From the Ashes

By Louise Steel

As junior year is winding down, a simple summer filled with friends and relaxation floats on Allie's mind. Getting caught up with a smoldering jerk harboring a bad rep, her quiet expectations are dashed. Little does she know, though, the summer holds a lot more depth and discovery than she could ever have imagined, with the boy who is so much more than what he seems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Louise Steel
• Release date: Jul 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476105468

Louise Steel

Louise Steel is Reader in Mediterranean Archaeology at UWTSD, Senior Fellow HEA, and has directed archaeological fieldwork in Cyprus and Gaza.

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From the Ashes

Published by Louise M. Steel via Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Louise M. Steel

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1: A Summer of Promise

Checking the time briefly from the circular clock above the door to the library, I decide I have enough of my study hall left to meet up with Kaitlin, like she requested when she drove us to school. After getting my hall pass signed by the librarian, I swing by my locker to check my phone for texts. I have one from Kait that says she’ll be in the courtyard for this period, so I grab my books for the next few classes and head in that direction.

Bright sunlight cuts into the dim hallway when I open the door to the courtyard, causing me to blink and squint as I stumble into the brilliant, early-summer morning. Hiking my purse up higher on my shoulder, I trod through the freshly mowed grass toward Kaitlin, who sits propped against one of the trees that dot the yard.

Let’s see the damage, she sighs, holding her outstretched hand up at me as I approach her. Fumbling through my purse for the schedule she wants to see, I cock a brow at her as her arm flails impatiently.

How was your nap, Sleeping Beauty? I mutter sarcastically as I dangle the schedule just out of her reach, noticing the way her dark hair was muffed up on one side, with a maple leaf stuck in the tresses.

Gimme, betch.

Pleasant enough, I chime with a laugh as I let the schedule float down to her. I throw my purse and books next to hers before joining her in the grass, plucking the leaf out of her hair as she whips out her own schedule to scan over the similarities and differences.

Oh, thank Jesus, she grins at the papers as I peer over her shoulder. At least we have AP Physics together. I give a burst of gut laughter.

"You’re taking AP Physics? I crow, snatching her schedule from her hands. You’re screwing with me." She grins and narrows her eyes at me as I confirm the fact that she’s taking an advanced science class with my own eyes. Physics, nonetheless.

We have to have as many classes together as possible next year! It’s our last! she defends with a laugh, and I throw her a look out of the corner of my eye.

You’re gonna hate it, and fail the AP test, Kait, I chuckle as I toss her schedule back at her.

Don’t care. All the other science classes suck.

Have it your way, I sing as she looks back at my schedule. She whaps my shoulder, suddenly.

Ow, what on earth?

Why aren’t you taking AP English?

Cause I hate English.

"What…"

I fall onto the grass in a bout of laughter as Kaitlin glowers down at me with a crooked smile.

Oh my god, I manage between my amusement, Why are you taking all these advanced classes? I grin up at her from where I lay in the sweet-smelling grass. She flops on her back next to me with a sigh, and I watch her glare up at the swaying leaves as she answers.

’Cause I want to get into a good college…

Awe, I croon as I pat her arm, You’re thinking of your future, I’m so proud of you!

"Don’t effin touch me."

I love you, too, Kait.

All juniors planning on taking AP Physics next year are to meet with Mrs. Farthing in room 76 at this time. Juniors planning on taking AP Calculus next year should meet with Mr. Roth in room 72 during morning homeroom on Monday. The AP English meeting will be held with Ms. Jackson in room 42 during 2nd period, also on Monday.

The announcements drones on through the speakers in the hallway as Kait and I exchange a look.

Right now? she inquires with scorn as she shuts her locker, playing with her car keys as I sigh.

I guess so. Lucky us for having our AP meeting after school on a Friday. Kaitlin guffaws as we make our way towards the science wing of the school, in the opposite direction of the student parking lot, and the weekend.

I get to miss 2nd period on Monday, she teases.

