In the Light of the Moon : Ch1

Chapter One
The Meeting

As I gazed into the mirror, everything I could see was average: average smile, average dark brown hair, and average pasty-pale skin tone. Not to mention the small nose plastered to my face or the slightly pointed ears that were covered by hair. The only thing that I liked about my appearance in that mirror was my light, periwinkle blue eyes that shone out wildly with my dark features. I had already dressed myself this morning, knowing that if I didn't, I wouldn't even go to school in the first place. It's not like there's anyone to stop me, I thought to myself, adding eyeliner and mascara to my eyes. Aunt Claire has no idea what goes on in this house of hers.

I pinned my hair awkwardly and walked out of the bathroom and into my room to gather up the homework that I didn't do and my backpack that was on the floor. Since my parents were killed in Japan the previous summer, my thoughts were elsewhere other than school; I figured that I wasn't going to college anyway, so why should I even worry. Somehow I managed to pass with straight C's in all my classes, which was technically passing, so no one could really complain. Plus, Aunt Claire never really knew what grades I got because she was always off doing something for her high-class job which got her the money to live in a house as big as the one she was letting me stay in.

My parents were also pretty well off when they were alive. They were ambassadors who worked all over the world trying to help people in their times of need. Unlike my aunt, who only cared about money making, my parents weren't in the job for the cash; they honestly cared about all the people they worked for. I heaved a deep sigh. Of course, they were the ones that were killed in the terrorist attack in Southern Japan. My aunt was still alive and well, somewhere in New York, trying to cut a deal with some rich-beyond-belief celebrity, and was probably never off of her cell phone. I sighed again; why did life have to be so unfair?

The house my aunt owned was in Toronto, Canada. It was a pretty big city, full of all kinds of different people. I was used to this cold, empty house, though, because when my parents were off on trips, I always stayed with her; it was the closest to my school and I could always take a bus. The fact that I was used to it didn't make it any nicer, however. I missed the comforting feeling of being at my house, where there was always a fire going and a smiling family to come home to. Now all there was was a cold house with wood flooring and furniture that wasn't for use, it was only decoration. There was also Maria, the French maid who came every other day to clean the house; even though it was so spotless she really had nothing to do. She spoke very little English and I chose to ignore her whenever she was in the house because she wasn't good company, and I knew no French.

I threw the books and binders into my backpack and headed downstairs to get some breakfast before I went outside. All that my aunt ever bought was healthy cereals, so I grabbed white bread out of the cabinet and put it in the toaster. As soon as it popped up, I slathered butter on it and stuffed it down my throat; I was already late enough for the bus as it was. I ran to the doorway and pulled the door open, sliding on a hefty snow jacket, since it was the middle of November, and pulling the hood over my head. I picked up my backpack and ran outside, locking the door behind me.

My aunt's driveway was pristine and properly put in perfect order. There were rose bushes along the curvy roadway that were perfectly cut so that they didn't stick out at all into the driving area, and there were trees that only grew high enough to block out nosy people from looking into the gate. The rose bushes never ever bloomed, but my aunt swore to it that she had every colored rose that was ever invented, and I had no reason to doubt this fact. Opening the gate, I took a last look at the now empty house; it looked ominous and dark in the flurry snow, and its dark roof and tinted windows made it look like something out of a horror film. I shuddered and ran down the street toward the bus stop.

As I neared the bus stop, I saw someone in a bright orange jacket waving to me with tangerine colored gloves. I examined her closely, realizing that she was covered head to toe with bright orange.

"Daisy Jameson," I said, mortified, "what the hell are you wearing?"

Daisy looked herself up and down pleasantly, showing off her braces in a large smile. "Isn't it awesome? My mom just took me shopping this weekend. She asked me about all the orange, but I just told her you can never have too much orange! Don't you agree?"

I winced, noticing that even her curly hair was ginger. "I suppose not." I didn't have the heart to tell her the truth; she just looked so happy.

