I had no idea what made my idiot and sometimes harebrained mother
waste most of our savings and buy a house in an extremely small town
that held no interest for me.
I huffed like the teenager I was and crossed my arms, looking out
my new bedroom window in a sulk. The room itself was a pale yellow,
tiny with a built in wardrobe to my right and all my stuff to the left next
to the bedroom door. It was a good thing I didn’t have a lot of things or
there was no way it all fit. Turning around, I spotted a bag and walked
over to it. I unzipped it and sitting on top was a photo of mum and I that
was taken on my sixteenth birthday with me looking happy for once.
My father, Saul Morrison, had decided to walk out on us when I was
very young. That was the last time I saw him. Mum had used the money
that he had to pay her in child support to save up for a house and work-
ing two jobs had helped a lot. Otherwise, we would have been in a lot of
trouble when it came down to the punch. Mum relied on the help of my
grandparents to look after me while she worked her heart out just to
put food on the table and money for a home deposit.
Which brings us to this small town Forrest; population: around 170
people. Apparently, the cheapest houses were in this town and we
couldn’t afford much. Either that or mum didn’t have enough money for
a better and bigger house that might have made me happy about living
in this small upon small town.
“Brianna, can you give me a hand with some of this stuff?” mum
called down from the living room.
“Just a second,” I shouted back.
Mentally I thought that she should do all the work on her own since
she dragged me to this place with nothing but force, but she had done
enough in her life time and I wasn’t that type of person. Everything was
dumped everywhere as I walked down the hall way. It was a miracle
that I didn’t trip and land flat on my face from all the clutter and mess
that was everywhere.
2
“What do you need help with?” I asked when I walked into the
room.
“Unpacking all these boxes,” she replied. “They are starting to do
my back in and I have to work in the morning.”
“Great,” I muttered, tempted to now fake an injury so I didn’t have
to really help, but I wasn’t that type. I was raised to help someone when
it was needed.
As I got further down the box; I found an old picture of mum and
dad in happier days in a photo frame. Looking at mum in it, I realised
that I couldn’t see a single bit of my father in me. I had mum’s almost
forest looking green eyes, extremely pale skin complexion with a dust-
ing of freckles, thin nose, pouty lips and auburn coloured hair that eve-
ryone thought I secretly dyed to get such a vivid red colour. It was
freaky seeing so much of me in a younger looking mum. And that was
just looks. I got her 5’5 feet in height, and basically no fat on me.
I knew that everyone thought I had an eating disorder of some sort
to be so thin, but I didn’t. I just couldn’t put weight on.
“What are you looking at so intently?” she asked, looking over my
shoulder.
The only difference was now in mum that she was older and had
laugh lines and dressed for her age. When she saw what I was looking at
made her eyes turn hard and tense up. I didn’t blame her.
“I forgot I even had that,” she said and went back to doing what she
was doing, trying to forget the pain that the photo brung up.
“He left because I looked so much like you and there is nothing of
him in me. He couldn’t handle that his daughter had more Clarkson
genes in her than Morrison,” I stated and placed the photo back in the
box, were it was going to stay.
“Your father doesn’t realise what he is missing out on now. He
didn’t get to watch you grow up into a beautiful girl that you are now
and he won’t have anything to do with grandchildren if you have any
one day,” mum told me.
She turned her back and started on another box, but I wasn’t fin-
ished talking about this yet. Why did she still have this photo for after all
these years? Did she still love him? Would she forgive him if he came
3
begging for a second chance? There were a lot of questions that I had,
but I knew that I wasn’t going to get a proper answer that I wanted.
“Then why don’t you just burn it in the fireplace? You can save
yourself from all the hurt and anger that he has caused you over the
years and forget about him and everything that has happened with him.
You can forget about the past,” I said, staring at her back, but got no
response from her.
I sighed, trying to find it in my heart to find some love for him, but I
couldn’t find it. There was another emotion I couldn’t place. Anger or
hurt. He was the one that missed out on all the good things in my life
and was never going to see them again. Most things that I did involve
my grandfather to support me. Saul Morrison wasn’t my father in my
eyes. He was nothing to me anymore.
“I try to find some sort of emotion inside me about him, but I can’t.
All I can feel is coldness towards him,” I told her and clenched my fists.
“He is the one that is going to realise what a huge mistake he has
made when it’s too late for him to fix the problem. Anyway, you should
finish up your room and get to bed. You have school in the morning and
I want you refreshed in the morning, not looking like a corpse like you
do today,” mum said and walked towards the kitchen.
Gee, thanks for the self confidence boost. I really appreciate that.
“It’s too late for him to fix the problem now. And I can’t I have just
one more day off school?” I asked and followed her into the room with
a hopeful look on my face.
“Nice try Brianna,” she said, smirking at my attempt of getting my
way.
