Beautiful Sins: Leigha Lowery (3 page)

"Wow," was all I could manage. Randy's hands did not startle me this time as he placed them gently on my shoulders. "But I thought the clouds never faded?" I wondered aloud.

Randy chuckled. "You have a lot to learn about the Coast, Leigha. No one said the clouds never faded. We clearly stated that the sun never shines here.”

"Oh," I responded stupidly. My mother quickly grabbed me by the arm and rushed me up the porch steps to the front door.

"Can you believe this, Leigha? This house is amazing!" She sang.

"Just wait until you see the inside," Randy countered, startling us both. How did he get behind us so fast? The last time I checked, he was still by the limousine just a few yards away. Randy winked at me and pulled a small key from his coat pocket. He handed it to me.

"Will you do the honors, Leigha?" he offered. I looked at my mother, who was still too hysterical for any more excitement. I sighed and quickly turned the key, unlocking the door. I allowed Randy to carry my mother inside first before following behind them.

The house was absolutely amazing. I felt like I was on a tour of MTV Cribs. It was too good to be true. Randy carried my mother through the long hallway and into the large living room. The room was filled with beautiful European furniture surrounding a huge fireplace. He set my mother down on her feet and let her adjust to the scenery. Patricia examined the room quietly for a long moment.I stood beside Randy waiting for her to speak. She trailed her fingers along the huge fluffy cream sofa and turned to admire the beautiful piano that sat by the window. Her eyes were still damp from the previous tears of joy she had shared with us outside.

Randy gazed at me for a moment and then raised one eyebrow. "Your mother was right about you," he chuckled.

I raised one eyebrow in return. She was always talking about me and I hated when she did that. "What do you mean?" I asked, a bit horrified about his impression of me.

"She says there's nothing in the world that excites you. You're wealthy now, and there's no fear of bills or wanting for anything. But it still doesn't surprise you at all. I was kind of hoping to at least see you jump on the sofa with your mother," he laughed.

I let my eyebrow drop and then began to realize what he was talking about. My mother was jumping on the sofa. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"I think my mother selfishly held in all the enthusiasm when she got pregnant with me," I answered, placing my hands over my hips.

Randy laughed.

"Well, why don't you explore the house? Go pick out a bedroom."

I grabbed my bag and traipsed up the steps to choose a room. There were so many, ten to be exact. Who would need a house with so many rooms? It was just Randy, my mother, and I, after all. But I picked one, preferably at a distance from everyone else. I was so anti-social. I threw myself on the beautiful white bed. It was so soft and fluffy, not at all like the hard beds I had been sleeping restlessly on my entire life. The room was so plain and empty. I rolled over to my side and stared at the vanity. I had never had a vanity before, what was the point? The mirror in the bathroom did me more than enough justice. I didn't wear makeup, I never felt the need to, and my thick and wavy, long auburn locks had a mind of their own. I was very tired from the long flight, so I curled up into a ball and drifted off to sleep.

I awoke the next morning, not even believing that the morning had come, until I saw the clock sitting on the table beside my bed. The clouds were thick and a very dark shade of grey, almost black. I was still in my winter coat and felt very sweaty beneath it. I sat up to stretch my stiff muscles, then stood up and walked over to the previously unnoticed, but huge, double doors. I wasn't aware that my room had a balcony.

The darkness was almost alarming. I glanced over at the clock again.It was nearly ten in the morning. That had to be wrong. The light was coming in, but just barely, almost as if the sun were setting. It had been lighter than this when we first arrived at the airport. I sighed and quickly closed the curtains over the doors.

I wasn’t surprised to find that my room had its own bathroom with a sink, a separate shower and Jacuzzi-like bathtub, and a very modern toilet that seemed to have automatic flushing. I rolled my eyes and proceeded to freshen myself up. After my shower, I quickly ran the blow dryer through my thick hair. It was irritating me, so I pulled it into a bun. I threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and then hurried down the steps to greet my mother. I wondered how well she slept her first night. I had never slept so peacefully a day in my life.

It took me a minute to find the kitchen; the house was so big. It was almost intimidating. I followed the scent of my mother's famous veggie omelets. It led me into the large, vibrant kitchen. If there was any trace of excitement in me, my mouth would have dropped in awe. It was the kitchen Patricia dreamed of. We used to go through home decorating magazines all the time when we were grocery shopping, daydreaming of my mother's ideal kitchen. She had spent her life making a living as a low-profile professional chef, but always dreamed of starting her own catering business. This was the kitchen that would make her dreams come true. She placed an omelet on a place setting and I pulled up a seat at the bar.

"How did you sleep, honey?" Patricia asked, her face glowing.

