Halo 1
by Alexandra Adornetto
Bethany Church is an angel sent to Earth to thwart the attempted takeover of the dark forces. Though she is a very young angel, she was approved for the mission and joins fellow angels, Gabriel (the archangel) and Ivy (a seriphim). Whereas her angel siblings have been to earth many times before, this is Beth’s first trip. She is not as experienced and seems to identify with humanity much more. Gabe and Ivy start throwing themselves into their work to make Venus Cove a better place. While Ivy starts volunteering everywhere, Gabe gets a job teaching at the local high school, Bryce Hamilton. Beth is to pose as a student at said school.
Upon starting school, Beth meets Molly. She is instantly accepted into Molly’s group and starts making friends. She meets Xavier, who is the school’s captain, and supposedly emotionally unavailable since the fiery death of his girlfriend, Emily. Beth is drawn to Xavier and is rescued by him from her drunkenness at one of Molly’s crazy parties. They soon fall in love and become each other’s entire world. Even though Beth knows that was she is doing is wrong, she decides to continue her relationship with Xavier honestly. Beth takes Xavier to a secluded spot on the beach and shows him her wings. She explains what she is and he accepts her relatively quickly. However, Heaven knows what she did. The angel’s decide that the mission is over for her, but they are overruled by a higher power.
Trouble really starts when Jake Thorne is introduced. At first the British exchange student—who has been expelled from several schools—makes the girls (including a teacher) and collects friends. He starts to show his interest in Beth, but she flat out tells him that she is with Xavier and they are in love. However, after Xavier is hurt in a rugby game, Beth is left dateless for the prom. Xavier still wants her to go and insists that she go with someone else. Jake offers to take her and she accepts. However, upon Jake arriving to pick her up for the event, Gabe and Ivy get bad vibes from him. They are all at the prom (Gabe and Ivy as chaperones) when Jake leads Beth to a secluded balcony for some fresh air. There he admits that he knows what she is and that he’s been searching for her for centuries. He kisses her and she pushes him away and the three angels go home.
Beth finds that she is unable to contact Xavier. Molly shows her that there is a picture of Jake and her kissing on Facebook and that is why Xavier is ignoring her. Beth tries to explain to him what happened, but he refuses to believer her. She is so distraught that she lies in bed, failing to eat or sleep properly, until Gabe explains the situation to Xavier and he comes over to apologize. They instantly make up.
Xavier wants to go after Jake, but Gabe, Ivy, and Beth all explain that he is not capable of the task. Gabe explains that even he can’t act until there is proof of what Jake is up to. Beth discovers that Jake killed one of her friends, Taylah, by getting into her head and making her slit her own throat. When Molly tells Beth that she is going on a date with Jake, Beth starts to freak out. Molly takes this as jealousy and ignores Beth’s concern. After determining on a whim that the “date” will take place in the cemetery, Beth and Xavier go there to see what Jake is up to (against Gabe and Ivy’s orders not to go). They see that Jake is placing dark spirits into students to make them his followers. Beth decides that she can’t let that happen to Molly. Xavier has a plan, but Beth is too impatient to wait and starts yelling at Jake. Eventually, she offers herself for Xavier and Molly’s safety. She wakes up to Xavier, Gabe, and Ivy saving her from having dark memories put into her head. Beth finally finds that her power is love and her kissing Xavier helps Gabe defeat Jake, sending him back to the underworld.