Her freckled face lit up and she blushed. "I know; I just love the color orange."
The bus pulled up in front of us and we hurried onto it, shaking all the snow off of us before we entered. It wasn't much warmer on the bus because our bus driver was meticulous about things and never had the heater on too high, for fear of the bus shorting out or something. It was ridiculous, but if anyone complained he stopped the bus and made them walk to school.

"Hey, Crystal, look," Daisy said, poking me on the shoulder and pointing to the front of the school. "I see someone you might be interested in."

I traced her finger to a boy standing in the middle of an interested crowd, talking calmly and smiling slightly. He had jet black hair that he spiked in the front and green eyes that shone out through his white skin tone like gems. The smile he gave was award-winning and perfectly flawless and took my breath away. Not to mention he dressed in the coolest way possible, with over shirts and jeans that fit perfectly to his body.

"Spencer Stewart…" I sighed. "Him in all his perfection."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "You know, Miss Crystal Watson, that he has absolutely no idea you exist, right?"

I gave her a dirty look as she pushed me out of the seat and into the aisle. I walked down off of the bus and through the high gates into the school. As we passed Spencer and his crew, I gave him one last longing stare, hoping he would at least glance my way. When he didn't, Daisy pushed me all the way into the school building.

"I was f-f-freezing out there!" she stammered. "I can't believe people are just standing out there!"

A creeping loneliness began to make its way into the pit of my heart. "I bet he just radiated warmth around them."

Daisy looked at me, slightly disgusted. "Ugh, seriously?" She grabbed my arm and shook me forcefully.

Surprised, I pulled away quickly. "What the –"

"You need to realize that you're living in a fantasy, Crystal. He has no idea who you are so why do you keep having such false hope?" Daisy stepped back, exasperated.

I was still completely confounded when she had finished and it took me a minute to reply. When I did, it was in a small voice. "Don't tell me how to feel."

I could feel the dark, dripping loneliness begin to corrode my entire heart, squeezing it tightly. Looking out the window, I could see him still laughing loudly with friends outside; I knew very well that it was a hopeless effort to keep my hopes alive about him, but I just couldn't let it go. The hope that I kept allowed me relief from the depression that I knew was going to appear sooner or later.

"What?" Daisy looked aghast.

My voice became a little more firm. "I said, don't tell me how to feel."

"Crystal," Daisy replied, a more comforting tone coming into her voice, "I definitely was not trying to tell you how to feel. I was just simply –"

"Just shut up!" I shouted. "I don't need to hear your truths!"

I ran into my classroom, leaving a completely flabbergasted Daisy in my wake.
As I sat in my desk, I lay my head down on my arms and looked out the window. It was still flurrying and I could see the snow slowly piling up on the pine trees and the ground. Snow was beautiful when it first fell, pure and white without any natural corruption. I sighed deeply, trying to make the darkness in my heart go away.

As the class started to fill in, I raised my head from my arms and looked to my right. Daisy was sitting calmly next to me, looking straight ahead at the board. Her eyes flickered toward me for a fraction of a second and then looked away, preferring not to make contact.

I sighed and looked away, watching my teacher fumble around his desk. I blew air out of my mouth, moving my bangs to the side of my face; it was too quiet for me. I kept glancing over at Daisy, trying to see if she'd ever look at me; I began to feel bad for blowing up on her because it wasn't really her fault. I just didn't like the truth.

"Okay, okay," I breathed, sitting up in my seat. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, you know I didn't mean it. I'm just rather overwhelmed with myself right now."

"Selfish." Daisy looked over at me. "You're completely selfish." She sighed. "Okay, yeah, I forgive you. Just, don't do it ever again, okay?"

"Deal," I replied.

My history teacher began to lecture to us and Daisy and I stopped talking and started taking notes. He was a dry lecturer, but I did learn a lot from his class and I always did well on his tests. It was pretty much the only class that I understood so well, so it made me feel like less of a failure at real life. Although college was never going to be in the cards for me, at least I had a backup job if I actually needed it; of course I wouldn't because Aunt Claire would always give me money if I annoyed her enough about it.

