Present Day

Bliss York

I pulled on my floral print sundress and slipped on a pair on sandals.  My hair is down in waves that are cascading down my back, and I pick up my backpack from my bed.  I turned around and looked at myself in the mirror again and my mouth split into a huge grin.  This was the first day of my Senior year at Sea Breeze High School, and I was so ready for it to begin.  I couldn't wait for the senior dances and the football games, and I especially can't wait to see my friends again.  I still see Eli, my best friend since we were born, almost every single day, but being able to participate in all the senior activities with him will be so fun.  With a last glance at myself in the mirror, I head downstairs towards the delicious scent of the breakfast my mom is cooking.

My brothers, Cruz, Cord, and Clay are all chattering away happily when I arrive at the table.  For the past week, they've been talking non-stop with Uncle Preston and Aunt Amanda's kids about the new year.  Thank goodness, I'll be long gone by the time they get to high school.

"Mornin' Dad." I reach up on my tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek before walking over to my mom to do the same.

"Good morning Bliss.  I can't believe you're already starting your senior year.  You're going to go to college, fall in love, and move away from me and your father soon," my mom lets out a sad sigh and brings the ginormous stack of pancakes over to my starving siblings and father.

"No way in hell she's gonna fall in love anytime soon," my dad grumbles with a mouthful of pancakes.
My dad is the probably the most protective parent you'll ever meet.  My mom always told me that when I was born, my dad was terrified to let anyone hold me and even he was afraid of driving anywhere with me in the car.  Contrasting that with Uncle Preston's stories of him and my dad when they were on the same baseball team, I couldn't imagine my dad being someone who "slept around" all the time.  I hadn't known what that meant when Uncle Preston told me at 10 years old, but now that I know what that means, I don't even want to think about it.

I have never seen someone love another person as my dad loves my mom.  They met when my dad was forced to work on the farm that we used to live on.  My mom's fiancé at the time had just passed away, and she was devastated until she met my dad.  In a way, they both saved each other.  I'm just glad my mom was able to see through my dad's playboy ways because otherwise, I wouldn't even be here.

The doorbell rings as I'm finishing up the rest of my milk and Eli walks through the door.  I smile at my best friend as he walks over to hug my mom.  He's changed a lot from our first day of freshman year.  He's always been extraordinarily tall, but he only just started to grow into his body our junior year.  And ever since he grew into his body, girls have begun to notice him, but he doesn't seem to like any of them.  He goes on a few dates here and there, but if I need him, he'll drop anything and anyone and help me.  My dad thought it was because he had a crush on me, but I assured him that it was because he was my best friend.  I've never thought of him as anything other than that.

"Hey, Bliss, you ready?" Eli comes over and gives me a hug.  When he pulls back, his huge grin matches my own.

"I've never been more ready.  Let's go," I pick up my bag and give my mom and dad a kiss good-bye.

"Bye, Aunt Eva, Uncle Cage!" Eli waves at my parents and leads the way out of his front door to our car.

"Have fun, you two!" My mom yells out through the door, and I can hear her sigh right before I shut the door.

"They're gonna be devastated when you move.  Did you tell them yet?" Eli asks.

"No," I mumble.  My parents, especially my dad, want me to stay near Sea Breeze for college to be near them, but I've wanted to live in California my whole life.  I'm planning on applying to at least 5 schools over there, but I have yet to tell my parents that I want to move.  "My dad will probably lock me in my bedroom.  You know how he is."

"You know, he might understand.  If you tell him it's your dream, he'll let you go.  Although...you might need to ease him into it.  And I sure as hell don't want to be there when you tell him."  Eli smirks and opens the door of his truck for me.  He walks over to the drivers side and gets in.  "It's fine.  You don't have to tell them yet. You still have another year."

Eli and I don't talk on the way to school, but it's a comfortable silence.  I let my mind wander on the way to school.  I'm really excited to start senior year, but I can't help but worry about what this year will bring.  When I went to a party with Eli last year, a small group of football players found me to be interesting, and after that, they never stopped tormenting me.  I was safe when I was with Eli, but when I was alone, they'd always get close to me and make me uncomfortable.  I haven't told anyone because they never touch me, but it's still unnerving to have guys twice your size tell you that they want to do things with you in the nearest janitors closet.

Yelling sounds pull me away from my thoughts.  Eli pulls into the school parking lot and parks in his usual spot.  We both get out of the car and join the crowd of shouting students who are hugging and fist bumping each other.  I was really excited to see my friends too, but they make it seem like they haven't seen their friends in years.

"Bliss!" I look around for the source of the noise and see my other really good friend, Brooke Miller pushing through people to get to me.

"Bliss, I'll see you later, okay?" Eli gives me a hug and walks off with his friends.

