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Heaven
Author's note:
This is one of the first books I wrote!
I awake in my room, the glass door leading to the balcony wide open, just as I had left it the night before. I look around the room, the pink wallpaper glowing with the gold flowers I helped my mother paint reassures me that yesterday wasn't a dream. Unfortunately, that was the only thing we accomplished yesterday. I sit up, lifting my head off the pillow I had laid on the floor to act as my temporary bed last night.
Today is the day I have dreaded for months. It is the first day that I will be attending Eden High. The first day is always the worst, especially when you’re new to a small town. Everyone around you has known each other for years while you struggle to learn the names of your new class mates.
I never wanted to come to Eden anyway. I was perfectly fine in New Jersey. Even though I wasn't born there, it is still home. I have kept up my grades just as I was asked and still, I am being punished. I never wanted to move. I know I’m going to hate it here and yet, my mother still forced me to come.
I get up and walk out onto the balcony that is attached to my new bedroom. I have to admit, the view is breathtaking. I look out upon the ocean, the waves softly crashing onto the shore while the seagulls sit calmly floating on the water. Around the beach is a bunch of green, the palm trees swaying in the wind as though they’re dancing to the lovely lullaby the ocean sings. Birds fly by the window and one lands on the cream-colored stone rail of the balcony. The bird is pure white. It’s so white that it practically blinds me. The bird looks at me with beautiful, brown eyes.
“Hi there!” I smile at the bird warmly. The bird replies back with a whistle. In that moment, I can tell the bird is a boy. Gently, I scoop the bird up in my hands and nuzzle his head with my nose. Surprisingly, he doesn't make any move to escape. Eventually, I set the bird down and start to walk away.
When I turn to shut the balcony door, the bird is inside my room. I smile.
“Do you want to stay here little guy?” I ask not expecting an answer. The bird nods. I shake my head, certain that I had imagined it but scoop the bird up and place him on my bed anyway.
“What should I name you?” I ask. In a few seconds, I thought of the perfect name. “How about Daniel?” The bird seems to like the name so I decide to stick with it. I run to the door that leads to my bathroom.
“I’ll be right back.” I say to Daniel as I walk through the door. I take a shower using my rose-scented shampoo and matching body wash, then I brush my hair. My hair takes a while to brush because it’s so long. I brush it until there are no longer any knots in it. I let it fall in soft black waves that reach my waist.
I return to my room, only to find that Daniel is gone. Panic rises up inside of me like an inferno. Calm down, he probably just went downstairs and if not then he probably just left. Birds aren't supposed to be domestic anyway.
I dry of and slip on a school uniform. I sigh. It’s pink. I hate pink. Also, it’s a dress. I hardly ever wear dresses and I simply despise them. It’s a strapless dress that falls just below my knees. The end of the dress has soft ruffles that makes it look quite elegant. There’s a pink satin ribbon in the back that I tie in a bow. What’s worse, not only is the ribbon made of satin, but the whole dress is to. I feel like I’m going to prom instead of high school.
On my way to the bedroom door, I pass a mirror. I almost ran right back into the bathroom to throw up. I know that I’m a girl, but today I look like one. I’m used to wearing tee shirts and ripped jeans. This is suicide. I pull my hair into a low ponytail and head down stairs.
Downstairs, the kitchen is empty, as usual. Even in my old house, it was always empty in the morning. Mom never wakes up in time to see me off to school. I can’t say I blame her. She’s a nurse who works long hours and gets little money out of it. She only gets paid five dollars an hour. My mother gets less money than someone who works at a fast food restaurant. She also has to take care of a seventeen-year-old.
The kitchen is my favorite part (other than my room of course) of the house. The counters are made of black wood and are topped with white marble. We have a two door fridge with an automatic button that will make you lemonade and a beautiful island that looks exactly like the counters only it’s placed in the middle of the kitchen.
I start to make some apple pancakes when I hear a sound coming from behind the island. There’s a strange gurgling noise and what follows is something that sounds like someone’s choking.
“Mom?” I call out in fear. “Is that you?” but the only answer I receive is silence.
“Mom?” I call out again. Something jumps out from the island and hits me with something tiny and hard. It doesn't exactly hurt, but I’m still scared. I observe what hit me. I was hit with…with seeds?
A huge crash brings me back to the present. I grab an iron pan and jump around the corner of the island. The thing behind the counter is… Daniel. I heave a great sigh of relief. Daniel had only been trying to get some breakfast. We have bird seeds to fill the bird feeder outside of our new house. It’s a stone, bowl-shaped fountain with an angel carved in its center.
