Stones

Part 1

So there I was, on a beach in southern California, with all my super-cool, very wealthy, movie-star friends. We were playing a game of volleyball and listening to loud music. The perfect Saturday afternoon. Me and my BFF Trinity sat in the sand and gossiped for a while.  
“So, what’re you doing tomorrow?” She asked. “Maybe we could like go to the mall or something!”
“Yeah, sounds great!” What I didn’t know, was that I would never make it to the mall for a very long time. And when I did, it wouldn’t be with Trinity. Just then, a cute guy walked by.
“OMG!” Shrieked Trinity. “It’s Henry! Have you guys met? Henry! Get over here!!”
“Yes, Trinity...” He sighed heavily. “And who is this?”
“This, is Alex! She’s single, by the way.” I whacked her in the arm for that. I hate it when she tries to hook me up with guys I don’t even know. And this guy looked a little older than 16, which meant a little older than me.
“Well, hello Alex! I’m Henry.”
“I know.” Wow, I sounded like a loser. I gave Trinity a look that meant ‘help me’, and (since she’s an awesome friend), she did.
“Alex is like da bomb when it comes to volleyball! Wanna play a match or two?!” After a couple games of volleyball, I asked Trinity for a ride home. When I got home, my mom was sitting at our giant table in our giant dining room. And she had a giant frown on her face, and looked as if she’d been crying. Her eyes were so red, they almost matched the deep burgundy walls. Her shiny, dark hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail, and she was wearing jeans and a ratty tee shirt. There was definitely something wrong. My mother ONLY wore designer clothes. I didn’t even know she OWNED a pair of jeans...
“Hey mom. What happened?! Is everything okay?!”
“Well, kinda.” She even sounded as if she had been crying. “But...”
“But what, mom?”
“Oh, sweetie, don’t worry about it...”
“Spit it out already!”
“Honey, we’re moving. Like, tonight. I’m sorry, but--”
“MOM!!! You have GOT to be kidding me... Can I at least call Trinity and Suzie and Andrea?!” I ran for my phone, but my mom grabbed me by the arm and told me not to tell anyone about the move. “Where’s dad? He’s coming with us, right?!”
“No, your  father’s a huge celebrity. If he just disappeared, it’d be big news. We can’t have that kind of publicity.”
“Oh, so we’re just gonna disappear?! Great. Will you please tell me what the heck is going on?” She finally managed to yank the iPhone out of my hands..
“We’re moving to New York. There are people trying to hurt us. Bad people. I’m just trying to keep you safe, Alex. Now, go pack your bags.” I zipped down the giant hallway, straight to my giant room. I jumped onto my expensive, ultra-fluffy bed, and looked around at my hot pink walls and ceiling, and my bright purple carpet. The setting sun shone through my window, making the colors even brighter. Without thinking, I trudged over to my HUGE walk-in closet. I knew I wouldn’t be able to bring everything. I grabbed my favorite yellow sundress and stuffed it into a bag. What part of New York were we moving to? Hopefully New York City! That’s the only part of New York I’d actually been to. As I stuffed my favorite clothes into various tote bags, I thought about the guy I’d met at the beach today- Henry. Would I ever see him again?
When I finished packing, I took one final walk around the beachside mansion I grew up in. My father was a world-famous movie and T.V. actor, so we always had plenty of money and expensive things. In fact, for my seventh birthday, he bought me my own personal bowling alley! When I decided to join the swim team at my private school, he bought me a HUGE swimming pool, and when I quit the team, he paid to have it removed. Basically, he just liked spending money. The thought of moving across the country without him made me wanna punch something. So I did. I was in one of the guest rooms, and I smashed the glass on a fancy picture of my mother when she was younger. I wished it was her actual face.
My angry thoughts were interrupted by my (stupid) mother yelling, “Alex! C’mon! We’re leaving now!!!” When I stepped outside, I looked around for our hot pink limousine, but all I saw was a crappy old Chevy pickup truck. And my mother was sitting in the driver’s seat, seeing my horrified expression, and putting on a fake smile. “Get in!”
The next morning, I woke up in an uncomfortable, cheaply made, old-fashioned bed. The entire room looked old and worn out, and I obviously didn’t belong there. I got up and trudged down a flight of rickety wooden stairs, to a small, old-fashioned kitchen. There were cobwebs plastering all the windows, and the old wooden bookcases needed to be dusted.  My mother was already awake, making waffles on the rusty metal stove.
“Good morning, beautiful,” she said in a cheerful voice. “Have a seat! I’m making waffles. Your favorite!”
“Ugh.” I hated waffles. She should’ve known that. But then again, my mother never bothered to get to know me. As we were sitting down, eating (or in my case, glaring at) our waffles, we heard a loud thump coming from outside. My mother bolted up, and ran to the window to see what it was. But before she could reach the window, there was a loud “smash”! Glass flew all over the tiny kitchen, some of it landing in my waffles. We screamed and ran for cover. After ten minutes of complete silence passed, we tip-toed back to the kitchen. My mom picked up the broken glass, and I noticed something on my waffles. It was a beautiful red stone, with a note attached. It said: You can run, but you can’t hide. There’s no point trying to escape us. We WILL get you, Alex. Your mother won’t be able to protect you forever, you know. Sincerely, your worst nightmare
I stuffed the note and the stone into the pocket of my Aeropostale jeans. I couldn’t show it to my mom... She’d be too freaked out. Besides, it was probably just some stupid joke. I mean, why would anyone wanna cause ME any harm?! I was the 16-year-old daughter of a famous actor. Nobody would dare to hurt me. I turned to see that my mom was finished cleaning up the glass, and she was on the phone ordering a new window. She probably thought it’d been a prank, too. Nothing to worry about.
