Symbiosis | Two Men... One Big Secret | One | Empty Seats

Hello and welcome to the first chapter of Symbiosis. And yes, daring-love is back. This is an idea I have been formulating for quite some time, and I can't wait for it to kick into motion. This chapter may be a little boring and may drag a bit until the end, where things get interesting, but try to bear with me until the end. I don't know if this old-style or not (since I've been here for so long), but banners and messages are always welcomed and appreciated.

Please visit my replacement homepage (until Quizilla allows us to have our own homepages) to see updates and other information:

http://www.freewebs.com/daring-love/index.html

(Note: This story has been inspired by both Twilight and the Stephanie Plum series but in no way are the two related with this story.)

I CLOSED MY EYES AND let my imagination wander, dreaming of a life I knew I would never have. A life of excitement, where I could wake up every day to something new, rather than the same pale yellow ceiling of my bedroom and the scent of toasted bagels coming from the kitchen. A breath of air escaped my lips as I slowly opened my eyes, expecting things to be different, but everything was the same.

My name is Maddison Carbone, and whether I liked to admit it or not, I was normal and so was my life.

I rolled out of bed, tugging at my dark brown braid in an attempt to get the knotted hair loose. I never called myself ugly, but I wouldn’t say I was pretty either. Just average. I walked down the stairs, following the smell of breakfast into the kitchen. My father had already left for work. Andrew Carbone was a Judge, and he would rather spend time in Court than at home - or at least that’s what it seemed like.

“Good morning, Maddi!” my mother chirped.

She pulled a seat out from the table and put the bagels, an apple, and a glass of orange juice at my seat. She frowned.

“Do you have to wear such trashy clothing?”

I looked down at my baggy t-shirt and short cotton shorts, and then back up at her. Ever since I was little she tried to turn me into her: a beautiful, perfect woman who could have any man in the city.

“It’s not like I’m going to be waking up trying to impress somebody, Mom,” I mumbled, smothering the bagel with cream cheese.

“Speaking of which, you really need to get a boyfriend. Everybody seems to have one these days.”

I shrugged my shoulders and ignored her. She always talked about relationships and love, and how magical the experience is. I’ve never been the kind of girl who would gush over a guy, no matter how cute or sweet he may be. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’m happy about it, but I haven’t yet met my Prince Charming.

My mother, Claire, and Andrew met each other in High School. In her words, “it was love at first sight and we completed each other.” She was the Prom Queen and he was the Football Star, a relationship born in the making. Andrew was two years older than Claire, and when he graduated High School and attended college, she felt lost. Claire dropped out of high school early in her Junior year and lived just outside of the campus.

Grandpa Morris, Andrew’s father, had moved shortly after Andrew received his Master’s Degree in Law. Claire was pregnant with me and it was a wonderful opportunity to obtain a permanent house. Grandpa Morris gave the old home up and it was in Andrew’s possession. I’ve, unfortunately, never been privileged to leave the city and explore. I was stuck there.

Our house is pretty nice, I’m rather fond of it. We have a large front and back yard, and a large porch with chairs and a swinging bench that are never used. Mom has always insisted on having a lot of furniture, plants, and decorative items around the house. The front door leads to the foyer, where we keep our shoes and coats. The house comes complete with a living room, family room, large kitchen with an island counter, a dining room, three bedrooms and one guest room, plenty of bathrooms, an attic, a basement, and some offices.

Against my mother’s will, I’m normally always found at home. My pale skin burns easily, so I despise everything related to the outdoors and athletics. The fifty percent Italian side helps turn my burns into tans, but for those couple of days where I am beet red, I am not a happy camper.

Staying home all the time isn’t that great, though, either. Mom is a babysitter. She refused to get a job outside of home, and not having a high school diploma left her with very little options but to start her own business. Although she calls it a full-time profession, I think of it more as a hobby that she happens to get paid for.

Well, Mom brings work home with her. Our house is a curious jungle gym for little children who are nosy and loud. Mom always has kids at the house, from ages three months to ten years. I always thought, after my little brother matured from the adolescent age, that I would no longer suffer from crying, whining, and pooping.

Grandpa Morris, who moved in with us three years ago, is good company during Mom’s work hours. Grandpa Morris is a ninety-four year old man who thinks he’s in his twenties. Over the summer, he went on a road trip with some of his friends. Somewhere in New York, they found a Skydiving Facility where Grandpa Morris signed up for lessons and took the classes. He and two of his friends assisted him on the jump, and got it video-taped. When Grandpa Morris came home and showed my parents the video, my mother fainted and my father went on a rant about his age. Grandpa Morris simply said, “If these bones are still moving, I’m going to keep going.”