I get a small bowl down from a cabinet and fill it with bird seeds. Then, I pick Daniel up and bring him up to my room. I set the food down on the ground for him to eat.
I go to the bathroom and fill another small bowl with water and place it by the food. Suddenly, I smell something burning. I ponder what it could be until it dawns on me. The pancakes!
I run downstairs in time to see black smoke filling the air. Great the second day in a new house and I already burned the kitchen down. I run down a long hallway to my mother’s room. I start to cough. The fire is spreading quickly.
“Mom! Mom! Wake up!” I shout at her, but she still keeps on snoring.
“Mom!” I yell as I push her off her bed.
“I’m up.” my mom says groggily.
“Mom, there’s a fire in the kitchen! We have to get out, now!” I have to scream over the roaring fire.
“Oh God Raven! We've been here for thirty six hours and you’re already burning the house down!”
“Which is why we need to get out of here!” I yell sarcastically.
“Oh. Right.” She says like she forgot that the house is on fire and our lives are in danger. As soon as we reach the back door, I remember that Daniel is still in my room.
“I have to do something. Wait here. I’ll be back in a sec.”
“Raven-” my mother starts but I close the back door and run upstairs. The fire has already spread upstairs to my room. I open the door to my bedroom. Daniel is standing by the balcony door looking as though nothing’s wrong. I scoop Daniel up and let him out of my room.
“Goodbye.” I say quickly as I shut the door. I start to cough wildly. I run to the door and touch the handle to open it. It’s scalding hot.
“Ouch!” I scream. I look at my hand, hot tears welling up in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks. My hand is burned so badly that the flesh on it is peeling and the fresh, pink skin is boiling.
I slam myself against the door repeatedly but it won’t budge. I try one last time and throw myself at the door. All I get out of that effort is a huge bruise and a fresh cut starting from my shoulder down to my elbow. Still coughing, I examine the wound. Blood is gushing out from it. It spills onto my clothes and the carpet. I look away from the wound and try to focus on breathing.
I start to feel dizzy. I’m still coughing and have no way to escape. If I jump off the balcony, I will die and even if I do survive, the blood coming out of my wound is way too much to survive.
The world starts to spin and I fall to the floor. A splitting pain fills my head and I touch the spot where the pain is coming from. I draw my hand away from my head and see blood.
THE WORLD GOES BLACK.
“Raven? Raven, if you can hear me, please open your eyes…Raven?” A voice was calling out to me in the darkness. The voice was beautiful and melodic. Slowly, I opened my eyes.
A boy was standing before me. A relieved smile spread across his face. He had floppy, light blond hair with bangs that fell into his amazing eyes. They were a warm, chocolate brown. His eyes were so breathtakingly warm, and they were only focused on one thing…me.
I could feel a smile start to form on my lips. It was a small one, but still it was the first time I had smiled for months and this boy was the cause of it.
I realized that the boy was carrying me as if I only weighed a pound. I tried to wriggle out of his arms but he only gripped me tighter. I started to panic.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you” he said nodding at the ground. I looked over my shoulder to look at the ground, except… there was none. The boy was flying.
I died. That was the only excuse for it. I had died and gone to heaven. This was too wonderful to be hell. I started to sit up and pain shot through my body like a jet. I groaned. Nope. Definitely hell.
Why would God send me to Hell?
“Am I dead?” I asked the boy. He laughed.
“Hardly.” I noticed something white behind his back and reached out to touch it. It was soft. They were wings. I smiled. He must be an angel.
“What is your name?” I asked. He smiled at me.
“All in good time.” My vision blurred and a bright light filled my head.
“Raven? Raven baby, are you alright?”
“Mom?” I looked at my mom and searched around the room for the boy. He was gone.
“Where’s the angel?” I asked, suddenly confused.
“The what?!” my mom said laughing, “Honey, you must have dreamed about it. There was no angel.”
“Mom. Where are we? What happened?”
“Honey. Were in the hospital. You were trapped in the house. You inhaled a lot of smoke and lost a ton of blood. The doctor said it was a miracle you survived.” I died? Or at least, I almost did. The events of the day hit me in a rush. The fire. The house!
“What about the house? What happened to it?”
“Oh honey. The house is fine! Nothing was damaged at all! We must have a guardian angel watching over us.” She said, winking.
