• Sarah squinted at the sky. Her gray-blue eyes hidden behind her thick lashes. She watched a flash go across the sky and smiled to herself. A shooting star. She loved them. Sarah sighed, breathing in the cool night air. She glanced back at her house, an old Victorian with peeling paint and a balcony above the front porch. Lying in the grass in the field on the other side of the river that separated the little town of Salem from the dense woods and rolling hills, Sarah had grown stiff. It was her favorite place in the world. the small clearing through a thick strip of trees, is where she would lie down and gaze up at the blanket of stars above her head. Then look back in the direction of her house and be barely able to see it. Sarah sat up, pulling her knees up to her chest, frowning at the grass stains on her knees that had been there since her brother had convinced her to play football with him and his friends earlier that day. She had agreed out of her stubborn pride. Her twin brother, Liam, had decided to tease her when she said she didn't want to play, saying she was weak and she was a chicken afraid of a few knocks to ground. Sarah rolled her eyes at the memory of her brothers smirk.

    Sarah got to her feet, pulling the grass out of the untamed tangle of golden blond hair. Her friends always said they envied her for her hair, and she always replied with "Then you can have it." Her hair may look good but she didn't do much with it. It just hung around her head in waves and tumbled down her back. It was almost impossible to take a brush to it. Sarah plucked out the last of the grass and a leaf and grabbed her jacket off the ground. Brushing it off quickly, she slipped her arms through the sleeves and hunched in the warmth of the fabric. She started towards the river and a noise interrupted her thoughts. A twig had snapped behind her. Sarah turned, expecting it to be one of those look-and-not-find scenes you see in bad horror movies, it's not what she got.

    Sarah jumped back with a loud yelp or surprise. She had turned to face a person, but not just anyone. It was Jack, her arch nemesis. Well, she considered him so, but he still thought everyone was in love with him. It was sick. She certainly couldn't deny his good looks, he was really hot. He had sharp features, deep brown eyes that a girl could drown in, long dark brown hair that was basically perfect, and a lean, tan body, that a girl could make a girl melt just by seeing. Jack gave her his signature smile, making her heart flutter. Sarah ignored the instant reaction and pushed him back roughly.

    "Can I help you?" Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow and scowling at him. She really wished he hadn't interrupted her peace. She was in a pretty good mood, until he showed up. It was almost every time she was content, he had to show up. Jack had a smirk on his face, towering over her. He was, unfortunately, a good bit taller than her. And that fact didn't help her much. She knew very well that he loved to taunt her, and her shortness certainly didn't help her case.

    "Oh, you could help me a lot, but you said you would rather die." Jack replied, his eyes raking down her body. Sarah gave him a disgusted look and he threw his head back and laughed. She rolled her eyes, sighing and shifted on her feet. She glanced around, wanting so bad to get away, escape into woods and get lost in the stars again. Jack spoke again, stepping closer to her. "Not really. But the look on your face was priceless."

    Sarah glared death at him and he stopped laughing, just looking at her. Her looked didn't waver as she turned on her heel and started towards the river once again. Of course, she had only gotten a few paces until Jack was right behind her again. He took her arm and turned her, surprisingly gentle with her. Sarah had to remind herself the confrontation she had with Jack about two weeks ago. He actually had admitted he didn't hate her. He had admitted that he liked her, that he wanted her. It was an odd thing, but she had acted like it had never happened and so did he.

    "Oh, C'mon. Don't be like that, angel." Jack said, smoothly. Angel. The ridiculous nickname he had chosen for her when they first met. She ignored the statement and yanked her arm away, flashing him a dirty look before moving to the rivers edge. She stood at the edge, looking down at the girl in the reflection, who stared back at her. The girl in the reflection looked more like the "angel" Jack described than the girl Sarah thought of as herself. she wore low-rise jeans with rips in the knees and grass stains surrounding them, a gray v-neck shirt and an unzipped black jacket. Her long golden hair tumbled over her shoulders and her eyes were a strange emerald green.

    "I know I drive you crazy, but don't jump in." Sarah turned at the sound of Jack's voice. He wasn't right behind her like most times, instead he was leaning casually against a tree. He held a lighter in his hand, snapping it open and closed. Sarah stared blankly at the lighter before moving over to Jack. She raised her hand, and watched Jack tense, then placed her hand over his and slipped the lighter from his hand. She blinked at it. Then chucked it over the treetops and far into the woods. She turned to face him once again, her face stopping less than an inch from his.

    Sarah practically snarled into his face. "Why don't you?" Whipping around, she stormed over to the fallen oak she used to cross the river. She wasn't careful. She didn't know that the trunk was slippery. And it was dark. Sarah slipped. And fell into the water. She hit the ice cold water and a jolt went through her body. She heard a muffled scream and everything went black.

    "SARAH!!!!!!"