there are no stars,
01. Leaves
Leaves. They fluttered down from the trees in numbers. They were all I could see in the night. The cold air numbed me to the point where I couldn't even think, couldn't even breathe. I could feel the blood seeping from my wounds, melting into the snow-covered ground and colouring it crimson red. But there was no pain. I was already beyond that.
"Today, a new student will be joining us. This is Eva." 38 pairs of eyes swiveled towards me. I did a brief wave, before walking to an empty seat I had spotted right at the back.
"You don't want to introduce yourself?" The teacher, whose name I had already forgotten, called. I stopped awkwardly in front of my seat.
"I was from Italy." Pause. "I moved here because… Well, because." I dropped my bag onto the floor and sat down. The whispers began, and some casted curious glances in my direction. The teacher raised an eyebrow, before nodding and starting the lesson. I couldn't really pay attention. The boy beside me kept running his hand through his hair, and the girl to my right picked at her fingernails endlessly. The one in front of me held a whispered conversation with the girl beside him, and it was really hard to not eavesdrop. But their conversation was boring, so I went back to staring at my textbook. Eventually, the bell rang.
It was lunch. After listening to that teacher's monotone voice drone on and on, I had no appetite left. I followed the queue and just picked up a carton of apple juice. Staring at the crowd of people, I immediately felt kind of nauseous. Gripping the carton in my hand, I walked out of the cafeteria, and to the very back of the school, where I was sure there would be no one.
Pushing open the back door carefully, I peeked my head out and squinted against the glaring sunlight. Closing the door behind me, I surveyed the place. Nobody. I walked to one of the bigger trees and sat under it, poking the straw through the hole of the carton, before taking in a big gulp. I sighed with content, and leaned against the wooden bark of the tree, closing my eyes. I felt like sitting there forever, without a care in the world.
There was movement in the branches.
I looked up, and saw a head of white hair among the leaves of green.
"Hey." I said, and went back to drinking the juice. There was a long, hesitant pause, before a voice replied, "Hello." I figured it was a guy, though his voice was quite high.
For a moment, there was silence, before he spoke up again.
"You new here?" He asked. "Yeah." I replied, staring up at the treetop again. The head of white was still there. Why would anybody want to bleach his hair white?
"What's your name? I'm Allen. Allen Walker."
"Eva. Just… Eva." I sucked up the last few drops of apple juice.
"That's a nice name. Why'd you come here?" he asked.
"To America?"
"Nope. To the back of the school."
"Well, to drink my juice." He chuckled lightly at my response. I suddenly felt like I was interrupting something.
"Uhm, do you want to be left alone?" I asked.
"It's okay. It's nice to have some company once in awhile." He replied. I could hear a smile in his voice. I shifted uncomfortably. For a while, the only sound was the wind brushing against the leaves.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"Sixteen." I chewed on the plastic straw absent-mindedly.
"Me too. Maybe you'll be in one of my classes."
"Yeah. Maybe."
The bell rang shrilly, breaking the calm atmosphere abruptly. A few birds flew off the tree branches that they were recently perched on in fright.
I got up slowly, picking up the empty carton.
"Bye, Allen Walker. I'll see you around."
"Bye, Eva."
Only when I walked through the back door did I realize that I didn't even know what he looked like.
I opened the door slowly, and closed it behind me. Setting my bag down beside the small, worn sofa, I squinted in the darkness.
"Miranda?" I called out. There was a muffled reply, a stumble and a crash, before Miranda peeked her head out of her bedroom door.
"Oh, hello Eva! How was your first day at school?" She rambled on before I had a chance to reply.
"Are you hungry? Would you like me to reheat some food? Did you make any new friends in school? I think you'd enjoy a cup of coffee, yes-?"
"I'm fine, Miranda, thanks. I'll just be going to my room." I smiled at her briefly. She ran a hand through her tangled black hair, unsure of what to do.
"Okay. Inform me if you need anything!" I nodded, before picking up my bag and walking to my room. She scurried back to her room, picking up fallen books and files on the way.
I sat on the bed. My bed. This was my new home. I didn't have a real home in the first place, did I? I shook my head forcefully. I wouldn't allow myself to think about it. This was my new life, my new beginning. Or so I hoped. Sighing, I opened up my bag and took out all my books. But I didn't feel like studying any of them. I sighed once again.
My mind drifted back to that boy. Allen, was it? There was something about him that I could not comprehend. Maybe it was his white hair. Whatever it was, it somehow reminded me of myself.
Please read the A/N.
A/N: Omg, hello! It's been so long. :D
This fic is kinda similar to 'Onigiri'. I thought that 'Onigiri' wasn't so well done, and had many flaws. So I decided to make a story with almost the same plot line, but different. I hope this ends up better than 'Onigiri'. It's gonna be an AllenxOC one, but the romance develops very very slowly and gradually. I hope. /: Updates might be regular. I get distracted easily by Facebook and such while typing these fics.
Oh, and, thank you Lovee-chan for everything you've done to help me with this story. You've been a great help, really.