“Yes. We must” The boy I saw must have been only a dream. It was so real though. I could still feel the softness of his wings.
I felt as though there was something I was forgetting.
“School! I’m going to be late!” I pushed of the hospital sheets and jumped to my feet. Immediately, I almost fell back on the bed. I felt very… woozy. My mom started to laugh.
“You can’t go to school unless you feel better.”
“Well mom, I feel better. Let’s go!” I said, hurrying out the door. Everybody I passed was laughing.
“You can’t go to school in a hospital gown!”
My cheeks flushed. Oh, right.
As soon as I got dressed in a new school uniform (the one I wore before had a huge bloodstain on it) we left the hospital and stopped by the house so that I could get my school bag. My mother had been right about the house. It appeared as though the fire never happened.
I knew better though.
I ran upstairs to my room only to find that it too was perfectly fine. I opened the balcony door and found Daniel, waiting for me to put him back inside. I scooped him up and put him down by his food and water. I grabbed my backpack and headed out the door.
“Goodbye Daniel! See you after school!” I thumped down the stairs and ran out the door where my mother was waiting for me in her car. My mom’s car is an orange, beat up minivan. It was created in the fifties but my mom refused to get rid of it.
“Come on slow-poke! Betty’s waiting!”
“Betty? Mom, have you been drinking lately?” I asked teasingly.
“Raven, meet Betty. Betty, meet my obnoxious daughter, Raven.” A car? Betty is a car?
“Hello… car. Nice to meet you.” My mother looked at me in mock offense.
“Do you see what my face looks like right now?” If she means a three year old puppy face then, yeah. I nod my head.
“This is what Betty feels like right now.” I roll my eyes.
“Bye sweetie! Have a good day!”
“Bye mom!” I call after her. Oh how I wish I could just go home right now and cuddle up under the sheets. That’s what a child would do. I’m seventeen. I’m no longer a child so I can’t act like one. It’s time to grow up.
Eden High is a massive ivory building with three stories. The first floor is where all the math and science classes are held. English and language related subjects are held on the second and the third floor is used for Gym and clubs.I look down at my schedule.
1st Period: Math
2nd Period: History
3rd Period: Gym
4th Period: French
LUNCH
5th Period: Physics
6th Period: Chemistry
7th Period: English
8th Period: Biology
Ugh. It’s bad enough that I’m late. I have to start with Gym. Coach Ivy looks at me with excited blue eyes.
“You must be Miss Lavender! Welcome to Eden High!” The coach says.
“Eden will be your personal Hell for the first few weeks.” A girl whispers to me. I turn.
“ Hi! I’m Rose!” The girl holds out her hand and I shake it, smiling. The girl has neck-long strawberry blonde hair that sticks out in all directions at the bottom. She looks like a pixie with her huge green eyes.
“You must be Raven! Pleased to meet you!” Rose curtsy's. I blush. She’s treating meeting me as if she were meeting the Queen of England.
“Wow! You have cool eyes!” I blush even harder. “It’s not every day you meet a girl with violet eyes! Wow! They are so bright!”
“Thank you but…I-I think your eyes are prettier. They’re such a beautiful shade of green.”
“You know… I really like you Raven. I can tell we are going to be great friends!” Rose yells excitedly.
“All right you slackers! Time to run some laps!” Coach Ivy says in a booming voice. Perfect! Running is my specialty…
I’m panting heavily and my thighs are burning by the time we finish laps. I look over at Rose. She hasn't even broken a sweat. Coach Ivy asks us how many laps we ran. The highest is twelve, which is Rose’s score. I was surprised. We had an hour to run.
When Coach Ivy asks me how many laps I ran, I answer truthfully.
“Sixty-two Mrs. Ivy.” Coach Ivy raises her eyebrows in surprise.
“First of all… great job! Your my finest runner ever! However… you really should just call me Coach.” She says winking at me.
“Class dismissed!”
After class, I go to the bathroom to see how I look. Coach is right. Wearing different clothes for Gym means better for wear.
Of course, after Gym we have to put our school uniforms back on but at least I don’t look bad. I apply some deodorant and spritzed some rose-scented perfume. Then, I head for French.
On my way to French, I think about Daniel. Anything could happen to him. He could run out of food or water. He could break his legs. He could even break his wings and die!
The frown on my face continues to deepen as I think. Ugh! I need to stop thinking like this! All it’s doing is putting me in a bad mood!
