Masked

Fallaces sunt rerum species
The appearances of things are deceptive

I SAT on one of the cold metal benches located in the front of and around the school. Word of Jen and Eli becoming an idem had spread like fire, and it seemed like everywhere either Jen, or Eli, or both went whispers followed obediently. Things were happening too quickly, though, and I was getting more worried than I had been nearly a week ago. It had taken only a day for this news to spread, but I had expected that to a degree, three days for me to notice the differences taking place in Jen regarding her health, and a week for me to decide that, in order to keep what little sanity I had, I needed to know if these rumors were true or not. The breaking point for me had been when Jen called me last night declaring her undying love for a boy she’d just started dating four days ago.

I knew I was old fashioned; that I expected things to play out in a certain order, but this was too quick a bout of love, even by modern standards. Not even Mom and Dad had been this quick—and they had married after three weeks of dating! I sighed quietly, watching a long stream of vapor come out, and wondered for the umpteenth time if I should pursue finding the truth about the rumor. It seemed so farfetched that my logical mind couldn’t accept it, after all why would a rapist come to Hell? Hell was a small town, and Eli was an outsider who never really found his place in our community, who never had tried to. But my body was telling that something was wrong, that there was something about Eli that told me he couldn’t be trusted and was dangerous.

Placing my face in my hands, I shook my head. No, I couldn’t continue on like this, I couldn’t keep having these conflicting feelings about Eli Cross. I had to know the truth, no matter what; I had to find the truth. This is Mel’s fault, I thought bitterly as I strode through the front doors of the school. I continued the mantra all the way to my locker until I felt bad for thinking it in the first place. It wasn’t Mel’s fault because she told me about the rumors, she’d told me plenty before and I’d never really cared. I only cared so much now because Jen was involved, I was sure if it had been any other girl, this wouldn’t have bothered me so much. In fact, with the other girls I hadn’t cared at all; they were just those people that Eli had started dating. They never had a name in my mind. Guilt crushed down on my soul, and I silently vowed that if there was truth to the rumors about Eli Cross then I would make sure that he got his just deserts.

I listened to the loud hum of student life as I stood in front of my locker pondering. I knew that I would need to ask Eli’s ex-girlfriends a series of questions, but what was I suppose to ask? Hi, my name is Kevin, and your ex-boyfriend is dating my best friend. I was wondering if you could tell me if he’s ever raped you or not? Yeah, that would bode over well. Maybe there was a way that I could word the question differently, but there was hardly a euphuism for rape. Closing my locker with annoyance at my lack of creativity, I crossed my arms over my chest and made my way to the second level of the school where the Math and Science classes were located—the English and History classes were located on the first floor.

I thought about the two girls that Mel had mentioned yesterday, Heather Summer and Claire Wright. Claire Wright had moved away sometime ago which was none to helpful because to my knowledge she’d been the only one to accuse Eli of rape. Did that mean she was drugged and taken advantage of? And if that was true, did the other girls just simply not remember? Or did they freely give themselves over to him?

Then, colliding with warm flesh brusquely when I turned the corner, I stumbled back and lost my footing as I attempted to correct myself. A strong pair of hands flew to mine, steadying me until I was sure that both my feet were safety planted on the ground.

Fixing my askew glasses, I was surprised to look up into silvery eyes of Eli. Were his eyes always that color? I wondered vaguely through the confusion clouding my mind. Shaking my head a little to clear my confusion I thanked Eli for stopping my fall. Eli gave me his trademark smile in return, but even so up close I saw that it didn’t reach the cold depths of those silver eyes. Did Eli ever give anyone a real smile that actually reached into those cold metal eyes? Or did no warmth or kindness penetrate those staid eyes of his?

“Is there something wrong, Kevin?” Eli asked me, ripping through my thoughts when he’d caught me staring.

I shook my head, embarrassed I’d been caught staring at him. “No, I just like your face.” I hadn’t thought about the reaction I would get from my words, but what I had said was true. I liked studying the faces of people around me for the sole purpose of seeing the differences each face had. Eli’s face was perfectly symmetrical from the slope of his nose to his high cheek bones and defined jaw line. His hair was slicked back without the use of gel, only a lock or two of hair falling into his face to add to that seemingly effortless style. Those lips of his were still curved in that eerie smile, and I couldn’t help but think that if Eli were to actually give a genuine smile that he would look more like a good guy. Right now, he only seemed manipulative and cruel—very much the bad guy.

Eli chuckled loudly, startling me. He leaned in closer and closer until my back pressed against the wall, and his hands were on either side of my head. “I like your face, too, Kevin. Especially those lips…” Eli murmured very softly to me, his warm breath washing over my face. My heart shamelessly beat my rib cage to shambles as I stared into Eli’s eyes, shocked into silence with my face heated up. Eli kept up his serious expression for a moment longer before he let out a boisterous laugh.

He continued on until I couldn’t stand it anymore. With more blood hotter than before rushing to my cheeks I snapped, “It wasn’t that funny,” before pushing my way free from the cage his arms had created. I heard him calling my name, either to explain himself or tease me further I wasn’t sure, but I ignored him and rushed off to my class. My traitorous heart was still beating rapidly from what he’d done to me moments ago, and I scowled. I could still feel the little pang of rejection that had gone through my body once I realized that Eli had only been teasing me, and that bothered me more than his teasing me had. My body shouldn’t have react in such a way, though I understood that it was nearly impossible not to get flustered when Eli did such things, but I had honestly thought my will power was stronger than that. How could I have been so easily muddled by him?

I walked into my Math class trying to relax a little because I was still feeling edgy from my run in with Eli. A quick glance at the clock told me that I had fifteen minutes to kill, and I thought about trying to find Sean, Mel or Jen, but I decided there wasn’t enough time to wander the school in search of them when I would only to have a minute or two to talk with them. I opted to go to the restroom instead, so I could splash some cold water on my face.

A few students littered the upper floor of the school, but it was mostly empty looking as I headed down the hall. On the short walk to the bathroom, I tried to think of a way to word my rape question so to make the girls more comfortable, but I couldn’t think of anything. With a small sigh, I realized I was going to have to shake off the parental blocks and go straight for the hard questions. It was surely going to earn me enemies and make my job all the more difficult, but I didn’t care. I was willing to make all the enemies in the world if it saved Jen from going through what Claire had accused Eli of, and I would bother the girls until they told me what I wanted to know if I had to.

I rested the palms of my hands on the rim of the sink and gazed at the mirror for a moment. My cheeks had returned to their normal color, something I was very happy about, but it felt like there was something different with my face; I felt different. I turned my head to right and then left, searching for some physical marker that would explain this strange feeling I had, but there was nothing remotely different about my face. Maybe it’s internal, I thought as I squinted my eyes and pursed my lips, but that did nothing other then make me laugh. Seeing my chuckling figure in the mirror I thought of how not even laughter seemed to reach those grey eyes of Eli’s.