Grumbling to myself, I walked back up the hall and into my room.
Most of my things were up in place within twenty minutes. A lot of my
things were hand me downs, since we couldn’t afford much as it was
and I was grateful for the things I did have. It was a good thing mum
took a job at the chemist in Colac. We needed money so we could save
for other things.
After eleven o’clock, I made my way to bed, but I couldn’t get to
sleep. My mind was active and I was full of dread and worry for school.
Since I was going to be the new girl, everyone was going to be in my
4
face, trying to make me feel welcome and seeing who can befriend the
new girl first but not knowing what this redhead was capable of doing or
the temper she unleashed when pushed enough. They were going to be
all over me like Magpies swooping humans when protecting their young
ones.
Morning came around fast and before I knew it, we were on the way
to Colac. The whole drive, I looked out the window. I was in no mood to
talk. The only time I became alert was when we pulled up to the school.
Colac senior secondary college was a light grey brick building. It was two
stories high with other buildings that extended out around it.
“Brianna, I know this isn’t going to make any difference but good
luck today. I know that you will be fine,” mum said, her eyes tearing up.
“This reminds me of prep. You trying to hold it together for me and
for you,” I said and tried to smile.
I didn’t know why I was getting so emotional for. It was just school. It
wasn’t like I was leaving for university or something. Grabbing my
school bag, I got out of the car and walked towards the main office. I
was lucky that you could dress in plain clothes, and not have to wear a
uniform. I don’t think I could have gotten use to a uniform for the whole
school year.
When I walked into the room, everyone looked at me and started
whispering. One thing I hated about small towns; they gossiped. It was
like they had nothing better to do with their time. I approached the
main desk, clearing my throat.
“Can I help you?” a woman asked at the desk, looking up from the
computer monitor.
“I’m the new student that is meant to start here today and I was told
to come to the office on my first day,” I said, hoping to jog something in
her memory.
“Oh yes of course,” she said and started looking for something.
She handed me a bunch of books and a time table before calling
over someone. She had light brown hair with brown eyes and a tan
complexion and was a bit shorter than me and looked to be the same
weight as me. She grabbed the strap of her school bag and held onto it.
“Hudson could you and I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” she said
5
and looked at me.
“Brianna,” I told her.
“Could you show Brianna around today since she is in all your clas-
ses?”
“Sure,” she replied and looked at me.
I grabbed everything and walked over to the chairs so I could sort
out everything so I wouldn’t be pulling my hair out come lunch time.
“So as you know I’m Hudson Mahoney. I’m sure that you have heard
about me in Forrest by now,” she said, making me look at her.
“Actually, I haven’t. We only moved there yesterday and I haven’t
had the chance to meet the locals or catch up on the local gossip,” I told
her.
“Well, I can already see that we are going to be great friends,” Hud-
son said and smiled warmly at me.
We walked out of the office where she waved at someone. I glanced
over before doing another take. The boy was breathtakingly beautiful.
He looked about over six foot in height with a lean body. His skin was
very pale and from the distance, I could tell that he had features that
the girls in Hollywood would crave. How he didn’t have girls hanging off
him, I didn’t know.
“Do you know him?” I asked Hudson.
“Yes and you will soon also. His name is Brandon Johnstone and we
are currently dating,” she said. “Come on, we have classes soon and we
don’t want to be late on your first day. That wouldn’t leave a good im-
pression.”
Taking one last look behind me, I followed. Hudson showed me my
locker, which was right next to hers. I looked around me to make sure
that no one was close by and opened it up and placed everything inside
of it. I didn’t need them knowing what things I had and didn’t have
“You are going to need your English book and pens,” Hudson said.
I nodded and grabbed what she told me. Walking to class, everyone
was looking at me. I was started to feel intimated. I didn’t like all the
attention on me and I didn’t know how long it was going to last here.
“So, I hear that you are from Melton,” Hudson said, making small
talk.
6
Well, it was good to know that I hadn’t been here for twenty-four
hours and already my life story was beginning to show.
“Yes I am.”
“What does your father do?” she asked suddenly when we came to
our class room.
Crap, was my first thought. How on earth was I meant to answer
that? I didn’t want anyone knowing about my father and I had planned
on keeping it that way. But what made her ask that question? Was that
gossip about my father not being around going through the town also?
“I really don’t wish to talk about that,” I said in a clipped tone.
I pushed open the door and walked inside the classroom. Some stu-
dents were already there and didn’t bother to look up when I entered
the room. I noticed the teacher and could tell that she was beautiful.
She looked up and I saw that she didn’t have any aging lines or anything
on her face. Her eyes were a pale blue that were welcoming. She was
also wasn’t very tall.
“You must be Brianna,” the teacher said and walked up to me. “I’m
Mrs. Franklin, but you can call me Aubrey.”
