Change of Plans

Here
I was, with six teenage girls bowing at my feet, one of them being Sierra.
Three weeks ago she hated me, and now? Well, now I’m her favorite person alive.
I didn’t want this.
though
; I didn’t want any of this.
I never wanted to be what I am. I never wanted to have the power over people
that I had now, and most certainly, I did
not
want Caleb, or at least I
used to not want him.

It happened on my seventeenth birthday two weeks
ago, and two weeks before that, Caleb happened. In the period of a month, all
the plans I had for my life went straight in the trash. Four weeks ago, I was
happy with my best friend, Matt. Three weeks ago, all I wanted was for Caleb to
leave me alone. Two weeks ago, I turned. One week ago, I was told news that
changed my life again. And now, everything is different. Maybe some stories
need to be told from the beginning, so here’s my
story.
. . from the start

Chapter One

Brother’s Best Friend

Allie

If I heard that doorbell go
off one more time, I swear I was going to lose it. The constant ringing in my
ears was driving me insane. It was most likely Caleb, Brody’s best friend who
was insanely hot and well aware of it. He was over
every
day. He might as
well let himself in. Brody, my older brother, appeared to not be up to opening
the door and my dad definitely wouldn’t either; he locked himself in his office
at the university for weeks on end.

After being
subjected to the piercing harassment of the doorbell for the seventeenth time,
I finally resigned. It must be Caleb because anyone else would have given up by
now. I dragged my languid body out of my room into the hauntingly dark hallway.
I didn’t bother to change out of my typical Sunday outfit of yoga pants and
sweatshirt that probably hadn’t been washed in a couple weeks. When I passed
the window in the hall, I peeked out into the driveway to see Caleb’s Jeep
sitting in the driveway. Ugh, it was
him
.

Halfway down the
stairs, the doorbell went off again.
DING-DONG
. Just to annoy Caleb, I
purposefully dragged my feet slower across the wooden floor. Usually I would be
skipping across the wood to escape the cold and get back to the carpet, but my
pink fuzzy socks speckled with red hearts spared my feet from the bitter cold.
When I reached the door, I opened it just in time to see Caleb’s hand reaching
for the bell again.

“It’s
not nice to keep guests waiting, Allison.” Of course, the first thing that came
out of his mouth made me
want
to punch him. The stupid
grin on his face didn’t help me calm my urge. His six
foot
something frame occupied the entire doorway, blocking my nearest escape route.
Outside, the wrath of autumn had the temperature dropping to 50 degrees, yet he
wore almost nothing. Only jeans and a two-sizes-too-small
short
sleeved
shirt that had his biceps bulging out of his shirt. To match his
bad boy facade, his leather jacketed was clutched in his hands and Ray Bans
shaded his eyes even though no sunlight escaped through the dense clouds.
Although I couldn’t currently see his eyes, I knew they matched the emerald
green of his eyes perfectly. His wavy midnight black hair was just a bit too
long, often flopping in his eyes, and his smile, that probably made every other
girl swoon, was plastered on his face. Ugh. Even with his glasses on, I could
feel his eyes trailing me up and down, and I crossed my arms over my chest
self-consciously. Somehow he could make anyone feel so small with just a look,
not that I would ever let him know that.

I
stood taller and shoved my chin higher in the air even though there was no
point; he had at least half a foot on me. “I hardly think a pest counts as a
guest, and don’t call me Allison.” The glare I sent his way didn't seem to
affect him at all. “Brody isn't here, so you might as well leave.”

“Tsk,
tsk, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” His smirk grew
larger to the point where he looked like the Cheshire Cat- well, the hot
Cheshire
Cat
. “Mind if I come in and wait for your
brother then?” Like I had a choice, Brody would kill me if I were rude to
his precious friend. I waved my hand in a broad sweeping gesture, inviting him
in. He swaggered past me, bringing an overwhelming scent of honeysuckle and
pine with him. Must be some overpriced designer cologne. After all,
his family was the wealthiest in the small town of Wolf Creek
,
he could afford it
. His scent overwhelmed my senses
and was driving me crazy. My sense of smell had increased tremendously over the
past couple of weeks. Weird. I closed the door behind him and followed him
through the foyer.

