Moon Beam -redone-

[chelsea marie.]

Angry

Right now, I hated my dad. I was being sent from Miami, Florida, to United Kingdom. Usually, a girl would be thrilled to go live in a big city full of hot guys. I should be thrilled. The only good thing was that I got to fly first class and be treated very nicely. I got almost anything I wanted except for alcohol. Oh well, that was ok, I guess. I blew a few strands of my wavy nutmeg colored hair out of my autumn colored eyes. Leaning back against my fluffy pillow I wondered why I was being sent to live with my mom. I asked my dad about a gazillion times why, but he wouldn’t answer. So, I decided that I would ask my mom why. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad living in U.K. My mom’s husband had loads of money and I already knew I would probably have a silver convertible sitting in the garage with a giant red ribbon waiting for me, and a lot of amazing clothes, ok, it would be great so I might as well quit telling myself that it would be boring. Still, nothing would douse my anger at my dad for not telling me. Still fuming about my father, I fell asleep thinking about my future.

It was about ten o’clock in the morning when I finally woke up. Stretching, I yawned and stared out the window. The landscape had changed completely. Trees, rivers, grass, farms, and mansions were everywhere. Blinking, I pressed my face harder against the window to see. I was used to everything being sandy and brown with an ocean about one hundred feet from my house. Biting my lip, I watched as the medieval looking buildings began to come into view. Everything was so beautiful. A large clock tower stood looming over every building there. The Gothic temple came into view and you could see over one hundred tiny ant looking things moving around. People. The square in front of the temple was filled with them. The flight attendants voice boomed over the speakers. “Please fasten all seat belts and prepare for landing. Thank you for flying with United Airlines.” she said, and then it cut off. The low rumble of the landing gear coming from the plane made me tighten my hands on the arm rests. The bounce of the tires hitting the pavement rocked me forward, and I tightened my hands on the arm rests even more. On the third squeal, I knew we were rolling to a stop. The flight attendants were kind, and they helped people get their luggage out from the overhead compartments. Except the flight attendant I had, was clumsy and knocked my bag out, managing to hit me in the head with it. She gasped and apologized, I only smiled and said it was ok. I wanted to get off this plane before something worse happened. Walking down the steps, I walked over to where attendants were letting people get the rest of their luggage, and I saw a woman signing out my bags. “Mom?” I called, and the woman turned around. “Oh! Oh Grace!” she cried and ran over to me. I blinked when her arms flung around me and she hugged me so tight I swear that I couldn’t breath. “Mom… Your crushing me.” I whispered. “Oh sorry honey. I’ve just missed you so much!” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “You’ve gotten so big and so beautiful… Your eyes are gorgeous! Are they contacts?” she questioned staring into them with awe. “No mom. They’ve actually been like this since I was ten.” I said, laughing softly. “The gold flecks inside of the chocolate brown. Beautiful. I’ll have to get a lot of photos this autumn.” she said, pulling the pull-along handle up from two suitcases. “What? Pictures. No no no no no mom. I don’t do pictures.” I said. “Oh honey there not going in a family photo album. Its my job. I’m a photographer.” she said, laughing at my reaction. “Oh…” I said, blinking a few times. Grabbing the rest of my luggage, I pulled it behind us. My mom walked up to a man in a fancy black suit standing in front of a sleek, black Mercedes. She handed him the suitcases and he placed them in the trunk. “Miss. White, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Your mother has told us a lot about you over the past week. I’ve been dying to meet you.” he said, and took my hand, kissing the back of it. “Thanks… Its… nice to meet you too.” I said, my face growing hot. My mom was already inside the car. “Come on Grace darling. I want you to meet Steven before he has to leave to catch his flight to Australia.” she called from inside. “Ok.” I said and walked around the car. Getting into the backseat. The seats were leather, and very comfortable. Pulling the seatbelt across me, I pushed it into the lock and than sat back. I didn’t even realize the luxury car was moving until I looked out the darkly tinted window. Everything glided by so quickly, I had to look away in fear of getting motion/car sickness. “So Grace… Did you leave anyone important behind?” she questioned, turning to face me. “Yeah.” I said, kind of staring away. “A boy?” she questioned, curiosity tainting her voice. “No mom. My friends.” I said, blushing again. “I don’t date. Nobody has ever caught my attention.” I said, looking away for a minute. “Oh. Well maybe someone here will.” she said, acting like she knew it would happen. “Yeah.” I said chuckling. She shook her head at me and leaned back against the seat and engaged in a conversation with the driver. I sat back and closed me eyes, thinking about my future and what could happen in it. Who I’ll encounter… What I’ll encounter… Things I’ll see… The people I’ll meet… It all made me eager to go exploring after meeting everyone, and taking a tour through my house. It would be fun to see the sights of London, England.

