• Prologue

    Rain fell down in sheets on and off all day as Georgia watched along with all the other hopefuls in the Adoption center. Georgia was a black and amber haired, small boned girl. Her best friend was a blonde haired girl that’s name was Leslie.
    “Georgia?” Georgia looked up. The owner of the Adoption Center, a small, portly old lady and a young couple were standing behind her. “Georgia, this is Mr. and Mrs. Willowbough. They want to adopt you. Can you tell them about you?”
    The old lady moved away, obviously wanting to give them some alone time. Georgia didn’t speak; she could only stare at Mr. and Mrs. Willowbough. Both of their hair colors were light brown, colliding comfortingly with their dark brown coats and stylish blue jeans. Mrs. Willowbough was short and small-boned while Mr. Willowbough was a very towering man.
    “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to; we’ll have lots of time to do it later.” Mrs. Willowbough said. She had a light, musical voice.
    “We’ll understand if you don’t talk,” Mr. Willowbough added. His voice was a mixture of light and deep voice with a French accent.
    “Thank you”, Georgia said fervently. Though she didn’t want to admit it, she found Mr. and Mrs. Willowbough unnerving and scary. “May I get my stuff now?” She asked politely, feeling as though they were looking at her like they wanted to eat her. Though the Adoption owner led them to a secluded room, she still felt as if she was being watched.
    “Sure, do you want help?”
    “Thank you, but no. I think I can do it. Really, thanks for asking.” Although Georgia wanted to pack by herself, she didn’t want to offend her adoption parents.
    “We assure you, it’s quite alright if you don’t need our help!” Mrs. Willowbough said in a shocked voice.
    “I- I’ll go and pack now.” Georgia stuttered and left the room.
    “What a strange child,” said Mr. Willowbough.
    “Strange, but powerful,” replied Mrs. Willowbough.
    “True,” he mused.” But is she powerful enough for the transformation to a vampire is the thing.”
    “We will soon find out.” Mrs. Willowbough pondered. “I wonder if we’re doing the right thing.”
    “We will soon find out.” Mr. Willowbough echoed.
    “I’m ready, Georgia announced, coming back into the room.
    “Good, that means we can go adopt you and leave this depressing place once and for all!”
    Mrs. Willowbough took the suitcase. “Oh,” she said in surprise. “What’s in here, rocks?
    Georgia glanced at her with a smile. “Actually, yes. That’s my rock collection. I couldn’t leave it behind; there are a lot of really rare rocks and crystals in it.
    As soon as she passed Georgia, Georgia looked up, and on her face was such a chasm of sadness and despair that Mrs. Willowbough stopped in her tracks and put an arm around her and said, “Honey, what’s the matter?”
    Georgia started to weep. “I’m leaving and my very best friend isn’t coming with me!” She wailed. “I don’t want to leave Leslie alone without anyone to protect her and keep her out of danger!”
    Mrs. Willowbough and Mr. Willowbough exchanged a look and Mr. Willowbough hurried and left the room.
    “Now, now, sweet, don’t cry. You’ll see in a moment if you stop crying.” By now, Georgia’s tears dried up to an occasional trickle. “Good girl, now look at me. In a moment, Leslie’s going to come in here and talk to you. You don’t have to tell anyone what she says. Tell me, do you understand?”
    “Yes,” Mrs. Willowbough could barely hear it through her crying.
    “Good, now get up, there’s a good girl.” As she was speaking, Leslie and Mr. Willowbough entered. “See, there they are right now!”
    Leslie knelt down. “Georgia, why are you crying? Don’t cry Georgia, oh, don’t cry. You’re going to make me cry.” Her small hand found its way into Georgia’s. That helped. Georgia slowly stopped crying.
    “I don’t want to leave you behind,” she explained.
    "Oh, phooey!" said Leslie." I can take care of myself. I'm old enough!"
    “But you’ll get into trouble and hurt yourself and, and…” She trailed off, imagining greater horrors.
    “I won’t hurt myself, now go live your own life Mother Goose. I’ll be fine. I’ll have new friends, and so will you. Just promise me one thing.”
    “What?”
    “Whatever you do, never forget me.”
    “I won’t. I swear.”
    “Now go to your new life!”
    * * *


    Jacob

    Georgia looked out into the drizzly rain. How fast her life had changed! When Mrs. Willowbough took her to the store right away, Georgia had protested with a spirit, but Mrs. Willowbough insisted. Her new wardrobe consisted of three “good” dresses, three dresses for normal occasions, five pairs of dark and light jeans, two skirts, and eighteen shirts. She also got new socks, belts, and jewelry.
    As Mrs. Willowbough, Mom, Georgia reminded herself, had explained, she hade a new room with a theme for the furniture. So, all they needed to do was register her for school.
    As Georgia and her new Mom walked through the door, she suddenly saw the cutest boy she had ever seen. He looked up and stared. Suddenly, as if he had realized what he was doing, he looked down at his shoes and hurried past her.
    She looked at her Mom for a second until a huge crash brought her head back around to the boy. He had crashed into a set of lockers because he was staring at his shoes. Georgia blushed and hurried after her mother because she felt as if she had caused it. A minute after her Mom started to fill out the paperwork given to them by the lady at the desk, the boy walked in, grabbed a pack of ice, and sat down in the chair beside her.
    "Hi, I'm Jacob." He introduced himself.
    "I'm Georgia," she said shyly.
    "Are you going to this school?" He asked. "If so, then I can show you around," He added brightly, as if already looking forward to the task.
    "Thanks that would be great!" Georgia smiled at the thought of finally going to school instead of the stuffy classroom in the adoption center.
    "All the people here are nice because they remember what it felt like to be new here too. As you can see," he added because of her surprised expression, "This is a middle school. Everyone comes here at some time. Don't you know this?" He asked.
    "No, every memory I know of school was the Adoption Center's version." Georgia said with a pang of sadness and happiness at the mention of the Adoption Center.
    "Oh," he said knowingly.
    "Ok, all set." The lady at the desk said. "You can start school right away. All you need today is this notebook and pencil." She added while providing both. "Here's you're schedule:"


    Georgia Willowbough Locker #725
    Combination: 55, 25, 43

    Homeroom: Mr. Saber
    First Hour: Algebra with Mrs. Astor
    Second Hour: Language Arts with Mr. Ferria
    Third Hour: Art and Design with Mrs. Nucor
    Fourth Hour: Spanish with Mrs. Lucia
    Lunch
    Fifth Hour: World Geography with Mr. Saver
    Sixth Hour: Gym with Mrs. Buford
    Seventh Hour: Science with Mrs. Kasson

    Georgia was thrilled to see that she got Gym and not Health because she loved sports of all kinds, even tennis. She found Tennis easy, so she grew bored easily.

    "Oh cool, most of your classes are next to mine." Said Jacob as he compared his schedule with her's.
    "Now all you need to do is listen to the teachers and get them to sign this piece of paper. Jacob will show you to all your classes. After school, you are to come here and give me the sheet with the signatures. All clear?" The Lady asked.
    "Yes."