I suddenly feel my weight lifted off the ground as I trip over my own untied shoelaces. I land face first and all of my books fall to the floor. Oh great…
I start to pick up my books when I see a young boy helping me. I look at him surprised. I hadn’t even noticed he was standing by.
The boy quickly turns to me concern filling his beautiful, warm brown eyes. He hands me my books after I stand up.
“Are you okay?” He asks. I know I should answer but I’m too distracted by him to think of anything to say.
The boy has floppy, honey-blonde hair that falls into his amazing eyes. He has lips are full and lush. I can see his arms are muscular. Not only is he handsome, and has amazing eyes, but he was the only person who bothered to help me.
Something wet lands on my arm and I look at it only to realize that I’m drooling. I blush, humiliated. Everyone laughs at me. I look down at my feet.
“I’m fine.” I muttered. I look up at him only to see a smile only his face and relief filled eyes. There’s no trace of embarrassment on his face. Even more importantly, he’s not snickering.
“Well I’m glad to hear that! By the way, I’m Daniel.” Daniel… just like the bird in my room.
“Raven.” I say, returning Daniel’s smile.
“What do you have next?”
“French.”
“I have French next too!” Daniel smiles. “Do you mind if I walk with you to class?”
“Not at all!” I blush.
“I mean, sure.” Ugh! Trying to act cool is so not my thing. Daniel reaches out to brush my cheek but drops his hand back to his side.
“You look cute when you blush.” He pauses. “I like it. Come on. Let’s get to class.” He walks forward and I’m quick to follow. I stop and blush for a moment longer before I continue to follow him. I probably look like a puppy following her mother.
When we reach French Daniel opens the door for me. I blush again.
“Thanks.” I mutter. Daniel nods and follows me in to the classroom. It’s a small class that is ninety-eight percent full of girls.
As soon as Daniel walks in the room, all of the girls shoot me a nasty look before they turn to admire Daniel. Now I understand why there are so many girls in here. It’s not so much the class as it is the sights.
The only other guy in the class is sitting in a corner with ripped jeans and a black hoodie. The only feature I can make out from underneath the hood is a pair of sparkling green eyes focused on me. His stare makes me uneasy for some reason.
Confused, I turn to Daniel.
“Where should I sit?”
“Follow me.” Daniel leads me to a chair in the back of the room right next to the hooded boy. Great. Daniel pulls out the desk chair and motions for me to sit down.
“Thanks.” I whisper as I take the seat the teacher hasn’t come in the room yet which gives me plenty of time to talk to Daniel.
“Why did you do it?” I finally ask. Daniel’s expression hardens.
“Do what?”
“You helped me when I fell. Why?” Daniel is popular, I can tell that much at least. Why would he help me? I don’t really have many friends except for the one girl i met today. For an agonizingly long time there is only silence.
“I don’t know what came over me but when I saw your face, something told me you were worth helping.”
“But…you don’t really even know me. I’m not popular and there isn’t anything you can gain by helping me at all. Oh. Thanks, for helping me by the way.” I pause blushing.
“You welfare is all the thanks I need.” Right then the teacher walks in the room. Daniel scoots away from me. I hadn’t even realized that we had grown closer to each other. Daniel’s like a giant magnet I can’t resist.
After class, I start to walk to lunch. Someone catches my arm. I turn around to see Daniel.
“Let me see your schedule.” I narrow my eyes in suspicion.
“Come on! I just want to see it for a minute. I’ll give it right back! I promise!” I give Daniel my schedule and he begins to write on it. I frown. Less than a minute later, Daniel gives me my schedule back.
“I marked every class you have with me. See you in Chemistry!” Daniel says as he walks towards the school courtyard. I fumble through the papers stapled to my schedule to find the school map. A note falls out of the pages.
Angels kneel before the
beautiful mortal
For she is more beautiful than the
Heavens itself
-Daniel
I smile. Daniel sure knows how to make a girl feel special. I walk across the school courtyard and plop myself down on the grass. I turn on my IPod and put in my earphones. I lay my forearms on the grass and tilt my head back, enjoying the feel of the sun on my skin.
A long shadow falls over my body and I frown.
“Do you mind?” I say taking out my earphones and staring right into the green eyes of the boy in French.
“Follow me and no one gets hurt.” I see a knife in his pocket and wordlessly, I obey. He leads me to the school parking lot and shoves me into his car.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere no one’s gonna find us.”
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