Rebekah - Chapter 1

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1.  Introductions



I locked the door of my car, turning to look up at Middle Lakes Secondary, a knot of worry settling in my stomach as I considered another year of school stuck there.  Not for the first time, I wished I’d stayed at home in bed. 

Only the thought of seeing my best friend for the first time after eight long weeks of being separated moved me forward, into the masses of students reuniting after the summer holidays. 

I tried to tune out my chattering classmates as I searched over their heads, looking for his face.  It didn’t take me long to spot him towering over the rest of the crowd, and I wondered grumpily if he’d grown again since I’d seen him last year.  His gaze searched too, scanning the faces of our peers, seeking mine. 

Waving my arm above my head, I wished – not for the first time – that I was taller than my five feet, and I grew increasingly impatient as he continued to overlook me, as if he thought I’d grown a foot since we’d last seen each other. 

After what seemed like an age, his eyes finally found my waving arm, and his face broke into a familiar grin.  Striding through the crowd, students stumbled out of his way, clearing a pathway between us.  I returned his smile enthusiastically, throwing my arms around his neck.  Riley hugged my tightly, lifting my feet off the ground and fighting laughter as I struggled against his bear hug. 

After several long moments he released me, and I sucked in air, wondering if he’d left bruises across my ribs.  It wouldn’t be the first time.  Leaning into him, I punched him lightly on the arm. 

“Don’t think you’re ever leaving me again!” I said; putting on what I imagined was my sternest voice.  He laughed, ruffling my hair with his hands.

“You take it up with Matthew the next time he feels the need to go on an overseas adventure with me in tow.  You know what he’s like, love, there really wasn’t any arguing with him once he’d made up his mind about Europe,” he chuckled again, apparently amused by the pout on my face. 

“Take me with you next time then,” I whined, glaring up at him.  “It’s not like I couldn’t have gone with you.  And you could have at least told me you were leaving.  I almost died of boredom home alone all summer!”

Pulling me back into a bear hug, Riley spoke into my ear, “Next time, I promise.”  Pushing him away I poked my tongue out at him, but it only lasted a moment before my cheeks tugged the corners of my mouth back into a smile.  I hadn’t realised just how much I’d missed him. 

“Good,” I grinned, having gotten my way so easily.  I couldn’t really be mad at him, not after two long months of separation. 

Linking my arm with his, I dragged him through the crowd and towards the school.  I made it halfway before I saw him, standing alone by the huge double doors into the main foyer, a piece of paper in one hand and a schoolbag in the other. 

I glanced around and realised that I wasn’t the only one who was staring; we didn’t get a lot of new students to our school.  Two girls I’d known since prep were whispering behind their hands to each other, their eyes glued to the new addition to our peer group. 

I could certainly see what drew their stares along with the majority of the other students standing around me.  He was unlike anyone I’d ever seen in our tiny town; with skin the colour of milk and inky black hair that was so perfectly messy it couldn’t possibly be accidental.  He was tall and lean, on the verge of looking unhealthy, and dark, bruise like semi-circles sat under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in weeks.  His jaw was sharply angled, and his cheekbones were high and obvious under his perfectly unblemished, pale—almost translucent—complexion.

All of these things combined made him undeniably the most beautiful person I had ever seen, and my breath caught as I surveyed his elegant features.  He stared across the student body with a slight scowl marring his features, as if starting at a new school bored him. 

I felt a tugging at my sleeve and I dragged my gaze away from him to turn to face Riley.  I felt irritation cross my face and quickly suppressed it at Riley’s expression, his eyes tight as he stared up at the new boy, his brow creased.  I only wondered for a moment what the reason behind his animosity was before the first bell rang, signalling five minutes until the start of our first classes. 

Carefully arranging my features into a blank expression, I linked back up with Riley and moved forwards past the whispering girls and their sullen looking boyfriends.  Making sure not to look at him, I strode past where the new boy stood and into the main building, pulling Riley with me.  As we walked through the doors I couldn’t help but wonder how this new boy with his airbrushed features would impact on life at Middle Lakes Secondary; it was obvious that already the whole school would be talking about him. 

Walking to the noticeboard across the room I quickly checked my classes against Riley’s and was dismayed to find that we shared only two: chemistry and maths. 

Dragging my feet I walked alone towards the science building for my physics class, focussing on trying to recall Newton’s Third Law and coming up blank.  Arriving at the multi-purpose science room that doubled as the maths room, I peered in to see my least favourite teacher, Mr Martin, setting up what looked like a slideshow. A disappointed sigh escaped my lips, and I backed away from the door, looking for an excuse not to enter the room. 

After several minutes of watching my classmates walk past me with identical resigned expression, I decided that I’d left it long enough and turned to drag myself into the classroom.  Walking through the doorway I felt the eyes of everyone in the room turned to stare at me, and I felt blood rush to my face.  I dropped my gaze to my feet, instantly regretting waiting so long to go in. 

