Beautiful Sins: Leigha Lowery Read online

  "So, how do you like Oregon so far?" Randy asked, probably hoping to pull me from my reverie. The streets were slick with thick slushy snow and ice, yet he kept his eyes focused on me. Oh how I wish he would just keep his eyes on the damn road.

  "I like it here. Oregon is interesting." I answered honestly. He raised one eyebrow.

  "Even with all the rumors about this place, you still like it here?" I just shrugged my shoulders. The fact that Oregon was a strange place, did peak my interest.

  "Yeah, I mean they're just rumors right?" He laughed and quickly pulled into the parking lot.

  The snowy flurries were too thick for me to see the schools sign. Thick trees seemed to hover over it, and a big sign hung over the parking lot. It caught my attention. It was the high school's motto. Dream, Believe, Achieve… Together. Even Cody, my previous high school didn't have such a catching motto. The parking lot was oddly thick for the first day. There was practically nowhere to park. I had done some research on my newly acquired school over the internet and it was said to have only four hundred and fifteen students, but that was hardly the case. The school must have gotten an additional four or five hundred students over the past few months. Even Randy was surprised as he searched the parking lot for a space. We found one, but we had to fight for it. A large black Ford F150 was already trying to back into the small space.

  "This is odd…" Randy observed as he shut off the engine and hurried to assist me out of the car. I quickly pulled the hood of my coat over my head and hurried with Randy towards the building's entrance. I paused in the middle of the parking lot when I noticed the burgundy Rolls Royce Phantom parked just a few feet away from the school doors. It stuck out to me like a pair of white shoes after Labor Day. It was just wrong. Randy noticed my frozen gaze over the vehicle and walked over to me.

  "We can get you one if you'd like." He joked. I stared at him dubiously.

  The school was bright and over crowded with students. Randy escorted me to the main office and the office assistant gaped at Randy as we entered. Well not even I could deny Randy's charms. While Randy kept the office assistant stunned, I walked over to the end of the counter and took a number. As I walked out of the office, I noticed that the line was nearly wrapped around the hall.

  "This is so weird. Banks has never been this overcrowded. I heard Forest Grove was full but, I didn't realize how bad it had gotten." Randy observed staring at the long line of students. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

  "Randy go on, I'm sure you have patients waiting or something back at the hospital." Randy opened his eyes and frowned. In turn, he pulled out a long charm necklace from his pocket and extended it to me. It was a very beautiful antique. As I held the beautiful charm necklace in my hand, I noticed the strange crescent around the charm. It reminded me of something. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was…

  "Wear this for me, would you?" Randy asked as he pulled the necklace from my hand and proceeded to put it around my neck. He pulled my hair to the side as he clamped the necklace into place.

  "And I didn't even get to tell you no." I muttered. He chuckled, and pulled my hair back into place.

  "Trust me, you'll thank me later." He murmured as he buried his lips into my hair. I could feel his cold breath saturate the strands.

  "Have a good first day." He crooned, exiting the building before I could question him. How strange… I grasped the charm tightly in around my hand, as if it were protecting me from something.

  After an hour, it was finally my turn to retrieve my schedule. I was stuck with Gym, English, Algebra, Lunch Period, Biology and Journalism. Thank god, the Journalism course was still open. Maybe I would be able to hold onto my reputation. However, I frowned at my schedule. It was so out of order. Gym at eight a.m.? This was going to be a very long semester. I received my locker number and the bell rang in sequence with my urge to put away my damp coat.

  English wasn't difficult to find. I still kept a map of the campus, and a very tall young man took the map from my hands and turned it right side up.

  "Oh." I said in embarrassment. He chuckled. "Where are you heading? Maybe I could help." He offered

  He was very tall and handsome, and I would have become shy but I noticed the big blue and white football helmet he held in his right hand. He was a football jock. I glared into his beautiful brown eyes. I had a devoted hatred for football fans. My sudden grimace made him nervous.

  "I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" He asked. I had to try to behave myself. I was being judgmental, not that anyone in this town didn't deserve it.

