Chapter One - Evie

I eyed the flight attendant and tried not to glower at her immensely stupid head. I had asked her where the nearest bathroom was, and she had asked me if I needed to go, did I really need to go, and other obnoxious questions, totally avoiding the original question I had posed. With a stiff "never mind…", I walked off in the other direction. After finding a bathroom, I hurried inside. I walked up to the mirror and peered at my eyes. They were a light, cool blue that contrasted perfectly with my bouncy blonde curls. I checked again to make sure what I had found out was true. I tried remembering the flight attendant and my eyes became flecked with points of red. I thought of sauerkraut and my eyes turned an emerald green in an instant. I thought of my home, and the way I messed it so much. A deep blue filled my eyes as they brimmed with tears. I was on my way to boarding school; a co-ed private school in Japan where I would be a foreigner and a stranger. Walking out of security I flashed a guard my ID. Evelyn Dantez, 16, female, citizen of the U.S. A tall, sincere-looking man came up to me. He looked glad to see me in a secretive way, like he was scared to show his feelings. I knew my eyes were turning hazel to accommodate the chocolaty brown that entered when I felt sympathetic for someone or something. If he noticed he didn't let me know. He just reached out his hand to me.

"Hi, I'm Hatori Sohma. It's nice to meet you. I'm supposed to direct you to your new school."

He said this in perfect English, not a flaw. I admit I was amazed, orange zipped through my eyes like lightning. I knew Japanese, but it still felt awkward though my Japanese was flawless as well. I guess that helped with my stranger and foreigner dilemma.

"Oh, hi. I'm Evie Dantez."

"Do you have any luggage you need to retrieve?"

"No, just this." I held up my bag that I had already gotten before meeting him.

He took it from me and asked me to follow quickly. He led me outside and out to the parking lot. People kept staring at him, others turned their heads to each other and whispered, still others pointed and exclaimed. I could understand their excitement. In the airport this had happened too. It was because of Hatori himself. He was amazingly handsome. No, I wasn't attracted to him. He was probably ten years older, though he looked pretty young. I watched as he loaded my bag into the trunk of a black car. He opened the door for me and as I got in, I heard him close the door behind me. On our way to the school there was no conversation, only light music from the radio danced its way throughout the car. When new arrived at the campus green, I was surprised at the variety of students. It looked like I would be considered normal. Several girls squealed when we passed by, and when Hatori parked the car they ran up to him.

"Hatori-san!!" They called in perfect unison.

"Get back to class girls." He replied trying to ignore them. I decided to help him out. Stepping out of the car, I walked over to Hatori and put my arms loosely around his waist (doesn't count as hugging) and leaned on his shoulder suggestively. The girls saw this and reacted quickly.

"Hatori-san, who is she?"

Hatori caught on quickly to what I was doing

"She's my girlfriend."

He gave me a kiss on the top of my head which surprised me. The girls gave up and trudged away.

"Thanks. Those girls are always bugging me.

"Hey, no problem. As long as I'm on campus, you'll be safe."

I took my arms away from his waist and stood up straight. He smiled another thank-you, and I smiled back. Maybe boarding school wouldn't be so hard after all. I definitely wasn't the weirdest kid around. Somewhere on the campus I had seen a lone blur of orange. I wondered if I would ever get to meet whoever owned that orange hair. It would probably be fun getting to know him. I took my camera out of my pocket. Picture one: The beginning of my new life. Flash, the school was forever saved as the beginning. I hoped for the best.