I looked up and realised that no one was actually looking at me, and I turned to see the boy from earlier standing behind me in the doorway.  The same bored expression he’d had outside the school played across his face as he looked briefly over the classroom before turning to Mr Martin, handing him a slip of paper. 

“Ah, Mr Scott,” he said gruffly, his eyes passing over the boy and stopping at his face.  “I trust you have the necessary literature?” he asked, looking approvingly at the textbooks the new student pulled from his schoolbag with a slight nod of his head.  “Take a seat wherever you like then, and let me know if you’re having any trouble with the coursework.”  He turned his attention to the roll on his desk, calling each name down the list.

I realised that I was still standing staring at the new boy, and quickly moved to the back of the room to take a seat.  Pulling my books from my bag, I answered my name as it was called, and I waited as he moved down the list towards the S’s while I watched the new student out of the corner of my eye. 

He walked down the aisle to take the seat in front of mine, and I couldn’t stop the inevitable feeling of disappointment as his eyes slid over me without stopping.  He sat down and I knew that I wasn’t the only person sneaking glances at him, waiting for Mr Martin to read his name off the roll. 

Finally, Suzie Ryan’s name was read out, and a hushed silence fell as everyone in the class listened for the first name of this mysterious boy. 

“Malachi Scott?”

The classroom was silent as everyone turned to stare at the new student, fitting the name to the face.  Malachi.  I rolled the word around in my head, staring intently at his back, glad that he wasn’t sitting behind me.  I smiled slightly, nodding to myself.  He definitely looked like a Malachi. 

“Present,” he murmured in a voice like honey, and I couldn’t stop myself from gaping at the way that one word seemed to ring around the room.  I glanced around and was relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one wide eyed and staring. 

For several seconds the classroom was silent, then Mr Martin called out the next name on the roll, and the chatter of my classmates started up again slowly, and within a minute it appeared that everyone had forgotten about Malachi, except that every few minutes someone would turn succinctly in their chair to sneak a glance at him.  I even saw Mr Martin staring at him a few times, failing to keep the curiosity out of his expression. 

I stared at the back of Malachi’s head and wondered if I’d imagined the bell like tone of his voice, surely no one could sound so… heavenly.  For the rest of the class I couldn’t make myself concentrate on my physics work, I just sat waiting for him to speak again, so that I would know whether or not I’d imagined his voice. 

The bell sounded for the end of the period and I gathered my things together, taking my time as I watched Malachi packing up.  I paused shamelessly by the doorway, pretended to search through my bag for something.  From the corner of my eye I saw Rachael Dawson--one of the popular girls in our grade--sauntering slowly up to his desk. 

Standing in front of him, she brushed a lock of blonde hair out of her face, and I could barely suppress a grin while I watched her growing impatience as the seconds ticked by without him acknowledging her.  Clearing her throat she rested her hands on her hips, annoyance flitting across her classically pretty features. 

Finally he looked up at her, and I could see her quiet outrage as his bored expression didn’t change as he quickly took in her long legs and blonde hair. 

“Can I help you?” he asked in that same honeyed tone, one eyebrow raised now as he watched her from where he was standing. 

“Oh, well, I just wanted to introduce myself, my name’s Rachel, Rachel Dawson,” she said, visibly confused by his indifference.  “Um, if you need someone to show you around or anything...” she trailed off, her pale cheeks flushing as she seemed to realise that he wasn’t interested. 

“Bye,” she said after a moment, staring at him for a second before turning away.  I watched her walk briskly past me and out of the classroom. This time I didn’t quite manage to suppress a laugh.

Malachi turned where he was standing to stare at me; his were eyes a bewitching deep emerald green and full of mirth.  The corners of his mouth twitched up, and I found myself returning his smile.  He opened his mouth to say something but stopped, staring behind me, all traces of laughter gone from his face. 

I turned and saw Riley standing in the doorway, his face stormy as he stared back at Malachi, his jaw set at right angles.  I looked from one to the other, confused at this mutual animosity.  I felt my face burning as they turned their eyes on me; Riley beckoning me to the doorway and Malachi with a searching expression that I didn’t understand. 

I pulled my schoolbag onto my back and hurried out the doorway after Riley, forcing myself to not look back at Malachi and his strange green eyes.

As I walked to the canteen with Riley, I could feel him watching me and I turned to look at him. “What?” I snapped, feeling oddly on edge, trying to get the image of Malachi’s staring eyes out of my mind.

“So you met the new student then?” Riley asked casually, casting a quick glance behind us, back towards the classroom.  Following his gaze I saw Malachi standing in the hallway, watching us, and a shiver ran through my body.  Something about his penetrating gaze was really creepy. 

