Megan Drew was a real world of art. She was a tall Latina girl with her brown hair cascading down her back. The tips were curled and her lips were painted red today. The thing with Megan Drew was she came from money and around Havana Academy, money did all the talking. Her father was a well-known politician who donated generously to the school his daughter attend. That alone ensured that if Megan wanted, she could break Destiny in two parts and the school would still find a way to make it Destiny’s fault.
Havana Academy wasn’t exactly crawling with rich folks, but majority were more than comfortable. Destiny didn’t come from money and she didn’t know anyone that had enough to back her up at school. She was a scholarship student and in Havana Academy, that was the absolute worst thing to be. They made it known every day that she wasn’t welcomed.
There was a hierarchy and Megan was seated comfortably at the top while Destiny sat at the last level. If they could help it, she wouldn’t even make the ranking. Those directly above her joined in making fun of her.
Thinking about their behavior, Destiny realized she had it good today. Too good even.
The bell rang, and instead of replying to Megan, Destiny grabbed her bag and hurried out of the long room. She spent the entire day looking over her shoulders, trying to see if Megan would come charging and ensuring she was alert enough so she wasn’t harmed at all.
Once the bell for the end of the school day rang, Destiny grabbed her bag and hurried out. She was the first one out of school, and she ensured that no one was chasing her. She was at the end of the hall when she heard her name.
Turning around, her eyes landed on Miss Bee, her gym teacher. Miss Bee was a tall woman with pale skin. She was a brunette and regardless of how fragile she looked, the woman was a force to be reckoned with. She made even the toughest kids in school run extra miles. Or at least, she hoped she still did. It had been a while since Destiny was out on the tracks.
“Destiny, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Can’t it wait, Miss Bee? It is really important because I really need to be somewhere?” Destiny replied shifting from one foot to the other.
Miss Bee smiled ruefully and nodded. “It’ll only take a few minutes, come on.”
Destiny sighed and walked up to her, ignoring the looks some kids in the hallways were shooting at her. She still didn’t understand why they were still there. Wasn’t school over already? Following Miss Bee had been out of respect. It wouldn’t look good on her if she couldn’t follow the positive high standards she placed on herself. Her mother was never around to raise her, so she had to take it upon herself to ensure she had good values.
“Destiny, I haven’t been seeing you out on the tracks,” her teacher started as soon as they were in the gym. She led Destiny farther in and pointed at some seats they could occupy.
Destiny shrugged as she said, “I don’t understand what you mean, Miss Bee. What should I be doing out on the tracks?”
“You’re the best runner in this school and I told you that after tryouts two weeks ago. Don’t you want to represent Havana?”
Did she really want to represent Havana? Of course she did. But was she really going to represent Havana at the detriment of the little security she still had? She didn’t think so.
“It’s really not about what I want, but about what everyone else wants. I believe that everyone in the school is very much happy with the new members of the track team. There really is no point trying to complicate the situation.”
“But you’re really great and could be a great asset to the school. Don’t you want that?”
“As I just said ma’am, it is really not about what I want but about what everyone else wants. Besides, I have so much material to study and work on. I hope to make the AP classes and if I am to do that, I really cannot afford any distractions.” She stood up and offered her teacher a tight smile before adding, “thank you so much for seeing me and for considering me. If you will excuse me, please.”
Without waiting for a reply, Destiny walked as quickly as she could out of the gym. She felt Miss Bee’s gaze following her until she exited the gym. She expected Miss Bee to understand. Destiny had tried everything, but the memory had refused to fade. She still remembered the way the other kids sneered at her after she came out as the best. They told her she had no right vying for things or positions with the other kids because she was a charity case.
She still remembered how they had thrown her books and assignments out of her back and dunked them in water. She watched the ink run and even amidst her pleas, they still carried on with their misplaced vengeance. They let her go after a while and then, she had been reduced to a splash of colors with garbage all over her. Those weren’t the type of things one forgot in a hurry.
Destiny shut her eyes trying to push the memory back down. She didn’t like thinking about it, but sometimes she couldn’t help it. She hastened her footsteps. The need to get of school had grown with the memory. No one would spare her if they caught her before she had the chance to exit and she was determined to maintain the semblance of peace she still had left.
CHAPTER TWO
NOAH
The music blaring out from Noah’s speaker was enough to cause the neighbors to call the cops and charge him for disturbance. He jumped on his spring bed dancing along and pausing mid-way to put up a performance with his air guitar. So engrossed in the task he was at that he didn’t hear his name being yelled by his mom, neither did he notice her entrance into his room. The cold air that followed her didn’t stop him, but the abrupt end of the music seemed to do the trick.
Slowly, he turned around and came face to face with his mom, whose hands were resting on her hips. She shot him a glare and Noah smiled sheepishly. His dark hair was sticking to his face and he felt the lose shirt he had on clinging to his chest.
“Hi mom.”
