From Eden.

I tried so hard not look so small and so innocent around her. I tried to act like I knew what I was doing, and that I was someone who could care less about what people thought of me when, the truth was, I had never been so scared in my life. This was terrifying, nerve-racking, panic attack-inducing. The tour Gena was giving me only made things worse. I saw how big this school really was, saw how many kids really went to this school and it made me want to cry. I held tightly on the papers Mrs. White had given me, trying to keep up with Gena’s pace as we walked through the hallways.

“You know, I really have to thank you for coming today.” She said as we left the library. “I had a U.S. government test today, and I totally didn’t study.” She laughed quietly.

I didn’t say anything. I had never been so scared in my life. I suddenly wished I had a twin or something of that sort, so someone else was going through this with me as well.

“Can I see your schedule?” She asked, I nodded and handed her my schedule shakily.

“Alright,” she smiled, looking over my schedule, “we have the same zero and first periods. Zero period is basically homeroom, and it’s the same place you go for break. We don't have those on Mondays, but tomorrow, just look for me if you get lost. First period is U.S. Government with Renfrew, he’s a hardass, but he might cut you some slack since you’re new. Your second period is Physics - Ms. Taylor is awesome but the class is a little slow, after second period Tuesdays through Fridays, we go back to homeroom for study hall. Third period,” she paused for a second to look up at me, “AP English four huh? You into Shakespeare and all that shit?”

I nodded, too scared to say anything. The only emotion I could feel right now was pure terror.

“Cool, cool,” she muttered, looking back at my schedule. “I’m not into reading a whole lot. You've got Mrs. Young. I've never had her so I can't say how she is, good luck though. Fourth is precalculus, yuck, you’ve got Kimes there. After fourth we go to lunch,” she pointed in the direction the cafeteria would be. “And for fifth, Spanish 2. You've got the cool Spanish teacher, I had Acuna - god she was a bitch. And your sixth period is Foods 1, fun!” She handed me back my schedule.

“You don't talk much, you know that?” she asked, looking at me with her brown eyes.

“N-nervous.” I stuttered, looking at all of the awards in the trophy case that was outside of the library.

“Apparently.” She smiled, starting to walk down a hallway. “You sure you don't have any questions? I'd be happy to answer.”

“I’m sure.” I muttered. I couldn’t really think of anything. I stared up at the second story, and down those hallways. That entire hallway made up my entire senior class at my old school, and now my senior class here had over four hundred kids.

“It’s okay, I understand,” my guide, Gena, said. “Moving in the middle of the year can be pretty scary huh?” she asked, giving me a sympathetic look.

“Yeah, a little,” I said, resisting the urge to use sarcasm in that sentence.

“Well, I gotta jet to the next period. Look for me at lunch. You'll be okay!” Gena flashed me a smile and a thumbs-up as she walked away, hurrying to get to her next class before the tardy bell rang.

I looked down at my schedule and back up in the direction of the hallway.

Where was the physics classroom again?

----

By the time 2:40 rolled around, I had gotten lost twice, accidentally sat in someone else’s seat and was given a death-glare, had eaten some of the best sweet-potato fries ever and had a four page worksheet for homework. Safe to say, I was ready to go home. The bell signaling the end of the day - and everyone’s prison sentence - was over. The collective sound of books and lockers being slammed and book-bags being zipped up was heard throughout the whole school. I kept my head down as I made my way out to the front of the school, scanning for Christina’s car.

Spotting it, I walked over, and climbed in, throwing my bookbag into the backseat.

“How was your first day?” Christina asked, pulling down her sun visor to block the sunlight.

“It was okay, I met a girl named Gena,” I murmured, “you have some papers to sign.”

Christina nodded, mumbling something about always having to sign papers. As the day went on, we all piled our paperwork on the kitchen counter so Christina could fill the papers out later. Dinner smelled wonderful, but even I knew she would wait until Jacob was home for us to eat dinner.

All five of us managed to be seated at the cramped round table with plates of food covering the entire wood tabletop. It was quiet for the most part, mainly because we were all starving from a long day of either school, work, or, if you were Christina, trying to be the perfect suburbia housewife. Which I think was something she enjoyed; being a stay-at-home housewife, which was pretty unheard of in this day and age.

“So, guys, how was your first day of school?” Jacob asked, breaking the silence with his mouth full, with bits of his mashed potato spitting out of his mouth as he spoke.

“Mine was pretty good.” Henry shrugged, the first to speak. “I met this girl, her name’s Leana. She seems pretty cool, she’s really mousy and doesn't talk much, though.” He said, taking a small bite of his roast beef.

“Leana’s a pretty name.” Christina said after swallowing her bite of lettuce from her salad.

“How was your day, Laura?” Jacob asked, turning his attention towards Laura.

Laura perked up in her chair, “pretty good!” she flashed our parents a smile, “there’s this girl in my biology class, her name is Amy. She’s having a birthday party tomorrow night, think I can go?”

Christina and Jacob looked at each other, thinking of what to say to Laura. I wanted to take a peek inside their heads and see if they were going to give her permission or not, but deep down, I already knew the answer. Laura usually got everything she wants, just because she was their firstborn.

“What type of Supe is she?” Jacob asked, grabbing a napkin to wipe his mouth off.

Laura’s eyes went wide as she looked down at her lap, “she’s uh, Fae and Shifter,”

“Fae?” Christina asked, dubious. Her facial expression said it all.