But Grandpa Morris isn’t all about excitement and adventure. When we have alone time together, he’ll tell me interesting stories about World War II and how things were better in the old days compared to now.

“You know, you could go to a baseball game for a quarter when I was a kid. And candy only cost a penny! Now you’re lucky if you can find a baseball game ticket for a quarter on eBay.”

My mom took a sip of her freshly brewed coffee and gazed at me. The silence was making her uncomfortable, but I barely noticed. Mom was the type of person who always had to have something going on or else she’ll go insane.

“Oh, Maddi, don’t forget about your Junior Initiative meeting today after school.”

“Thanks, Mom, I won’t forget,” I said mindlessly.

“Also, remember to pay attention at this meeting. This project is going to help determine what college you get into.”

“I also have Senior Project next year. This one isn’t nearly as big of a deal.” I finished breakfast and put the plate into the dishwasher. I grabbed my books and hugged my mother and kissed her on the cheek. “You need to stop worrying about me so much.”

“You should be a straight A student, Maddi. But since last year, you’ve been a mere straight B student. You need to step it up,” she said in her motherly tone. I always hated it when she used that tone of voice with me. It actually made me feel like I had an obligation, and right now, I already had too many. It was overwhelming.

“Right, Mom. See you after school.” And that was the last moment of normalcy I would ever experience.

______________

Allderdice High School was recognizable: the large building, the mass number of students stationed in the front courtyard, and the cheerleaders practicing their routine when they think everybody is watching with jealousy.

I pulled my beat-up 2004 Jeep Wrangler into the student parking lot and shot the humming engine off. The jeep was a gift from Grandpa Morris when I turned sixteen years old last year. He never told anybody where he got it, but when I found it parked in my drive way on my birthday, the front bumper was falling off, there was no windshield, only one of the four car lights worked, and two of the tires had popped. The gold frame was covered in scratches and mud and I remember asking myself not where it was from, but how the old man was capable of moving the broken jeep from the street onto the driveway.

I stepped out of my jeep and locked the door, checking the parking spot’s number to guarantee that I parked in the correct place. 34. Last year, I accidentally parked in Amber Lumbard’s area and the rumor that I slept with one of the school teachers spread. Here at Allderdice, you don’t park in the wrong spot.

I enviously watched Amber in her new 2008 Honda Accord Coupe pull up next to my jeep. There are plenty of reasons why I can be jealous of Amber and her perfect life, but there is one thing my car has that her Accord doesn’t: an ugly repellent. Every once in a while, a car is broken into or stolen at Allderdice, and in every case the car is new and expensive. Nobody would ever dare to try to touch my Jeep.

My eyes scattered across the busy campus. I had already survived the first month of being a Junior, but being an upperclassman was supposed to be a new type of adventure. It was supposed to be difficult. Everyday, I waited for something different to happen, but I always fell into disappointment. My mother claims that I’ll meet my calling soon, I just have to be patient.

When you first enter Allderdice, you immediately notice the wealth of the school. The lobby comes complete with a sitting area for students and a breakfast bar. Ignoring the tasty smell of warm pop-tarts, I joined my best friends who were all, as we do every morning, sitting on the couches and taking up as much room as possible. “Maddi’s here!” Haley said with excitement.

“Good thing too, because I need the answers for our Pre-Calc homework.” Oliver took my school bag out of my hand and searched for last night’s assignment.

I sat in between Tyler and Alyssa and stretched my legs across the floor. I was wearing tight, dark blue boot-cut jeans that were very uncomfortable and riding up my underwear, but jeans made up more than ninety percent of my bottoms draw. It’s difficult to stereotype our group of friends by the clothing we wear. Band shirts, printed tees, tank-tops, skirts, jeans, short shorts: we wear whatever is the first thing we can find in our closet.

The six of us have been friends since first grade. I met Julia on my first day, when we had an introduction assembly. We were sitting next to each other on the floor and she asked me if we wanted to be best friends. It was the perfect environment for such a question; if a random girl asked me the same question during an assembly today, I would rudely ignore her.

It didn’t take long for Tyler, Alyssa, Oliver, and Haley to become part of the picture. We all shared the same classroom and often got stuck playing with the same games and toys. Being friends for such a long time has also given me the chance to look at each one individually and see how much each one has grown; honestly, none of them have really changed.

