes.

Missy was glaring at me from behind the steering wheel of her Volkswagen Jetta. Missy's irritation said it all. She thought I was intentionally trying to ignore her.

Well, I kind of was, but I was frigging tired, okay? I barely got any sleep the night before. Not only was today my first day at a brand new school, but the dreams were getting worse.

"Earth to Ember!" Missy's voice hit a new horrible octave. Did I mention that I don't really get along with my cousin? She's the cheerleading captain and utterly full of herself.

"What?" I snapped.

"Well, you're in a shitty mood." One of her perfectly sculpted brows lifted, reprimanding me.

"I told you I didn't sleep well last night, so stop yelling at me. Sorry that I'm not all full of energy like you." I glanced back out the window.

"Whatevs. I just wanted to know if you need me to show you where your classes are?" Rubber squealed below us as Missy turned into the school parking lot. Did I mention she's an awful driver?

Grabbing onto the 'oh shit' handle, I held on for dear life. "I don't need help. I know how to count, Missy."

"Thank God." Missy whipped us in between two trucks and shut off the engine. "I don't know if you're aware, but I have a lot going on this year, so I'd rather not hold your hand. Do you need a ride home later?"

Oh, my God. I was going to kill my cousin and her snotty tone. "No. I can find a ride."

"Really?" To my surprise, Missy sounded confused as she opened the door.

Careful not to hit the shiny black truck next to me, I slid out of the car, easing my backpack over my shoulders.

Missy locked her car and started digging through her purse. She fished out a small compact and applied yet another heaping layer of lip gloss before fixing her already perfect blond ponytail with pink tips.

Missy stared into her mirror as she spoke. "Well, if you can't find a ride, I'll be done with cheer around six."

Even though I hated the thought of needing Missy to drive me home, my shoulders eased. "Thanks. I'll get a car soon, and I'll try to find a ride. Sorry if I'm making things harder for you."

Missy waved me off as she started toward the school. "It's not like I have a choice. Mom said I have to help, but you need to get a car soon. You can't be tagging along with me everywhere I go."

Tagging along? What the hell? I slowed my pace as I glared a hole in the back of her head, hoping she would feel the burn.

Missy suddenly hit the back of her head where I was glaring. "Ow! I think something bit me. Is there a bug on me? Get it off!"

Confused, I stopped glaring and looked for the bug. "I don't see anything."

Missy readjusted her ponytail as she searched the spot on her scalp. "Are you sure? It burns."

"Maybe you have lice?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Ew. Keep your voice down. I do not have lice." Missy said angrily as she fixed her hair and walked faster.

"Sorry. I was just trying to help." I whispered as I hurried to keep up with her.

As we made our way toward the front doors, a bunch of students watched me curiously.

"The school opens in a few minutes." Missy glanced back and scowled. "Stop following me. I have people waiting. We may be family, but we aren't friends. I'll see you later."

I opened my mouth to speak, but I knew if began talking, I would probably rip her stupid ponytail to shreds. Instead, I let out a long breath, crossed my arms, and walked to an empty section of the brick wall.

The intruding stares of curious students were frigging annoying. Didn't they have anything better to do?

Leaning against the wall, I tugged on my long sleeves and pulled out my phone to check my messages. Moving from Orlando to a small town in the chilly Colorado mountains in the middle of September was a shock to my body. I should've thought to at least put on a light jacket.

On my phone, there were several messages from my boyfriend, Josh, but still no messages from my bestfriend, Katie. I smiled as I looked over the pictures Josh sent this morning. I laughed at the photo of him making pouty faces in front of my locker.

God, I missed him. I would do anything to go back home where everything was normal, but with my mom being a topnotch selfish bitch, I knew that would never happen.

Josh and I decided to stay together even though we had no idea when we would see each other again, but we would both be eighteen soon, so we planned to see each other during Christmas break.

So far, we'd kept up with our phone calls and messages since I left Orlando, and we were still going strong, which was a relief. I didn't want to be one of those couples that lost touch over a long distance, but we weren't stupid enough to believe it would be easy. Josh promised he would do his best and I promised to do the same.

Suddenly, every voice around me hushed, causing me to glance up in search of the reason. I noticed everyone watching something in the parking lot. No, it was someone. Actually, three someones.

Three guys were walking toward the school. They were all wearing black hoodies. I couldn't see their faces since they all had their hoods raised and pulled down over their eyes.

They had identical symbols on the front of their hoodies. The emblem looked like a yin-yang, but it was weird and not at all normal. On one side, a black wolf was trying to eat the white sun, and on the opposite side, a white wolf was trying to eat a black moon.

Glancing around at the hushed students, everyone's stares were still on the guys, and it was fucking strange. I was brand new, and no one stopped talking when I walked up. I mean, yeah, they'd openly stared when they didn't recognize me, but this was different.

Lust-filled female gazes slid over the guys like they would get it on with any of them right here and now. The male students shifted back and forth as they waited for the trio to approach like they were prepared to do anything the hooded guys asked.

That's when I realized what this moment of silence represented. People were showing them some kind of respect.

Well, I didn't know these guys, and I didn't bow down to whatever ridiculous definition of high school royalty they were, so I just went back to scrolling through my Instagram.

Going through Josh's posts, I stopped on the multitude of photos he'd posted over the summer when we went to the beach. That vacation had been the best time of my life. We looked so happy, but that was before my witch of a mother uprooted me.

I missed Josh horribly. After being together for two years, it was nearly impossible to leave him. I took a few selfies to display my misery and posted them before putting my phone in my pocket.

I'm not sure when normality came back, but the crowd outside the school was much larger, and people were chatting up a storm again.

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