“Yeah,” Laura nodded, “her mom is full-blooded. Her dad is a Shifter though,”

“Well, you are in high school,” Christina started.

“We might as well give you some freedom.” Jacob ended with a smile.

Laura cheered happily, standing up from her chair to kiss her parents on their cheeks. “Thanks Mommy, thanks, Daddy!” she said, taking her plate and walking into the kitchen to rinse it out. She was halfway through the kitchen before Jacob stopped her.

“On one condition though,” he said, standing up from the table to take his plate to the sink, “Del has to go with you.”

“And we need to know who’s picking you up,” Christina piped in, taking another bite from her salad.

“Her brother Matt!” Laura called up the steps, Christina rolled her eyes at her daughter and focused back on her salad. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore. I got up, took my plate, that still had over half of my meal on it with me into the kitchen, and rinsed it out. I placed it in the sink like everyone else, knowing Christina would clean them and put them in the dishwasher later. I had to admit, I was a bit worried about tomorrow. I would be going to a stranger's house while my sister hung out with friends. That familiar feeling of dread crept back into my stomach, just like how it had earlier. I knew Jacob and Christina wanted me to go to with Laura to make sure she was safe, but the thought of being alone with strangers made me sick.

I had barely passed the kitchen doorway when Christina called out, “Delilah, where are you going?”

“My room,” I answered, a little too quickly, “homework.” I called out.

“Aren’t you glad we have such smart kids?” I heard Jacob say before I was out of earshot. I walked up the stairs to my room, a smile stuck on my face for the rest of the night.

----

The sound of my alarm blaring the music of its regular ring caused my eyes to fly open. I lay in the state of dream and reality that you are given when you first wake up, not so sure of what exactly is going on around you, but soon I exited out of that realm, and entered the real world. I groggily reached over and flipped the switch to shut it off. Zachary Baker had been in my dreams again, and I wasn’t complaining one bit. A small part of me hoped that he knew who was hosting this party tonight, and would be there himself.

The second day of my senior year at Huntington Beach High School had gone way better than the first. Gena and her friends - Melissa and Erin - had invited me to sit with them at lunch, and I found out I had fifth period with Erin. Even Mr. Renfrew cut me some slack for being behind than rest of the class. After the day was done and I was home, I had laid down to take a nap so I could be rested enough to join Laura at this birthday party of one of her friends. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes and got up. Having no idea what time our ride would be here, I wanted to be ready whenever they were.

Opening my closet door, I dug through the mountain of clothes on the floor to find something wearable, which was harder than it sounded. I finally settled for a pair of dark washed jeans and a sheer striped top that I had forgotten about. I quickly striped out of my school clothes and got dressed, grabbing a necklace off my dresser and slipping on a pair of flats.

Walking out of my room, I made a beeline for the bathroom. The door was ajar, and I could hear Laura messing around; probably getting ready herself.

“You almost done?” I asked, opening the door a little more. Laura was leaning over the sink, a mascara wand in her hand.

“Almost,” she glanced at me and went back to her makeup, “but you need to put on some makeup too. This party is going to be wild,” she grinned at herself in the mirror.

“Don't let Christina hear you say that,” I chuckled, leaning against the door frame.

It didn’t take much longer for Laura to be done. When she was, she ushered me into the bathroom and sat me down on the toilet seat. She pulled my lime green makeup bag out from under the cabinet and told me to sit still as she did my makeup. The feeling of eyeshadow being applied across my lids, lipgloss applied to my lips, foundation and blush, it all felt so foreign to me when I only used mascara and eyeliner.

“Done!” Laura said cheerfully as she put my eyeliner stick back into my bag. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times.

I stood up to check my face in the mirror when a doorbell rang. Laura’s eyes lit up as she stuffed whatever else was on the bathroom counter under the sink. “Matt’s here!” she giggled, all but running out of the bathroom as I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
Standing on my tip-toes, I looked in the mirror at my reflection, I opened my eyes wide, looking at my eyebrows arch on my forehead. I could easily cover my forehead with three fingers. My facial features were quite small; my nose was lean and pointy and unless I puffed my lips out, they were thin. I had high cheekbones, thanks to my biological parents, and a rounded chin. My ears were big though, I could remember being in elementary school and being called “Dumbo” because they were bigger than most.

“Delilah! Come on!” I heard Laura yell from the first floor. I had never seen or heard her so excited just to go to someone’s house. I walked down to see the front door opening, and she was standing there, talking to who I presumed to be Matt. He wasn't that bad looking, to tell the truth. His brown hair was shorter than what I usually liked, but it fit him. He had piercing hazel eyes that were staring into my blue ones as he noticed my arrival. He was well built, as I could see with his short sleeved shirt exposing his bare, muscled arms. His chest puffed out proudly, almost as if he was the most confident human being to ever exist, and, from what I could see, he had dimples even when he wasn't smiling. He wasn't Zacky, but he was handsome, and the way Laura stared at him, I would even go as far to say she had a crush on him.
“You girls ready?” he asked, his voice raspy.

“Yep!” Laura exclaimed, he smiled at her. I was right, he did have dimples.

“I don’t see why Zacky didn’t come and get you guys,” he chuckled, leading us out of the house and to his car.

“Zacky?” Laura asked.

Matt nodded. “Yeah, he’s your neighbor. You might have seen him. Black hair, green eyes?” he asked, turning his body, walking towards a black car.

My heart began to flutter.

Notes

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