Oliver was always a little selfish. He never wanted to share with any of his classmates, and he was given a hard time about it until the third grade when he accepted the fact that sharing was a necessity. Today, he asks others to do homework assignments for him, and in doing so, he’s lucky enough to have straight A’s.

Tyler, the second boy, is the complete opposite of Oliver: he is caring, sweet, and completely selfless. In first grade, when Oliver would refuse to share his toys with anyone else, Tyler would give him lectures on how sharing would always benefit everyone. If it weren’t for Tyler, Oliver may have never given me back my Barbie. Girls usually fawn over Tyler because of his sensitivity.

Alyssa was always... strange. Her father owns a funeral home and when we first met her, we thought she was a corpse’s soul hiding in a human body, or in childish terms, the Wicked Witch from Snow White. Despite the fact that she is interested in skulls, gothic items, and blood-gore horror films, she manages to keep her sanity by always acting rationally.

Julia could almost be considered normal, except she has extreme mood swings and a very short attention span. She does not normally have angry mood swings, just ones that go from boredom to excitement in a matter of seconds. Throughout her entire life time, she could never make decisions for herself and was always stuck between two, even if it was of little importance either way.

Lastly, there’s Haley. Haley’s unique. She is one of the most popular girls in school, liked by everybody - excluding Amber and her ‘posse’ - absolutely gorgeous, and yet she’s best friends with the ‘geeks’. She’s very mature for her age, and as a result, she’s interested in older men; much older.

“Maddi, how’s Nathaniel? I haven’t seen the little guy for months,” Julia asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. “He’s fine. You know, you should call him, he misses you.”

Nathaniel is my little brother in eighth grade. A lot of people talk about how annoying their little siblings are, but I can honestly say that Nathaniel and I get along very well. We rarely ever fight and we can pretty much talk about anything. I was ecstatic when Nate was born, but I wasn’t a very good older sister at that time. I would always insist on putting his clothes on myself, and never was I able to get his shirt over his head and his pants on straight. But in my defense, I gave him plenty of attention when Mom and Dad weren’t able to.

The school bell rang and I slowly stood up. “I’ll see you guys in lunch. Save me a seat, I might be a little late.”

They all looked at me curiously. Tyler asked, “What are going to be doing?”

“Dr. Naselli needs to talk to me about something.” Dr. Naselli was our school principal, and he always wanted to get involved with the student’s lives. Some people may find that to be a positive asset, but I don’t. I find him to be a nuisance. Last time he called me to his office, he was curious if everything at home was all right because my grades could have been better. I told him that everything was fine, I was just taking more difficult classes, but he wasn’t convinced and wrote me a slip to get out of class to visit the school Psychologist, Dr. Warner. I used the slip, but I didn’t go to Dr. Warner’s office.

My first four classes were a blur. In Pre-Calc, Oliver copied all of my notes and we had a pop quiz. Amber tried to stick gum into my hair, but Oliver threw a ruler at her before she could.

“Mrs. Poch, Oliver just threw a ruler at me!” Amber exclaimed loud enough for the entire class to hear.

Mrs. Poch, a woman in her mid forties, said, “If you didn’t try to stick gum into another student’s hair, maybe he wouldn’t have thrown a ruler at you, Amber.” I smiled. I always liked Mrs. Poch. She was reasonable and fair. She always broke school rules by giving her students candy and snacks and letting us listen to our MP3 players.

I had Chemistry for two hours today, making the class exceptionally long, especially with Mr. Demure. The man is a genius, but his teaching skills are mediocre. The only reason he’s still around is because his students have excellent grades. It’s just too bad he can’t keep my interest for more than ten minutes because he talks slowly and it’s difficult to understand his deep voice.

I was lucky. I only had to take Gym twice a week, but even so, I hate Gym. My father was quarterback of the high school football team, but I inherited no athletic ability from him. It’s a wonder that a child like me came from two people like my parents.

The weather this week is supposed to be pretty nice, so this week we’re going to be playing some soccer outside. I don’t mind indoor hockey, soccer, basketball... any indoor sport, but the outdoors just makes me cringe. The only good thing about having Gym outside instead of inside is that it’s cooler.

I’m not too bad at soccer, but I was picked last for the team, always the most awkward situation. I pretend edI don’t care. The gym teacher forced all of the students to participate, otherwise you may fail the class. When it was my turn to kick however, and I miserably missed the ball, Jimmy, the team captain, started screaming at me. I hate sports.