I smiled and looked around for a spare seat. I didn’t want to take
someone else’s by mistake.
“You can go take a seat next to Alexander as that is the only spare in
the class,” she said and walked back over to her desk, grabbing a piece
of paper.
I was frozen solid in my place. Either I needed glasses or that was
my cousin I was looking at. The blonde hair was the same and so was
the face. He had my face as he got that feature from his mother. I
placed my books down on the table, making him look up and open his
mouth in shock when he realised that I was standing there.
“Brianna,” he whispered in shock.
“Hello Alex,” I said and sat down.
“What are you doing here? I thought Melton was the rage for you
and that you had no plans on leaving?” he asked, still in shock that I was
in front of him.
“Mum decided to buy a house in Forrest as the memories were
starting to get the best of us so we left and you know that I have never
7
really had a say in stuff that involves this sort of stuff,” I muttered.
“I take it that he still hasn’t bothered to have a relationship with you
yet?” he asked, already knowing what the answer would be.
“I believe that he is counting down until I am eighteen so he doesn’t
have to pay any more money to mum for me. He has missed everything
that has happened in my life, so it’s best if I stop trying to find him and
just forget about it.”
Mrs. Franklin clapped her hands to catch our attention. During my
chat with Alex, the class filled up, except the empty seat next to where
Hudson was sitting. Hudson kept on looking at the door, before narrow-
ing her eyes and shaking her head. I had a feeling that it involved the
person that sat next to her.
“Okay class, before we do anything today, we have a new student,
Brianna so I expect all of you to treat her like you do with your fellow
classmates and not any differently,” she said and looked straight at me.
“That’s you, my dear cousin,” Alex whispered, earning himself a
glare from me.
Everyone’s attention was on me, making me slither down the chair
until I had almost fell off it. Attention was not a strong point with me
and it would never be. Hudson smiled at me in sympathy, but then shot
a look to Alex basically telling him to back off and leave me alone. She
didn’t know that he was my cousin and wouldn’t do anything to hurt
me. This was going to be an interesting lunch break when it came up.
The classroom door opened and my mouth dropped open. A gor-
geous teenage boy walked into the classroom. His skin was paler than
mine but flawless, pouty lips with light honey coloured hair. He looked
up from the ground and made eye contact with me. He had high cheek
bones and light green eyes. They reminded me of emeralds. Another
thing I noticed was that he was tall.
I felt my heart rate pick up and couldn’t understand why. I mean, he
was gorgeous, but why would that make my heart rate speed up? I
looked at Alex and saw that his eyes were narrowed at this boy. Straight
away I knew that Alex wasn’t a fan of him and now I wanted to know
why.
“Nathaniel, I am so glad that you finally could join us in learning but
8
you have missed the introductions and I have no plans on redoing them
again to please you,” Mrs. Franklin said, glaring at him and crossing her
arms.
“I don’t even want to hear them as you should know that they don’t
hold any interest for me,” he muttered, glaring back at her.
He walked over to where Hudson was and sat next to her, but he
never broke eye contact with me until he was seated. Hudson whis-
pered something to him but quickly glanced over to where I was and
turned her attention back onto Mrs. Franklin.
“Alright, I want you to take out a piece of paper and write down
what you got up to in the holidays. You will be having an easy week this
week until I throw you into the deep end starting next Monday,” she
said, smirking when everyone but Nathaniel and I groaned.
“I hate when she does this,” Alex muttered.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you can bet that she will have something up her sleeve
that we all won’t like,” he replied, shaking his head.
I didn’t say anything in reply. I liked being challenged with things,
not like my cousin. Sighing, I grabbed my pen and started writing. The
bell rang an hour later, signalling that the class was over. As I was pack-
ing my things, Hudson got up from her seat with her bag and walked
over, glaring at Alex.
“You couldn’t help yourself, could you Alex? Why don’t you just stay
away from Brianna?” Hudson asked; her voice laced with venom.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“You know what I am talking about, so don’t you go playing dumb
with me. Brianna doesn’t need you hovering and getting obsessive over
her, so I wouldn’t even think about it,” she said, her eyes narrowing.
Had my cousin changed for the worst and I wasn’t aware of it? Or
did she always do this when a new student had arrived? She didn’t
know him like I did and basically didn’t have the right to judge.
“Hudson, Alex is my cousin,” I said, putting an end to this fight.
“What?” she asked.
“You heard what she said Hudson. I am her cousin and I do have a
right to hover over her if I have to. It is my job to protect her and I will
9
be doing that, no matter what you say. No one can keep me away from
my cousin.”
Hudson walked out of the classroom, leaving me alone with Alex. I
grabbed my books and started to walk, Alex by my side.
“What was that?” I asked after a while.
“What was what?” he asked.
