Dad had assured me that Lyle High School came as a highly recommended education route, and though he knew I was upset about my expulsion from my previous art school, he encouraged me to at least make an effort while I was here. I guess that's why I was here, making an effort just like I promised.

A girl bounced towards me. "You must be Chloe!" she squealed happily. "Welcome to Lyle! My name's Liz!" She stuck her hand out and I shakily accepted it.

"T-thank you." I managed.

Liz grinned from ear to ear. "Mr. Carson has assigned me to be your guide for the day, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I've been given your schedule so I can walk you to each of your classes until you get to know your way around here."

I smiled tentatively back, Liz seemed friendly enough. "Sure. That sounds great."

"Excellent!" she exclaimed, almost making me jump. "I totally memorized your schedule, so I know that you have Gym with me first period! You're going to love Mrs-"

After that, I mostly tuned out her excited babble. She hooked her arm through mine, pointing out where the washrooms were located and the rest of my classrooms. I could barely pay attention to her. When we finally arrived at our Gym class, she didn't hesitate to haul me over to a group of people huddled by the main doors.

"Simon!" she began. "I'd like you to meet Chloe Saunders, Chloe, this is Simon Bae!"

Simon beamed at me, "Welcome to Lyle, Chloe."

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Where'd you transfer from?" he asked.

It was a simple enough question, but I was terrified of anyone here finding out why I had to leave my previous school. Nothing screamed crazy quite like a student claiming to see ghosts and then attacking her Algebra teacher.

"Uhm, an a-art school."

"Oh great, she stutters." A girl with long, black hair strode forward, sneering at me.

Simon glared at her, "Tori, be nice. This is Chloe, she's new here."

Tori eyed me up and down, scrutinizing me. "Clearly," she muttered.

Liz, completely ignoring Tori's rude remarks, spun me to face a hulking figure. "Derek, meet Chloe!"

'Derek', was huge. He towered over me by at least a foot, and he wasn't just tall, he was built like a machine. I had to peer up at him to properly see his face, which bore an intimidating scowl. He grunted, which I supposed passed as a hello to everyone else.

"H-hello," I finally stammered.

"Saunders? That name sounds strangely familiar." Simon had spoken up again.

I looked to him, wide eyed. "Uh yeah, it's a common name," I said hurriedly.

"Not that common," Derek rumbled from behind me.

My face blanched in horror, "I-I-"

Liz huffed and pulled me away from him before I could come up with a lame excuse. "Ignore him," she whispered under her breath. "He never quite mastered the skill of socializing."

I managed a weak smile. Derek hadn't completely bought my lie and it unnerved me. This was supposed to be a fresh start, and it wouldn't do to have the whole school know that I was seeing things.

"All right class!" A tall woman with flowing golden hair, strode into the room. She carried with her a clipboard and a whistle dangled from her fingers. "Today we have a new student, everyone say hello to Chloe."

A chorus of hellos filled the air and I mumbled a small hi back. I looked up in time to see Derek's scowl burning into the back of my head. My face turned a bright red and I sidled myself further away from him.

Liz sensed my nervousness and her gaze went straight to the source of my discomfort. She held his stare, whereas I would have shrivelled under his scrutiny. Neither of them would be the first to look away, it was almost as if they were having a conversation without actually saying words. More of an argument really.

"Uh, Liz?" I asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"

She shook herself abruptly and shot him one last hard look before she turned to me with a bright smile. "Of course! Come on, Mrs. Abbot loves to make us run."

Okay, that was weird, I thought to myself.

Liz had been right, Mrs. Abbot did love her running. After my sixth lap of the track, I pulled off to the side to catch my breath. Why anyone would voluntarily put themselves up for this was beyond me.

"Running isn't your thing then?" I looked up to see Simon had stopped to check on me.

"It wasn't exactly a requirement at an art school," I replied, still out of breath.