What makes students so competitive? We weren’t keeping score, nor was it any type of competition. The teams were chosen at random and next time we have Gym, we will choose teams again. But something about sports and the thought of winning seems to drive boys - and some girls - to the point where they would do anything to beat the other. I tried to avoid competition; it was always just an icky mess of complications, fights, and confusion that would only make my life more dull and complicated. That’s not the type of excitement I’m looking for.

Before lunch, I had American History. Surprisingly, I haven’t fallen asleep in this class so far, and it isn’t because the material is interesting. History always makes me think and ask questions that I usually keep to myself. During this time, where we usually watch historical movies, listen to lectures, or read primary documents, I am able to examine my life.

What type of excitement am I looking for? That was today’s question. It had been lingering in my mind since I woke this morning, and the question still remained unanswered. Mom believes that it will be answered in time, maybe even more quickly than I expect it to be. But in Junior Year, all of the teachers are talking about your future and what you are going to do. We need to start thinking about what we’ll be doing for the rest of our lives, and I can’t even answer simple questions about myself right now.

Last Friday, we learned about the Great Migration, when Puritans came to the New World between 1629 and 1640. All of those Puritans had a goal in mind when they were coming to the New World, America. The idea of freedom may have come to mind, or maybe it was the job opportunities that were the most appealing. But possibly for some it was a journey of self-discovery. I only wish I could go on a migration for that purpose, but I don’t think my parents would allow me. They may instead, send me to an Asylum.

______________

“Maddison Carbone, thank you for seeing me,” Dr. Naselli greeted me. I walked into his office, a bit nervous, and sat down in a chair in front of his desk. I didn’t look at him, but instead around his office. He had a large, circle wooden desk close to a ceiling window, gazing out into the front courtyard of the school. He had a few pictures of his family on his desk and diplomas were hanging on the walls of the office.

“I’m not in trouble, am I?” I questioned, when moments of silence passed.

He laughed and I forced a smile. “No, of course not. I have called several other of your classmates to my office for the same reason. Your Publications class is a rather small and collective group of people. Two new students in your grade are going to be attending that class today, and that will be their first experience at our High School.”

I stared at him, wondering what his point was going to be, when he continued. “I am simply asking that because this will be their first impressions, that you and your classmates make their first time here a wonderful one. The two are top students in the world and are traveling from miles away to attend our school.”

“All right, Sir. I can do that.” I stood up and walked out of the office without another word.

The cafeteria: a place for food, fun, fights, and drama. Some people don’t understand the importance of lunch to a student. It’s our time to be with our friends and away from any stress of school work. I found an empty seat at our typical table and sat down, food already placed there. Tyler’s mom always made lunch for us, and it was a delicacy.

“Once again, Tyler, tell your mom I said thanks,” I said with a smile. Tyler’s mom was a Personal Chef, running her own catering business that was actually a success. Being just as sweet as Tyler was, ever since 1st grade, she has been making lunch for all six of us. Tyler says is helps her pass time in the morning. Tyler is an only child, and now that he’s grown, she doesn’t have much else to do in the morning except make lunches.

The cafeteria seemed to be strangely upbeat today. Everybody was in conversation, and all of them seemed to be about the same topic. The tables nearby were all talking about the new students who arrived only minutes earlier. Julia was quick to start conversation on the topic.

“Hey, did you guys hear about the new kids? There’s two of them, and I’ve heard some really weird things about them.”

“There’s more then two of them, I think. It’s like a whole mob of these people,” Oliver said.

“You guys are speaking as if they aren’t human. Who are you talking about?” Alyssa added. I listened intently.

Julia said, “Well, like I said, I’ve heard some really weird things about them. They are all very attractive, in an almost inhuman way. They are all coming from the same place, but nobody knows where they’re from. There are two in each grade.”

“I heard the same thing, and when these girls tried to talk to the Senior boy, he completed snapped and they said they saw some type of ‘demon’ power coming from him,” Haley added. “I saw them in the hallway on the way here. Or at least some of them. They were really odd.”

I laughed. “You guys are crazy and you’re probably just over-exaggerating.”

Alyssa agreed. “If we see anything out of the ordinary in this school, it’s automatically considered strange, odd, or even ‘demon like’.”

I was more than amused by the conversation. “Either way, the principal told me that I’m getting two new students in my Publications class. He said that they are traveling miles from here to attend our school and they are some of the top students in the nation. What can be so scary about that?”

