Well, my first day at Piedsville High School is finally over. It was probably the worst day in the history of first days ever. Someone played a horrible joke on me by giving me Julie-the-imbecile. I thought I was going to physically strangle her by the end of the day. Her delight in taking self portraits was about to render her knocked out, if she took one more picture of us. I never even agreed to have my picture made in the first place, but she kept snapping them. I couldn’t make a scene so I did what Oakley said to do, suck it up. I did just that…. all day! Every time I thought I’d get a chance to go over and introduce myself to Abel, there she was, rambling about every single aspect of her life. Just shoot me already.
Abel is cute, like a little puppy you want to grab and snuggle. From the surveillance pictures, I expected him to be shorter, but he has to be almost six feet tall. His chestnut brown curly hair was long enough to cover his big brown eyes and bushy eyebrows. He is adorable for an awkward 16 year old boy. If my mom heard me call him an awkward boy she would have a heart attack. She’d probably tell me it was blasphemy to say something like that about him. I tried telling her over and over, he is just like us, regardless of his destiny, he is still human….mostly. Of course I’d never talk to my parents like that; it would not go over well to disrespect my parents. It took me forever to get them to agree to let me even do this assignment. At first, they were going to send someone else in, but I swore I could do it, and I am. I graduated early so I could take this assignment and train Abel for what is written. I wasn’t going to let something or someone like Julie get in my way. I figure if I can get close to him, I’d try to make friends quick. I knew he didn’t have a car so I felt that would be my ‘in’.
It isn’t overly complicated, or maybe it is slightly - I’m in charge of his death. My entire life has prepared me for my encounter with Abel Casey. He is a boy that has no idea how special and important he is, a boy that is so special; his life is in jeopardy if anyone finds out who he is.
I am Prudence Phelan, daughter of General Ernan Phelan and Dolina, General and Dolly as their friends call them. My father is one of those strong quiet types, when he tells you to do something, you better do it, and do it right. Mom is the nurturing type and incredibly protective over us, that is us as in our pack. I’m biologically the only child of my parents, everyone else in our pack are mostly adopted in. You’d have to be mental to mess with my mom. If she doesn’t serve your head on a plate, I assure you if one of us gets there first, we’ll be the servers.
We have a farm on the edge of Oklahoma County, in a small town called Choctaw. We have the largest vegetable and herb farm in the county. Everyone in the pack works it daily without complaint. We have been fortunate enough to be successful at what we do. We’ve been selling jellies, jams, and canned vegetables to the local markets since the 1950’s when my grandfather tilled up his first acre for vegetables. We eat well, and mom is a great cook. We are big into giving back to our community so we donate fresh fruits and vegetables to the homeless shelters and the local families that have suffered due to the economy. We respect the animals that become ‘pets’ and we drool over the animals that feed us well.
I really enjoyed the FBLA meeting, everyone was super cool and it sounded like we would actually learn something about business. Being homeschooled my entire life, it is my first school club. I’m the first person in the family to go to a human school, it felt a little strange not having one of my adopted brothers around. I feel like a spy, especially when I’m creeping on Abel like a stalker. I hope I don’t scare him off before I get to be his friend.
I finally ditched Julie by telling her I was going straight home. She tried to talk me into trying out for cheerleader. What a laugh that would be, I could just see me punching out someone on a football field. I’d never live it down if I were a cheerleader. I laugh to myself at the thought of it.
After FBLA I stood outside talking to Shane and Abel, I loved the way his eyes sparkled as he squinted against the sunlight. When we were talking, I could sense he was nervous, his scent was a little musky with a hint of designer cologne. He fidgeted from foot to foot, rocking heavier on his left one. He wiggled the change in his pocket, probably unaware he was even doing it. It’s going to be fun being friends with him, and the good part is…. he will be more willing to die in the hands of a friend.