Chapter 1: Rune & Party

"Ow ow oww!!" I shrieked in pain. Aunt Lexa pulled my dark, long hair back into a tight French braid. "Stop!"

"Beauty is pain, darling." She snickered. After a few more minutes of tearing out my roots, Aunt Lexa took a step back to admire her work then smiled, pleased. Thirty three years old and not a wrinkle on that smooth face of her's. If that wasn't witchcraft, then I don't know what I should call it. Now, as much as I loved Aunt Lexa, there was currently no one else in the world that I hated more at the moment. I grimaced at my reflection in the mirror and at the horrible blue dress I'd been forced to wear.

"Do I really have to...?" I groaned for the umpteenth time that evening. Aunt Lexa sighed, also for the umpteenth time that evening.

"Yes, Rune." She said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You do. You're seventeen already! It's about time you got out there and made friends with people your own age! Have some fun! I'll take care of everything tonight. Besides, Heath is going to come with you too!"

"Oh, joy." I groaned, feeling a little bit of barf about to come up. "Heath. The life of the party."

"Rune..." She began in that attempt at a threatening voice only she could do. "Play nice."

"I just don't see why I can't stay here!" I exclaimed. "There are almost five hundred kids living in this foster home. You need all the help you can get."

"I think I can manage for the night." She winked, then planted a kiss on my forehead. "Now hurry up! You'll be late for the party!"

~~

"Let me just make it perfectly clear that this is, in no way, a date." I growled, glaring hard at the tall blonde boy, only four years older than myself. His impossibly light green eyes narrowed back in response.

"Don't flatter yourself." He growled back. My blue dress matched perfectly with his clean, black suit. I had a feeling Aunt Lexa had something to do with that.

Heath and I stood at the entrance of the foster home, about to leave. I remembered back to the first time we'd met - Nearly ten years ago. Mother had brought me in, gave me a parting hug and kiss, then left to fight alongside the Free Army with Father... That was the last time I ever saw her. Moments after I'd been dropped off, I had the misfortune to bump into a little eleven year old Heath. Always a frown on his face to match that sour attitude of his, I hated him right off the get-go...and our relationship has never gotten any better.

"Well, look at you two love birds!" Uncle Braun laughed, throwing his arms around our shoulders. He let out a deafening wolf whistle that made me groan. For whatever reason, Uncle Braun had come up with some wild theory that one day Heath and I would realize our "secret feelings" for each other, get married, and name our first born after him or something. Kill me, please.

Uncle Braun's beautiful eyes, like a stained glass window, seemed to glow. Just like Heath's pale eyes, Uncle Braun's snow white hair and eyes derived from a chemical weapon known as ZF. I'd heard the stories about Zaroff for the longest time. Afterall, my mother was the one who killed him.

"Please," I gagged, pulling away from Uncle Braun, "spare me." He rolled his beautiful eyes in response. Finally, we heard the sound of a car pulling up and rushed outside. Uncle Axel, Lexa's twin brother, popped his head out the car window and smiled.

"Hurry up, you two!" He called, a wide grin on that kind face of his. Just like his sister, not a single wrinkle. Witchcraft, I tell you. Perhaps Uncle Braun, Aunt Lexa, and Uncle Axel's young appearances all came from after effects of ZF.

Quickly, Heath and I slid into the small black vehicle. I blew a kiss at Uncle Braun who blew one back in response - a goodbye we've shared since I was young.

"Alright, kiddos." Uncle Axel grinned, glancing up at us through the rear view mirror. "Buckle up."

~~

Heath and I stood at the entrance of a large house. I frowned, he scratched the back of his head in irritation.

"Let's just get this over with." I sighed, then stepped up to the front door. After flashing our invitations to the doorman, he let us through and inside.

There we stood, feeling insignificant in such a magnificent room. All around, people our age stood laughing and socializing. I tilted my head back to get a view of the ceiling high above our heads, giant chandeliers lighting the place up. Intricate paintings flooded the high dome, a close tie to the beauty of Michelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel. I was captivated. Every year, the governor's daughter, Elly, threw humongous parties here. She always invited everyone in the same grade as her, so every year, invitations would show up in the mailbox, even though we'd never spoken. And although Heath was four years older, invitations always showed up for him because Elly had a thing for him. Something that I will never understand.

I stood, still admiring the beauty of the paintings. But, of course, all good things must come to and end. 

"Well, well, well!" I heard the familiar, nasally voice that always made me cringe. Slowly, Heath and I turned towards Catallus, a big name for such a snobby, weasel-y, coward. He stood at a grand height of 5 foot 1 inch (pfft), light brown hair, and dark blue eyes. If there was one thing Heath and I had in common, it was that neither of us could stand this twiggy little joke-of-the-human-race. 