Still refusing to relent from her stern stare, Noah slowly climbed down the bed. His mom looked really pissed with the way she pressed her lips into a fine line and Noah assumed she had been calling for a long time. The dress she wore, a burgundy colored sheath dress, made her even more fierce and scary looking. Her blonde hair was held up by a tortoise shell comb.
“I would go on to rant about the fact that I have been calling you for the past twenty minutes, but then there is the chaos and ruckus which you are causing, which by the way is worse than the fact that you didn’t respond to my calls!”
“When you think about it mom, it’s only fair to scrap out the second offense because I didn’t hear you. What say you?” he asked with a grin and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Analina Powers was a force to be reckoned with and was feared by many, but not her son. He loved and respected her, knowing which buttons to push to get pardoned or a positive reply to a favor. But then again, she was his mother after all. She didn’t have it in her to go long periods being mad at him. Any frown she’d throw at his direction didn’t last more than a few minutes.
To prove it, Analina sighed and shook her head at him. She dropped his hand from her shoulder and her sharp gray eyes flitted across the room. It moved from the bed that had been the stage for her son’s ludicrous behavior, to the walls of the room. Noah watched a smile make its way to her face. A nod of approval came next.
“You have done some good work here, Noah. It’s hard to believe that thirty-six hours ago, this room was bare and the walls were stripped.”
“You know how very efficient I am ma, even when I’m pulling down the house.”
The walls that once held nothing was now covered by works of art. A wall clock hung by the side. Most of the paintings were abstract and paper craft were pinned to the walls. Noah’s bed was a California King, and the floor was covered with soft rugs. There was a bookshelf at the far end of the room, a door that led to the bathroom and another that led to a walk-in closet.
His mother scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Trust me, you were not pulling down the house. What your uncle Dean and I did
during raids, that was pulling down the house. Anyway, your car is here. That’s why I was calling you. You are always so particular about the tiniest and inconsequential details, the color, the rims, the sound the engine makes when you rev up. So, just come check it out before the car guy leaves.”
Noah laughed a little. “Aye ma’am.”
His mother rolled her eyes but she patted his cheek as she walked out of the room. Noah didn’t follow after her and he was already walking to the stereo when she returned.
“I mean now, Noah. I certainly cannot keep the man on cookies for too long.”
Noah followed after his mother as they walked down the stairs. Like his room, the rest of the house was beautiful. The stairs were spiral with golden banisters and the chandelier gave the house a golden look. The floors were covered with marble tiles and the walls had paintings of wolves on them, alongside a few family portraits. The walls of the house were creamy white and gold accentuation.
The car salesman was already waiting by the car when they got out. Seeing the car, Noah held back a smile. The car was sleek black and had golden highlights. A sports car of some sort but the designer was none of Noah’s business. Ferrari or Porsche, he didn’t care as long as it went fast and got him to and fro.
The salesman handed him the keys and Noah accepted them before going over to get into the car. He revved the car up and heard his mom’s request that he drove carefully and slowly. Noah almost laughed as that would defeat the entire purpose of the sports car. He pulled into the road and sped off, leaving the large white house behind. He sped down the empty streets of their neighborhood, testing the features of the car. He rolled down the roof and smiled as he drove round and round. The speed of the car had him feeling exhilarated. Ending his test run, Noah drove the car back to the house where his mother and the dealer stood waiting. His mother had a frown on her face and Noah chuckled as he came to a stop.
Noah alighted from the car and sat on the hood. He patted the car in a bid to praise it for its hard work. He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked up at his mother who was waiting on the large wraparound porch with the car dealer. She was rolling her eyes and she slapped her forehead slightly. Noah laughed as he walked towards them. He understood the look of frustration on his mother’s face and knew she was itching to give him a lecture about how fast he had been driving.
If it was left to his mother, he would still be getting chauffeured to school. He was happy about the deal they had made and his success had ensured he had a car. Noah checked the logo: a Stallion. The deal was if he made straight ‘As’ at the end of the semester they had just finished, he would get a car of his choice for his sixteenth birthday. Well, he had finished tenth grade with perfect scores and his mother had begrudgingly agreed that his father get him a car. And so, here he was with his own Stallion.
“So, what do you think of it young man?” the salesman asked as he rubbed his hands with glee.
He had told his parents what he wanted and his dad had gone to the shop and made the order. An A in his father’s favor.
“What do you think? Can’t you see his face? He’s in love with it,” his mother said as she rolled her eyes.
Noah chuckled but he nodded as he twirled the keys around with one finger. “I guess I’ll be driving my way to school tomorrow. Thanks mom.”
He left his mother outside with the man and walked into the house. The first thing one saw when they stepped out of the large entrance foyer was the spiraling staircase with gold banisters. His mother had worked on it tirelessly until she got her picture-perfect image. He turned to the left of the staircase and stepped into the extra-large kitchen. In there, the walls were still white and the equipment, stainless steel. There was an island that held the gas burners and an arrangement of plates. On the walls of the kitchen were cabinets which held the fancier plates, spoons and cups. A refrigerator was built into the wall, and that was were Noah headed. He pulled open the refrigerator and his eyes flitted over the contents. He pulled his head out and looked towards the glass doors which led out to the back and the pool and the garden where workmen had been working for the past few weeks. None of them were around. He turned back to the refrigerator and pressed a button that was fingerprint sensitive at the corner of the cold walls. Immediately, the shelves divided, the upper half sliding up and the lower half sliding down. In here, the raw meat from the last hunt were stored. Most times, his mom would garnish them, but he was too hungry to wait for that.
