To Come Together

Chapter 1

                                                                                Layla's POV

"Now get out of here, bitch,"Derek yells. I wince as I crawl upstairs, my ribs burning. We just arrived at the new house and Derek is spilling my blood for the first time here, marking it. He's technically just testing it out. I clean myself up and grimace as I think about school tomorrow. I'm used to moving, but having to go to a new school every time gets to me. I hate the new girl stares and the whispers about why I moved. Did I get kicked out? Or something worse? Who knows what new story's they'll have this time.

I get out of the shower and lay down on my bed. I close my eyes and concentrate on the sounds and smells. The crickets chirp their never ending night song. The leaves sway as the cold wind blows through, creating a chilly atmosphere. The smell of fresh grass and water from the creek fills my nostrils. I take a deep breath before I fall asleep.

I wake up to a car door slamming and it backing down the driveway, driving away. Great, Derek's gone off to work. I force myself up and get ready for school before I miss the bus. I walk to the bus stop, careful of my ribs. 

The bus screeches as it stops in front of me, sending a wave of gas fumes into my face. Coughing, I climb onto the bus and sit in the seat directly behind the bus driver. Plugging my earphones in to block out the noises of kids chattering, I lean my head against the window and close my eyes. We come to a shuddering stop in front of the school.

I manage to get past the crowd of kids and make it to my locker. I shrink into myself as people stare at me. I take out my schedule and turn to go to math, when I run into a soft, brick wall. I look up into very mesmerizing, hazel eyes. He has light brown hair and he grins at me. I swear that his teeth sparkle like in cartoons.

"Sorry,"he says in a deep, husky voice. I shiver and back away from him when I realize how close we are. I stumble and he grabs my arm to steady me. An electric shock runs through my arm and I jerk away. It can't be. I mean, he can't be my... 

I spin around and walk off. Later in math class, I think about the guy I ran into. I was told that if I feel a spark when someone touches me, that they're my mate. He's definitely a werewolf. He's got that woodsy smell that help werewolves identify each other. I just can't deal with a relationship right now. If my dad found out that I was with someone then he would kill me. Literally. 

The bell rings, jolting me out of my thoughts. I hurry to my next class and try to not think about the guy that I ran into. In my class before lunch, a girl with beautiful, long red hair sits next to me. I figure that she'll just ignore me like most people, but she turns in her seat to look at me.

"I'm Ashley, you must be new,"she says. I narrow my eyes to see if she's being serious or not.

"Yeah, I'm Layla." I look toward the front of the classroom to give her a hint that I'm done talking. She doesn't get it though.

"Where'd you move from?" I sigh and figure that I should just answer her.

"Texas, but I move around a lot." She looks at me nodding like she wants me to go on. I blink in surprise. She actually wants to chat with me. "Well, I've been to a lot of places. California, Seattle, Oklahoma, ect."

"Cool, I would love to travel. Is it for you're parents jobs or something?"

"My dad's." I try not to tremble when I say dad. I never call him my dad. I never have and never will. I only say it so that I don't get a bunch of questions about it.

"Oh, what does he do?" This is the hard part. Explaining 'his' job when I actually do it. He's too busy getting drunk to do anything. At first, I got jobs being a waitress and stuff like that, but since we moved so much, I had to think of something. Since I've always been good with computers and stuff like that, I hack and fix other people's computers. I have a false account set up with a fake name so that people who need my help can message me privately. 

"He works with computers and stuff," I say and that's all I tell her. Her bright, green eyes widen.

"My friend needs help with something on his computer. Do you think that your dad can help?" Oh crap. I pretend to think about it.

"Well, he's really busy, but I've picked up on a few things. I might be able to help." She opens her mouth to say something when the teacher walks in and starts the lesson. I'm listening to the teacher when Ashley slides a note onto my desk.

Walk with me to lunch. You can sit with me and my friends.

I nod at her and turn my attention back to the teacher. When the bell rings, I expect Ashley to regret her attention offering me to come with her and take off. She doesn't though. She waits while I get my stuff together.

"Thanks for letting me come." She just smiles at me. We get to the cafeteria and I instantly spot the guy that I ran into this morning. Please don't let that be where we're going. It is though. I sigh and sit down on Ashley's left. To her right is an Asian looking kid that has brown, dreamy looking eyes. He kisses Ashley when we sit down. I take a deep breath in smelling in everything around me. I get that woodsy smell coming from everyone sitting at the table. 

So they're all werewolves. I've never seen so many together at one time. 

"Oh silly me,"Ashley says smacking her forehead lightly. "I should introduce you. Everyone this is Layla. She's new here. That idiot with ridiculously blond hair is Sean. He's Nick's twin though they're exact opposites. The one across from you is Nick." I look at the guy that I ran into this morning, glad to put a name to the face. Nick. It fits him perfectly. I look back and forth from Nick to Sean. She's right. They are exact opposites. Where Nick has his light brown hair, Sean has bleach, blond hair. Sean's eyes are a startling blue and Nicks are the sweet chocolate that I could stare into forever. 

"We already met,"Nick says. "We ran into each other. Literally." Everybody laughs. I look at the kid who Ashley kissed. He sees me watching and tells me that his name's Jared. Then precedes to tell me that he's not from Japan or China. His parents are though. I nod and look at everybody laughing and teasing each other.  I could get used to this.

A/N- Thank you so much for reading this. I hope that you like it. If you have any complaints or ideas, I would love to hear them!