Chapter 2

Somehow time flew, and I survived my first two classes. They were pretty easy, Composing Poetry 1 and Biology. Piece of cake to me. One boy did, however, come up to me in Biology and tried to talk to me, trying to get a copy of my notes since he came in late. I ignored him and he finally left. Ugh, I thought as I walked to the cafeteria across campus, besides that creepy guy, this day has been pretty much the same as usual...Guess I'm just destined to not fit in... My hand slid up to my throat, clutching my necklace. What would my mother have said about this? I was still thinking when I arrived at the cafeteria, and found it already swarming with people. Sigh, I should have packed a lunch to eat outside... I stood in line and grabbed something halfway edible and walked around to find an empty table somewhere. It was funny watching everybody around as they talked and my iPod was still playing. Found it interesting sometimes whatever they were discussing matched up with some lyric in my ear. After walking around for a while, I found the last empty table in the back. I sad down, relieved I was allowed some solitude. I had finished my James Patterson earlier, so I pulled from my knapsack Mary Higgins Clark's Pretend You Don't See Her. Ironic, given my situation, huh? Time past, and I became deeply absorbed in my book...unaware that someone was approaching....

 

"Hello!" At first, since my music was playing, I didn't hear the salutation. But then, suddenly a giant hand pushed my book aside and a male's face appeared. I admit, I jumped a bit. I turned off my music and glared at the one who dared disturb my solitude. "Hey! You're new here. You a freshmen?" the male asked with a huge cocky grin. He was tall, and muscular as hell. His black hair was slicked back, his brown skin a glowing cocoa color, and he was wearing a pair of sweat pants and t-shirt that had "FOOTBALL" written on them. "Um, yes, I'm new. But I'm not a fresh--" "Oh wow, wonder why I've never seen you around before? See, I know everybody, and everybody knows me. The name is Avery, Lucas Avery. I'm the quarterback. Bet you've seen me play, haven't ya?" I blinked. How was it possible for this swine to talk so much and still remember to breathe? "Um, nice to meet you. I'm--" "I know, isn't it? I bet you love watching me play...so I'll see you at the game on Friday. Just hearing you cheer will lead me to victory once again. Later, doll." Then, with a wink, he sauntered off, and I was left shaking with rage. That b*****d! The pompous conceited a*****e! Does he honestly believe any of that bullshit he's spouting? Feeling sick to my stomach, I gathered up my things and raced out the cafeteria. I didn't stop moving until I found an oak tree. Sinking to the ground, I rested my back on the trunk for support. I prayed to the Goddess to calm myself down. I grabbed my necklace again, closing my eyes to breathe...Slowly, the anger dissipated. I opened my eyes and checked my reflection in my phone. There were flecks of green in my eyes...Great...I continued to breathe until finally I'd calmed down enough and my eyes were brown again. Then I got up and took off for class, blasting my iPod to further quiet my raging emotions. I arrived in the building and made it to Physics with still time to spare before anyone got there. I took this time to compose myself....

 

By the time class started, I was more myself again. People filed in, and so far no one was coming near me. Maybe my "loner" aura was stronger now or that a*****e had somehow rubbed a reputation on me already. I prayed it was the first. Then, a male was headed my way. Goddess, I can't take this right now. Please, if he is anything like the notes guy or that jerk in the cafeteria I'm going to scream. I mean it...I prayed silently, and looked up just as the guy sat down a few seats from me....

 

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After the first two classes, I was still thinking about the strange girl as I went to join my friends at the cafeteria. I walked in, grabbed a few items, and met up with Josué and Jaq at the dessert bar. Tyre' was already grabbing the table for us. "Hey guys, what's up?" She called as soon as we walked up. "Hey, Ty," Josué said sitting down, "how was your first class?" "It was fine, Spanish with Sr. Gomez. I feel like I'm in a Speedy Gonzalez cartoon. Hey Jaq, what's up with that club of your's?" Jaq, who had sat down and was starting to dig in, looked up beaming. "Well, as you know..." Then he launched into a story of who know's what. I preferred to not listen. I began eating, contemplating how many plates was gonna satisfy my wolfish appetite, when I caught the scent again. I looked up, seeking out where the girl was...for I knew that's where the scent came from. I saw her walking, well...it looked like floating to me, towards an empty table in the back. I caught her from the side, but from what I saw she seemed way out of my league...but she had this edge to her softness that confused and intrigued me. "Earth to Adam. Earth to Adam. Are you there?" I blinked and looked up to see Tyre' staring at me. "Um, what?" "What were you daydreaming about?" "Nothing." "Was it the new girl?" I stared at her, and she smirked, glad to have been right. "Jaq just told me, and I saw who you were looking at. So...you gonna talk to her?" Before I could answer, Josué chimed in, "You should, Adam. She looks friendly enough. Who knows, she could be different from the other girls we've tried." He had a point, and all I had to do was talk to her. But just as I was getting up, I saw the football quarterback walk in her direction. S**t. Why does he have to move in on her? He has the entire cheerleading squad after him, and he's dating like three of them...it's so not fair.... I sank back in my seat, crestfallen. "Cheer up, look, she's not into him," said Josué. I looked up, and sure enough, she was staring at him with a mixture of disgust and annoyance. So there is hope... If a girl wasn't after the football players, then she must have some sort of brain. I brightened. "Hey, do any of you have class with her?" Jaq shook his head, Tyre' said not that she knew of yet, and Josué said he didn't either. "Remember," he said, "She's in your major. Maybe you'll have class together later." As I finished eating, I didn't think about how prophetic his words would be....

