Gabriel & Athena, Book One: Fate (A Wattpad Featured Story)

CHAPTER 1 (Part 1): JUDGMENTS

Chapter Soundtrack - Chapter 1: "Crashed" by Daughtry

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            "It's fate."

            "What is?" I mumbled.

            "The fact that he's walking the same hallways as you and me when he could be anywhere else."

            "Uh-huh."

            "Just look at the chain of events," Gretchen continued.  "He's on trial for murder.  The evidence alone should have been enough to convict him, but the verdict comes back not guilty."

            She paused, no doubt waiting for me to react as enthralled as she was by the new guy, but my attention was currently focused on finding the novel I was sure I had placed in my locker earlier that morning.  Noticing my lack of a response, she carried on.

            "Then, out of all the cities they could have chosen to move to, they choose our no-name town," she sighed, leaning against the wall of dull grey lockers while I continued to rummage through the mounds of notebooks and other junk that had somehow accumulated without my knowledge.  "Can you pretend to be interested, Athena?  This is front page news," she exclaimed.

            "Sparrow High's very own celebrity.  Christmas came extra early for you this year, my friend," I teased, slamming my locker shut and moving on to my book bag.

            She grinned, her eyes glazing over.  "And what a present he is.  I wonder how he's surviving the culture shock."

            "North Carolina is another state, Gretchen, not another planet," I said dryly.

            "When you compare it to New York City, it might as well be.  He's probably wondering if there's anything to even do around here."

            I smiled to myself.  "Let me guess," I said, trying to keep the laughter out of my voice, "you'd like to be the one to help him acclimate to his new surroundings?"

            "Well, he is new in town, and it would be the neighborly thing to do," she replied innocently.

            "Right.  We won't even worry about the fact that he was on trial for murder or the rest of his colorful background.  Honestly, Gretchen, he seems like an unlikely choice to be your new object of affection, even for you."

            "Why, do you think he was guilty?" she asked, biting her perfectly glossed lip, probably contemplating whether she should take a walk on the wild side or finally set some boundaries for herself.

            I looked up at her briefly, raising one eyebrow.  "What do I look like, a judge and jury?  It's not for me to have an opinion either way, but I do think if there was enough evidence, he would have been found guilty.  He's not above the law," I rationalized.

            "Athena, Gabriel Valente is the son of a mobster.  Everyone says the only reason he escaped prison time was because of his father.  Do you really think the law is something he worries about?" she scoffed as we both started to make our way through the bustling hallway towards our third period class.

            "I don't know," I sighed, continuing to rifle through my bag.  I was quickly reminded that it was important to look up and straight ahead while walking as I bumped into another student.  Unfortunately, it happened to be the worst specimen of Sparrow High's senior class: Jackson Montgomery.