Eyes…there was something about his eyes that was bugging me; whatever it was danced on the tip of my tongue, taunting me as I struggled to understand what nagged at me. Frowning at myself as whatever evaded me once more. I left the bathroom and hastily returned to class in fear of being late to class. I pulled open the door and saw a few students sprinkled around the room, some kids were from Ms. Perkins’ Math analysis class were there asking questions about their homework. I slid in my seat quietly while I listened to Ms. Perkins explain in detail the inner workings of whatever math problem the girl was having difficulty with.

Eventually the bell rang, though I’d had plenty of time left over after my trip to the bathroom. Students filed in quickly, and Ms. Perkins gave them a welcoming, warm smile that I thought was a nice way to start the day off.

“Good morning,” Ms. Perkins was a woman in her early forties with long hair that had been dyed so many different colors it was hard to tell just what color she had now. It had been blonde with lowlights in the beginning of the year, but ruddy brown roots were beginning to peek through. Ms. Perkins’ skin was a deep golden-brown (she was a native of Arizona), but the constant exposure to the sun had left it looking leathery and wrinkled. During most of the week she wore semiprofessional clothing, but when Fridays rolled around she tended to dress more like a teenager rather than an adult.

“Today, since a lot of you seem to be struggling with quadratic functions, and we have our test tomorrow, we’re going to be playing a game. You’re going to break off into several groups of three, and I’m going to hand each group three worksheets. The goal is to get all three of them done and get everything correct. Speed doesn’t matter in this race because it’s to help you guys better prepare yourselves for the test. Now, you don’t do all the problems on the worksheet, instead you only solve for one part of the equation and pass it off to the other people in your group, and they in turn solve another part of the problem and so on. Once you’ve completed the entire worksheet hold it up, and I’ll come by and check if everything is correct. Everybody got it?” The class gave an unexcited “yes” before Ms. Perkins’ continued. “All right, then. Pick your group members and push your desks together so all the ends are touching.”

With that said, Ms. Perkins went to her desk to grab the worksheets. I watched my peers shuffle around me, unmoving until I was the only one left without a team. Two remaining boys were also without a group; they either took pity on me, or saw that they were stuck with me any way, and trundled over to the empty desks besides mine. I gave the two boys my friendliest smile as they settled into their seats. The boy with espresso brown hair and hazel eyes was the only one of the two to return my smile; the other with straw blonde hair and dull blue eyes didn’t even spare a nod in my direction. I shrugged off Blondie’s unfriendly response and waited for the worksheets to be pasted out. I took out a pad of paper to write down my work on so not to clutter the tiny rectangle shaped worksheet.
Blondie, as if suddenly remembering my presence, demanded, “Hey, what’s your name, any way?”

A bit startled, I looked up from the doodles I’d been mindless drawing in the corner of my notepad; I’d assumed Hazel Eyes and Blondie wouldn’t speak to me until it was imperative. Recovering from the small shock, I answered, “Kevin Morgan.”

“Kevin—Kevin Morgan?” Disbelief filled Blondie’s voice as if I were lying to him about my age. He continued, “Kevin Morgan graduated last year with the rest of the senior class.” His tone informed me that he thought I was a bumbling moron for not knowing this about my brother, and I threw a frown at him.

“I know, I’m his sister. We just happen to have the same name.” I told him viciously, I hadn’t meant to snap at him, but I didn’t care too much for being treated like I was an idiot. Clearly Blondie and I were not going to get along well if he continued to treat me like I was retarded. Great, I mentally grumbled, just what I need.

“You’re brother and sister? Why would anyone’s parents give their kids the same names?” Hazel Eyes inquired, and I could tell he was generally curious. Because of this, I answered Hazel Eyes’ question with much more kindness than I had extended to his crass friend.

“My mother married my stepfather when I eight. After the wedding, I decided to take my stepfather’s last name.” I answered. “Kevin is a unisex name; it can belong to either woman or man.”

Hazel Eyes seemed satisfied my explanation as he smiled and nodded his head. “I get you now.”

“Does everyone have three worksheets?” She paused for a moment, waiting for someone to shout if they didn’t. “Good, so remember that you’re each only doing one part of each equation. Also, speed doesn’t matter in this race because if you finish first, great, but you’ve probably missed a problem or two. Focus on understanding the Math problem instead. If you get stuck ask your teammates for help. Okay, ready…set—go!”

The class exploded in chatter and the faint sound of hurried writing. Despite Ms. Perkins putting emphasis on going slow, nearly three-fourths of our class was rushing through the worksheets, eager to finish and win the race. Blondie grabbed all three worksheets, handing them out to Hazel Eyes and then me. I wasn’t sure if it’d been on purpose or if it was a random chance of fate that I got the hardest worksheet that involved a few formulas. I rested my chin on my palm as my hand flew on the page; Eli’s creepy smile and the unknown names of his old girlfriends haunted my thoughts as I worked.

“Don’t mind Drew too much, his brain is broken.” Hazel Eyes apologized, breaking through my heavy thoughts and completely ignorant of his friend Drew’s dark looks.

I gave an airy laugh; glad to be distracted from the thoughts of Eli’s frightening eyes and smile. “Don’t worry about. I figured that as much.” I told him. “What’s your name?”

Hazel Eyes’ smile, I noticed, was one of those smiles that you couldn’t help but returning; his smile didn’t make me instantly nervous or fearful of him, and that made me like him even more. “My name is Jesse.”

It was ironic that my name had elicited the responses I’d gotten from the two of them when Jesse’s own name belonged to a girl typically—just as Kevin typically belonged to a boy. I didn’t voice my opinions though, because I didn’t want to rock our already unsteady boat. “Nice to meet you both.”

“Will you guys quit talking and get your worksheets done already?” Drew snapped at the pair of us.

“I’m finished, would you like to trade?” I asked, making sure my voice was sweet. My mother always told me kill ‘em kindness when I complained to her about the boys who used to bully me in grade school. Drew grumbled something under his breath that I wasn’t able to catch, but traded worksheets with me nonetheless. I continued talking with Jesse, I’d even tried to include Drew a few times in the vain hopes that we might be civil towards each others, but he blatantly refused to take part. It was easy to talk to Jesse, the conversations just seemed to flow from one topic to another, but I was glad for the distraction Jesse provided, my mind lost in his animated chatter about anything that popped in his head.

“So what class do you have now, Kevin?” Jesse asked me after the game had ended (we’d won second place much to Drew’s chagrin) and our desks were neatly placed into rows again.