I
trailed him into the kitchen as he flicked on lights as he went by,
illuminating the house and exposing the unused furniture. Of course, he walked
in and made himself right at home as if he owned the place. That was the thing
about Caleb; he made himself comfortable wherever he was. He headed straight
for the refrigerator like he had done every time he came over. In the past year
and a half since Caleb and Brody had become friends, our grocery bill had at
least tripled. I would know since I’m the one who had been buying groceries
since Mom died almost six years ago. Caleb set out all the materials for a
sandwich on the wooden counter and got to work. I watched as he threw
three different kinds of meats, pickles, cheese, mayo, and what I think was
crumbled chips into something he considered edible. When he was finally pleased
with his sandwich that was piled high enough to look like the Leaning Tower of
Pisa, he grabbed the chips and a soda and sat at the worn-out, wooden table
while I stayed put at my spot against the wooden counter, trying to keep as
much
distance between us as possible.

I
tried to avoid looking at him, twisting my hands and glancing at the
modern-rustic theme of our kitchen that my mom designed. But like the light at
the end of a tunnel, my attention was always brought back to him. His undivided
attention was on his sandwich that was currently being stuffed in his mouth. I
could smell it from here, pickles and cheese didn’t make a good combo, taste or
smell wise. I tried to sneak out without being noticed to escape back to my
room, but Caleb wasn’t having any of that.

“So
Allie,
are you excited for your birthday in two weeks? Seventeen, that’s
a big milestone,” he asked with a smirk between bites of his overstuffed
sandwich. Was he seriously trying to make small talk with me? And how did he
know my birthday was on October 26?

“Yeah,
thrilled,” I answered in a monotone voice, not giving away that I was a little
creeped
out that he knew my birthday so well. “I’ll be
upstairs, and please don't break anything this time,” I said referring to the
time he broke one of the few photos of the whole family together. He smirked,
reminiscing in the memory.

Turning
on my heel, I headed for the stairs only to crash straight into a brick wall.
Brody, while shooting daggers at Caleb, was blocking my path with his arms
crossed over his chest. He didn’t seem to be fazed at all that I crashed into
him, but running into him jolted my bones. I rubbed my arm from where it ran
into his and glanced up at him. His frame towered over mine and I could almost
see steam pouring out of his head. Even with the difference in height, anyone
could tell we were siblings. We had the same crystal blue eyes that we got from
Mom. But while he had Mom’s dirty blonde hair, I had Dad’s dull chestnut hair
that fell almost to my elbows.

Before
I could figure out what Caleb did that was so bad my brother was shooting
daggers at him, my brother ordered me to go upstairs. Not asked,
ordered.
God,
he was such a jerk lately. Ever since he turned seventeen last year he had been
too cool to hang out with his younger sister anymore. He promised he would
always protect me after Mom died, but here he was sending me away like I was
some kind of a dog. So not cool. I wish I could blame Caleb and say that ever
since they started hanging out Brody had been different, but this (for once)
wasn't Caleb’s fault. It was Brody and his unbelievably rude attitude. It was
like we weren't even siblings anymore; we just shared the same house and
parents. And what was worse was that anytime I tried to ask him about it he
would just give me vague answers about how it was for the best. Yeah sure,
leaving your emotionally scarred sister to fend for herself was a great idea.
Jerk.

Not
being able to even look at him, I stepped around him and headed for my room. At
least there I could forget about the two rudest people to ever exist sitting
downstairs munching on chips.

“See you later, Allie.” Caleb’s voice followed
me out of the kitchen. I didn’t think it was possible to loathe someone as much
as I loathed him. So, I did the most mature thing that I could think of, I
raised my hand in the air and I flipped him off.

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