"If it isn't Alien and Stork!" He sneered, referring to Heath's strange eyes and the fact my mother dropped me off at a foster home. He knew she left me to fight along side in the war and she was also the one that killed the notorious Zaroff...yet the slimy pig still refered to me as something as cruel as "Stork". The first time I heard it, I cried. Then when all the boys picked on me, chanting "Stork, Stork!", I cried again. But by the third time, I realized they were all nothing but immature buttheads and raised my chin up. 

"Tell me, Alien," Catallus continued, matching his 5'1" to Heath's 5'11" (an amusing sight to say the least). "As an outsider, what do you think of the human race?" Catallus' two buddies who stuck to him like glue (I like to call them Dumb and Dumber), walked up and laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Well they've got guts," Heath replied darkly, taking a step forward, which caused Catallus to shrink back to size. "To be honest, I'm more interested in seeing the world from your point of view... It's too bad I can't stick my head that far up my ."

"That's real funny, Alien." Catallus sneered, but I could already see his knees shaking in fear. "It's too bad you're so ugly." Dumb and Dumber gave Catallus a high five. Heath raised an eyebrow in response.

"I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and crap out a better comeback than that." Heath said in that condescending voice of his. I never realized how great it was until I wasn't the one he was using that tone with. "You were probably up all night thinking about that one, huh? It's terrifying to think people like you are actually allowed to breed."

Catallus' face burned neon red before he rolled his eyes and walked away. It was funny, because he acted like as if he still had any dignity left. Heath turned to walk away and I raised a hand, expecting a high five. Instead, he walked right past, ignoring me like as if I was about as important as a fly. I sighed, then remembered that even though we had mutual feelings towards Catallus, that didn't change anything about our relationship. "My enemy's enemies are my friends"? Guess that's not the case with Heath. 

"Rune!" From across the room, I spotted James, who waved at me with a great grin on his perfect face. His black hair swept perfectly to the left, with melt-your-heart blue eyes, and two small depressions where dimples formed when he smiled - the embodiment of "teen heartthrob." Finally, someone actually tolerable.

I was about to make my way over to him, when a group of girls beat me to it. I stopped, mid-walk, then rolled my eyes. How could I have forgotten? James was also a notorious ladies man. I was pretty sure the only reason he even talked to me was because I was the only girl in our small town in Germany that didn't have a gigantic crush on him. Still, he'd always been really nice to me. Back in 5th grade when the other boys picked on me and called me Stork, he was the only one that stood up and made them stop whenever he witnessed me being bullied.

James seemed preoccupied by his fanclub, so I decided to search for Heath instead. As I walked around through the crowds of people, I suddenly felt a cold draft in a place you should not feel cold drafts. Whirling around, Catallus stood with his goons, laughing their ugly faces off. Then I realized: the skirt of my dress had been completely flipped up, flashing everyone with my polka dotted . I felt the burn of humiliation in my red face and ripped my skirt back to it's proper position, but not before everyone was already looking my way. I stood frozen, not knowing what to do. Catallus, Dumb, and Dumber still had their heads thrown back, hysterical with laughter. Everywhere I looked, people were either giving me pitying looks or snickering. Mostly the latter. I could feel the threatening sting of tears about to come. Out of the corner of my eyes, I thought I saw James making his way over to me, but before I could look, a thundering crack! sounded behind me, followed by a cry of pain. All the laughter ceased.

As I whirled around, Heath stood, blood dripping from his right hand that was pulled into a tight fist. Catallus was on the ground, gushing blood from his nose and all over his neat, white suit. Dumb and Dumber took one look at Heath, then Catallus, then back to Heath, and immediately took off. Before Catallus could do the same, Heath grabbed the weasel by the front of his suit and lifted him a whole foot in the air.

"Apologize." He growled in such an intense and steely voice, Catallus just hung there, too shaken to process words. Heath shook him once, hard, before Catallus sputtered out apologies like a broken record. "Now, get lost before I skin you."

The second Catallus' feet touched the ground, he sprinted and never looked back. Without even glancing at me, Heath took my arm and led me out of the room and out of the "party".

Whoo hoo!! Chapter 1 is finished!!!!!!! 

Thank's a bunch for reading!!!!!!

So what's going to happen next? Who's Heath and Catallus and James? Are they going to play major or minor roles?

New characters, and boy, am I going to have fun with this. xD This first chapter was really mellow, but just wait... The action will come in the next chapter. ;)

 (since I wasn't able to find a character that looks like Rune on the internet, I decided to draw her instead.

Again, thanks for reading, everyone! I'll try to update soon :D