The Unexpected

Chapter 1

The sun beat hotly down on me.

"Where am I?" I thought, "I don't remember being down on the beach. The last thing I remember is being in my tiny kitchen."

I tried to sit up and a silky hand reached for mine and helped me sit up enough to see where I was. I looked to see who's soft, silky hand held mine. The most beautiful face I had ever seen was grinning at me. A boy, probably sixteen or seventeen, with a milky complexion, dark brown, almost black hair, and I could see, judging by the fact that he only had lifeguard swim trunks on, that he definately worked out.

"My name is Leo, short for Leonardo. I realize that you are rather close to a certain gentleman, Aria, but I couldn't seem to help myself. I saw you and just had to have you," he said with a slight spanish accent.

"How do you know my name?" I asked in confusion, sitting up the rest of the way.

"I'd rather not tell you 'til we get to know each other better."

Okay, it was kind of weird but I had to admit, this "Leo" character was hot. Really close to a model in a relationship or not, this dude was worthy of my attention.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Um... about three days. I gave you a bigger dose of extracts than I meant to. Sorry about that. I knew that if I tried to talk to you while your pesky boyfriend, Scott, was around, you never would have agreed to meet with me here so I kinda made you pass out so I could get you here alone."

"Hello, didn't you think that Scott would come looking for me? I mean c'mon, he's kinda protective." I said, rolling my eyes. Under my breath I added, " A little TOO protective, actually."

"Well, I highly doubt that he thinks you coming back after the little fight you guys had," he said, winking at me.

"Wait, fight. What the crap are you talking about?!? We've never had a fight!"

"You didn't actually fight. I... well, I guess I can tell you some of it. I used magic to plant a fight in his head. He thinks you dumped him and moved to Spain. Ironically, we really are in Spain and you did break up but well, I'm sure you see the irony."

"Okay, why am I in Spain? I've always wanted to come here but why not just keep in America until we do whatever your weird plans may be?"

"Well, two reasons actually. First, I knew you have always wanted to come here. Secondly, this is my hometown and also where me and my parents live."

"Are we gonna sit out on some beach all day or are we gonna go sightseeing?!?!" I asked suddenly estatic. I had good reason, I was in the place I had always wanted to go. As long as I was there, I was going to milk it for all it was worth. Little did I know that I was about to get into a sticky situation.

Chapter 2

I'm tall for my age, 5'9" which makes finding a guy that is taller than you a total nightmare. I am a skinny, almost scrawny, fifteen and a half year old sophmore with curly blondish brown hair that never cooperates. I lost my dad when I was two but I don't really remember much about him. I'm not sure what happened to him. He just kind of went MIA when I was really little. The Scott guy Leo was talking about is my boyfriend for almost two years. He's the only one that kept me sane all those years. My mom kind of brings home a different boyfriend everynight so she picks up some pretty weird ones. Sports have also kept me from losing it. I play soccer, softball, and lacross. I also do swimteam and marchingband. I may be scrawny but I'm really strong. I just thought I would fill you a little on me.

Leo led me up a winding staircase that led up a huge cliff. Once we got to the top I gasped. In front of me was a gynormous mansion, you know the kind you see the movie stars living in. Picture the biggest one you have ever seen and times it by twenty. Come to think of it, it was closer to a castle than a mansion.We walked up to the front door. Leo took out a key that was bigger than any house key I had ever witnessed and unlocked it. Then we walked in.

The inside astonished me even more than the outside did. Everything was black marble and accented in crimson red. It actually looked kind of cool. The room I assumed was the lobby was as big as my tiny house me and my mom lived in in California. There were two stairs cases, one on each side, that both led upstairs. There really wasn't much furnature. Leo led me up one of the huge grand staircases down a hall that had a million doors and opened one. Inside was another staircase, this one wasn't quite as grand but was still very expensive looking.