Suddenly, the entire cafeteria went silent. Two students had entered the lunch room and passed through the tables without looking at any of the peering faces. Their presence was unnerving and nobody dared to speak. Even I was blown away by their existence. They were the odd freshmen everyone was talking about, yet they were beautiful. The boy had a very young, handsome look about him, with long, light red hair that was tied into a ponytail and shaped his round-baby face with perfection. He was smiling, showing off a set of glowing white teeth. The girl by his side was just as glamorous, with long, black hair and dark eyes that embedded into all of her surroundings. However, she was not smiling, but instead appeared to be concentrating.

They stopped, only feet away from our table, and looked at each other. She whispered, barely audible, “Don’t forget why I am here.”

His expression changed slightly, the edge of his lip twitching downward. “And don’t you forget why I am here.”

Without another word, they found an empty table and sat across from each other, gathering their food, and eating it in methodically. Nobody turned away from them, until finally, Oliver said in a loud voice, “Welcome to Allderdice High School!”

“Nina is going to try to ask one of the boys out later today,” Haley said after conversation finally continued and the cafeteria was once again filled with life. “She said she isn’t afraid of any type of rumors and that rumors shouldn’t be spread without any type of clarification.”

“Anybody who has the guts to even talk to them has the right to try to ask one of them out on a date,” Oliver said. “But still. They aren’t that scary. They kind of remind me of Alyssa when we found her in first grade. She was just different.”

Julia quickly changed the subject, something she was prone to doing. “Oh yeah, there’s also going to be a party this weekend at Pete’s house. He says anybody’s invited. I think I’ll go. You guys should come to.”

Haley of course was going, she loved parties, especially because she knew older guys would be there. “It’s a college party, of course I’m going. I could probably find a boyfriend there with a ton of older guys to choose from!”

“You are a really bad influence on all of us,” Tyler whispered to her, but Haley ignored him. I turned my attention to the two freshmen. I couldn’t stop staring, both of them were absolutely mesmerizing. Not only because of their appearance, but their presence was strong. Even though they were on the complete opposite side of the room, I could sense that they were close by. They were powerful.

The young boy glanced over and saw me staring, but he smiled wider and waved. All uneasiness dispersed, and I slowly waved back. However, the girl looked, and all breath escaped my body. Her stare was blank, with no expression, but I could feel it piercing through my skin. My body tingled, and as I continued to stare, a sharp pain shot through the palm of my hand. I quickly looked away, and noticed that I was breathing abnormally.

“Maddi, are you all right?” Alyssa sounded concerned, but her voice was faint. I didn’t respond immediately, when I heard a voice shout for the nurse.

“I’m fine. I just... had a migraine,” I lied. I cautiously glanced back at the table, but it was empty. I sighed in relief. “I’m fine.”

______________

I was finally able to forget about the incident at lunch, or at least I forced myself to stop thinking about it. I had something else to look forward to right now. I walked into my Publications class a few minutes early, where I sat in my seat and took out my notebook. Publications was an elective class for the Newspaper. I was Editor of the school paper called Allderdice: Anywhere, Anytime. The school paper is popular, everybody reads it, and a new one comes out every week. If someone in the hall says, “Hi, Maddison” then I assume they only know me because of the paper. It’s the only real way I can get acknowledged.

All of the students came to class earlier than usual, with the same intention; we were eager to see the new students we’ve heard so much about. When the bell rang, the teacher walked in a wide smile across his face.

Mr. Williams said, “Welcome to a very special day of Publications. We are going to have two new students join our class! They come from a long distance away and we are happy to welcome them, Troy... and Lysander.” As if on command, the two boys walked in, following the other.

I knew the moment he walked into the classroom that he was different. Everybody could tell. He was tall, well built, and attractive: but he almost looked too good to be true. He was possibly one of the most handsome men I have ever seen. His perfect, soft golden blonde hair and silky smooth white skin. I knew I was staring for too long, but I really didn’t care. I could have stared for hours.

But then the second student arrived and interrupted all previous thoughts. I felt an uneasiness about him, but my eyes never turned away. His dark brown hair conflicted with his abnormally pale skin, but he too was tall and had muscle in the right places.

I soon figured out that the blonde boy was Troy, and the dark haired boy was Lysander. Their last names, I wasn’t sure yet, but I was so entranced that their names were the last things on my mind. They stood in the front of the classroom like new students did in elementary school, looking at all of us.

Mr. Williams studying the classroom, well aware that he needed to find seats for them. I barely noticed that all of the seats around me were opened. Our class was small, a class of ony about six students, now eight, so there were a lot of empty seats.

