Bite Me

With 240 overcast days per year Astoria, Oregon was the very last place in the universe I wanted to live. I loved living in Liverpool, even though it rained there more than it did in Astoria. The city was always alive and bright and the temperature hardly ever dipped below freezing. When my parents first announced the news of our move, I tried to convince them to move us somewhere just a tad sunnier with much the same social scene. I was envisioning somewhere like California or maybe Hawaii. But Mum didn’t like the sun. She didn’t like change. I had pleaded with Da to change her mind until he tweaked my nose and promised he would try. Mum had started to consider warmer areas, but then we lost Da. And all she wanted was stability, darkness, and quiet. That’s probably what made it the ideal place for my mum. The last thing she needed right now was the sun or any nightlife scene that I could inject myself into. That’s why we ended up in Astoria, Oregon, the absolute very last place I would ever want to live.

The first day of my new life wasn’t sunny or special. It was raining. I didn’t look at it like it was a sign. I had stopped believing in divine beings and mystical powers long ago and I was used to rain anyway. I struggled into my favourite dark wash skinny jeans, throwing an oversized jumper on overtop. I tugged on my trusty Minnetonka’s and left without telling Mum goodbye. I walked without a rain coat on. It wasn’t really raining. Just drizzling. I could tell it would be pouring in half an hour at most, but I was unconcerned with the weather. It was my first day of school, not only in a new city and state but an entirely new continent. Though I would never admit it, I was nervous. I was some little girl from England without a solid story to stand on. I was pretty sure that I was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Had we still been in England, I would have been fine with that. I knew myself there. I knew the scene and felt completely comfortable being the crazy ass fuck that I am. Here, I was completely blind. Fuck, I didn’t even know Astoria existed until Mum stuck a print out of what would become our house on my bedroom door. I probably could have bullshitted my way in a big city, but small towns differed drastically from everywhere else.

By the time I reached Astoria High the drizzle had stripped the gel from my hair. I had no doubt that I looked like a complete nutter. I stepped into the main office. It was warm. That was always a plus. There was a stuffy looking lady sitting behind a counter in a white button up blouse with a black pencil skirt. I felt the blood rising in my cheeks. I hated talking to strangers, especially adults. Her nametag said she was Mrs. Naline.

“Excuse me, but I was told to come here to get my schedule. My name is Annika Stars.” I said, trying to hide my accent as much as possible.

Mrs. Naline looked at me with a half intrigued, half annoyed look. So she had heard about me. Well wasn’t that just lovely. She tossed the schedule and a map over the counter and went back to typing in a very obvious way. I took the hint and disappeared into the hall. First hour: Biology. Brill. The halls were empty as I walked towards biology. I knew I was going to be late. I didn’t care. In Liverpool, I cut class like it was my damn job. I went to Bio though; first day should never be cut.

I slipped into class five minutes late. Mr. Bolson, the teacher, huffed at me but didn’t make any sort of comment. Thank God for tiny miracles. He directed me to an empty lab table. 26 pairs of eyes followed me to the table about midway through the classroom. The seat next to me was empty and I hoped it would stay that way. Reluctantly all eyes went back to Mr. Bolson, who continued on with his lesson. The same exact scenario played out in my next two class hours. I was always five minutes late and the teacher just huffed without saying anything. And I saw heads turning and following me the entire time.

At 12:00 exactly, a bell rang to signal the end of my third hour class. The schedule I had been given directed me to the auditorium that was in the center of the building. Apparently, Astoria High didn’t bother with lunch hours. Instead, there was a daily assembly.

At the assembly everyone sat with their age group the freshman at the very, very front up to the seniors who sat closest to the back. I sat in a row alone. It was somewhere between the seniors and juniors so I figured it was close enough to whatever ‘grade level’ I had been dropped in. I hadn’t met anyone really. It seemed to me that some people hated me, while others were intimidated. My guess was that they weren’t used to new people. Also, I hadn’t exactly made any effort to talk to anyone.

A boy with slight skin problems and hair the colour of the darkest night sat down in my row next to me. I recognized him from the History class I had just left.

“Name’s Spencer. Spence for short.” He said with a cocky grin.

“Annika.” I smirked.

I could see the glint in his eyes at my smile. I wanted to groan. I had no interest in being chatted up by this douche.