“Not really,” I replied.  “I mean, I haven’t spoken to him or anything.  I saw him reject Rachel Dawson though,” I smiled, an image of her stricken face flashing through my mind.  “What was with look he was giving you though?” I asked, turning my head to look at him “I mean, you’ve never met him before have you?”

Riley’s face gave nothing away, and he just shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think so.  He didn’t seem very friendly though, did he?” He laughed quietly, a strangely dark sound. 

We got to the large hall where the canteen was and moved to our usual table next to the wall.  I sat with my back to the rest of the school as they took their own seats, and Riley dropped onto the bench across the table from me.  I looked around at the laughing groups of our peers and smiled to myself; Riley was all the friendship I needed.   

As if he’d heard my thought he looked up from unpacking his lunch and grinned widely at me, reminding me of the first time I’d met him, on our first day at Middle Lakes Secondary.

I’d been sitting alone at the same lunch table we were sitting at now, and he’d been driven to sit with me by the overflowing tables surrounding mine, choosing one socially awkward encounter with me over the many he would have faced sitting anywhere else. We’d been inseparable ever since. 

Riley had saved me from another six painful years of drifting alone through each day at school, and only his constant reassurances that I’d done the same for him kept me from throwing myself at his feet in gratitude.

Digging through my schoolbag I found a rather squashed ham and cheese sandwich and began unwrapping it enthusiastically, my stomach rumbling as the aroma hit my nostrils. 

I looked back up at Riley and saw that he wore the same stormy expression he’d had earlier after physics, and I turned in my seat to see Malachi walking towards us. 

My stomach somersaulted as his eyes caught mine and I swallowed the first bite of my sandwich with some difficulty as he smiled at me again, his perfectly aligned features once again taking my breath away.  I could feel my pulse quicken and was horrified to realise that I was blushing again. 

I turned back to Riley, my sandwich left forgotten on the table.  Composing myself, I put on what I hoped was an indifferent expression and steeled myself for his arrival, almost--but not quite--managing not to jump when he spoke, his voice ringing in my mind. 

“Can I sit here?” he asked, indicating the bench next to me, and I hastily nodded a yes, staring ahead at Riley’s stony expression, confused by his hostility. 

I looked back at Malachi and saw that he was smiling at Riley now, the vision of politeness.  Riley continued to glare at the newcomer to our very selective group, and I kicked him under the table, shooting him a warning glance.  He grunted as my foot connected with his shin and grimaced at me. 

I was shocked; I’d never seen Riley acting this way towards anyone, especially without reason.  Riley sighed, pouting like a child, but he didn’t stop glaring at Malachi. 

I coughed awkwardly, looking down at my hands, suddenly overcome with embarrassment at Riley’s behaviour, and I wondered if this strange boy would leave if neither of us spoke to him. 

After a long minute of silence I looked up and saw that he was still sitting there, green eyes staring into mine expectantly, his head tilted to one side as he considered me.  It seemed that he’d forgotten Riley for now, his gaze intent only on me. 

“Hi,” I mumbled, keeping my eyes down.  “Um, I’m Bekah,” I looked up again, and he had that same grin on his face as before, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards, his eyes sparkling. 

“Malachi,” he replied, reaching his hand out to shake mine. I hesitantly stretched my hand out to meet his, and when our skin touched it was like an electric charge ran through my hand and towards my shoulder; I could feel every hair on my arm as it stood on end, and I couldn’t stop a quick shiver running through me. 

The grin on his face widened at my reaction, and I pulled my hand out of his, rubbing my other hand up and down my arm.  I suddenly noticed Riley was standing up across from us, fists clenched on the table and eyes narrow as he looked from me to Malachi. 

I looked up at Malachi and saw him staring intently at me.  Something about his gaze made me feel uncomfortable, and I stood up, stepping backwards. 

Laughing, Malachi turned, reaching his hand towards Riley.  Riley sneered back at him, his eyes flashing. 

“I suppose you’re Riley then,” he said, pulling his hand back and sliding it into his pocket in a fluid movement that made me wonder if he’d extended it at all in the first place.  He tilted his head, the smile never leaving his face. 

Suddenly Riley’s hand was on my wrist, and in the other he was holding his bag and my own. 

         “We’re going now, Bekah,” he said through clenched teeth, pulling me away from Malachi.  I turned angrily to snap at him, but I caught the expression on his face and decided that now wasn’t the time to argue with him. 

I gently pulled my wrist out of his grasp and twined my fingers through his, walking by his side.  I could feel him fuming next to me as we strode away hand in hand and I glanced up at him; shocked to see his face contorted with rage. 

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what had brought on his anger, but I trusted him, and stopped myself from looking back at Malachi, though I was sure if I had I would see the unwavering grin on his face as he watched us walk away. 



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