“I have English next,” I told him. “What about you? Where do you go, Jesse?”

“I have history.”

“That’s cool. Do you have Mr. Dawn?”

“Yeah, he’s all right.”

“I thought so, too. He was one of my favorite teachers last year, and I can’t stand history.” I laughed. We lapsed into a comfortable silence as we left the classroom, but Jesse was quick to start talking again once we reached the stairs. It almost seemed to me like he was trying to keep my attention, or it was a nervous habit of his, like it was mine, to babble on about anything and everything. Either way, I didn’t mind because he was very enjoyable to be around.

“Are you excited to be graduating?” Jesse asked me. It was a question that took me by surprise, not just because it was random question, but because no one had actually asked me that. They just assumed I was glad to finally be done with high school, but in reality I didn’t want to leave. This place was my safety net, and if I messed up I could easily fix it; out there in the real world I couldn’t screw up in the profession I’d chosen for myself. Out there was a scary world that wouldn’t think twice about ripping me to shreds.

Shrugging, “I’m in limbo right now. I’m not exactly scared, but I’m not exactly excited yet either. I’m stuck somewhere in the middle, do you get what I mean?” I asked, realizing that I probably wasn’t making much sense with my cryptic answer.

“Yeah, totally,” Jessie answered, throwing me a reassuring smile. “Every body feels like that at some point in time. It’s scary as hell to go out into the real world, but that’s normal. You’re normal, Kevin, it’s nothing to stress over.”

A smile teased its way to my lips, “Yeah, I’m normal.” I hadn’t realized that that was what I needed to hear, and it felt like a load had been taken off my shoulders. I wasn’t feeling anything that a normal teenager wasn’t feeling. Everyone has felt that way at some point in their—I was normal; wonderfully, utterly, boringly normal. “Thanks for saying that, Jesse. Sometimes it’s nice to hear that I’m normal.”

“Everyone is normal,” Jesse shrugged, grinning boyishly.

“Everyone but Eli Cross,” I muttered under my breath as I threw my books in my locker and pulled out my English workbook. I thought I had made my comment quietly, but Jesse still heard me.

“What do you mean?” Jesse wore a confused expression as I swore silently. I stared into my locker as if it held the answer to getting myself out of the hole I’d dug myself into. What could I possibly tell Jesse that would satisfy his question? Was it possible to just shake the question off? I didn’t know Jesse well enough to trust him with my mission, so I couldn’t tell him my concerns about Eli. I sounded crazy enough to myself, I didn’t need to freak Jesse out.

Jesse mistook my silence for the wrong reason, “Do you have a crush on Eli, or something?”

Heat flooded my cheeks, “No, I don’t have a crush on him,” I denied quickly, futilely attempting to gain back control of my insurgent body as I remembered what had happened in the hallway before class. Eli was devilishly handsome, it was impossible to deny, but those cruel eyes and amused smile didn’t attract me; they made me want to run and hide under my covers. Jesse seemed happy with my answer and continued to talk my ear off with some other random things until he remembered that his friend was waiting for him by his locker some ways down the hall.

I gave a distracted wave as I checked my braided hair and red face in the small locker mirror Jen had bought me as a Christmas gift last year. When my skin had faded to a light pink tone and my hair was still secured in its braid, I closed the locker. Lunch was after history, could I get a few names by then? I had to be careful that it didn’t get back to Jen somehow that I was going around asking Eli’s ex-girlfriends questions. I was glad that Jen was home with a cold today, it made digging for information about Eli slightly easier. Hoping that the saying Hell hath no fury like that of a scorned woman proved true today I shut my locker.

I casted a quick glance at the hall clock and saw that I had a few minutes to get to English class. I’d only moved a few steps when the world around me shifted for a split second and a flash of dizziness forced me to lean against the row of lockers. I blinked a few times, but the world had already corrected itself; it’d come and gone so quickly that I questioned it ever happening. I leaned against the locker for a minute longer not caring if I was late to my class anymore. By now the halls were empty and the bell rang shrilly in my ears telling me that class was starting, and making me wince as the sound caused a dull pain. I debated whether I should go to the Nurses’ office and lie down for awhile, or if I should just go to class as if nothing happened.

My decision was made for me when the halls grew cold in the eerie silence, and very faintly I could feel something move in that coldness against my skin. Slowly the faint feeling grew stronger and stronger until the feeling of tiny ghost fingers crawling around my body was too much to ignore. Everywhere the ethereal fingers touched made my limbs numb and limp with their chill, and I shivered against them. Not only did these strange fingers touch the outside of my body, but somehow their eternal frost found a way in my flesh as I felt them move through the muscle, tissues and bones. The halls and lockers swam and blurred together as the fingers reached my head, their cold phalanges probing the different sections, seeking something there that they hadn’t found in my body. Cold and confusion filled my body as my knees trembled and gave out, and I feebly fought against the fingers even when I fell back against the lockers, sliding to the floor while the world meshed together around me.

And then, suddenly, they were gone.

Warmth flooded my body as blood pumped through my veins while my heart went into overdrive; it almost seemed as if my heart had been slowed down to a dangerous pace. My head spun with the flow of blood it was receiving, giving me a nasty headache. I wasn’t sure how long I just sat there with my eyes close before I found the power to push myself off the ground. The sudden change in altitude caused the world to spin that I crashed against the locker with my eyes squeezed shut tightly or else I was sure to puke. When my dizzy spell passed, I opened my eyes and was relieved to see that everything around me was where it was suppose to be; nothing was blurred together and no colors were mixed with others.

What had just happened to me? Was there something wrong with my head? My heart? My lungs? And would it happen against? I flinched at the thought of having to suffer through that icy cold ever again and rubbed my arms for the comfort of warmth. I didn’t know any of answers to my questions, and I wondered if I should call my Mom and explain everything that just happened to me. She was a nurse, she was bound to know something, and if she didn’t I was sure that there was a skilled doctor at the hospital where Mom worked that would know what had just happened. But did I want to worry Mom with something that could be a one time thing? Should I tell Mom about it at all? For all I knew it might not ever happen again. I decided to keep it to myself for now, not wanting to concern my mother. If it happened again, though, I promised myself I would go to Mom and tell her everything.

To be on the safe side, I would go to the Nurses’ office and lie down for the rest of second period. Gently I pushed my tired and still frozen body away from the row of lockers, and I bent down to gather my things that had fallen when I’d collapsed against the lockers.

Slowly straightening up so that the world didn’t spin too wildly again, I froze. Across the hall where the stairs were located, I could have sworn that I’d seen Eli’s steel eyes peeking out from the shadows. I searched for some sign that I had seen Eli’s eyes, but I was forced to admit that there was nothing was there and the halls were completely empty.