He chuckled, "No, I guess it wouldn't be." He smiled warmly, "You can walk beside me if you'd like. Abbot doesn't like it when we stop completely."

As if to make his point, her shrill whistle cut through the air, startling me. "O-okay," I said quickly.

We walked in silence for a little while, Simon letting me gather my strength back. After about a half of a lap, he spoke up, "Are you from around here then?"

"N-no," I said.

"Oh. Where from?" My heart fluttered nervously in my chest. I really did want to tell him, but I also wanted to avoid anyone finding out why I was here instead of back at an elite art school.

Instead I opted for the partial truth. "I'm from all over the place. My Dad's business is always moving around and I usually go with him. I'm used to the whole new school routine."

"Well, hopefully you get to stick around this time." He playfully shouldered me and I ducked out of the way, giggling.

"Running is more your pace," a voice growled from behind us.

I whirled to see Derek bearing down on Simon, and instinctively backed away. Cursing myself when I stumbled over my own feet and landed flat on my butt.

Simon shook his head and reached out his hand to lift me up. "You okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah, I think so." Before I could accept his help, Derek cut him off and stood between us.

"She can get up on her own," he grunted.

"Come on bro," Simon whined. "It doesn't hurt to be polite."

"I said," he snarled angrily. "She can get up on her own." He looked to me now, his eyes brimming with suspicion. "Simon has a basketball game tonight, he could use the practice. He doesn't need you holding him back."

With that, he grabbed Simon's arm and began to drag him away. Simon's head whipped back and he mouthed I'm sorry.

Completely embarrassed, I scrambled to stand and rubbed the gravel from my palms. In my rush to catch myself, I'd scraped them open. "Great," I muttered.

Feeling completely spent and totally hurt by what Derek had said, I picked my way over to the bleachers and sat down. Mrs. Abbot didn't seem to notice, and even if she did, she didn't say anything. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I tugged it out. My hands were still sore, so I had to hold it carefully.

It was a text from my Dad.

Dad: How's school?

Me: Fine

Dad: U ok?

Me: Sure

Dad: Ok. Be home late 2night. xox

Me: K

I sighed wearily. It was no surprise that Dad would be home late again, he usually was. Derek and Simon jogged past again, finishing what was probably their tenth lap. Anger bubbled up inside me when I saw Derek. Who did he think he was? Pushing around the new girl, yeah, like that makes you tough.

Apparently sensing eyes on him, he stopped and let Simon jog ahead. He looked around, and at first glance, I would have guessed that he was sniffing the air. The thought quickly fled my mind when he turned to stare directly at me.

I mustered all the anger I could and cast him my best glower before I gathered up my things and fled the bleachers. I made my way over to the teacher and pulled her aside.

"Is it all right if I head to my next class early? I have bad cramps." I whispered.

Mrs. Abbot stared at me, her expression hard. "I'll let it slide today, but cramps aren't an excuse to not participate. I expect you back on that track tomorrow. Got it?"

"Y-yes," I replied. Yeesh. Was everybody this rude?

Working my way to the changing rooms, I was completely oblivious to my surroundings. The room was the same as every other school, lockers lined the wall and benches ran through the middle. I quickly shucked my shirt off and shimmied out of my joggers.

"Well lookie here," a voice cooed.

I spun around in search of the voice. "W-who's there?" I called out shakily.

"New girl, I do love it when we get imports." A boy, no older than me slunk from behind one of the stalls. "You look…nice," he drawled. His eyes raked over my body, hungrily devouring every detail.

"Get out!" I shrieked. "This is the girl's change room!"

He sneered, "And don't I know it."

He began taking slow steps towards me, and I rushed to back away. I froze when I found my back pressed to one of the lockers. "P-please," I said, practically in tears. "P-please leave me alone."

"Why would I do that when this is so much more fun?" he cackled.

My tiny hands were clenched into fists, and my nails dug into my already sensitive palms I latched on to the pain, focusing my energy into it. "Get out," I whispered threateningly.