He inhaled the meat; it was fresh but it was enough for his fangs to make show. He bit into in, devouring it as quickly as he could. A few drops of blood splattered on his shirt, but he wasn’t bothered.
“You seem very hungry,” a voice startled him. He almost choked. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he turned around to meet his father’s gaze.
“Hi dad.”
“Hello son,” Andrew Powers’ voice boomed with authority as always. Dressed in a pinstripe dark suit, he exuded great power and heat and most people cowered in his presence.
“Going somewhere?” Noah asked as he sat on the kitchen island, the rest of the meat in his hand.
His father flexed his large arms as he adjusted his cuff links. He shrugged as he said, “Just some meeting with the investors. Not leaving yet though, it’s a dinner meeting. Get down from there, you know how your mom gets about her kitchen.”
Noah did as he was told. “You’re going with mom though, right?”
“Does he ever go anywhere without his mate?” a voice asked and the eyes of the two males turned in the direction of the back doors.
Natalie stepped into the kitchen, wrapped in a robe under which she wore a bathing suit and trailing water behind her. Her hair, equally as ink black as her brother’s was also dripping water. She lunged for the flesh in her twin’s hand but he sidled away just in time.
“Natalie, your mother is not going to like you getting the kitchen wet,” their father said, the strain clear in his voice.
Natalie rolled her gray eyes as she plopped down on a kitchen stool. “I hear you, pa.”
“What did you do? Fall inside the pool?” Noah asked as he got her a glass jar containing innards.
“It’s called swimming, smart alec,” she rolled her eyes as she grabbed the jar from his hands. She dipped her hands in and pulled out a strand of intestines. She shoved it into her mouth, pulling it in like pasta. She sighed in satisfaction as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“At the rate you both are going, we’ll be having a hunt every week,” their father commented.
Noah could see that his eyes were still on the water that his sister had trailed into the kitchen and he was probably envisioning the argument that would soon occur. He thought it was romantic that his father got bothered on his mother’s behalf.
“Oh would that not be a blast?” Natalie’s eyes lit up and she rubbed her hands together with glee.
Noah, with his remaining flesh in hand, headed towards the kitchen door. He patted his father’s shoulder and said, “I would like some really juicy rib eye from that meeting.”
His father rolled his eyes and said, “I hear you. What else do you want? A whole moose?”
“If that’s possible. Well, now that I think about it…”
His father growled and Noah chuckled as he left the kitchen behind him. He walked up the stairs, careful to not drop blood on the floor. Once in his room, he put the remaining flesh in his mouth and went to wash his hands in the bathroom. He walked over to his window and climbed out and onto the balcony. In seconds, he had sidled up the side of the house and was sitting on the roof of the house, directly on the skylight of his room. His enhanced sight made it possible for him to see into a very far distance. The cool air blowing around was what he needed as he took in the view. Aqua Vale was a beautiful town and he had no issues about that. What excited him more than anything as he observed the view he had from the roof was the woods that bordered the town. It was perfect for hunt
ing. Their family had made a good decision choosing to move all the way here. They would definitely flourish for as long as they chose to stay here; well, that would be as long as they all stayed in the shadows and did not do stuff that would draw attention to themselves.
He shook his head as he thought of what happened in Copper all those years ago. He had been only six years old then but he knew it all. To this very day, the story was still used as a cautionary tale for young ones and for new additions. The Udles had gone on a killing spree and the exposure had driven every single one of them away in the middle of the night. They had been just in time because from what they had heard, the next morning, the town had been flooded with Watchers, fast on their scent. The Udles had been strapped down and left behind by the Hands of the Elder to face the repercussions of their crimes and that had saved the rest of them.
The Watchers had been delayed by the Udles’ presence and they had enough time to get away. No family in their clan had ever made the same mistake as the Udles after then. They had all been too careful and civil. Being so was one of the ways to ensure their continued existence.
A sigh escaped Noah as he kept looking around town. Thinking about it was daunting. They had moved here two months ago and there had been so much chaos and so much disorder. He had not had the time to do much of his own stuff and had only gotten around to finishing it all this morning. And now, he was done. He resumed school tomorrow in a school where only human attended. Way to draw attention, he rolled his eyes.
And then, the discussion he had with his father about the issue came back to him.
“You all have to be spread around all the schools in the town,” his father had said. “Two new Caucasian students in a school, whether the school is meant for Asians or Europeans or Blacks or whatnot, is less likely to draw attention than a crowd of over hundred Caucasians starting out in a school filed with Caucasians. This division and spreading you all across the city is less likely to cause tongues to wag.”
Destiny: BWWM High School Romance Page 2