Chapter 1: Chapter 1
2 months later...
"Mom! I'm going out! Be back before dinner!" I called out as I walked out the door, camera hanging around my neck.
"Ok, be careful!" I heard just before I could close the door.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that. Ever since we moved, Mom's been a little bit overprotective. And by a little, I mean an unhealthy amount. It took THREE WEEKS to convince her to Jax and I out of the house. We finally convinced her when we made the point that people would be suspecting if we had said we had been living here for two months, and nobody had actually SEEN us.
Anyway, I am going out to a spot I found pretty quickly once I got off house-arrest. It's one of the tallest trees on the mountain, and it also has the perk of being away from any people. I climb up into the tree and just listen. Sometimes I think about everything I'm too afraid to think of around other people, sometimes I just sit there in silence for a while. Other times, I train. I train so that I never have to be afraid again. Dad is still training us, but I need to do more. So, I go to the woods.
On days like today, I choose to take pictures. It's something I've come to start doing recently. I haven't shown anyone my pictures, not even Jax, though. I take pictures of things that wouldn't usually be noticed. If someone were to see them, they would probably think my photos are really dark. I only use a vintage, black and white camera, so sometimes my photos really do look depressing. Other times, I really am looking for the sad aspects of nature.
I took my time getting there, so it took a little longer than the usual twenty-five minute walk. It could be shorter, but I tend to stick to the less-populated parts of this small town. That way, there's a lesser chance of confrontation. Small town people normally like to say hi to people on the street, and I do NOT want to do that.
I spent some time taking pictures around my spot before climbing up for a break. Once I had decided I was on an adequately high branch, I relaxed against the trunk, legs crossed in front of me. I laid my head back and closed my eyes. Out here, I wasn't constantly trying to be someone else. Here, I could just relax.
"It's cold. Can we go home?"
And there it is. The only downside of being in power mode all the time: I couldn't block Khione out. At all.
"We can't get cold, idiot," I muttered in response, "Now let me have some peace and quiet."
"Jeez, ok"
I know that I should apologize, but it's just so hard to find some quiet, and it's too tempting. So, I just sighed.
"Are you talking to yourself?"
"Ah!" I started, nearly falling out of the tree in the process.
I only managed to stay on because I threw my hand out at the last second, grabbing onto my previous sitting branch.
I let myself fall onto the branch below, and then I looked down to see who had interrupted me. It was a boy, probably about my age, with tan skin, black hair, and deep blue eyes. If he wasn't the person who had caused me to nearly fall to my death, I would think he's kinda cute, but he isn't.
"Oh, god! Are you ok?" he asked, getting a panicked look on his face.
"Fine, so go away," I told him, giving him my best glare.
I had really developed my glare, turning into the emo loner that I now was. Unfortunately, this guy seemed unfazed by my rudeness. Great.
"Are you sure? Maybe you should come down, and I can take a look at your hands," he insisted.
I rolled my eyes, but complied. Little did he know, I wasn't planning on doing what he thought I was. I wasn't about to let a random teenage boy take care of me. I can take of myself just fine, thank you very much!
Just to freak him out, I skipped the last ten feet of climbing and just jumped down. It definitely had the intended affect. His eyes went wide for a second before recovering. He rushed over to me and grabbed my hands, surprising me too much to allow me to stop it. All there was on my hands was a couple scratches, nothing bad. They would be healed by morning because of Khione's super-ice-healing-thing.
I pulled my hands away from him and pushed him away, "Back off!"
Now that he was sure I was ok, the random guy smirked. He seemed to find my reaction amusing.
"What's your name, cranky-pants?" he asked.
"None of your business," I answered, turning and starting to walk away.
Before I could get far, I was forced to turn around again, though, "I'm Kai."
"Good for you," I said, trying to walk away again, but this time he held me still.
"Now what's your name?" he asked, "I haven't seen you around here before."
"Again, none of your business, and if you don't release me in five seconds, I guarantee you'll walk away from this with one less testicle, got it?" I asked with faux sweetness.
He just smirked again. God, that smirk. I'm finding it to annoy me so much, but at the same time it causes me to get this weird fluttering in my stomach. Not that I showed any reaction besides annoyance, though.
He didn't say anything, but I know he's just waiting for me to give in and answer him. Well, he's going to be hurting REAL soon!
"Come o-" he started, but before he could finish, I lifted my knee and jammed it where the 'sun don't shine.'
He fell over into a fetal position with his hands between his legs. I smirked and walked away without giving him a second look.