  "No, not at all. I've actually already found my class." I admitted. He smiled and his tone was suddenly nervous as he held out his hand to greet me.

  "I'm Greg." I sighed and forced a smile over my face.

  "Leigha." I answered, accepting his welcome.

  "Well, I guess I'll see you at lunch." He said, heading off and swinging the helmet in his hand.

  The day moved too quickly. Before I knew it, it was already lunch. I knew they wouldn't be very accommodating to vegans. Surprisingly, they had a salad bar. Wait, was this a school cafeteria, or an all you can eat buffet? I quickly hoped into the salad line and greedily stacked my plate. I was famished. As I approached the soup isle, my face settled into a frown when I noticed a warm pot of ducks blood beside the tomato soup.

  "Who in the world eats duck's blood casually?" I wondered aloud. Then, I thought about all the expensive fancy cars and SUV's in the school's parking lot.

  "Rich snobs." I muttered under my breath. A young strawberry blonde haired girl chuckled beside me.

  "Opps. I didn't mean to say that aloud." I murmured. She smiled, flashing her perfect white teeth up at me.

  "Don't worry. I won't tell the rich snobs you said that. I'm Tiffany by the way." She extended her hand in greeting. I greeted her back.

  "Leigha." I replied.

  "Duck's blood though? Come on…" I complained. She shrugged her shoulders.

  "It's actually not so bad. And it goes really fast here for some reason."

  "Really? How odd." I muttered.

  Two beautiful girls wearing cheerleading uniforms gestured towards Tiffany. She waved and walked over to the table to join them.

  "Hey, come sit with us." She offered.

  "Hey." Tiffany greeted, pulling a chair between them. I had to look around for an empty chair to pull towards the table. I noticed a handsome young man sitting beside a beautiful girl. He fiddled with her shoulder length brown hair as she looked casually through a fall Macy's catalog. They were both oddly pale, and it reminded me of Randy's odd skin.

  There were a few empty chairs beside them. However, I was almost too nervous to approach them to ask for it. I could feel my palms sweating as I approached them.

  "Do you mind if I borrow one of these chairs?" I asked nervously.

  The beautiful girl looked toward me and smiled. Her amber eyes were almost stunning. The blue-eyed boy that sat beside her didn't take his eyes off her. I noticed the beautiful charm bracelet that resembled the charm around my neck. The boy was fiddling with it.

  "No, not at all." She answered in a silk-like voice. I could smell her sweet breath as she spoke, almost as if she was deliberately blowing it across the table into my face. She smiled again, and gestured to the empty chairs.

  "Thanks." I said, pulling the chair towards Tiffany and the girls.

  Tiffany and the others looked to me in shock as I sat closely beside Tiffany.

  "What?" I said, observing their shocked faces.

  "Did Mina just speak to you? Wow, she doesn't speak to anyone besides Caleb. That's Caleb, sitting beside her." One of the girls answered, staring at Mina as she giggled from Caleb's whispers in her ear.

  "Yes. She was very pleasant." I admitted, opening my ranch-dressing packet and shaking it onto my salad. I pulled my bottled water out of my bag and placed it on the table.

  "Leigha, this is Naomi and Jenny. Ladies, this is Leigha. I've kn
own Naomi and Jenny since I was a toddler." Tiffany introduced, sipping her orange juice. Naomi was a very tall slender girl. She wasn't a natural blonde; it was very easy to tell from her dark roots. Her hair must have been shoulder length however; it was hard to tell from the tight curls that were pulled into a high ponytail. Her skin was paler than Tiffany's and her lips were naturally pink. She looked like a Barbie doll. Jenny was a brunette. Her hair was thinner, straighter. She kept her hair pulled up as well, and her light green eyes were almost enchanting. No doubt, Jenny and Naomi were two of the most popular girls here.

  Naomi nodded skeptically as I smiled. She was sizing me up.

  "So, which one of you is the head cheerleader?" I asked, trying to sway them away from critiquing my body.

  "I am. Why?" Naomi answered a bit warily.

  "No reason, I was just wondering."

  "Is that all you're eating?" Jenny winced.

  "I'm not hungry." Naomi rolled her eyes.