Too weak with sudden exhaustion to bother with looking anymore for the ghost of Eli, I slugged my bag over my shoulder and made my way to the Nurses’ office. But I couldn’t help but wonder just what had triggered my attack? And was that, too, somehow connected with Eli?

∞

The first thing Nurse Rogers said to me when I walked in was: “Oh my, dear, you look absolutely ghastly!” My initial thought had been: who the hell uses the word ghastly anymore? I got my answer when I saw the classic Jane Eyre resting with the pages open on her small desk. My second thought was: that’s what every teenage girl needs to hear they look like, absolutely ghastly. Frowning, I told her I wasn’t feeling that well and asked if it was all right that I rest there during second period. Nurse Rogers nodded her head, eager to be done with me and get back to her book. She should have read Wuthering Heights instead; Emily Brontë was the far better author of the Brontë sisters in my opinion.

There were several cots laid out for students to rest on opposite side of where Nurse Rogers sat, and I chose the second to last one on the far right. It seemed dark enough to where the half-lights illuminating from the ceiling couldn’t quite reach. The perfect place a headache. The dark blue cot wasn’t comfortable, but at the same time it wasn’t uncomfortable either. The itchy fabric, though, was absolutely wonderful as absorbing most of my pounding headache. I hadn’t realized I was cold until Nurse Rogers asked me if I wanted a blanket when she noticed my shaking limps and pale lips in the dim light. I nodded, eager to rid my body of the damnable cold that the ghostly fingers had left me with.

Nurse Rogers gave me a motherly grin, telling me to wait a moment as she left the room through a door hidden on her right. I guessed that was where the school kept kids’ medicine and other such useful things. Nurse Rogers returned after a moment with a fade purple blanket, throwing it on me like Mom does when I’m feeling ill, or she needs to feel that mother-daughter connection with me. I thanked her before rolling on my side to face the blank wall. Even with the warm blanket covering my body and my legs drawn close to my body, I was still freezing. I could almost still feel the fingers moving across my skin, their touch leaving behind invisible ice crystals on my skin.

Again the questions bombarded my mind, and again I forced them away too tired to even think about a possible attack in the future. Suffering through the hell of one was one too many for me. But the fingers had a familiar feeling to them, almost as if I’d encountered them somewhere else. I didn’t understand where this feeling came from, or where I could have experienced something of this degree, but I knew I had. Glaring at the wall, I decided that I would worry about where or even with who I had felt this same feeling with, and try to find out what had happened to me in the halls later. I would go to the library at lunch to do research on my mystery attack, but discovering at least most of the girls’ name was priority for today. It was possibly the only time I would have to do it without Jen catching wind of it.

No, the mystery attack could wait. There was something about Eli Cross, something strange and dangerous, and I had to figure out what.

Groaning quietly, I rolled on my back and stared at the dreary ceiling trying to find something else to distract myself with since thinking about the ethereal fingers made my headache return. Quietly I listened to both my and Nurse Rogers’ breath as well as the soft flutter of pages being turned. I didn’t fall asleep instantly despite being so exhausted, but slowly I drifted deeper into the black world of slumber and forgot everything.

∞

There was one thing about high school that really irked me, and that was when I walked down the halls there was always that couple that felt the need to suddenly stop right in the middle of the hall to hug or kiss goodbye. It wasn’t the public display of affection that annoyed me to no end; it was that they just stopped in front of me unexpectedly. Today however, instead of being kind and moving around that couple, I pushed my way right through, earning me angry shouts and name calling. I didn’t care; my head was pounding, I was still insanely cold, I needed to meet Heather Summers at my locker, and they were in my way and needed to move.

I got to my locker, struggling to open it due to lack of nerve connection between my brain and fingers. I still didn’t know what I wanted to ask Heather, and my mind had been so cluttered with thoughts about my mystery attack that there was hardly any space for those thoughts. Resting my elbows lightly on the frame of my locker, I pressed the palms of my hands against my eyes as the two parts of myself battled over what to do. The sensible part of myself told me that it wasn’t my business, that I shouldn’t poke around into things because it would only get me hurt or in trouble. Then there was the emotional part of myself that told me I would feel guilty for the rest of my life if Jen did get hurt, and I could have prevented it.

Both parts told me it was too late, anyway, to do anything now; my cards had been dealt, and I was just going to have to deal with whatever outcome I got.

I shut my locker, leaning against the metal while my eyes scanned the thinning crowd for the familiar face of Heather. As time ticked by painfully slowly, I began realizing the faults in my ingenious plan. I couldn’t be sure that Heather would come over here, and my locker wasn’t anywhere near the cafeteria—making it very improbable that I’d just run into her. Heather might’ve even thrown the note away, ignoring my request to meet altogether. Even with all these doubts about my plan and Heather I remained rooted to my spot, unable to move with the hope that Heather would still come.

“Kevin?” Heather asked me unsure, eyeing me as she glanced down at the note in her hand and to my locker number then back again. “Kevin Morgan?” She queried again. I could tell that she had been expecting a boy to be standing in my place, and was disappointed in the fact that I was very female.

Nodding my head, I’d decided to dive right into it. “Heather, I was wondering if I could ask you a few things?”

Heather gave me a quizzical gaze, slowly asking, “About what exactly?”

I hesitated a moment, trying to gather the best way to tell her without telling her within a time span of three seconds. “Look,” I answered, deciding I too exhausted both mentally and physically to beating around the bush, “my best friend is dating Eli Cross. I know that you two use to date, and I need answers about a few things.”

“You want to ask me questions about my bastard of an ex-boyfriend?” Heather demanded angrily, “Why?”

“Because there are rumors about him that I need to lay to rest. I get that you’re upset about the break up, and resentful that he didn’t wait two weeks to begin dating again, but could you please just put that aside?”

“Why the hell should I?”

I sighed, resting my forehead on the tips of my fingers. “You know what, Heather? Just forget about it; it was a mistake asking you to come here and ask you questions that you clearly are not ready to answer yet,” I answered, adding when I saw how much the breakup with Eli was affecting her, “but can I give you some parting advice?”

“What?” She asked me sullenly, still glaring daggers at me.

“Happiness is a choice. When you act the way you do, when you act as if it’s his entire fault that you’re unhappy, you’ve given him complete control. You’ve given him the power to dictate when you should be happy and when you shouldn’t. I might be wrong, but I don’t think he deserves to decide that.”

I left Heather to digest and absorb my advice, hoping it might help her to get over Eli. I wondered why it was that girls went into relationships with boys they knew would only leave in the end? I assumed it was because those girls believed themselves to be the one who would turn him away from his bad way—to be the girl who shows him love, and to be the girl he ultimately chooses in the end. Reality wasn’t like the movies or books where these bad boy or players gave up their old ways for the girl; reality was bitter and cold to people like Heather and Jen, and all the girls who dated Eli.