“What was that back in the classroom?”
“Brianna, I was just standing up to Hudson for my own sake. If she
got her way, we wouldn’t be around each other while she was in the
same room. She would stop it, thinking she was saving you from going
down a dark path, but you already have.”
I stopped at my locker and yanked it open before looking at Alex.
“How did Rachel raise you?” I asked.
My whole life, I had never heard Alex speak like that to anyone and
never about me. All he told people was that I was his cousin and that
was usually it. I didn’t know if Rachel had said anything and he was lis-
tening to her.
“My mother raised me fine thank you very much.”
Rolling my eyes, I placed my books in the locker and grabbed my
school bag, before shutting it and turning to walk away, but I hit some-
thing hard. I grabbed onto Alex for support and looked up. Looking
down at me was another beautiful boy. How many where there in this
school? He had sandy blonde hair and dark blue eyes that laced
amusement in them. He was tall also, but not as tall as Nathaniel and his
features weren’t as full.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was in my own world and didn’t even see you,” I
said, trying not to fall to a puddle of goo on the floor.
“It’s quite alright. I just happened to look over and see a very beau-
tiful girl standing here with this idiot and had to introduce myself before
she got away,” the good looking man said.
“James, quit flirting with my cousin, Brianna. Amylia would have
your neck for it if she was here today and saw you doing that,” Alex said
and smirked.
“I can handle Amylia,” James said, looking at my cousin.
“Why do I have a feeling that you both are trouble when in the
10
same room?” I asked suddenly.
James looked at me and smirked before looking at Alex. “She is very
smart.”
“She’s a Clarkson. We figure things out very quickly.”
“Well, as much as I would love to stay and talk, I have a break that I
wish to enjoy. James, it was nice meeting you and Alex...just...forget it,”
I muttered and walked away.
I pushed open the door and stopped when I noticed a boy with
bleach blonde hair looking straight at me. He was looking at me like I
was his prize that he had won. Great, that’s what I needed; a stalker and
on my first day, too. He started to approach me and his brown eyes
looked dirty, but it was just the colour of them. It matched his creepi-
ness
“Hello,” he said, stopping in front of me.
“Hi,” I said, unsure of what he even wanted.
“I haven’t had a chance to introduce myself. My name is Jason and
saw you all alone and thought that you might have wanted some com-
pany.”
“Brianna, and I’m sorry, but I have to go,” I said and tried to walk
away from him, but he wouldn’t let me as he grabbed onto my arm.
My skin felt like it was crawling from Jason’s touch and I didn’t like it
at all. I looked down and forced myself not to shudder from his touch.
That wouldn’t have been a good thing, and he might have taken it the
wrong way.
“Why? Are you in a hurry?” he asked, not giving up.
“Of course I am,” I muttered.
“Well, that’s a pity. I’ll see you around beautiful,” he said and
walked away.
Something about him gave me the creeps. Hudson walked over to
me with; I believed to be Brandon, behind her. She looked over towards
Jason and glared.
“Stay away from Jason Hargreaves. He isn’t someone that you
would want in your life for any reason,” Hudson said and looked at me.
“He came up to me,” I said, feeling offended that she thought I
would have gone up to someone like that.
11
“Hudson, let the girl breathe,” Brandon said, crossing his arms.
I looked at him and half smiled, trying to gauge his reaction on me,
since I was new and wasn’t sure that he even liked me. He looked me up
and down before muttering something to Hudson and walked away.
“Don’t worry about Brandon. He isn’t too sure about you at the
moment because you are new here at the moment,” Hudson said.
“Does he think I am going to murder you or something?”
“You’re the new kid whose father no one has seen. Everyone is a bit
jumpy.”
“Oh, so everyone is judging me because they haven’t seen my fa-
ther? Well, for your information and you can pass this along to every-
one else also, I haven’t seen my father for a very long time, since I was
eighteen months old,” I said in a calm voice.
“Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” she asked.
“Because it’s none of your business to know where my father is or
not, I don’t want anyone knowing anything because I don’t want ques-
tions fired at me all the time,” I replied and walked away, leaving her
standing there.
I walked down to the football oval and sat down on the grass. I
pulled my knees up to my chest and sighed. I should have just done
home schooling and been done with it. I didn’t need the stress from
everyone and this wasn’t going to help my mood at all. James looked
over to where I was and walked over to where I was sitting.
“I thought it was you sitting here alone Brianna,” he said, making
me look up.
“Who else would it be?” I asked in a dead tone.
He sat down next to me, looking concerned. If he was putting on the
niceness for more information about me and my life, he wasn’t getting
anything. He did look concerned for me though, so maybe he did care
and wasn’t acting.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Do I look it? I haven’t even been here for twenty-four hours and
everyone wants the gossip on me,” I said, feel