Chasing Rainbows

Preview Only: Chapters: 1-6

Chapter 1

The sun ceased to shine the day my older sister, Natalie died. She was a bright meteor of pure heat, magnetically drawing every celestial force in the heavens and the center of my universe. An eighteen-year-old version of Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn rolled into one vivacious cheerleader, whom everyone adored... even me.

With her bubbly personality, she reminded me of sunshine sparklingly on a dew covered meadow at sunrise. At first sight, she'd steal your breath away. Her features were classic but understated with elegance; she was more typical old school Hollywood glamour with her long heavy honey blond hair, mesmerizing hazel eyes that radiated with the pure bliss of life and a contagious smile that lit up my world. She was truly beautiful; not just on the outside but the inside too, where it mattered the most. I was her biggest fan and she was mine. I missed her funny laughter, and her silly jokes. I missed the regular Wednesday night ritual of settling in the family room with popcorn and root beer as we indulged our shared love for classic nineteen fifties movies.
Not one day went by that Natalie didn't cross my mind. She was always with me, whispering along the edges of my thoughts, teasing me and reminding me of what I had truly lost.

It was always the worst on holidays or the first day of a new school year. Hell, who was I kidding? It was horrible no matter what day it was. I should have been with her that morning, but instead I'd promised Kara I would ride the bus with her and Brandon on the first day of school of our freshman year. We had finally made it to high school.
At the end of my first period class, my name had been announced over the intercom to come to the office. I'll never forgive myself or that asshole who'd run the red light, T-boning Natalie's brand new, baby blue Volkswagen Beetle. She'd died instantly.

The noise in the room was loud, interrupting my thoughts and drawing me back to the present. It buzzed with a jumble of hushed excited whispers that sounded somewhat like the gentle roar of a pissed off beehive. Behind me, I could hear the twins, Miley and Mia Triton describing their three-week vacation to the Bahamas. I liked to refer to them as the Triton Terrors; rich, snobby first class witches who thought that their wealth entitled them to make everyone else miserable. Their dad was a surgeon, and I wanted so bad just to turn around and tell them to shut the fuck up. I wasn't jealous. Well, maybe just a little, but they didn't have to rub everyone's noses in it.

I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one who was sick and tired of hearing about how much money they had or how wonderful their life was. When I glanced over at my best friend Kara and rolled my eyes, she confirmed my suspicions by sticking her finger down her throat as if she were gagging. I smiled back at her.

Kara wore her blond hair streaked red just like mine; a bright, ass-kicking red that we constantly had to recolor since it faded after only a couple of weeks. Kara wanted so badly to be a Goth princess, but she didn't have the heart to give up her natural color. She reached up and tucked a wayward strand of straight hair behind her ear, revealing a glittering row of tiny white rhinestones piercings. Her face was heart-shaped with delicate brows arched over wide blue eyes, a button nose that was adorable, and lips that I'd swear were collagen injected if I didn't know better. She was all natural; sweet and loyal but she didn't take any shit. Those who were fooled by her appearance and all that sweetness soon realized she was as fierce as a lioness.

Her outfit was similar to mine. We both wore concert tees, holey jeans and flip flops. We'd talked on the phone for an hour last night finally deciding to downplay the dramatics of the first day of school and dress casually. We were seniors, so it didn't really matter. I hadn't cared either way, and it had taken my mind off the huge fight my mom and dad were having downstairs.

I admired the new tattoo Kara had gotten over the summer. It was a tiny pink and purple butterfly that peaked through the jagged hole in the leg of her faded jeans. The bright colors were startlingly visible against the tanned skin of her thigh. Her mom was way cooler than mine.