Was I disregarding reality as well with this plan to save Jen from the heartache she would undoubtedly face while in a relationship with Eli Cross? I felt that I was, but something deep in my soul stirred painfully at the thought of leaving her defenseless against him. How could I leave her fragile heart to Eli, the boy who took those very hearts, bled them dry, and then tossed them back without a single shred of compassion or empathy? The answer was I couldn’t—and I wouldn’t.

I shivered, but not from the cold I had been feeling since second period. This shiver was from the feeling of eyes burning into my flesh. I didn’t need to turn around to know whose eyes they were, but I did it anyway. When I met those grey eyes, I’d been expecting a look of rage or something akin to it, but the only emotion my eyes beheld was one I couldn’t name. That nameless emotion quickly retreated behind a porcelain mask, and a new expression graced his face—one that told me Eli knew exactly what I was planning, and he looked almost amused by it.

My curiosity about that amusement was drowned out by the strange feeling of familiarity rolling off Eli like a wave. Those grey pools were alive with a fire that could have burned right through me could looks have killed, but that wasn’t what I felt staring at him. Tundra of eternal ice, frost, and cold was what I felt as he stared, his eyes never losing any of that icy fire.

Our gaze stayed lock for a few moments more before Eli broke it, stalking away from me. I stood there daze and a little scared of that frozen fire, but I was also confused because that cold was so familiar. Eli had felt so much, right then, like the fingers had as they’d entered my body, probing for some hidden thing. Was Eli somehow connected with my attack? My mind rebelled, telling me it was impossible for there to be a connect because he hadn’t even been around the time of the attack…but my gut told me there was something about him, that he was involved somehow—even if it didn’t make an ounce of sense.

My eyes followed Eli’s form until he disappeared from my sight. The amusement I’d seen in his eyes made my blood boil, and my resolve to find the truth of this rumor only strengthened.

∞

“Did you guys know Eli has a sister?” Mel asked Sean and me as we three walked to Jen’s house.

“No,” Sean answered while I shook my head. I’d learned plenty of things about Eli today from the list of the girls’ names someone left in my locker—I still curious as to who had put it there sense I hadn’t told anyone about what I was doing—but nothing to do with whether he had siblings or not. According to the few girls I’d been able to talk to, and those few hadn’t been all that forthcoming, all had the same symptoms after sleeping with Eli: fatigue and lack of energy. I knew those feelings were common, but that wasn’t what I thought strange and worrisome. From what the girls had explained to me it was impossible to deny Eli anything he asked, especially when he gazed deeply in their eyes. At first I thought that had just been a silly exaggeration with the first girl, but the more girls I talked to, and the more I thought about how angry he had felt staring at me, I began questioning the validity of my original thought.

“Do you think Jen knows about her—this mystery sibling?”

“I’m not sure,” I answered. “She never mentioned Eli having a sister, but whenever we do talk about Eli it’s to discuss his finer qualities and how ridiculously perfect he is. You can see why I shy away from such topics of conversation,” I laughed, adding, “just ask her when we get there.”

“How did you even find out about this secret sibling anyway, Mel?” asked Sean.

“I heard from one of the office aids that his sister is transferring to our school. I’m not sure when she is supposed to start here. I also heard that she was going to some prestigious preparatory school,” Mel gossiped, proud of herself for being the one to inform us of the latest rumor spreading around school. “Why do you think she left her old school to come here?”

“We don’t even know she is actually coming here, Mel,” I reminded her. “And maybe the Crosses couldn’t afford sending her to some fancy and extremely expensive private school anymore—we’re living in some pretty tough times.”

“That’s true, I suppose. Man, KJ, you know how to ruin a good rumor,” She pouted.

I chuckled, “It’s my only goal in life, you know.”

Then Sean, as if barely realizing his absence, asked, “Speaking of Eli, is he coming to visit Jen?”

I shrugged; I’d been avoiding him all day since our little stare down in the hallways, though it was difficult to forget that frozen heat coming from him—no matter how hard I tried. “I don’t know; didn’t he say anything to you guys at lunch today?”

Mel shook her ponytail, “Nope. Eli didn’t even eat lunch with us today.” Then she added with a pointed look, “Like someone else I know.”

“I already told you I was sorry. I needed to look up some things, and I guess time just got away from me. And did Eli eat lunch with someone else today?”

“No,” answered Sean, “at least, I don’t think so. I didn’t see him when we got there, and he wasn’t there when we left.”

“I think something happened at lunch with him,” Mel chimed in, “because he looked pretty pissed walking into fifth period—and he was, like, ten minutes late, too.”

“Did he say what was bothering him?” I asked a tad nervous, knowing it had to do with our silent exchange.

“That’s the thing! When I tried to be nice and asked if something was wrong and whether he wanted to talk about it, he told me not to worry about—that he was fine.” Mel huffed; obviously hurt at Eli not opening up to her, but to be honest did that guy ever really open up?

For goodness’ sake, we hadn’t even known he had a sister! Sean sensing his girlfriend’s distress, or simply wanting to avoid all Eli related conversation, changed the subject to something mundane and forgettable.

When we reached Jen’s house, I was surprised to see Eli’s midnight blue car parked out front. I’d been hoping he wouldn’t have shown up until after we’d left, or he that he would’ve been gone by the time we got there.

“Well,” I said using an airy chuckle to hide my discomfort at Eli’s presence. It really upset me that someone could affect my body in such a way without meaning or trying to. “At least you know the answer to your question, Mel.”

“He could have offered us a ride at least!” Mel grumbled, pulling her gloved hand from Sean’s pocket and crossed her arms. I offered her a shrug and sympathetic smile while knocking on the door. Expecting Mama Anderson to answer my knock, I was surprised to meet the grey eyes and peachy skin of Eli instead.

“Melissa, Sean,” He greeted, giving each a different smile that still caused my eyes to shy away from the ice located in his eyes, “and Dollface.” His smile morphed to a lazy, amused grin when he saw my eyes narrow with annoyance at the name he’d given me.

“I told you to call me Mel, Eli,” Mel chastised with a mock-stern look and wagging finger before she skipped inside—completely forgetting Mama Anderson’s strict rule of removing her shoes and coat before walking into her home. Sean returned the greeting then hurried after Mel before she could get in too much trouble. Eli blocked my way leaning diagonally against the door frame, still grinning at me as I made to follow Sean in the house.

“Aren’t you even going to say ‘hello’?” Eli queried as I searched for a weakness in his stance, but every part of Eli was solid looking, no flaw could be found by my eyes. And I really hated that; no one should be allowed to be that prefect—it made living with our own imperfections all the harder.