As soon as school got out, I rushed over to the science building to meet Daisy and get on the bus home. The snow was falling much harder now and I had to keep my big, fluffy jacket covering every inch of my upper body or I was going to freeze. The hood was soft inside and kept my head insulated so that my ears stayed completely warm. Daisy and I were huddled together on the bus seat, shivering because stupid Mr. Bus Driver wouldn't even turn on the heat while it was a snow storm. I braced myself before I walked outside, keeping my arms very close to my body.

Daisy and I said our goodbyes at the bus stop and I trudged through the snow to get to my aunt's house. I kept my head down, trying to lock the heat into my body and not let my cheeks or nose freeze off.

I could almost see the large gate that surrounded my aunt's house when I noticed an odd shape out of the corner of my eye. I stopped walking and raised my head to look over; it was the park that kids played at when the weather was nice outside, and there was a large mound of snow where the swing set would have been. It was hard to see clearly because the snow was clouding up my vision and my eyes stung from the wind, but I could see a shadow of a figure just standing on top of the mound, unmoving.

Confused, I stood in that spot for two minutes, trying hard to decipher what the figure was. I was too afraid to go up to it, but curiosity was killing me inside so I just had to figure out what it was. I took a step toward it, but it just stayed perfectly still. I took another couple of steps until I was at the bottom of the mound and looking up at the figure. Now I could tell that it was an animal of some sort because it was sitting on four legs and had pointed ears. It had to be a domestic animal because it didn't notice me or try to attack me at all, and it looked much too small to be anything dangerous. Although, it slightly resembled a white wolf and so I backed up a little, afraid that if I moved any close it would attack me.

As soon as I moved back, the animal moved his head and stared straight at me. A jolt of fear shot through me and I stumbled backward, unable to catch my balance. It looked so menacing through the thick snowfall and with my blurred vision. As I was trying to make my way backwards, not taking my eyes of the animal, I stumbled backward and fell into the three-foot snow. I created a crevice and was a little bit stuck because there was not enough friction on the snow and I couldn't pull myself out.

I could see the animal still observing me, but it was up on all fours and looked like it was contemplating whether or not to come over to me, walking forward and then retreating back. It finally made up its mind and bounded toward me, and I scrambled in the snow, trying to get to my feet. My heart started pounding hard, and I couldn't quite catch my breath.

The animal stopped running and walked up to me, and I could see that it was just an Akita, with fluffy white and reddish fur and perfectly pointed ears. It bared its teeth and then walked behind me, grabbing onto my jacket and pulling me up. I shook the snow out of my hair and leveled myself, brushing the snow off of my clothes.

"Well, aren't you pretty?" I said, looking at the Akita. "Hmm, do you have an owner? You look a little lost."

I bent over and reached out my hand slowly, but the Akita backed away quickly. It seemed to be afraid of people, or at least of me. My hand retreated behind my back and I backed up, showing that I did not want to hurt it. The Akita eyed me curiously, a sort of human-like curiosity. It must have been a pretty sly dog because it walked up to me slowly after that; I slowly reached out my hand again and this time it allowed me to get close, sniffing at my fingers, and then looking up at me. I couldn't shake to almost human-like looks it gave to me, but I ignored it and petted the top of its head.

I got down on my knees to check for its collar, and it sat down right along with me. I felt around its neck, but there was nothing there: no jingle or rough feeling inside its fluffy coat.

"You don't have an owner?" I looked at it, contemplating. "Well, no wonder you were afraid of me. But you seem like such a sweetheart… Hmm, well, maybe I can take you home… Just for a little while, of course. You can't stay long. Aunt Claire really wouldn't like animals in her house… although she's never really home to notice that you'd be there anyway."