Once we make it to our meeting, we grab two desks next to the window. The teacher of our AP Physics class hands out the syllabus for next year, along with a list of supplies we’ll need for the semesters like graphic calculators and mandatory 3-ring binders. When everyone arrives, Mrs. Farthing begins with her run-down of her expectations, and suggestions for keeping up on certain formulas over the summer. I notice most of the class reflects the way I know Kait and I feel: Tired of work, tired of studying, tired of tests. The teacher’s speech is met with worn, blank stares.

I zone out a little during parts of her meeting, looking around at the class that we’ll be with our senior year. I see a lot of the smarter kids here, a few I know and a few I’m not too familiar with. An elbow to the side from Kaitlin draws me back to the teacher’s speech. I catch the tail-end of a summer project, and my stomach drops.

Are you serious? I whisper at Kait, as a murmur of displeasure spreads through the other students. She presses her head against the desk.

Make it end.

-I’ve printed a list of assigned partners for the project, along with the procedure, report template, and list of supplies you’ll need. You can find all this information in the back of the syllabus, under ‘AP Physics: Summer Project.’ I hope you all have fun while you work together and utilize skills you learned in your physics class this year, in preparation for next year. Kaitlin stares at me wide-eyed from where her head lies on her desk. Simultaneously, we tear through the stack of stapled papers for the project information at the back. Kait finds it first, and my stomach drops farther as she hisses a string of curses.

Of course we’re not freakin’ partners. This class sucks.

I warned ya, I murmur as my heart sinks once I pull out the list of partners and confirm Kait’s words. Who did you get? I ask her, searching for my name on the list.

Some smart chick. At least I won’t fail, she mutters. Ooo, look at who you got. I spot my name just as she speaks, and I blink at the name mine is paired with on the page.

A. Revora and R. Spade

I take a glance at Kaitlin, who is shaking her head.

Roman? I say, peering around the room for the kid I know little of, other than his name. I spot him near the back with one of his friends, massaging his brow with a large hand as he stares at the paper on his desk.

I’d rather be partnered with a hottie than a smart chick, Kaitlin groans, patting me on the back. Lucky ho, she chuckles. I shoo her away from me.

Didn’t he go to rehab a while back? I ask.

Yeah, I think he does drugs. Kind of a troublemaker, I guess, but I think that’s hot.

Gross, Kait, I laugh. I’ll just be doing the project on my own, I guess. Why are everyone and their druggies taking Advanced Practice classes this year? I grin as I poke at Kait’s arm pointedly. She wrinkles her nose at me.

Oh, shut up. If you’re not interested, can I help you guys work on your project, Allie, pretty please? she says with a devilish grin, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

To your heart’s content, I mutter with a smirk.

I flip through the rest of the information on the project, scanning over the purpose and procedure. Turns out, we’re going to be building life-sized balsa wood boats, with a limited amount of balsa wood planks. We did a lab similar to this one in Mrs. Frann’s Physics I class this last semester, only the boats were tiny. These rafts/canoes/whatever-we-can-come-up-withs will have to support both partners. My heart goes out to the hefty students.

After Mrs. Farthing ends the meeting and releases us, Kaitlin tells me to meet her at her car before chatting and exchanging numbers with her partner on her way out of the room. I release a heavy sigh out of my nose as I note this is probably the first time I’m following Kait’s example as I purse my lips and wait next to the door for Roman as other kids file out of the room. I know little about him personally, but I had heard some rumors from people other than my good friend, the gossip queen. Trying not to tap my foot, I wait as he is one of the last ones out, saying a goodbye to his blonde friend before acknowledging me.

Hey, partner, he says in a low voice, giving me a visual look-over before smirking. I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I beat back the annoyance and offer a stiff hand of greeting.

You’re Roman? I say simply, and beneath long unkempt hair, grey-green eyes look coolly down at my outstretched hand.

And you’re Aleithea. I cringe slightly when he pronounces my name wrong. Growing impatient as he just stares at my hand in amusement, he finally takes it and pumps it once lazily as I match his smirk with a frosty look.

"Uh-lay-thee-uh."