[/size][/blockquote]

[chelsea marie.]

Homecoming

“Grace… Grace honey wake up. Were here.” my mother said. Slowly I sat up. I had slouched over against the window, sleeping like a baby. Looking outside, it was still bright, but it was twelve o’clock in the afternoon. “Two hours?” I questioned, blinking. “Yeah. Back in the country. Steven likes his horses.” she said, chuckling. The Mercedes lurched to a stop in front of a monstrous mansion. “Wow.” I said, looking at the house. “Beautiful isn’t it? Been in Steven’s family for centuries. Its said to even be haunted.” she said, sounding slightly freaked out on the word ‘haunted’, but it caught my interest. “Cool.” I said, tugging my luggage behind me. Checking out the exterior of the house I smiled. It had a beautiful setup. The brick was dark red, and connected to the small front porch, were two Greek columns that rose up to the second floor, and there was a balcony that over looked the front yard. To my right, there was a six car garage. Inside, it was probably full with expensive foreign cars, and as if someone had read her mind, the first door opened and whenever it was completely open, a cherry red Ferrari pulled out and stopped beside me and my mother. The window rolled down and inside was a very handsome man with dark, perfectly combed hair and dark sunglasses on. My mom grinned and walked over, kissing him. “Steven, this is Grace.” The man looked over at me and I waved sheepishly. “Grace! Oh its good to finally see you. I would love to stay and get to know you but I’ve got a flight to catch. When I get back.” he said, nodded at me, kissed my mom again, and was gone. I watched as my mom waved at him. “Your pathetic.” I said, and she looked over at me. “What?” she questioned. “Sorry! Not meaning anything by it! Its just that when you act like that, he’s probably thinking, ‘Thank God I have a business trip, this woman is driving me completely insane,’ but smiling sweetly at you so he doesn’t hurt your feelings.” I said, and my mom’s jaw dropped. “Grace Lauren White!” my mom squealed, and flagged her purse at me. “Sorry! Just stating the obvious!” I yelped and ran towards the front doors. Pulling them open, I stopped when I looked inside. “Holy crow.” I breathed, looking around. My mom came barging in behind me, and stopped beside me, still gasping for breath and laughing. I stared at the beautiful décor like a moron. “Mom. Its beautiful.” I whispered. “I know…” she replied. It was very cavernous, and everything was so open and bright. Above them was a large chandelier that had small crystals hanging below each light. There was about twenty lights. Blinking, I looked at the stair case. They were normal, and covered by a cream colored rug. The hardwood was incredibly shiny, and it looked like it would be fun to slide across in fuzzy socks or something. “Come on. I’ll take you up to your room. Your probably dying for a nice hot shower or bath.” my mom said, picking up a suitcase and carrying it upstairs. I followed her with the other two and she led me back into the hall way, and took a left turn. I followed her curiously, my eyebrows coming together. By the time I caught up to her, she was standing in a large room that was absolutely gorgeous. It was towards the back side of the mansion, on the western side. The wall was painted a light cream color, almost white. Where a wall would normally be on the left, and most of the back wall, was glass. Giving me a glorious view of the stables from my room. My jaw hit the floor as I looked around. My mom was smirking at me and than leaned my things against a dresser against the wall. “Follow me.” she said, walking towards two French doors. She opened them up and inside was a grand bathroom that was just as open as the room. There was a Jacuzzi, a stand-up shower, and even a miniature hot tub sat in the corner. The sink was large, and it had plenty of space for me to hold most of my things. “Well, I’m going to leave you alone to put your things away and let you take a shower, oh and when your done, there’s an outfit in the first drawer I want you to put on, than come downstairs.” she said, winking. I raised my eyebrow and shrugged. When she left, I close my door, than ran into the bathroom. Turning the water on in the Jacuzzi, and than stripped out of my clothes. Once the water was deep, and hot enough, I slid into it and I groaned out loud. Closing my eyes, I let sleep and relaxation take over.

