Chapter 1

                                                                Mason

I woke up in the passenger seat of my Mom’s car as we made our way down the highway towards our new home. It had been months of work and frustration, but my mom was able to win a court case and get me out of my father’s home. I still vividly remembered the smell of vodka from his apartment, it wasn’t a smell I enjoyed remembering. Whenever he drank, I was either out of the house and waiting for him to pass out, or stuck hiding in my room to avoid his wrath. 

“Kiddo, I know this won’t be easy for you, but I hope if no one else, you’ll still trust me. My boyfriend has been helping me arrange a place in his place for you, and we’ve already enrolled you at the local high school,” My mom said as she took an exit off the highway, “The neighborhood is a little rough around the edges, but it’s got a familial atmosphere.”

“Sounds like my kind of place, eh?” I said with a heavy dose of sarcasm, she knew that with my father’s abuse I had to grow a hard shell, even if it wasn’t true to myself. 

She continued on the road we were on, while I recounted some of the details she’d told me about this place. She’d moved us to Chandler, Arizona, and all I knew about this place was that Arizona was one of the hottest states in the US, while Chandler was the name of a sitcom character. She told me about the high school she’d enrolled me in, Blood Moon High, and what the school was like. It was a public school, much like every other school I’d ever been to, however, she specifically had made note that this school wasn’t like any other I’d been enrolled in before.

“Mom, what made you say that this school you enrolled me in wasn’t like any other? It’s a public school, wouldn’t it be just about the same? Reckless teenagers not sure why they’re there, underpaid teachers who love their jobs yet don’t get paid nearly enough for the work they do?” I asked as she pulled into the driveway of her new boyfriend’s place, who was waiting on the porch to meet us.

“Mason, I love you, but you know that I get upset when you point out the obvious. As far as this school goes, I said that it wasn’t like any you’ve been to before because of who’s in charge of the school,” She said as she opened her door, “Now get the fuck out, we’ve got a lot of stuff to unpack, maybe when we’re done we’ll talk more about it.”

That was the one thing I genuinely loved about my mother, she was the one who taught me sarcasm, but she knew how to get a point across. She popped the trunk of her car as her boyfriend came down to help out with moving some of my stuff inside; I hadn’t brought all of my stuff, not like I had a lot of stuff, to begin with, just because most of it was old or needed to be thrown out. My mom’s boyfriend introduced himself as Nate, and that he wasn’t a strict dude but did have expectations of respect.

“Treat others the way you want to be treated, don’t sacrifice goats at midnight, yeah yeah I got the memo,” I said with sarcasm lacing my words, “In all seriousness though, you’ve got nothing to worry about, I mostly stick to myself unless my mom wants to talk or I need someone to talk to.”

“Martha, I think I’m going to like this kid,” He said before grabbing a couple of boxes from the trunk and heading towards the door.

“Martha? You two are already on a first-name basis? How long until I get that privilege, ma?”

“When I’m dead and you’re lowering my coffin into the ground, don’t forget the chardonnay, I don’t want to be sober when I’m dead,” She said as we followed Nate inside, “And thank you, Kiddo, for being so nice even if you’re a smart ass as always.”

“Come on now, would I be me if not for a little bit of sarcasm?”

“A little bit? I think you may have hit your head one time too many if you think you’re only a little sarcastic,” She said as she closed the door behind us.

“More like getting hit with Dipstick’s vodka bottle a few too many times,” I said as I followed Nate up to where my room was. 

Nate sat his boxes down in the corner before leaving to give my mom and me space to set ours down. I took a step back and started looking around my room, it wasn’t a huge space, but I liked it. It was cozy and aside from the bed and dresser there wasn’t much in the room, so, I had a lot of space to make this place mine. My mom could probably see the gears turning in my head as I scanned the room because she tapped my shoulder before leaving. 

“As excited as I am that you want to organize, we’ve got more boxes to go through before you do so,” She said as she led me back down to the car, “I’ve also got some things I want to tell you about school before I let you off the leash.”

“Just because I’m eager to run around with my head cut off doesn’t mean I’m a dog,” I said as I followed her outside, “It just means I’m a rogue wolf with a sense of independence.”

“More like a sense of ignorance to the world around him,” My mom said before we got back out to continue unloading the car, “We’ve got a lot to talk about, Mason.”