Unfortunately, the next day was the first day of school. I hadn’t moved to New York City, after all, but rather to a small town in the rural part of New York. The school (like everything else in town), was old. It was a faded brick building with the words, “Benson Lee Middle School”, painted on it. I had attended only high-class private schools since I was 4, and this hideous crime against education was gonna ruin that all. I stuffed my designer backpack into my locker, and headed toward the gymnasium. I sat down next to a girl my age, with shoulder-length blond hair, purple glasses, and braces. A geek for sure. As everyone was coming in and sitting down for the “First Day Assembly”, she poked me in the arm, hard, and introduced herself.
“Hey, I’m Victoria. Are you new in town?”
I felt like saying, Well duh!, but instead I said, “Yup. I’m Alex Blake, in case you didn’t already know that.” I flipped my long, dirty-blond hair over my shoulder, and gave her my My daddy’s rich smile.
“How would I know that?! You just said you were new...” Was she kidding? She looked serious. Oh, great.
“You know, Jackson Blake’s daughter? Yeah, that’s me! Can’t you tell?!” I gestured toward my diamond earrings and Guess blouse. How clueless was this girl?
“Oh, no, never heard of you. Anyway, this-” she pointed to a pretty, blond girl sitting on the other side of her. “Is Amanda. She’s kinda crazy!”
“Hey! Hey! What’s your name?! You’re in our grade, right?! Where are you from?!” Yeah. Victoria was right. Amanda was crazy! She was practically jumping up and down in her seat, like a squirrel on a sugar-high. I introduced myself to her, and she didn’t recognize me either. What was I doing talking to these people? I got up and walked over to a “cooler” looking crowd. They just kept on talking without even noticing me. I tried a few times to introduce myself to them, but they just ignored me, and eventually walked away. Devastated, I headed back to Victoria and Amanda. I was almost to my seat, when some stupid fat kid knocked me over. I screamed, and fell on top of a dorky looking boy with dark hair and brown eyes.
“Whoa! Ugh... Owww!!!!” he shouted.
“Oh my gosh. I’m sooo sorry!” I stood up and started crying. This was already the worst first day of school in history. “I... I just... Sorry! That kid tripped me, and-”
“It’s okay, really! No need to cry...” He scrambled to his feet. “I’m okay! See?! Are you okay? You look okay! Ah! I didn’t mean it in that way... I just meant-” I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it! “What? What’s so funny?”
“You! You’re hilarious! I’m Alex, by the way.” I forgot to mention my famous father. All my attention was focused on this guy’s captivating smile.
“Um, I’m Gabe.” His expression changed from embarrassed to proud in a half a second. “Yay! I’m hilarious!” Just then, the assembly started. The principal was a tall woman, Mrs. Reynolds, with short brown hair. She must've been 6 foot 3, WITHOUT the 6 inch heels. She mentioned football sign-ups, and some of the guys roared and growled, anticipating the violent sport. I noticed Victoria staring at a guy with shiny, light brown hair, through the entire assembly. I asked her about it, and she blushed and changed the subject.
Later, when I was going to third period, I found a red stone in my locker. With a note attached. This one said: You’re a smart girl, Alex Blake. Be careful who you associate with. Some people aren’t who they say they are. And you better watch your back. I’ll get you when you least expect it. Sincerely, Your worst nightmare
At lunch, the “cool” people wouldn’t let me sit with them, so I sat with Victoria and Amanda. At least they liked me.
“Hey, um...” said Victoria. Had she seriously forgotten my name?
“Alex!” Phew. Amanda remembered! They stared blankly at me for a minute, then got back to their conversation about which boys were cuter. Feeling left out, I gave my opinion.
“What about Gabe? He’s kinda cute.” They looked at me like I had two heads. Did I say something wrong?
“Um... Alex...” Victoria was pointing to something right behind me. “Ahem.” I turned around, and found Gabe standing there grinning.
“Oh, um, Gabe! Come sit with us!” I offered, trying to casually change the subject. He sighed and sat down. We were in the middle of a conversation about armadillos, when something hit me. Literally! I swung around, and found a blue rock with a note. I grabbed it and read the note. Alex Blake, you cannot run from destiny. Your mother is keeping secrets. Check the attic and you’ll know what I mean. Your friend, Danika  I stuck this in my pocket with the others.
“What was that?” asked Gabe..
“Oh, nothing...” What was I supposed to tell him? The truth? He’d think I was crazy. I changed the subject again. “So Victoria, who was that guy you were staring at? And don’t tell me you weren’t!” She blushed, but she answered.
“He’s Ezra. I kinda have a little bit of a crush on him...”
“A LITTLE BIT?!?!” Amanda squealed. “You practically stalk him!” While Victoria and Amanda continued gossiping, I talked to Gabe. Turns out, he was a dork. He played video games in his free time, and didn’t know how to throw a football. But, he had such a nice smile.... I’d had plenty of boyfriends back in California, and they were all smart and athletic, but this guy was so... different!
He was in the the middle of talking about some video game called Ratchet & Clank:Up Your Arsenal, when I blurted out, “Do you have a girlfriend?” Oops.
“Um, no.... Do you have a boyfriend?” His expression was a mixture between nervous and hopeful.
“Not yet... But I was hoping...” I gave him an embarrassed smile. I’d never asked out a guy before! Usually, guys threw themselves at me.