[/size][/blockquote]

[chelsea marie.]

Meeting

Once the hot water had taken its course, I had got out and wrapped a towel around my thin body. Walking to the dresser like my mother had instructed, I opened the dresser and inside was what looked to be a riding outfit with a note taped to the top. ‘Inside the closet are a pair of riding boots. Put them on and meet me downstairs after your done changing into this. : )’ Raising my eyebrow, I pulled out the riding outfit and it looked about my size. The shirt was white, and the jacket fit around it was black. Pulling them on over top my sports bra, I pulled on the stretchy riding pants and than threw the jacket on. Walking over to the closet I opened it up and looked around until I spotted the riding boots. They were a dark brown and would come up to my knees. Pulling them on like she instructed, I trotted down the stairs and saw my mom standing by the door in a bright red jacket with a white shirt underneath. Unlike my pants, hers were black, and her boots blending in. “I didn’t know you rode horses.” I said, grinning. I had taken horse back riding lessons for most of my life, and my job when I was in Florida was to guide people on rides. My mother grinned sheepishly, looking at herself. “I can, but not very well.” she muttered, chuckling softly. “Well come on! You need to meet Briar!” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me outside. “What? Mom, who is Briar?” I questioned, climbing into a green John Deer golf cart. “Your horse. A beautiful bay Thoroughbred gelding that is as gentle as a kitten.” she said. My jaw dropped. “A horse?” I questioned, awe struck. “You guys bought me a horse?” My mom laughed, and the rest of the ride to the stables was silent.

When we got to the stables, two tall, lean horses stood outside, already tacked up and ready to go. Closest to us, stood a tall, lanky gray mare that looked like a Hackney. Than beside her, was a tall, burgundy bay gelding with a proud head and an ebony colored mane and tail. While my mom struggled to mount her lengthy mare, I rubbed Briar’s nose, smiling at him, and talking to him. Once my mom was on, I swung effortlessly into the sleek, black English saddle that looked and felt brand new. Briar stood stone still below me as I waited for my mom to get situated in the saddle, and when she did, she turned and smiled at me. “Which trail? Lake View, the woods, or to the waterfall?” she questioned, smiling a toothpaste white smile at me. The Lake View trail sounded interesting, and I chose to go on that one. My mom grinned and nudged her mare into a brisk trot, which Briar kept up with effortlessly. There was a large field that we had to cross before getting to the lake, and it was about two football fields long. I was so busy taking in the scenery, I didn’t even realize that my mom shot off in full gallop until I heard her whoop of joy. Laughing, I leaned forward and dug my heels into Briar’s sides. The gelding leapt into a thunderous gallop, his long strides eating up the field below us. My mom’s horse was fast, but the mare’s head start wasn’t enough to keep the Thoroughbred from gaining slowly. Briar caught up quickly, and soon, I was about three horse lengths in front of them. “Grace look out!” I heard my mom scream. To my right I saw a horse surging towards us, and I gasped. “Nicholas!” I heard a husky voice yell. My mind scrambling, I pulled hard on the left rein and Briar’s head snapped to the side, and luckily, his hindquarters kept up. Now I was running left, and a teenager about my age was galloping next to me on what looked to be a rather large Arabian stallion. Pulling back on the reins, I slowed Briar, feeling anger pulse through me, heating my body like it was on fire. Once the boy stopped, I was fighting to regain my fury. He looked over at me with unbelievably beautiful black eyes, and normally I would have stared like a moron, but I was to enraged to care about that right now. “Miss I’m terribly so-” he began, but I was quick to cut him off. “Sorry? Maybe you should start paying attention to where your going and you wouldn’t have to be sorry.” I snapped angrily. His features changed, and suddenly, he looked angry too. “Well maybe if you weren’t blowing through the field like that you wouldn’t have to worry about me running into you!” he snapped, his volume slightly louder than mine. “Well maybe if you weren’t on my mother’s property than we wouldn’t have to worry about this at all!” I yelled, my amber eyes glistening angrily. That seemed to do its job, and the boy shut up. Smirking victoriously, I turned Briar and cantered back towards my mom, who was waiting with a shocked expression on her face. I gave her a look telling her that I just wanted to forget about the encounter all together, and she nodded, letting her mare walk forward.