I stood up and brushed the snow off of my jeans. "Well, whattya say?" I reached out my hand toward the Akita. "Would you like to come home with me tonight?"
The Akita backed away a little at my sudden abruptness, and my hand fell. I couldn't make the dog follow me, but it sure would be nice to have company in that lonely house…

I drew a deep breath. "I can't make you come… but it would be much nicer and warmer and comfortable at the house. I'm sure the snow here is cold and wet and uncomfortable."

Although I was speaking to the dog as if he were a human and knew that it was impossible for it to completely understand me, I felt as if the dog was debating as to whether to follow me or not. It was a silly thought, but it was yet another feeling I couldn't shake. I stood there for a moment, watching the dog pace back and forth slowly, until it just stopped and sat down and looked at me firmly.
"Um, okay." I stared back at it intently. "I see you've decided not to come with. Well, have fun out here freezing."

I walked away quickly, ready to get out of the freezing weather and into a nice warm house (or, at least, one that would soon enough be warm). I pulled my scarf over my mouth and nose and put my hands into my coat pockets and hurried off toward where my house was.

From the corners of my vision, I watched as the Akita again started pacing back and forth, and finally began to follow me stealthily. It followed me all the way to the gate of my house, thinking that I still didn't notice it, and then bounded toward me before I closed the large and ominous black front gate.

"Ah, well, hello there." I smiled and allowed the dog into the gate.

I closed it and walked up to the door, grabbing a key from the flowerbed underneath the front window. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to keep the key in the flowerbed during winter because, for one, there were no flowers, and also the snow just about covered it enough so I couldn't find the key.

Once inside, I took off my heavy jacket and put it on the coat rack nest to the door; I removed my now snow-filled boots; and I draped my scarf over my jacket. It was freezing in the drafty house, so I immediately went into the living room and turned on the fireplace. Afterward, I went into the kitchen and made myself some hot chocolate, all the while the Akita followed my every move with his eyes; he was sitting next to the door, dripping melted snow all over the hardwood flooring. I drank my hot chocolate and mulled over exactly what I was going to do with the soaking wet dog that now belonged to me.

"Okay," I started, putting down my cup in the sink. "We'll start with a bath because I'll bet you're pretty disgusting under all that wetness. C'mon." I motioned it to follow me to the bathroom, and it did.

I started the bathwater in the downstairs jacuzzi bathtub, allowing the water to warm before letting it fill up. The Akita still watched me intently, sitting quietly by the toilet and only moving its eyes.

"All filled," I said, stopping the water. "Hop in."

I made a motion to get into the water, but the Akita merely stared at me.

"Hey, now, I made this bath nice and warm for you. Get in before it gets cold."
The Akita stood on all fours and pawed its way into the bath, dislike in its dark eyes.

I grinned; this was much easier than first thought. "All right, now to wash you… with soap!" I grabbed the soap from the sink, got it wet in the tub, and then began to scrub the dog down.

At first the dog resisted, moving around and splashing everywhere, trying to get away from the soap. Then, after a minute or so, it gave up and just let me wash it everywhere, sitting in the middle of the tub with defeated eyes. After cleaning it, I rinsed him (because I knew it was a him now) off and drained the tub, grabbing a towel from the cabinet.

"All right, you're done. Now, you can get out, but stay here so that I can dry you off."

The Akita jumped out of the tub happily and stood right next to me, wagging his tail. I rubbed him down until I thought he was dry enough and then opened the bathroom door, and he ran toward the fire, leaving wet paw prints in his path. He lay down in front of the fire cozily, and he looked the happiest I'd seen him.

I walked over to him, leaving the towel on the side of the bathtub. "You know, I think I'll call you Crescent. You remind me of a crescent…"

The Akita looked up at me, and I felt again that he knew what I was saying. Then he lay his head back into his paws, as if agreeing to the name. I smiled and placed my head on his stomach, falling asleep to the warmth of the blazing fire.