"Oooh, she's tough now is she?" He taunted as he drew closer. A predatory smile stretching across his face.

The air seemed to thrum with energy, and I took a confident step towards him. The ground seemingly shaking, set the boy off-balance and he stumbled into one of the benches.

"What the-"

Just then, the door to the change room slammed open and Derek darted into the room. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded.

He took a look around the room and saw all the lockers had been blasted open. The floor seemed uneven and distorted. He looked to me with wide eyes. What did you-" he stopped in his tracks when he got a good look at me, then his face reddened.

I glanced down at myself, I was still left in nothing but a bra and some lacy underwear. "O-oh. O-one second," I whispered.

Derek wordlessly handed me my bag and I quickly threw on my hoodie and a pair of leggings. He then spun on the boy who was still gathering himself up off the floor. "What just happened?" the boy muttered.

"What were you doing in here?" Derek roared at him. It was enough to make me cringe. I shrunk back behind one of the locker doors and tried to stay out of his line of sight.

"I was just, I was… I wanted to introduce myself to Chloe. Because she's new here and all."

Derek got right up in his face, "Do you take me for an idiot Royce? You've been at this school for how many years? You know damn well that this is the girl's change room."

"So what?" Royce snapped in return. "What's it to you?"

Derek growled, a sound more animal than human. "You have five seconds to get out before I rip your throat out, is that clear?"

Royce cast me another regretful glance before he rushed out the door. It swung shut behind him and we were left in uncomfortable silence. I crept from behind my hiding place and Derek, almost as if he had forgotten I was there, jumped.

"Oh, just you," he rumbled. He looked me up and down, as Royce had done, but it wasn't in a way that made me feel dirty. He was going over me methodically, as if checking for any injuries. When he was content that I was unharmed, he turned around and left.

I stood there in stunned silence. The change room was now a complete disaster. Did I do this? No, I told myself firmly. It just wasn't possible. It had to be a freak coincidence. Just like seeing a ghost was all part of your imagination? I shook my head, tears threatening to overflow. "No!"

"No what?" Liz had walked into the room, dripping with sweat and exhaustion clear in her expression. Her eyes widened when she took in the room, "What happened in here?"

"I-I don't know. It was like this when I came in." I was shocked at how smoothly the lie came.

She shook her head, "Janitorial crew is going to have quite the mess to clean up." She smiled at me, "Oh well, not our problem!"

I forced a laugh, "Yeah."

After slathering on some moisturizer and applying my deodorant, I raced from the room. In my haste, I smacked right into the very person I didn't want to talk to.

"S-sorry Derek," I mumbled.

He grunted and I wasn't sure if that was his way of accepting my apology or not. "Stay away from Simon," he said casually.

I blinked up at him. "W-why?" I finally managed to ask.

"He has enough trouble going on in his own life, he doesn't need your baggage to." He moved to walk away and I grabbed for his arm.

"Wait-"

He spun, a growl erupting from his throat. "Don't touch me," he said, his tone menacing.

I crossed my arms over my chest in frustration and frowned. "Why," I began slowly. "Why did you save me?"

His eyebrow arched upwards, "What?"

I sighed, "Why save me if you don't like me? You don't want me anywhere near you or your friends, so why save me? Royce could have easily taken care of me. He would have done whatever, and I would have transferred to a new school out of fright. So I ask again; why save me?"

Derek looked completely taken aback. "You don't know Royce like I do, and you never will."

"That's not an answer," I snapped. "Whatever," I retorted, throwing my hands up in the air. "Next time, don't bother."

"Chloe," he growled.

"Seriously," I continued. "I don't need your help, I can take care of myself. And I definitely don't need some jerk thinking that because he rescued me, he gets to push me around to." I spun on my heels and stormed away. I paused at the entrance to my physics class, and turned to look back at him. "As for Simon, he can make his own choices."