He was standing by the doorway looking around the diner. The sun coming through the glass door shined on him, making him look like some kind of Angel. A really, really hot angel.

He must have been not too far from our age. He had messy dark brown hair, tan skin and these insanely dark, brooding eyes with long eyelashes. There was something about him, the way he looked, the way he moved, that felt like trouble.

He was in a black leather jacket, with a tight-fitting gray shirt with blue jeans and a brown belt. Of course his tall, athletic body looked like it had been carved by the Gods.

"Would you like me to get you a towel? You know..to clean up all the drool you've gotten all over the table?" I realized I had been staring with my mouth hung open like an idiot. Luckily for me, I don't think anyone noticed except for Chanel who already seemed perfectly comfortable with teasing me. I felt myself flush and I looked at her to find her grinning at me from ear to ear. "He's a snack and a half, is he not?"

I flipped back my hair and looked out the window, trying and failing to appear casual. I shrugged indifferently for good measure, but Chanel  didn't look convinced. "I've seen worse." I finally said, causing her to shake her head and laugh.

"What's his name?" I asked, purposely keeping my eyes on her. I was nervous to look at him again because I didn't want to be obvious. The problem is, I could now feel myself overcompensating. Which only made me feel like I was being more obvious.

"His name is Phoenix Santiago." We were startled by the sound of a male's husky voice answering before Chanel  had the chance to. Sure enough, it was the same guy I was drooling over. He had just overheard me asking about him, and there was a huge, extremely cocky smile spread on his face.

His smile did things to me I couldn't quite explain, and part of me wanted to hide under the table. So much for appearing cool and indifferent.

The name he had rattled off finally sunk in after I got passed my initial embarrassment. I narrowed my eyes and furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Both Chanel  and the beautiful stranger studied me, waiting to hear what I had to say. "Did you say your name was Phoenix?!" He looked slightly offended as I started to laugh. "Got any siblings, Phoenix?"

They both looked like they were questioning my sanity. He tilted his head and spoke slower than necessary, like he was talking to someone that could possibly be mentally unstable. "Uh..two actually. A brother and a sister. What's it to you?"

"What's their names? San Francisco and Moab?" Chanel  laughter practically echoed off the walls, he smirked at me..but his expression didn't seem amused.

"So, what's your name? Must be something special." He looked at me up and down, a slight irritation in his voice. My guess was, he wasn't used to girls talking to him like that.

Chanel  avoided eye contact with us both and took a few steps back, as if stepping out of the line of fire. Phoenix  and I kept our eyes on each other, the tension building as neither one of us seemed to miss a beat. "Why don't you ask your mother,  Nashville?" Okay, so 'your mama' jokes were a tad juvenile. But keep in mind, so was I.

He chuckled, seeming amused by my sharp tongue. But before he could respond, my mom came up from behind him to return to her seat. "Stop being so rude, Gia. Who raised you to speak that way?" My mother embarrassingly scolded me like I was a mouthy kid, causing me to sink into the booth. He pressed his lips together as though trying not to laugh, while Chanel's  face was filled with sympathy.

Phoenix  kept his eyes on me as my mother returned to her side of the booth and eyed me suspiciously. I made a silent prayer that she would keep whatever she was thinking to herself, at least until we were alone.

"So that's your name, huh? Gia?" I blushed at the sound of him saying my name, and then kicked myself for being so pathetic. I didn't answer, just glared at him. "Wasn't that a big thing from the 80s or 90s?"

My mom, Chanel, and myself all looked at him in confusion but he kept his eyes on me. I gestured for him to continue, and he gave me a smile that looked just a little too  innocent.

"You know! They even had that catchy commercial! G-G-G-Gia!" The smile on his annoying perfect face spread as mom and Chanel both laughed. I shot them glares, and they shut up real quick.

"Oh, I get it! That was your attempt at being funny. That's kind of precious, Portland." He rolled his eyes at me while mom and Chanel  exchanged thoughtful glances.

"See you around, blue eyes." With that he disappeared to go sit at a nearby table by himself. Though try as I may, I couldn't stop myself from watching him walk away. He was definitely annoying, but he was still nice to look at. So long as he didn't ruin it by speaking.

When I turned my attention back to my mother and Chanel, they were both staring at me with the same smirk on their face. I could feel from how hot my face was that I was blushing, and well aware he was still staring at me from a nearby table.

"Could you both do me a favor and like..not say anything?" I looked out the window, not liking being the center of attention.

Chanel  laughed, before taking her notepad back out. "I can see my boss eyeing me from the kitchen so I need to look busy. Do we know what we want to order yet?" She smiled at both of us, and I found myself relieved she had to go back into professional mode. Even though I was dying to find out more about the guy sitting in the corner with the darkest eyes I've ever seen burning a hole into my skull, I certainly didn't want to talk about it in front of my mother.

"You know what, Chanel? I think I'll just have a cheeseburger deluxe with fries on the side." My mother finally said, still eyeing me with a smile. Chanel  nodded and scribbled on her notepad before turning her attention to me.