I thought about saying no because he hadn’t greeted me, just someone name Dollface, but I was tired and cold, and I wanted to go inside the warm house were I could smell Mama Anderson’s famous homemade honey wheat bread and green tea. So instead, I said, “Hello.” I paused for Eli to remove his body from the door frame, but he did nothing more than smirk at me as I glared up at him.

Rubbing my temples I demanded in a harsh tone, “Will you just move, Eli?”

Eli’s smirk quickly dropped. “Is there something wrong? Are you feeling ill?”

“Like you don’t already know,” I scoffed not bothering to think about the consequence of my words, and as soon as the words had left my mouth, I wished I could gobble them back up. Just because the girls experienced the same symptoms I was—though none of the girls had once described the feeling of small fingers crawling along their skin—didn’t mean Eli was necessarily connected.

Eli’s brow furrowed with confusion, “What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” I admitted hastily.

Eli straightened, towering over me and giving me an intimidating look. “Doll—” Eli began but was cut short by Mama Anderson, who was surprised to find her door open and the two of us still standing in the frosty air. “Kevin and Eli—” Mama Anderson was the only other person besides my mother who respected my aversion toward nicknames, “why are you still standing outside in the cold? You’ll catch your deaths!” Mama Anderson bristled, giving us a firm look. “Well, come on then, I’ve just finished making some bread. And I wished I’d known you were allergic to honey, Eli—are you sure you don’t want anything else, sweetie?”
Eli smiled charmingly at Mama Anderson, “No, it’s all right. I ate a large lunch today at school, so I’m not really all that hungry.”

Mama Anderson frowned, not happy that she couldn’t entertain her guest properly. I felt she shouldn’t waste the effort because, despite Eli’s skilled lie, I knew he didn’t eat because never once when Jen offered a bite of her food or sweets would he accept; he didn’t drink either. Yet that lie seemed true, like it might’ve been once but no longer—a hollow truth. I didn’t have more time to maul over my thoughts because Mama Anderson, still putout by Eli’s hollow truth, asked me, “You still like honey wheat bread, right?”

“What? Oh, yes; I love your bread, Mama Anderson.”

“Oh, good!” Mama Anderson exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “It’s fresh out of the oven, so it’ll be nice and hot for you to snack on.”

“I’ll have some in a second, okay?” I said, “I’m going to go say hello to Jen, and see how she is feeling.”

“All right, that’s fine, but Jenny might still be asleep.”

“Okay,” I answered as I headed up the stairs, but not before I caught Eli’s bright eyes. If my earlier slip had unsettled him, he hid it well. Or he didn’t care that I was digging around in his past relationships—he’d already seen me with Heather and hadn’t said anything to me. And because I wasn’t sure whether the ex-girlfriends had honored their agreement to keep their lip-glossed mouths shut, I smiled and waved at him in the hopes of keeping up the Being-Kind-To-You-Because-You’re-Dating-My-Best-Friend façade that I’d been faking for the last two weeks. However my inconspicuous plan backfired on me when Eli shot me a curious look, and I realized that I was being too kind. Only a moment ago I’d been snapping at him to get out of my way, and now I was smiling and waving like nothing had happened; he had to think I was bipolar. Heat slowly rose to my cheeks as I bowed my head and quickly scurried up stairs.

Jen’s room wasn’t difficult find, if you knew her favorite color, because her door was a light shade of lavender. Unlike my first thoughts when I’d first entered my best friend’s room nine years ago, her room itself wasn’t various shades of purple—instead it was themed with whatever came into Jen’s mind. For this year it was a forest that I’d helped her paint—following the outlines she’d carefully spent the entire night drawing on the white walls. The trees stretched high onto the ceiling, giving the illusion of trees sheltering us from the sun—which was her ceiling fan light—high above our heads. The moss green carpet was covered in multicolored leaves that I remembered collecting on an autumn day similar to today—much to Mama Anderson’s displeasure who was a neurotic, but loveable, clean freak and did not like the idea of her daughter’s room being covered in dirty leaves. Jen’s father, Papa Anderson, however could care less about what was on Jen’s floor as long as she cleaned it all up when she decided to change themes again.

Jen was snuggled cozily under her green comforter with a few blonde tendrils of wispy hair poking out from beneath it. I wondered if she’d been awake when Eli had come up here, or if she had been asleep like she was now. Deciding it didn’t matter right then I grabbed her assignments out of my folder and placed them on the nightstand beside her bed so she would see them. I heard Jen murmur something softly as she rolled over, her eyes still closed and breath even, facing me. I lean forward a little to hear what she is muttering to whoever in her dreams, hoping whatever she was mumbling could be used later as teasing material. Jen had this amusing habit of talking in her sleep—even changing the pitch of her voice to match the person she was speaking too.

Today her voice was normal. “Mm…” Jen sighed smiling, “Eli…oh yes.”

The blush that had died down only five minutes ago was now returning—and with a vengeance. I wasn’t sure—thought I had a very good idea—but something told me Jen was having a sex dream about Eli. Resisting the urge to beat Jen awake with my text book, I grabbed my things and was about to head back downstairs to inform Sean and Mel that Jen was asleep when I heard a muffled sound coming from behind me.

“Junior?” Jen drowsily questioned while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. I saw now that her hair was a tangled messy, though it looked kind of cool the way some of the ends of her curls stuck up at the top. Her skin was sallow, and my mind instantly connected it to Eli and the girls’ symptoms, but I reminded myself that Jen was sick and having pale skin was a side-effect—a completely normal and explainable side-effect.

“Yeah,” I grinned. I thought about maybe teasing her about the sex dream she had undoubtedly been experiencing, but I didn’t need the mental picture. Had it been any other guy, and not Eli, I might have teased her—maybe even asked for the dirty details. “Sean and Mel are downstairs shamelessly inhaling all your mother’s homemade bread.”

“I thought I smelled something good.” Stretching, Jen pulled herself up into a sitting position, gesturing for me to sit down next to her. I told her to wait a moment while I went and got Sean and Mel. Jen shook her blonde head gently, “Not just yet,” she told me, patting the area next to her. “I feel like we haven’t talked in forever. Did anything interesting happen today?”

Oh, yeah, I wanted to tell her, I had some weird finger attack before English today. It made me feel cold and weak and dizzy—and I think your boyfriend may be connected to those creepy, ghostly fingers, but I haven’t got any proof. Speaking of your boyfriend, I spent the entire lunch talking to his ex-girlfriends, and they told me some interesting stuff. Instead I offered a shrug, “I wanted to do some research, so I spent lunch in the library. That’s about it on the excitement.”