"Hey, Brooke," I grin at her and we both walk to the office to get our schedules.

"Bliss, did you hear about the new student that just transferred over here from Rosemary Beach?  I haven't seen him yet, but there are already girls conjuring up plans to get him to notice them.  I heard he's really hot and sort of famous."  She glances over at me and smirks.  I know she's trying to get a reaction out of me.   I have never shown any interest in any of the guys at our school, so she makes a huge deal out of it when we're at the beach or something and I say a guy is hot.  Any guy who gets close to me is immediately scared off by my dad, so there's really no point in dating guys.

"Well, good for them.  He's probably a selfish brat anyways," I reply and smirk back at her.

She heaves out a sigh.  "You need a boyfriend."  She's been saying that for the past four years.  We reach the office and stand behind a tall and muscular guy in line talking to the lady.

"...okay, Mr. Finlay.  I hope you have a great year here at Sea Breeze High."  Wait...Finlay?

"Thank you." The guy turns around and his still familiar silver eyes meet mine.  I'd know those eyes from anywhere.  I was 13 the last time I saw them, and I'd been dreaming about them ever since.  I thought he looked gorgeous the last time I saw him, but there weren't words to explain what he looked like now.  His messy brown hair was still in place, but he was now around 6'3" instead of 5'9" and his biceps were much bigger than I remembered.

"Bliss York?"  My eyes snapped back to his and his face split into a grin.  He remembers me? Wow.  I have never been this out of breath since...since...the last time I saw him.  What is he doing to me?  I thought I'd never get to see him again after that summer and now, he was going to go to school with me?  I composed myself and replied smoothly and nodded.  "Nate Finlay."

I looked over at Brooke to see her eyes wide with amazement.  "You're...you're Nate Finlay!"  Her mouth is open and she's staring at him as if she's never seen a guy before in her life.

I grab her arm and whisper in her ear.  "Are you okay?!"  Brooke is still staring at Nate, who is still staring at me.  "This is Brooke by the way."

"You know Nate Finlay?!"  Brooke asks me at normal volume as she finally snaps out of her daze.

"Yes, do you?"  I don't know why she's acting like this.

"Everyone knows Nate Finlay.  He's the grandson of the most famous rock band, Slacker Demon.  They're legends."  Oh.  I'd heard of them before, but I'm not a hard core fan like Brooke and her mom are.  Brooke probably knows more about his family than he does.  My mom and I prefer to listen to country music.  My Uncle Krit also talks about them often.  He loves Slacker Demon and he'd have a cow if I told him I knew one of the band member's grandson.

I remember him telling me that he was here visiting his grandfather.  That must have been the other one that's not in the world famous rock band.  I look back at Nate and see that he's still staring at me.  I squirm uncomfortably and glance away from him.  His grin grows even bigger.

"If you don't mind, Brooke, can I speak with Bliss for a little bit?" Nate talks with a smooth voice, deeper than the one I remember four years ago.  My eyes widen with panic and I turn to Brooke.  She looks star-stuck again, but she manages to speak to him.  "Of-of course.  Bye, Bliss."  She grabs her schedule from the lady and runs from the office.  I shake my head before turning back to Nate, who is talking to the secretary again.

"If you don't mind, Mrs. Huffington, can you please change my student guide from Avery to Bliss York?  I would greatly appreciate it."  The poor lady looks flustered as Nate talks to her.  She looks at me over Nate's shoulder.  "Of course, Mr. Finlay.  I took the liberty of switching up some of your classes to match hers so that she doesn't have to find you every period."

"Thank you, Mrs. Huffington."  She hands him both of our schedules and Nate holds the door open for me as we exit the office.

"Why did you want to talk to me?"  I look up at his silver eyes.

"You look more beautiful than the last time I saw you."  His silver eyes bore into mine, and I look away, my cheeks flaming hot, not knowing what to say.  "Hey, don't look away, I thought we were friends."  His finger hooks under my chin, and he turns my head to face him again.  I can tell that my cheeks are tomato red, but I look up at him anyway.

"We've only talked to each other once, and it was less than 20 minutes," I point out.

We walk in silence to our first class together for about two minutes before he talks to me again.  "Still...that one conversation was more enjoyable than any other one I've had with someone my age.  Whenever they find out where I'm from, they suck up to me to know my family.  They never want to know me for me."

I looked up at him again.  "I know how you feel.  One of my cousins, well, she isn't actually my cousin, she's more of a family-friend, her dad is Jax Stone, so I've seen people try to befriend her to get to know her dad.  She doesn't have any real friends."  Nate looks at me in amazement.

"Wow.  Even after you found out about me, you still don't treat me differently."

"Why should I?" I reply.

"No reason." Nate smiles at me with his perfect teeth and my heart melts just a little more.