  "Humph." Naomi grumbled.

  "So, are we going to hang out tonight or what?" You can bring Leigha if you want." Naomi asked anxiously.

  "Sure, that sounds pretty cool. But where are we going?" Tiffany asked.

  "A movie and Café Voila of course." Jenny rolled her eyes.

  "Oh my god…" Jenny said, perturbed.

  "What! What is it?" Naomi asked anxiously.

  "Mina Matthews is staring at us." Jenny murmured.

  "No, Mina Matthews isn't staring at us. She's staring at you Leigha." Tiffany observed, nudging me as I took another quick bite of my salad. I shrugged my shoulders. Who was this Mina Matthews anyway?

  "I wonder what she wants. Maybe she wants to be friends with you." Jenny wondered aloud.

  "Maybe, we only said a few words." What was the big deal about Mina Matthews? I mean aside from her wealthy appearence, beauty, and gorgeous boyfriend, I still couldn't understand why everyone was so shocked that she showed interest at our table.

  * * * * *

  Urban Legends

  After lunch, I successfully got through Biology, which was terribly more difficult than when I had it back in Detroit. I would never be able to keep up with the class. I suddenly felt like an idiot as I walked to my Journalism class. To my relief, I noticed a familiar face this time in class. Maria Lawton stood over a desk, fumbling through piles of finished articles and rough drafts. She wore deep black eye shadow and lipstick. Her boots were big, black, and knee-high length. She kept her fingernails painted black. She was definitely the pure object of what everyone called "gothic".

  I walked over to the Instructor and handed him my schedule.

  "It's a pleasure to have you here Miss Lowery. Please make yourself comfortable. I was just about to give out assignments for the week. Have you taken any journalism courses before?" I nodded.

  "Actually, I ran a small column for the local paper in my town back home." I boasted and instantly regretted it. I knew nothing out Banks or Oregon for that matter.

  "Okay then, find a spot somewhere so we can get started."

  I walked over to Maria's table and slid my bag under it.

  "They'll reject you the entire semester if you are too close to me." She murmured not looking up at me.

  "They'll tell the entire school that you're a Goth, and eventually you'll have to live up to the name." She continued, pulling out a stack of articles of her interest and putting them in front of her.

  "Well, I guess they'll have to deal. I've never cared much about everyone's opinions." She immediately recognized my voice and looked up to me.

  "Leigha… I didn't know you were a student here…" She smiled. She seemed happy to see a familiar face as well.

  "Yep, oh, and by the way; I'm a Goth too." She chuckled in disbelief. I raised one eyebrow.

  "What? I don't fit the criteria?" I asked. She shook her head.

  "You do in a way. I'm glad you're a student here." She sighed.

  The Instructor closed the door and class began.

  "Okay, I'm trusting that it won't be difficult for me to help you all choose which section of the paper you want to manage?" The class nodded in agreement.

  "Alright then, take your places and I'll give you this week's assignments." He ordered. Maria and I were already in place.

  I began to shuffle through the articles a bit perturbed by their contents.

  "Umm, Maria… Exactly what section of the paper is this?" I asked curiously.

  "The Urban Legends section." I chuckled, holding a dubious expression.

  "Urban Legends…" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Maria sighed.

  "Actually, we are solving mysteries. But mostly, and especially here, those solved mysterious turn into urban legends." I was so confused.

  "How is that possible? Are you saying that when we solve a crime, it will turn out to be something completely fictitious or paranormal?" I asked dubiously. Maria simply nodded and went back to work. She tossed me a folder of unsolved cases from the local station.

  "Oh my god… Are all these are unsolved murder cases…" I muttered, horrified by the files. Was this even for a child's eyes?

  "Wait, how did you get this? Isn't this classified information?" Maria and the Instructor chuckled.

  "We have our ways. Besides, the community; especially the students, need to know what's going on in and around our town. By turning these murder cases into Urban Legends, it catches their attention. What they don't understand, is how real it really is." Our Instructor explained. I was still confused.

  I stared at one of the articles horrified that a large animal had attacked such a small girl.