It was about a five hour ride since we walked our horses the rest of the way instead of galloping. We talked about everything on the ride. Me, my father, my education, what I wanted to do in college, and what jobs I’d be interested in getting here in London. I told her that my dad was fine, and that I was in all honors classes at my old high school. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do in college, and I’d probably do something simple like work at a fast food restaurant or at a grocery store. The ride back to the mansion was quiet because we were both exhausted from the ride. What I wanted to do was get out of the dirty riding outfit I was in, take a hot bath in the humongous bath tub I now had, change into my pajamas, and than curl up in my king sized bed and go to sleep, and that’s exactly what I did when we got home.

When I awoke, it was about twelve o’clock in the afternoon, and it was a bright sunny after noon. When I went downstairs, I saw no one there and I figured they must have gone to church or something. Something white on the stainless steel refrigerator caught my eye, and I rose my eyebrow. Walking towards it, I pulled it off and read it.

Grace, I just wanted to tell you that me, and the maids are at church if your wondering where everyone is. In the fridge is some pancake batter(homemade) and some chocolate chips in the pantry if you want to make yourself breakfast, and if you don’t want to the keys to your car are on the island, Just press the unlock button, and you’ll find it. I love you.

Mom.

Raising my eyebrow, I crumbled the note and glanced over to my right. Like she said, there was a set of keys lying on the center of the island. Picking them up, I recognized the Camaro symbol on the key. My eyes widened. Running to the garage door, I swung it open and after a few seconds, I pushed the unlock button. All the way across the garage, under a cream colored tarp, lights flashed, and I walked over slowly. Grabbing the edge of the tarp, I pulled it back and gasped when I saw only half of the hood. Steve must have bought me the new Chevy Camaro concept car, and in yellow too. Pulling the tarp off, I stared at my new car, my mouth hanging open like a moron. Suddenly, I burst into a joyous scream. There was no way I was staying home and making breakfast when I had that kind of car to go cruising around in. Sprinting back to my room, I dressed quickly in a pair of faded American Eagle blue jeans, a dark blue shirt, and a pair of furred snow boots up over the jeans. Dancing into my bathroom, I fixed my eye make-up, which consisted of brown eyeliner, and black mascara, and than dashed back into the garage. It took me almost twenty minutes to find the garage door opener because it was hidden behind a pair of ski pants that were hanging to dry. Opening the door to my new car, I climbed inside and took in the smell of the black leather seats.

[/size][/blockquote]

[chelsea marie.]