"It was good, Mom. But I think you had a better night than I did," I chuckled, biting into my omelet.

Randy walked into the kitchen, dressed and ready to head to the hospital. He pulled Patricia into a passionate kiss as she handed him his coffee mug.

"I wish I could stay a little longer with you guys. I feel really bad about leaving you both here all alone," he sighed and then quickly pulled a black credit card out of his pocket. “Why don't you go into town and get some shopping done? Leigha could use some new school clothes and supplies, and you'll both need to get cars of your own. This should keep you busy until I get back."

He walked over to me and kissed the top of my head. "Enjoy yourself, Leigha," he said and then left for work.

It was just us, Patricia and I all alone in this huge house. Randy had demanded that we buy clothes and cars as if it were a grocery errand. I didn't know how to respond to that. It was very weird and unnatural for us. While my mother quickly got ready, I surfed the net for a few stores and used car lots. I had my driver's license, but I had never really had a car of my own. I would insist that I get something used. I couldn’t stand to embarrass myself crashing a brand new car.

We found our way into town by taxi. We stopped at an ATM to get some cash and parted ways shortly after. Patricia knew me all too well. While I searched for a decent bookstore, she went shopping for my school clothes. I didn't mind whatever she bought me because we shared similar interests in clothing.

The day seemed to only last a few hours with the sun always hidden by the clouds. I eventually came across a nice bookstore downtown called Powell's City of Books. I stayed there for a while, wandering through the young adult section. It was when I sat down in the café section with my novels of choice that I realized the night really had fallen.

The way the townspeople suddenly cleared the streets made me move from my seat and gaze out the large front store window. The sales associate stared at me curiously as I walked out of the store to gaze up at the open sky. So bright and beautiful, the huge full moon nearly astounded me. I found myself lost in its beauty, frozen on the street. I had never seen the stars so bright in a city.

"I know. It's beautiful isn't it?" a voice whispered behind me.

"Oh!" I gasped. It startled me and I turned quickly with my hand over my heart. It was the sales associate.

"Sorry," she apologized, moving to my side.

I stared at the sudden chaos of traffic and fleeing pedestrians.

"What's going on?" I asked as I watched a woman quickly pick up her daughter and hurry to her car.

"It's a full moon tonight. It's fairly easy to point out the more superstitious residents of our town," she chuckled.

I didn't know what she meant. They were fleeing like there was some wild storm coming or a predetermined meteor coming down from out of the sky.

"What are they running from?"

She laughed at that. "You must be new in town," she observed.

I nodded.

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors… Well, it's not what you think, though. They aren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be. They're actually very friendly."

She pursed her lips, trying to decipher my expressions. "The undead," she murmured.

I laughed out loud, and her expression became wary.

"You must be joking," I laughed again. I hadn’t laughed this hard in quite a while.

"Everyone thinks that at first. Until you meet them." Her voice was reassuring.

I choked up my laughter when I noticed her serious expression.

She extended her hand to greet me. "My name is Maria Lawton."

I proceeded to shake her hand. "Leigha Lowery."

Maria seemed very young and vibrant. Her features were flawless, but she seemed a little weary. That was most likely because she had been working all day. Her eyes were a beautiful baby blue, and they seemed to glow in the night. I was slightly taller than her, and her figure was slender. She had blonde hair, but I could tell from the roots that she was a bleach blonde.

"So you can tell I'm new in town?" I asked, making conversation and pretending my tourist-like gaze didn't really give me away.

She chuckled, moved to sit by the bench just outside the store, and lit a cigarette.

I quickly bundled up my jacket and moved to sit beside her.

"You're not running. Yet," she sighed, blowing out smoke.

A small black Ford Escape pulled up in front of us. I was relieved when the window rolled down and I saw that it was my mother.

"That's my mom. I'd better get going. It was nice meeting you," I said, getting up from the bench.

She handed me a heavy, white plastic bag.

"Don't forget your books," she smiled.

"Thanks." I gazed at her for a moment before getting into the car. "Wow, Mom. You took him seriously."

My mom seemed worried as she drove into the traffic jam. "What's all this about? Did we miss something?" she wondered aloud, trying to get through the gridlock.

The drivers were anxious, yelling and screaming at each other from their windows. I looked away from the pandemonium and up at the beautiful moon, wondering what Maria meant by “the undead”. I
had
heard so many rumors about this place. But, of course, logic kicked in. The stories I’d heard just couldn’t be true...

* * * * *

Banks High

The weekend ended sooner than I wanted it to. This was to be my first day at my new high school. I was glad to be a sophomore; entering as a junior or senior would be more difficult for me to blend in with the other students.

"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.