  "Why don't they just get these animals in the forest under control?" I complained. The photo of her corpse was too much for my eyes. Maria chuckled.

  "What makes you think it's just an animal?" Maria countered. I couldn't answer that. This was freaking me out a little too much. The instructor handed us school laptops and digital cameras. Wow, not even Cody had the funding to do just throw out expensive cameras and Apple notebooks. I pursed my lips, chiding myself for being so curious.

  "Okay, here's what we'll do. We'll split this one file in half and meet up in a few days to see what kind of progress we're making. We must have something to turn in by the end of the week." Maria explained. Great, I was already swamped with homework and now a huge mystery caseload that I would have to solve.

  The bell rang, and I was anxious to get home and get started on my caseload, totally forgetting that I had Algebra and Biology homework to work on. I walked to my locker to gather my coat and Tiffany was suddenly at my side.

  "Hey, I'm going to go with Naomi and Jenny. Did you want to come?" I sighed; I wasn't much for fun when it came to social events. But I was a wealthy girl now, and I knew I should start acting like it.

  "Let me speak with my mother first. Maybe I could get your number and call you when I'm heading into Portland?" I suggested. Tiffany eagerly pulled out a piece of paper and jotted her down her cell number.

  "Don't forget to call me." She yelled on her way down the hall. I groaned. So many commitments, I would have to learn how to balance all this.

  I walked into the parking lot, noticing Randy standing outside beside his fancy black Porsche. Randy opened the door and assisted me inside.

  "So, how was your first day?" Randy asked as he entered the small vehicle. Before I could answer, I noticed Caleb and Mina standing beside the Phantom. I don't know why I was surprised to see the owners to the fancy vehicle but they still caught my eye. Mostly because it looked as if they were staring right at me through the tented windows of Randy's Porsche. It gave me the chills. A cool hand startled me as it touched me lightly against my shoulder.

  "Leigha dear, is everything alright?" Randy asked, pulling me from my reverie.

  "Yeah, everything is fine. I'm just ready to go home. It was a long day." I murmured. He sighed and tucked my long hair behind my ear.

  "Don't worry about it. You'll adjust, I promise." Randy assured. A low gro
wl erupted from his chest as he glared towards the Phantom. Caleb and Mina quickly broke their gaze on me, and Caleb assisted Mina into the Phantom. Randy cranked the engine and pulled rapidly out of the parking lot. Men and sports cars, I swear…

  Back at the mansion, I hurried through the garage that led straight into the kitchen. The house smelled of fresh grilled onions and peppers. I wondered what my mother was cooking for us this evening… She pulled me into a quick hug, welcoming me home. Randy entered behind us, closing the door. He pulled off my coat and hung it up on the rack. Just as my mother went back to the stove, I noticed the same charm around her neck. It made me instinctively grab my own protectively. I pulled it out of my sweater and held it up to Randy.

  "What is this? A family heirloom?" I asked. Randy smiled slightly.

  "Something like that Leigha. Just promise me that you'll always wear it. Especially when you are away from me."

  "What it's magical or something? Will it protect me from mythical creatures or something?" I joked. Randy frowned at that.

  "Just promise me." He ordered. His tone was a bit more stern than usual.

  "Alright Randy, calm down." I said, holding my hands up in surrender. Randy walked over to the coat rack and grabbed his lab coat.

  "You're leaving? But I was making dinner for us." My mother complained.

  "I have patients waiting for me. I just wanted to make sure that Leigha was home safe." He explained.

  "But you've been gone all day sweetheart. When will you be back?" She asked. Randy frowned.

  "I'll be home as soon as I can." Randy muttered. He walked over to me, buried his face into my hair and then pulled my mother into a passionate kiss.

  "Behave yourselves ladies. I'll be home soon."

  "Sure, what kind of trouble could we possibly get into in this small town?" My mother joked. Randy frowned.

  "Promise." He ordered.

  "Promise…" My mother and I said in unison. Randy smiled and left out the garage door. My mother sighed and turned off the stove.

  "He never eats with us… I wonder if he dislikes my cooking." My mother wondered.