I quickly lowered my head to write in my notebook, but my hand was shaking. I had always told myself that I would never get this crazy over a boy, otherwise my mom and my friends would give me a hard time about it. But here I was, sitting here like a little girl who just woke up Christmas morning and knew she was getting the present of a lifetime. My heart was racing and my skin was crawling: I was enthralled, but fearful at the same time. The rumors of the new students were running through my head but so were other thoughts.

Things had only gotten stranger when both of them had sat on either side of me. I had no idea that they were going to change my life. When Mr. Williams said that I should introduce them to the school, I snapped my pencil in half in my fist. I looked up quickly at the sound, only to see the two of them staring at me. Troy, with curious looks, Lysander, with amused.

Troy stuck his hand out and introduced himself more properly. “I’m Troy, and it’s nice to meet you, Maddison?” His voice surprised me. It was angelic, of perfection. The moment he said my name, I felt my heart flutter and blood rushed to my face.

“You can call me, Maddi,” I said, grabbing his warm hand and shaking it profoundly. “And welcome to Allderdice High School.”

My voice was shaking, but I tried to control it. I cleared my throat and sat up straighter, hoping that would bring confidence to my tone, but it only brought chuckles from Lysander. I ignored him, and the heat of my cheeks, and looked at my desk.

“In this class, we make the school newspaper. I’m the Editor, so if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask.”

“Is there anything you would like us to write about?” Troy asked curiously, in a generous tone.

“No, not in particular.” I looked at him and my voice stopped shaking. “Actually, we prefer that you write about anything you want. The paper is really popular here and it’s surprising how many students actually read it. As long as it’s appropriate to Mr. William’s standards, you can really write about anything.”

I was becoming curious. “So, Troy, why did you come to this school?”

“Well, I’ve read, and heard, about the excellent standards this school has and I wanted to experience it myself.” Every time he spoke, he smiled. If his voice wasn’t enough, his smile made me melt even more. Once again, I found myself looking away from him and at my notebook. He, too, was curious.

“What are you writing about right now?” he asked.

“I’m just writing a sports article about our football team.” Silence.

I continued to work on my article when Troy started on his. I usually focus very well when I write, but right now, I couldn’t. Troy’s abnormal perfection was captivating in every aspect. Lysander, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as interesting. He was quiet and hadn’t said a word to me since he arrived at the school. Troy had enough manners to speak to his classmates, or he was just more sociable.

“Are you really that boring to talk to?” Lysander suddenly said. Troy and I both looked up at him and he had a smirk playing across his perfect lips. I raised my eyebrow. I really didn’t care when people insulted me, but if I don’t know them, then I take great offense to it and I don’t just let it slide.

“That’s funny, because that’s the first thing I’ve heard you say today.”

“I don’t need to say things to stay interesting, and your eyes will agree,” he said in a deeply seductive voice.

I couldn’t stand it any longer. I stood up and said, “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.” I was granted permission to go to the bathroom, and I did just that. Luckily, it was empty, and I sat against the wall staring at the ceiling. How was I going to control myself around the two of them? I will see them for the rest of the school year and they sit next to me. There’s no way a girl can get used to people like that.

I sighed, when the room around me started to spin. I put my hands against the wall and stood myself up, but the room was still spinning, when it suddenly stopped and Lysander’s voice hummed. “Are you really that easy?”

I sauntered back to the classroom, my mind running wild with thoughts that I couldn’t comprehend. When I walked in, the two boys were arguing with each other in whispers.

“You are rude, Lysander, face it,” Troy said harshly.

“And you forget the reason why you’re here. At least I remember my goal.”

“Of course I remember mine, you know nothing about me.”

“I know everything about you and your.... family.” Lysander emphasized the word family in disgust. Thankfully, the bell rang, and my day was almost over. But I never stopped thinking about them. It was impossible not to.

______________

The hours went by slowly, where I laid in bed and just thought. Nate came bustling into my room to tell me that dinner was ready. I reluctantly got out of bed and sat down at the table, where the first question of the night was an interesting one.

“How was school today, Maddi?” Dad asked.

I smiled slightly. What would I say? That Dr. Naselli wanted to speak to me privately about two new students. At lunch, these two absolutely gorgeous freshmen came into the cafeteria and everybody immediately stopped talking. When they sat down, I couldn’t help but stare at them, and when the girl looked over, I felt sick and I couldn’t breathe for a brief moment. And finally, in my Publications class, I met two new students Troy and Lysander and they were mesmerizing. No.

“School was... uneventful.”