Yeah, sorry. You go by Allie, though, right? I nod as we make our way out into the hallway, and I pull out the list of supplies from the syllabus. Just as I open my mouth to address them, he speaks.

What kind of name is that, anyway?

…It’s Greek. Anyway, I think we can get most of these supplies downtown.

Greek, huh.

"Project. Grade. Pass." I say as we round a corner. He gives a deep-chested chuckle as he ruffles my auburn hair.

Chill. We’ve got all summer, dude. I’m beat. He flashes me another grin as I shoot him a look and straighten out my messed up hair. I stop at my locker to shove the paper back into my purse, only the slightest bit pissed off as I start to turn the dial on my lock.

Whatever you say, Princess. Project has to be done one way or the other, let me know when you’re ready to contribute. I see him lean against the row of lockers from the corner of my eye. He’s watching me.

You’re something else, Revora, he murmurs with a chuckle as I root through my things, putting some books back and taking out others.

"How kind of you to say that. Though I’m not flirting with you," my voice echoes in the locker as I wrestle my tangle of earphone wires and attached iPod from the bottom.

I know, he smirks from behind dark hair. He is pretty hot, I’m not gonna lie. But the fact that he’s an asshole annuls any attraction.

"See you next week, Speed, I’m getting out of here," I mutter as I slam the locker and start walking towards the student parking lot.

Spade.

"Yeah, sorry."

Club, club, club, club. Kaitlin chants from the driver’s seat of her old, red Mustang as I walk across the lot towards her car.

Finals, finals, finals, I mutter as I plop into the passenger’s seat. Kait revs the engine.

Fun sucker, fun sucker, she sings before the car’s stereo pumps the music we had been blasting on our way to school this morning. Slumping low in the seat, I drag my hands over my face as she turns the music down and continues to persuade me to go to the teen club tonight with her and her brother. The club is really popular with our town, and all the others surrounding it, since the bar is made only accessible to those of age, and the dance floor is open to kids 16 and up. It’s really fun, even though it’s easy for underage kids to get over-21’s to buy them drinks.

Kait clicks through the tracks of the mix-CD, settling on some dance music. She dances comically as she drives, looking over at me deliberately to press her suggestion. I chuckle at her as I reach for the volume dial.

Alright. You win. I crank up the tunes.

With frozen coffees in hand from our pit stop at the local Starbucks, we round the corner towards Kaitlin’s house. I rub my temple as Kaitlin continues to tease me about my displeasure concerning my partner for the AP Physics project.

Why the hell aren’t you excited to work with him over break, Allie? she says vivaciously, "If I were you, I’d be fantasizing. I actually am fantasizing."

Well, that’s you, I shout over the rushing of wind, sticking my tongue out at her. She gives me a dramatically sexy wink over her shoulder as she pulls into her garage.

The ‘rents are gonna be out tonight. Jason told them he’s keeping an eye on us, but he’s bringing us to Serpentine so he can meet up with a bunch of his college friends.

He’s so responsible, I chuckle sarcastically.

Oh, and don’t forget to text your mom and tell her you’re staying at my house tonight, she reminds me.

Oh yeah. On it. I pull out my cell to send a simple text to my mother, with a friendly hello, and a sort-of-lie-but-not-really message saying that I’ll be spending the night as Kaitlin’s tonight.

We busy ourselves making food and goofing off for an hour and a half before Kaitlin’s mom and dad bustle out the door to spend the weekend at a convention for her father. After we get the run-down of the responsibilities of being left alone, Kaitlin hurries us to her room to start getting ready for one of her favorite pastimes. She’s glowing as she roots through her closet, and I take a seat on her puffy pink and black striped bed. Her walls are plain white, to match her carpeted floor, but she has it decked out with band paraphernalia. Almost every inch of her walls are covered with punk band posters, interesting and artistic pages cut out from magazines, and cute pictures she came across on the internet. I admire it a lot, and I like the simple creativity. I love the genre of music that often goes hand-in-hand with the whole scene get-up, 10 cream and metal. Some time, maybe, I want to buy some band tees, and maybe dye my hair. But the latter thought is a skeptical one for me, it’s a little out of my comfort zone. I’ve always just been... normal.