Meeting(continued)

Sticking the key in the ignition, I pressed down on the clutch and started it. The engine roared to life, sending chills down my spine. Shifting into first, I eased off the clutch and the car rumbled foreward. Once I was out of the garage, I pushed down on the accelerator gently and than shifted up until I was in third. Moving down the driveway, I tested out the car's handling. Swerving quickly, the car moved at the pace I wanted, and didn't even lean. I grinned and than turned out onto the main road. Looking behind me, I didn't see anyone coming up on the straight behind me so after I shifted down into first, I rolled my windows down and than punched the accelerator. The turbo squealed along with the tires as they spun and finally caught. I had to shift fast to keep up with the cars acceleration rate and soon, I was topping one hundred miles per hour. As a wide turn came up, I didn't slow down, but continued to lay on the speed and the car didn't so much as fight as I went around. I laughed and reached down to turn up the radio and forgot that I was in a new country, so I didn't know the station. When some orchastra started playing, my foot eased up and I looked down at the radio. When I turned it down and looked back up, there was a deer standing in the road in front of my. At eighty miles per hour, I wasn't gonna be able to stop, but I jammed down on the break and swerved. Suddenly, I heard a dull thud and I saw something streak across the road, the stunned deer clutched to it. Blood was sprayed on the road where it was and finally the car stopped sideways on the side of the road. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I quickly shifted out of sixth into third and in my haste to get out of there, spun up the grass. Looking in my rear view, I sware I saw a human standing by the tree, but that could have just been my eyes playing tricks on me.

As I made it into town, I finally realized how small it actually was. It only looked so huge because of the towers and the large temple. I rolled through town at an easy fifteen miles per hour, and people on the streets turned to look at the bright yellow Camaro. Stopping at a stop line, I watched as a large truck blew by in front of my, laying on the horn as he went. I stared wide-eyed and inched foreward. When I saw that there was no one coming, I zipped foreward in my haste to move. I didn't like driving through town so far, so I parked in a large parking lot beside an old library and got out after rolling my windows up. Pushing the lock button on my keys, I stuffed them into my front pocket and started walking on the less crowded side-walks. Some people sat outside their shops smoking a cigarette or cigar and would nod their head in greeting to me, and I'd just smile back. Suddenly, I smelt an aroma that was almost to die for. It was some kind of Thai restraunt and they were making something wonderful. It was a good thing I stuck fifty bucks in my back pocket before I left. Walking into the restrant, the waitress greeted me and told me to sit at any table. I sat down in the corner by the window and she came over and I ordered what I wanted to drink than began to look over the menu. I decided on a dish with chicken, shrimp, and beef mixed in with steamed vegatables. As I took a sip of my Dr. Pepper, I felt my phone vibrate and I pulled it out of my pocket and it was a text from my friends.

Hey girl! We miss you lots and hope your enjoying the U.K!

I smiled and just as I was about to reply, I glanced up to see who was walking in and my eyes collided with the boy from yesterday. I clentched my teeth and replied quickly before putting it in my pocket and looking out the window. I heard the small group whispering and I strained to hear but I couldn't. When I saw a shadow cast over me, I turned and saw not the boy that I had nearly ran into, but the one that was with him. "Uhm hi..." he began and I rose my eyebrow waiting. "I want to apologize more sincerly than my brother had yesterday. His temper seems to get the better of him..." he said, chuckling in amusement. "Seems that we have something in common." I muttered, taking another sip from my straw. "I'm Jackson by the way. Over there, the smaller girl is my sister Alina and than my brother Nicolas." he said introducing the family. "Grace White." I said, smiling. He was nice, and not aggrivating like his brother Nicolas. "Oh... Oh! Your Steven's new step-daughter than moved in!" he said, his eyes going wide. "Yeah thats me..." I said, laughing softly. "Well... I quess you'll get to meet the rest of the family Friday when we come over for our regular hang out day." he said, grinning. "What?" I questioned, my face falling. "Yeah. We have been doing this for the past four years. Its pretty fun when we all go out to the pool and sit around and laugh together. You'll like it." he said. "Sure." I said, smiling for his benefit. "Ok... see ya soon." he said and walked back over to his table.

[/size][/blockquote]