"I'll have a cheeseburger deluxe too but I want onion rings instead of fries, please." I said it in a rush, still not concentrating on food. Why was he staring at me like that?! Why was he so obnoxious?!

"I'll put those in right away. By the way Gia, I'll call you later." She gave me a look that said what she really meant was 'I'm going to call you so we can gossip later,' before disappearing into the kitchen.

When I looked back at my mom, she was staring at me with a huge, satisfied grin. "She'll call you later, huh? So you two are..friends now?" I rolled my eyes as she beamed at the revelation her high school friend's daughter was making friends with hers. I have no doubt they probably used to dream about their kids growing up to be friends like they were.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay so, she seems cool. " I admitted, relieved she hadn't asked about the guy yet. "Just please don't turn it into a big deal. We literally just met." She brushed off my words like they made no sense and shook her head.

"Name one time I ever turned anything into a 'big deal?'" She air-quoted around the words 'big deal,' and after a few moments staring at each other, we both began to laugh.

I realized it was the first time my mother and I had laughed with one another in a long time. Which reminded me of how hard I had been on her.

"I'm sorry, mom. You know..again. I'm a colossal prick." She smiled and lovingly took my hand from across the table. I tried to keep my eyes on her and forget my embarrassment about you-know-who still watching.

"It's been a long day for both of us, hasn't it?" She said with a smile, seeming to understand. I nodded and smiled back, trying to ignore the smirk on Phoenix's  face in the corner of my eye. My mom followed my glance, and something in her expression shifted.

Great. Here it comes. "Looks like you have an admirer."  She winked and gestured over to his table with her eyes. "He's cute, right? Seems like trouble, though." She looked concerned as she studied me, and I wished my mother wasn't so observant.

I decided the best course of action was to play dumb, so I shrugged my shoulders and casually picked up my drink. "Whatever. He was annoying. You're reading too much into it."

My mom looked at me skeptical as she poured cream into her coffee. "I'm old, not dead." She said plainly, glancing in his direction and then back to me. "He hasn't taken his eyes off you. Who knows what might have happened if I hadn't came back to the booth." She looked relieved she had stopped a potential hook-up from happening, which made one of us.

"Can we let it go please?" I kept my eyes fixated on my mother while she stared over at him. "Stop staring, mother! Please." I shook my head in embarrassment, and I notice something in her expression change from playful to serious as she took a sip of her coffee.

I looked back over at the boy to try to see what her expression was about, and was surprised to find he was no longer alone at the table. A beautiful girl with big, doey brown eyes and long red hair was now cuddled up to him in the booth.

He looked a tad awkward as he stole glances at me, while the beautiful girl sat next to his side was all over him. It was painfully obvious this girl wasn't just a friend.

I looked down at the table deep in thought for a moment. Well, he clearly had a girlfriend..and she was clearly much prettier than I was. Which..you know, sucked. It was silly for me to actually think a guy that looked like that was single. Not that it should matter, I didn't even know him and clearly I never will. Besides, his personality left something to be desired.

"He had no business looking at you like that if he has a girlfriend." My mother mumbled in a judgmental tone. "That boy is a player if I ever saw one. I want you to stay away from him, understand?" She waved her index finger at me, scolding me. There was a look in her eyes that seemed to say 'don't even think about it.'

I shrugged it off as not a big deal, letting that be the last time I even glanced at their table. "Let's just concentrate on eating so we can get out of here."

After an extremely awkward meal of willing myself not to look at the table where Phoenix  sat with his apparent girlfriend, it was time to check out where we would be living.

My mother pulled our Honda Civic  over in front of a cute, cottage style house. It was yellow with white trim and a red front door. It even had a white picket fence with a small yard in front for crying out loud. I couldn't lie, it was very charming. Our place in Denver  was an apartment in the city so this was certainly a change of pace.

"Isn't it beautiful?!" My mother sounded downright ecstatic as we both got out of the car and she started to take our bags out of the trunk. I stood there for a moment, staring at the house in front of us, not entirely convinced it was ours. "This house is over a hundred years old, if you can believe it."

A realization suddenly hit me. My mother must have been planning this move for a while. There was part of me that felt lied to somehow. How long has this been set in motion, exactly? Did my parents even try to work it out when they got separated, or did my mother go house hunting before he even had his bags packed?

"Come on! Grab a few bags and come check it out!" My mother beamed as she walked towards the front door with a suitcase in both hands. She was so excited I decided to bite my tongue and just go with it, not wanting to spoil her mood again. It was a pretty house.

The house maybe a hundred years old, but as I followed my mother inside with bags in my hands..I could tell it had been remodeled. Hardwood floors , light colored walls, white couches with yellow pillows in the living room. The whole thing felt very bright and cheery.

My mother immediately set her bags by the door and started to carry on about all the little details that I didn't particularly care about and why this was basically the greatest house in the whole world.  But I was just anxious to find my room so I could relax a bit. I was beyond exhausted, in more ways than just one.

"Mom, do you mind if I go find my room?" I asked after she had finished raving about the tall windows and fireplace in the living room.