“So you’re new here right?” He said with that same self-confident grin.

I nodded and my hair bounced around with my head.

“Cool.” He inched closer. “So where are you from?”

“England.” I said flashing him a smile that made it painfully clear I was out of his league.

He looked taken aback and seemed to be going over our conversation in his head, trying to figure out if he had caught my accent earlier. I rubbed my temples, a habit I had picked up from Da. I looked up to see another boy with brown eyes and dishevelled chocolate hair sit down next to me. I sighed internally. I didn’t care about being chatted up back home because I had grown used to it and it was always the same blokes doing it. It just felt weird.

“Hi. I’m Skylar.”

He didn’t sound like he was just trying to get a shag out of me like the other kid had, so I decided to be nice.

“Annika.” I said, smiling.

“Oh hey Skye, I see you’ve met Annika. She just moved here from England.” Spencer said, slinging his arm around my shoulder.

I shrugged away from him as three other girls sat down in the row in front of me. One had hair the exact colour of the sun and orange skin, which was strange because of where she lived. She introduced herself as Hana and I caught her starring at Spencer. At least now I could shove him off to her. The two other girls introduced themselves as Molly and Holly. They were identical twins, so I was gonna be fucked to remember them. Then a whole group of kids sat down and I was lost in the flurry of their names.

“So you’re from England right?” Hana asked.

“Yep.” I started picking the skin at the sides of my fingernails apart.

“Omigod! That is so cool! Spence always talks about moving there. Right, Spence?” She turned her aquamarine eyes adoringly on the boy next to me.

I wasn’t normally one to judge, but she seemed like a proper slag. I turned away from them and caught sight of three teenagers walking through the doors.

It felt like everything was moving in slow motion, although nothing changed. No one else in the auditorium seemed interested by the new additions; in fact they completely ignored them. I felt like I had just been completely submerged in ice water. Every fibre of my being screamed at me to run. They walked with an otherworldly confidence but there was something sinister about them. Their haunting beauty was doing my head in. I heard myself gasp, my breathing becoming uneven, but it didn’t really register that I had made the noise. I couldn't take my eyes off of them, not even when Holly tapped my shoulder. Then she looked over and seemed to understand my preoccupation.

“Those are the Malums.” She whispered.

“What are their names?” I asked, barely breathing.

“Well the blonde is Esmeralda.” she said, pointing to the girl who looked like a sinister version of Tinkerbell. “And the boy that keeps his hand glued to hers,” she pointed to a boy with caramel coloured hair and distinctly wolfish features, “is Cameron.”

I watched as Esmeralda led Cameron to a pair of seats about midway through the auditorium. The other boy seemed to lag behind them. His purple eyes scanned through the students and gooseflesh covered my olive skin at the sight of the darkness in them. I silently pointed to him and Molly sighed. She leaned in next to me by Holly and gave me a pitiful look.

“That’s Michael. Everyone wants him, nobody gets him.”

I felt like I was gonna vom. Obviously there was something wrong with the girls here. He oozed danger and distrust. Normally, I would find that rather attractive. But on Michael, it scared the piss outta me.

I watched as Michael sat by Esmeralda and Caleb. He sank down in his seat, pulling a beanie out of his pocket and pulling it down over his messy hair. I couldn’t tear my eyes off of him despite the intense fear and anger I felt coursing through my veins. The twins sighed in unison and turned around. Spencer tried to get my attention, but I ignored him. I heard him grumbling to himself and Hana shot me a nasty look, but I didn’t give a shit.

Despite the anxiety I was feeling at his presence, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. And then his violet orbs locked onto me. I felt a panic attack take hold. But his eyes held something I wasn't expecting. Fear. He was afraid. Of me. I started and automatically turned away. The lights dimmed as the headmistress stepped onto the stage.

I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Michael leaning forward, arguing with Esmeralda. Cameron placed his hand on Esmeralda’s shoulder and thrust his finger in Michael’s face. Michael sat back and all three of them glanced in my direction. I blanched and looked at my lap. The headmistress started speaking and I took a deep breath. I would just have to push through this day, and then I could go home and bury myself under my blankets. I could forget about these spinny students and right confusing way they made me feel. I had learned long ago that if I just hid under everything, I could never get hurt, and that was exactly what I going to do.