• Prologue: The Dream
    Chapter 1
    Chapter II


    AS SOON as Mrs. Johnson introduced the new student, she seated him in the seat across the room, just a few rows ahead of me. At least he was over there. I wasn't sure what it was about the new student that made me so uneasy, but there was no denying the feeling in my gut. And although he was on the opposite side of the room, I couldn't shake it off.

    “Mrs. Johnson, may I go to the restroom, please,” I asked politely as I held up my hand.
    Apparently I wasn't doing a very good job of hiding my distress because Mrs. Johnson immediately shot me a look of concern. “Yes, Kida, you may. Are you okay?” I thought I saw the new guy look over at me from the corner of my eye, but I instantly threw aside the thought since every time I so much as thought about him a sharp jab of anxiety stabbed at my stomach. Once again there was that nauseous feeling.

    “Yeah, I'm fine.” I tried my best to smile, but I knew she could see right through my facial expression. As I walked past Jeff, I felt him tug on my sleeve.

    “Are you sure you're okay,” he whispered. “You look kind of pale.”
    I nodded my head and laughed quietly, but I wasn't very good at convincing. Jeff's eyebrows pulled together slightly, and he shook his head in defeat. On the way to the door, I did my absolute best not to look at the new kid, but as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. My eyes instinctively lingered to the side row of desks where Mrs. Johnson had seated him. There he was, in the third seat down, leaning back in his chair casually, and although it was only a quick glance, a shiver traced its way down my spine, and my feet seemed to run over to the door on their own. I almost laughed after I accidentally slammed the door.

    They all must think I've come down with some sort of terminal illness.
    It was then that I really wished the bathroom was farther away than a few rooms down the hallway. I figured I could always go to the downstairs bathroom, but the odds were Mrs. Johnson would send someone after me when I didn't return after a few minutes.

    When I got in the bathroom, I let the faucet run a few seconds and splashed some warm water on my face.
    Get a grip, Kida. What's wrong with you?

    I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that my face was pale. More pale than normal. Of course, this didn't really register much at the time. All I could think about was that new kid.

    Vincent Balentein.
    It was a name that I couldn't get out of my head ever since he was introduced, and it was he who haunted my thoughts ever since I took that first quick glance. Yes...that first glance.

    Although I didn't get the best look at Vincent, I'd say I'd gotten enough to make a valid opinion about his “level of attractiveness”, as Ju liked to call it, and from what I saw he would be considered more of a mysterious/dangerous kind of attractive. Definitely not my type.

    I shook my head quickly to erase the thought of him from my mind, but I couldn't help but see him standing there, or more like slouching, hands in pockets. His posture was terrible. He must be one of those I-don't-care-what-anyone-thinks kind of people, and considering his wardrobe, that's exactly what kind of person he probably was. He had somewhat of a vintage look going on with the suspenders, loose black pants, and white, wrinkled shirt, and I even noticed the black leather jacket he had hanging from his shoulder. Unfortunately, my eyes didn't linger long enough on him to notice any facial features other than the dark hair.

    I decided after a few minutes of deep breaths that I should go back to the classroom. After all, the bell would be ringing soon. At first I thought about staying in the bathroom until class ended, but I knew Mrs. Johnson would immediately think the worst.



    I WAS determined not to look over at Vincent. But of course, the temptation was too much.

    Just a quick glance. That's all.
    I looked over toward his seat subtly as if it was unintentional...and our eyes met for a split second. His gaze sent a jolting shock throughout my entire body, and I thought that I'd actually jumped a little. He had seen me looking at him! I wanted to beat myself in the head so badly for being such an idiot.

    But he was looking at me too.
    I sat quickly in my seat, disregarding the fact that I'd just gotten caught staring. Or more like, I just caught him staring. Either way, I was embarrassed. But I still felt the urge to look over at him. Why? Why was I so curious? I remembered how Julie would always gawk at John Blair during class and at lunch. A lot of the time she didn't actually realize that she was staring. Was I having the same problem? No of course not. Julie actually liked John. Vincent made me more uncomfortable than anything. All I wanted to do was get out of there.

    God must have heard my thoughts because right then the bell sounded, and Mrs. Johnson was excusing the class. I don't think I could've gathered up my stuff any quicker. “What's the rush,” Jeff asked. But I'd already started power walking toward the door. Did I want to run into Vincent? No. As soon as I thought about being close to him, my stomach lurched. But this time I wasn't sure if it was anxiety...or butterflies.

    I saw Vincent just as he was leaving the room, and my feet suddenly started moving a lot faster. When I finally left the room, I looked left and right, but he was nowhere to be found. I suddenly felt the force of someone pushing my back and realized that I was standing in the middle of the doorway. “Sorry,” I apologized.



    AS I was putting my books away, Jeff came over and leaned against the locker beside mine. “Feeling any better? I thought you were going to throw up there for a second.”

    I smiled politely and placed my history book on a shelf. “Yeah, I'm fine.” And it was true. My stomach no longer felt like it was being twisted into a ball, and I could feel my energy returning. “I think it was just the fact that all I ate for breakfast was a Twinkie.”

    Jeff laughed and grabbed his Physics book. “Yeah. That'd do it. You wanna walk with me to class?”
    I almost said yes but I noticed Julie walking over with a beaming smile on her face as usual. “Eh...I'll catch up to you in a minute, okay?”

    Jeff sighed and walked past. “Suit yourself”
    Slamming my locker door, I waited until Julie was able to catch up to me. “Hey, there, pretty lady,” she said cheerfully. Thank God for Ju. She always made me feel better.

    I laughed and started walking with her. “Are you talking to me?”
    “Who else? So what do you think about the new guy?” she asked with a wink. I shook my head and gave her a grave expression.

    “He seems a little weird. I don't know yet.”
    “I think he's pretty cute. I mean if you got him a haircut and changed his wardrobe up a bit, he'd be total hot-guy material.”

    “I don't know...I didn't really get that good of a look at him.”
    Julie pushed me playfully. “Liar! You know you were checking him out. And don't pretend like you didn't notice him sneaking peeks at you, too—”

    “He did?” It came out a little more excitedly than I'd intended. Julie smiled to herself with that same triumphant expression. “I really do hate you sometimes.”

    “But what would you do without me?” It was a hard scenario to visualize. A life without Julie? Not possible.

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