 

I walked to the building in which my Physics class was to be held slowly, not really rushing, just spending time thinking. Watching the new girl appear to get sick after rejecting the advances of the prick football player made me wonder what kind of girl she really was. The more I thought about it, the more I felt the need to meet her grow stronger. What was it about her that drew me so? Her scent? I wasn't sure...but thank Fortuna I was about to find out. I walked into my Physics class just as others were filing in, and I saw her! The girl with the strange and beautiful scent. I noticed no one was sitting near her, so I took a chance. I took a seat about two seats down from her, so she wouldn't get the wrong idea, and she looked up at me. Her face was heart shaped, and she had the darkest brown eyes I'd ever seen. And the smell of her scent was almost overpowering. "Hey," I said, not thinking of anything else. "Hey," she said, taking her iPod and placing it in her knapsack. "Are you a transfer student?" I wanted to mentally smack myself...Idiot, of course she is, why else would a new junior be here? But she smiled shyly, "Yes I am actually. I'm a junior." "So am I. Forensic Chemistry major." "Really?" she seemed to get excited, at least, she smiled more. Her smile was pretty..."I'm in Forensic Chemistry too." I already know. "Cool." Before we could talk more though, the professor showed up and we had to start working. Well, out the corner of my eye I kept watching the girl. She was focused, and from this angle was even prettier than I thought before...

 

After Physics, students raced out, and I saw the new girl packing up. I figured I'd try to finish what I had started earlier. "So, um, what's you're next class?" She was about to plug her headphones in, but paused to look at me again. "Organic Chemistry." You've got to be kidding me..."Are you serious? That's where I'm headed!" She gave a shy little smile again, and I was anxious to keep it there. "Awesome, you can show me where it is?" "Sure." So as we walked, I noticed she put her iPod in her bag. Wait til everyone hears that I talked to a girl on my own...and she isn't running away yet!  "So where did you transfer from?" "Colorado. My dad got a job promotion." "Oh, what line of work." "He's a defense lawyer, but only to the innocent ones." "That's amazing. What does your mom do?" The smile fell from her face and her eyes clouded over somewhat. "She died when I was little." Nice going jackass..."Oh, I'm sorry." "It's fine. This necklace I wear was originally her's." I looked down, and to my surprise I saw that it was a pentacle. Like the one on my ring. "You mean, you're a Witch, too?" She blushed, and I felt my heart flutter for the first time. "Yeah. My mother was one and I kinda grew into it as well. My father isn't a Witch, but he says as long as I'm happy he's happy." By this time we made it to class, and right on time too. We dashed in and grabbed seats off to the side in the middle. The teacher did role call, something most people had stopped doing recently. I waited until I could figure out the girl's name, and realized I hadn't told her mine yet. "Rena Montgomery." "Here!" Rena....that's a pretty name...very musical.  "So, you're name's Rena, huh?" No genius, it's Lucy Liu. Pay attention! She blushed again, and for the second time my heart did flips. "Yeah, my mother picked it out. My father calls me Re, like the musical note." I smiled back. "Well, it's gonna take ages before they get to my name. I'm Adam Wade." Rena laughed, and I felt like I'd won the jackpot. "Nice to meet you, Adam." For the rest of class, I was floating on Cloud Nine. I couldn't believe my luck! This girl actually likes talking to me, and she seems like a great person. As we walked out of class, I realized I had to go meet up my friends for our tradition of going out for Japanese food after the first day of classes. "Um, I just remembered. I have to go meet some friends right now. Would you like to come along?" Rena looked around for a bit, clearly confused, though about what I had no idea. "I'm sorry, I have to go home and make dinner for my father. But thanks for the offer though. I've never had a friend before. I'll see you tomorrow I hope. Bye!" Then she turned and walked off, plugged back into her iPod. I'm her friend? She looks forward to seeing me again? Oh Lord and Lady...please don't let her be just a trick. Let her be real. It wasn't until I was with my friends that I realized that I hadn't stopped smiling the entire time since I had been with Rena...