Kait, we’re not leaving for the club until like, 8. Its... 4:45.

I can’t wait any longer, we have to get ready before I die from excited anticipation. Besides, we have to start doing hair. Your hair, my hair. Make up. Clothes. It’s a process, my Allie, and we’re overdue, she recites primly as she emerges from her walk-in closet with a towering bundle of clothes. You wear, what, a five?

A three.

Ah... Well, I have a few outfits that I was a little ambitious in buying. I’ll make you so sexy.

Soon, I find myself in front of the mirror, squeezed into the tightest outfit I’ve ever worn in my life. It’s a party dress, strapless and black, cutting off way too far above my knees, way too low on my chest, and way too tight on my butt. But I guess that’s kind of the point. Kaitlin chimes her approval, brandishing a curling iron at me. She herself looks amazing, wearing a shimmering silver dress, with a swooping neck line that makes her boobs look great. Like mine, it isn’t very long, and hugs her curves.

She heats up the curling iron, and puts on some dance music to feed our excitement. Pit Bull croons from the radio with a sick Latin beat, giving me a small flutter of excitement for dancing tonight. Master of hair that she is, Kait finishes styling mine in a shower of curls, pulled back at the sides with silver clips. She left a few cute spirals down to frame my face. Finishing with a good layer of hair spray, she smiles at her work.

Yeah? I say, watching her reaction.

I’m a magician, she winks. I turn towards the mirror, and smile at her work.

That you are. Thanks, Kait, I say as I grin back at her through the mirror. She nods, her freshly straightened bangs falling in her eyes.

Ready? she purrs as she dangles a pair of black stilettos in front of me. I nod as I grab them, trying not to seem intimidated by the length of heel. Which I am... I’m not sure how Kaitlin does these kinds of things so easily. We put on our heels, and make our way downstairs to meet Jason.

Sweet Jesus, he mutters from where he sits burrowed into an easy chair in their living room. Take longer next time, I love waiting.

Thanks, we will, Kaitlin chimes, flipping him off as he stands to join us. His sandy-blonde hair has grown out since the last time I saw him, and he wears a loose-fitting button up shirt over dark wash jeans. He smells like he just put on cologne, so my guess is that he wasn’t actually waiting on us for very long.

Nice to see you, too, Jace, I laugh, falling in next to Kaitlin’s brother as we follow her to the garage.

Allie, you’re looking provocatively rape-able tonight, he teases, and I tug down the ends of the tight dress.

Yeah, yeah… Shut up, I retort. I ask him how the last semester of his junior year in college went as we all pile into his jeep, and he tells me it was good as he starts the vehicle. Kait and I sit in the back together, urging him to put some punk band on.

I hate that screaming garbage, he says as we back out of the driveway, and speed off to the teen club upstate.

****

Chapter 2: Serpentine

Pulling Jason behind us in our excitement, we duck under the neon-lit sign of the club, Serpentine. Once in, we clutch each other’s arms excitedly as we scurry farther into the club, scanning the scene in front of us. The bar is to our right, all the seats practically filled as baristas tend to the Friday night crowd. The dance floor is to our left, packed with dancing bodies moving to the pounding music coming from the DJ’s speakers. Booths of seats line the walls all around the dance floor.

C’mon, let’s get some booze in us before we dance! Kait shouts in my ear over the loud, sultry music, poking at Jason’s arm as a cue to buy us drinks.

Kait, I groan, grabbing her arm, Let’s dance first. I want to remember this, stupid, I say. In actuality, I’m kind of nervous to drink. My very first drinking experience was horrid, and I’m not too eager to try again. I had drunk too much to begin, and had ended up sick the whole night. It was a terrible experience.

Instead, I pull her toward the dance floor, waving off Jason. She obliges, too excited to not dance. We worm our way into the sea of bodies, and begin moving to the music. We stay close to each other in the crowd, using our eyes and movements to flirt silently with guys dancing near us.

This is better, Allie, Kait