“Are you researching something for a story?” Jen asked me, excitement laced in her hoarse throat. Smiling and nodding, I launched into a story I’d been considering writing awhile ago—glad for the easy lie.

“Wow, you have to send it to me the very moment you finish the first chapter, Junior!” Jen exclaimed excitedly when I finished with a brief summary. “I can’t wait to draw the scenes and characters! And you say they’ll have strange tattoos on their faces?” She demanded as she reached over for her sketch pad. I nodded, listing the details as best I could—I’d only thought of it this morning—watching as her pencil moved swiftly in the top left corner of the thick sheet. Jen, being a very visual person, loved to draw out the characters she read about in her favorite novels—my own work somehow got counted among their numbers.

Jen normally kept all her drawings, liking to go back and admire or judge the quality of her work, but sometimes if I was extremely lucky—or I just begged a lot—I would receive a drawing as a gift along with a quote scribbled at the bottom.

“What is it?” I asked when a pause ensued between us; I could tell something was bothering her.

“Did Eli come and visit me, too, do you know?” Jen gnawed on her bottom lip. She sounded anxious and worried as she twisted the pencil between her forefinger and thumb.

I knew it might’ve been a foreign concept to others, but Jen was very insecure about her boyfriends. It was the first boy she believed herself to be in love with because he’d messed with her emotions horribly when he’d cheated on her those four times—each time coming back for a “second chance” until she’d finally had enough.

Swallowing the sigh that was fighting to escape the inner recesses of my throat, I reached over and grabbed a hold of Jen’s cold fingers, giving them a slight squeeze. “He came, and he’s still here. He’s been here longer than we have.” Only because he drove here and left Sean, Mel and I to walk here, I added silently but held that information back. I wanted to tell her that Eli wasn’t a good guy just based on the feelings I sometimes got from him, but kept quiet. Who was I to say that Eli would only break her heart? What if this was a story for Jen, and that she was to be that girl; the one who changed Eli into a one-woman man? I would keep quiet about these feelings and what I learned for now until I was completely certain about him.

“Really?” A jubilant smile broke out on Jen’s face, and I really hoped that my words would not come back to bite me in the behind.

“Yes, really. I’ll go downstairs and tell them you’re awake.” I told her, standing.

Jen’s eyes grew about twice their normal size as my words reached her inner ear. “No!” She exclaimed quickly, “Don’t tell Eli anything! I must look completely awful!” Jen flew from under her covers and over to her mirror closet doors, throwing them open as she searched from something cute to wear.

This time, I didn’t bother to restrain my sigh. “You look fine, stop fretting about it.” I retorted, rolling my eyes. “I’m going downstairs now.”

“Don’t you dare send Eli up here, Kevin Jessica Morgan, or I’ll tell your mother you saw an R-rated movie last summer!”

“Hey!” I whirled around and jabbed a finger in her direction, “It was you who begged me to go with you because you hate going to those things by yourself; I had nightmares about murderers for the rest of the week because of you!”

Jen merely shrugged at me as she turned back to her closet. “You had every opportunity to tell me no, babe. You didn’t. My Mom doesn’t have issues with me seeing an R-rated movie—yours, however, that’s a completely different story.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Is that a challenge I hear being muttered?”

“You’re evil.” I grumbled, pivoting on my heel.

“But—” Jen wiggled her finger her finger at me with a smile—“you still love me.”

Refusing to answer her, I headed downstairs and into the kitchen. Mama Anderson’s kitchen smelled like freshly baked bread and herbal tea that she’d given to everyone—with the exception of Eli—to drink in order to ward off the frost. Mel and Sean were seated next to each other while Eli was located on the opposite side, and Mama Anderson stood leaning against her countertop with her favorite Mickey Mouse coffee cup nestled between her fingers. Strands of her light hair had fallen, framing her pretty green eyes—the very same ones that Jen had inherited.

Mama Anderson was in the middle of telling Eli about the time Jen had decided she was old enough to give herself a haircut when she caught sight of me standing in the doorway. Smiling motherly at me she said, “Oh, there you are, Kevin! Was Jenny awake?”

“Yeah, she’s getting dressed right now; we’re not allowed up there right now or else.”

Sean sighed exaggeratedly, “What in the world is she getting dressed for? She’ll only change back into her pajamas when we leave.”

Mel chose not to answer and rolled her eyes while Mama Anderson smiled secretively at Eli whose lips were curving at the corners. I watched Eli carefully, taking in how his eyes never seemed to smile. It made me wonder if my thoughts about this being some storybook romance that never seemed to happen in real life was possible for such a person.

“Mom,” Jen’s voice rang out, “can I come down from my room?”

“No, honey,” Mama Anderson called back. “You know we can’t risk your father or me getting ill! I’m sorry, baby, but you need to stay in your room. You’re friends will be up in a minute.”

“Fine!” Jen groaned.

“Girls,” Sean muttered to Eli, clapping him on the shoulder as he pasted by with Mel following closely behind. “Mel, did you remember to pick up the Physics homework for Jen?”
“What!? You told me that’d you would do it!” Mel argued.

“No, I told you to do it because I had…” Sean countered, both his and Mel’s voices fading away.

“I do hate making her stay in her room,” Jen’s mother sighed heavily, “it can’t be helped, I suppose. Kevin, you’ll be leaving soon, right?” I nodded. “Would you like a ride to Carson’s bus stop? I need to pick Adrian and Lizzie up from school soon and some things for dinner—Eli, dear; will you be staying for dinner?”

“No,” he apologized, “My uncle and I will be picking up Audrey from the airport this evening.”

“Audrey?” Mama Anderson’s brow furrowed along with mine: who was Audrey?

“She is my sister; she’ll be coming in tonight from New England.”

“All right, maybe next time then?”

“Of course, Mrs. Anderson.”

“I thought I told you to call me Janet—or Mama Anderson is perfectly fine. Kevin and Sean have been calling me that since the beginning of time.” She laughed, picking up her bag. “Did you want that ride, Kevin? It’s awfully cold outside, and I wouldn’t want you to
catch a cold.”

“Sure,” I answered. “I’m going to say goodbye to Jen and the others, okay? I’ll be right out, Mama Anderson.”

“All right, dear. Just don’t take too long.” I waited until I heard the door shut with a firm click before I turned to Eli. A hundreds of words danced on the tip of my tongue as I took in those unfeeling eyes, that sometimes pallid skin and most of all that charming, dangerous smile that meant nothing but trouble. Swallowing everything I wished I could say to Eli, I told him what was most important at the moment. “Let me make something very clear, Eli Cross. If you hurt Jen in any way, if you make her cry, and most importantly, if you break her heart I promise you I will break you.”