***************time skip to a week later****************
It's the first day of school now, and I am NOT in a good mood. Earlier, Jax decided to wake me up by pouring cold water over my head, and now my sheets are soaking wet! Then, I had to rush to get dressed, eat, and get out the door. I'm lucky I was smart enough to plan my outfit yesterday night. I chose to wear black tights, black leather shorts, a grey cropped t-shirt, and my black leather jacket. I wore my black combat boots, my snowflake necklace, my set of black and silver bracelets, and three simple silver rings. I quickly curled my hair and I was done. My makeup was already there because of being in power mode.
By the time I Jax and I were walking out of the house, it was already 7:50. We had ten minutes to get to school.
"Great. I'm gonna be late on the first day," I said, sighing.
"Hey! You can be all emo with everyone else, but not with me, ok? I'm your brother, and you don't need to act with me," Jax told me harshly.
"Whatever," I looked out the car window, "Just drive."
We got there with five minutes to spare after parking. That was five minutes to find our lockers, put our textbooks away, and get to our first class (this school doesn't have homerooms).
Luckily, Jax and I have different first periods, so I have a chance to establish myself without being immediately pegged as one of the Maxwell twins. Things were going to be different here, that's for sure.
My first class is History with Mrs. Cashwell. She turned out to be a generally young woman that wouldn't be too strict. At least I don't have to deal with another Mr. Barber being the first thing I see in the morning.
Instead of doing what Blair would do (rushing into class), I casually walked in and slumped down into the seat in the back. Everyone went silent as soon as I had stepped through the door, eyes following me all the way to my seat. I propped my feet up on my desk, and the noise it caused seemed to stir everyone out of whatever trance they were in before. They all cleared their throats and turned back to the front of the room.
The only one who seemed unaffected by my presence was Mrs. Cashwell. She just continued on typing on her computer at her desk, not even risking a glance up.
Soon, she took roll, and everyone seemed to be waiting to hear what my name was. It wasn't what I was planning, but it works, I guess. I was PLANNING on scaring people out of curiosity, but that didn't happen.
Maybe it's just because this town is so small. They probably don't get a lot of newcomers here.
I guess Brooklyn wasn't what they were expecting because they all seemed super disappointed. I had to hold back a snort at that. As a last second decision, I decided to tell the teacher that I go by Brooke. Other than that, nothing else exciting happened in first period. On the first day, classes are only about fifteen minutes long, so we just got our syllabus and supplies list and that was it.
I took my time getting to my next class, acting with nonchalance. Whenever someone would try and talk to me or stare, I would just glare and walk away. It's kinda fun; being a scary badass.
It was just my luck that it had to be ruined the second I started to enjoy myself a little. Standing and talking in my next class was Jax and Kai. They seemed to be getting along great. Oh, joy.
I haven't seen Kai since the woods a week ago. I made a point of staying home just in case he decided to come back to my spot. If he thought that I wasn't gonna come back, then maybe he would stop trying to find me, if he was trying to find me, that is.
Also lucky for me was the teacher's choice to assign seats! My seat was right next to Jax and Kai. Just. My. Luck. Now I have no choice by to walk up to them!
As I walked up to my desk, Jax started laughing at something Kai had said. I couldn't help but show some emotion at my brother's obnoxious laughter, so I settled for a smirk. But my smirk was gone the second Jax noticed me walking over.
"Hey, B! I saw that we were sitting next to each other. I want you to meet a friend," he beckoned me closer.
When I got there, he pulled me under his arm and "introduced" us, "B, this is Kai. Kai, this is Brooklyn, my little sister."
I shoved him away, giving him a glare and said, "TWIN sister, you jerk."
I caught a flash of recognition in Kai's eyes and then he smirked, "So the mystery is solved. Her name is Brooklyn."
"Wait. You two know each other?" Jax asked, confusion evident in his features.
"No, we don't." I insisted, trying to get to my seat, but Kai stood in my way.
"Actually, we met in the woods. She kneed me in the balls," he said.
Jax snorted and said, "Then it was definitely Brooklyn. That sounds like her."
I rolled my eyes and looked Kai straight in the eyes, despite the height difference, and said, "If you don't get out of my way, you'll lose a lot more than a testicle."
With that, I pushed around him and sat down at my desk.
This day is taking a turn for the worse. It got even worse, though, when I overheard Kai saying something to Jax on their way out: "You're sister's kinda hot. Like, a badass kinda hot. She single?"
Without needing to see it, I knew that Jax's face had steeled and he was in his 'protective brother mode', "Stay away from my sister. If she doesn't beat you up, I will."
"We'll see how things turn out," Kai said, and then he walked down the hallway.
How did I manage to get a boy interested in me before I had even started school? And my plan was the literal opposite of what happened!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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moonys_padfood68 If you haven't read Secret Powers yet, go read that now. Thank you to my amazing beta reader, JJ! Go read their stuff on Ao3 uner the name nightskywithrainbows! Comment, vote, follow, and gift! Stay safe and happy reading!
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