When we got to the top, we were in a huge bedroom. There was a king size bed with a black comforter with red trim and red accent pillows , a couple black couches, paintings of weird art, pictures of animals, and a beautiful make-up table. It was hand carved oak, that stood at about 6'5". But that wasn't what captivated me. Leo looked different in the reflection. He looked younger, less mature. I couldn't take my eyes off him. He looked up and met my eyes in the mirror. For some reason, he was holding my gaze. Finally, he looked away. I shook my head, trying to clear the sudden fog that had clouded my train of thought.

"How did you just do that?" I asked still trying to clear my head.

"Do what?" He answered back, "I didn't do anything." But I could see in his eyes that he knew exactly what he did.

"Is this your room?" I asked cautiously.

"No, this is YOUR room. My room is next door. You see that door right there? That's where I'm at but the door's locked for some reason," he sighed.

"Leo, how old are you?"

"I just turned seventeen, why?"

"I was just wondering how much older you are than me. I'm only-"

"Fifteen and a half," he finished for me.

"How did you know that?" I wondered in amazment.

"I'm not allowed to tell you! My parents made me swear to wait until you kiss me and really mean it. After that happens, I can tell you." He wailed.

"If I guess, could you tell me if I'm right?"

" I want to tell you so bad because I love you but Arivia and Leonard with find out and I'll get punished. I don't know what to do!" He looked up at me but I was in shock. "Aria, are you okay? Aria?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You love me?" Even in two years of dating some one and living with my mom, I had never heard some one tell me that and mean it. Scott and I never got that far in our relationship. It was more out of pity that he stayed with me.

"Yeah, but why did you react that way when I said it?"

"It's just the last person to tell me that they loved me was my dad and I haven't seen him since I was like two. He went missing and they think he's dead." Even after thirteen years of not having a dad, I still couldn't help but start crying.

"Oh, Aria, it's okay. I lost my real dad when I was young, too. Leonard is my stepdad." He said as he hugged me in comfort. For some reason, he made me feel a lot better.

"I'm sorry for breaking down like this but it's just-"

"Your mom didn't like to talk about it, did she?"

"How do you always know what I am trying to say. It's like you can read my mind."

"Leonard and Mom are gonna kill me. I can read your mind," he said, looking down.

Chapter 3

"Wait, what? What do you mean you can read my mind?" I asked in total confusion.

"I'm still not quite sure how it works but if I concentrate really hard, I can hear what you're thinking. I have had this ability for three years. We figured it would eventually go away but it just keeps getting stronger. That's how I knew your name, what you're in to, you wanted to come to Spain, everything. I was listening to those thoughts." He said in a surprisingly sheepish voice.

"Oh, so if I think something right now-"

"I'll be able to hear what it is. Kind of like I just did," he interrupted.

"You're expecting me to call you a freak and storm out of your life, aren't you?" I asked softly.

"I swear, it's like you can read my mind sometimes. Yeah, that's exactly what i'm waiting for." He responded sadly.

"Well, you're gonna be waiting a long time 'cuz I'm not going anywhere," I said stepping a little closer. "In fact, I was thinking along a different path," I said stepping closer still. All I had to do was step onto my tippy toes to reach his lips because he was looking down at me. I gently pressed my lips to his, trying to not freak him out. Leo didn't seem to mind.

Chapter 4

The kiss lasted for about a minute and a half, but Leo pulled back first.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting that. I figured it would take months to get you to kiss me. Not a day."

"It's my fault. I was the one that started it," I said, looking down and avoiding his dark eyes.

"I'm glad you just kissed me. Not only because I have been dreaming of that for months but because I can tell you everything, if you still want to know." He grinned.

"Of course I still want to know. Curiosity has always gotten me into trouble."

"Okay, My family has owned this estate for the last hundred and fifty years. There isn't anything weird about that, right. The weird part is, that is how long my parents have lived here. We, um, kind of turn into vampires when we reach a certain age," he said quickly.

I kept my face blank.

"Are you okay, Aria?" He asked me, sounding worried.

"Yeah I'm fine. So what's the real story?"

"Um, that is the real story. I know it's hard to believe but really try."

"Very funny. You obvoiusly don't trust me enough bucause you win't even tell be the truth! I trust you, whay can't you trust me?!?!" I yelled as I stomped down the stairs and out the back door.