Tension filled the room, the silence smothering my ears until I couldn’t stand it a moment longer and brushed past Eli. A hand shackled to my elbow, pulling me back brusquely. “What the hell!?” I demanded with annoyance and tried to yank my arm free, but Eli’s grip only tightened with each pull. “That hurts! Let me go, you jerk!”

“I’d watch who you’re threatening, Dollface, you don’t know who dealing with.” Eli growled out dangerously, releasing me soon afterward.

I itched to say something witty to make him feel like dirt, but all I could manage to do was rub the throbbing spot where Eli had grabbed me so hard and say, “My name is not Dollface!” before storming away. Shouting my goodbyes at the foot of the stairs and receiving shouts of farewell in return, I hurried off to the front door but not without casting one glare over my shoulder at Eli. He remained where I’d left him, but that upset look had faded from his grey eyes, and he just looked lost in thought now. My hand froze on the knob of the door as I realized that Eli’s eyes were grey—yesterday and this morning they’d been the color silver, so why were they grey now? Tearing my eyes away, and promising myself I’d figure that out later, I opened the door and hurried out.

∞

By the time I’d arrived at school, word of Audrey Cross’ arrival had reached every ear in the school. Half the girls in the school were excited for the arrival of such a person because in their minds they felt if they could wheedle themselves onto her good side then they would have a possible chance of dating Eli, and the other half didn’t want anything to do with her because they had either been dumped by Eli or they feared her expected beauty. The guys were just as excited as the girls, but they hid it better in fear of damaging their cool personas that many had been working on for years. The people I didn’t hear whispering about Audrey Cross were the few girls and boys that were in serious, committed relationships.

Idly I listened to my peers chatter delightedly without paying much mind to what people around my locker were saying. This was the way things normally happened in Hell when something exciting—at least by our standards—happened. In this case, Audrey would be the topic of every conversation for the next few days, outrageous rumors would be spread about her within that time, and everyone would want to be her friend because she would be the brand new, shiny toy until her novelty finally worn off, and she was treated like a normal person. The same thing had happened to Sean and me when we’d moved here all those years ago, the only difference between the Cross girl and us would be that she wouldn’t be labeled the weird, quiet girl with glasses or puny, tall Mormon boy.

Trying, and failing miserably, to restrain a yawn I shut my locker. I’d slept horribly last night because I’d been dreaming about those ethereal fingers, having trouble falling back asleep after I’d woken up in a cold sweat because I could still feel those damn things crawling all over my skin. It was in the wee hours of the morning that I had finally fallen back asleep only to be awoken by my alarm clock a few hours later. As I walked to class, I found myself wondering about this Audrey girl and what she was like. What was she like? Was she anything like her brother? Was she just as pretty as Eli was handsome? Did her eyes change color too?

I bound up the stairs two at a time, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes when I crashed into something solid and soft. The collision had me reeling back, the step beneath me disappearing as I flew backward. My Math book soared through the air as my hand shot out automatically in the hopes of catching something to grab onto. When nothing but air met my outstretched hand, I squeezed my eyes shut praying that I only suffered minor injuries and not a lifetime of paralysis or, worse, death. Then someone save me.

Someone, more accurately a girl, had reached out, grabbing my arm and pulled me back until the stairs were firmly planted under my feet again.

“Are you all right?” The girl who saved me asked. I held up a finger, asking for a moment while I tried to slow my rapidly beating heart and remember how to breathe at the same time. When the oxygen reached and restarted my brain I nodded avidly, sliding over to the rail and taking hold of it with a firm grip.

“Thank you,” I answered. I lifted my eyes from the stairs that had almost killed me into the brilliant blue eyes of my savior. The girl before me reminded me of those porcelain dolls my great-grandmother use to collect before she died. Her eyes were perfectly almond shaped and framed by a thick forest of dark lashes. A light flush tinted her ivory skin, and a few freckles lined the bridge of her small, straight nose. Her small, delicate looking pale pink lips were curved up in a smile that showed off her white teeth. The only difference between this girl and my great-grandmother’s scary doll collection was the curly mop of purple hair
nestled atop her head.

“That’s good,” the girl with purple hair retorted. “That was pretty scary, seeing you fall backward like that. It’s a good thing I caught you in time, it looks like a pretty serious fall.”

“No kidding,” was all I could manage. Unable to remain on the stairs any longer in the fear of falling again even though I had a firm hold on both the rail and the girl’s hand I rushed up the rest of the stairs eager to have solid, even ground under me.

“Hey,” the girl called, “you forgot your book. Hold on, I’ll get it for you.” She told me as she bound down the stairs, her tight ringlets bouncing with each step she took. As I waited, I wondered if this was the infamous Audrey Cross. I didn’t know anyone at this school who had purple hair, and something like that was not easy to forget. It was possible that the girl had gotten her dyed the day before Audrey was suppose to arrive here, but that didn’t seem too probable.

“Here you go,” She handed me my book and grinned at me.

“Thank you,” I said again. “Are you new here?”

“Is it that obvious? I thought I’d been playing it pretty cool; how’d you tell?”

Was she seriously asking me that? And if she was new here then that only meant one thing: Eli’s sister Audrey Cross had been the one to save me. Oh, Fate, my fickle friend, how you do love a good twist. “It might have something to do with the fact that your hair is purple.” I told her, pointing to the curly mop.

“I figured it was because you already knew my name. News travels pretty quickly in this town, but Eli did warn me about that. It’s just been so long since I was last here, I’d forgotten.” Picking up a strand and twirling it around her dainty finger before dropping and shrugging. “I did this on purpose. I’ve always enjoyed the reaction I get out of people when I do strange things. Eli always gets so upset with me when I do ‘immature stunts’ like this, but that old stick in the mud doesn’t know how to have fun anymore. At my old school my hair had been pink; I think purple looks prettier with my skin tone. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah,” I hesitantly answered.

“It wasn’t as if I’d gotten in all that much trouble at my old school, just a week’s worth of detention. Most of the girls there had thought it pretty and cool, even some of the teachers thought so too,” Audrey heaved a sigh. “Hey, since you probably know my name, will you tell me yours?”

“Kevin Morgan.”

“Really? That’s a pretty name, unique too.” She smiled, “I see I’m not the only girl in this school who likes a splash of color.” Audrey fingered a piece of my electric blue strand, commenting on how it this sort of color fitted perfectly with my ivory tone, and what other colors would also look just as brilliant too.

I smiled back at the fragile girl whose strength belied her appearance and bubbly personality made it easy to like her. I’d been right in my assumption about her being Eli’s sister, and I wondered what the presence of this purple haired girl with stunning eyes would bring. I may not have known what the future held, but I knew one thing for sure and that was that things were sure going to be a whole lot more interesting.