She turned to me and smiled, her blue eyes wild with excitement. "Sure honey, go ahead! Your room is upstairs, second door to the right." She then disappeared into the kitchen before I could respond. Wow, she even picked out a room for me already? This was definitely something that has been in motion for a while. Not to mention the entire decor totally looked like something my mother would have chose herself.

Whatever, I thought as I climbed the staircase with my bags still in my hands and headed to my room. Hopefully she picked out a good one.

When I came to the second door on the right and opened the door, I had to admit to being moderately impressed.

The floor was more hardwood with a large fuzzy rug and robin egg blue walls. There was a queen-sized bed outfitted with luxury linens and pillows, and matching nightstands with lamps on both sides. A small, wooden desk and chair sat in the corner and I could already picture myself not doing my homework over there.

There was a door to the right that led to a walk-in closet and right across the hall was a full bathroom that had a full mirrored vanity with a shower and a tub.

But possibly my favorite feature was the built-in bench with comfy cushions and pillows by the window. I had seen window seats like that in movies and I always thought it would be cool to have one.

All in all, it was a great room. I dropped my bags on the floor and slipped off my blue jean jacket, placing it on the edge of the bed while I continued to study my surroundings. This was much nicer than my room back in Denver, my mother most likely pulled out all the stops out of guilt. But it rose another question in my mind. How can we afford this?

"So? Do you love it?" I turned around startled to see my mother standing at the doorway with a smile on her face. I was so concentrated on the room that I didn't hear her come in. She looked around the room with a proud look on her face, and I could tell it meant a lot to her to be able to give me a room like this. "This used to be my room once upon a time." She mumbled with a thoughtful expression.

I blinked a few times, still processing the statement. "What? You used to live here?" I could hear the confusion in my voice.

She nodded with a sort of quiet smile on her face. "I told you it was a really old house didn't I?" She laughed as she walked over and sat on the bed. "This was my childhood home. After my parents died they left it to me. It's a beautiful house, but it was very outdated. So your father and I began to have it remodeled, just to give it a bit more of a modern feel. Our plan,  well...your father's plan was to sell it." She folded her hands on her lap and avoided my staring eyes, obviously still feeling awkward talking about my parent's separation with me.

She took a deep breath before she continued, and I decided to sit on the bed next to her. "After your father and I..when I knew that it was over, I thought of this house and it felt like fate. The truth was I didn't just miss this town, I missed having a house that felt like a home." She looked relieved in some way, like just being here took a weight off her shoulders. I hoped that eventually I could learn to fall in love with this place the way that she is, since I didn't have a choice in the matter anyway. But I still wasn't convinced completely. It was all very overwhelming, but at least now I knew how this house magically dropped out of the sky.

My mother took my hand with hers and brushed the hair out of my face. "I know everything seems really scary now, but we'll be happy here. I can feel it." She reassured me as I forced a smile on my face, wanting to be happy for her. "Look at at this way, at least it's summer and you don't have to worry about school for a while. You can just go out and have fun. Get to know the city and the people in it." She beamed as she saw this as good news, but all it did was remind me that I was going to have to start a new school. 

I began to wonder if Chanel and..well, Phoenix would be going to the same school as me and tried to think of the best way to ask without having to actually ask straight out. "Would Chanel be going to school with me?" I decided it was safer to ask about Chanel, and that I just wouldn't mention I was also wondering about the boy at the diner with the staring problem.

"Yes, she will! There's only one high school in town and it's not very big." She said the sentence very casually and I, who was used to the city..stared at her in silence. One  small  school?! What?! Wow..this really is a tiny town. At least that answered my question about Phoenix. Unless he was home schooled which I doubted, he'd be going there too.

"Oh, before I forget! I spoke with Nadine just now. You know, Chanel's mother? She's invited us over for dinner tonight." My mother beamed at the thought of seeing her friend from high school, and I had to admit to being intrigued by the idea myself. Chanel  and I couldn't really talk that much while she was at work, it might be nice to actually hang out. Maybe I can even find out more about Phoenix from her. I mean..not that I care. "Why don't you settle in and get some rest before dinner..okay, Gia? I think I'll go do the same. It was a long drive." My mother gave me a kiss on the cheek before letting herself out and closing the door behind her.

I was left sitting on the edge of the bed still deep in thought about the boy I couldn't seem to move on from. Seriously, what the hell is my problem?! I don't even know him, and he has a girlfriend. After what I went through with my ex-boyfriend back home not being faithful to me..I would never do that to someone else. Not ever. So I know nothing is happening. But I still find myself..fascinated by him. Even though he seemed really annoying.

I let myself fall back on the bed and let out a frustrated sigh. I closed my eyes and tried to will myself to let whatever my thing was about Phoenix  go. I mean seriously..who names their kid Phoenix  anyway? That's what you name a city, or even a horse. Not a human being. He thought he was so cute poking fun at my name. Like I've never had anyone sing that chia pet commercial to me before. Loser.  Stupid loser with his stupid perfect face with his stupid muscles and his stupid sandalwood  cologne. Stupid stupid stupid.

I don't know about you, but I think I'm nailing this 'letting Phoenix go' thing so far.

author's note: If you enjoyed this chapter, please don't forget to vote! :)