The first emotion I felt was excitement. Excitement because I was moving to a new city, without my family, for school. Well, school wasn't exactly exciting, but I would be away from my family, long- term, for the first time ever.

However, there was another feeling under that. I was nervous. Scared, actually, because of which school I was attending.

I glanced out the window of the train, and took in my surroundings. As of now, we were riding through a desert. I thought I saw the city in the distance, but perhaps it was only a mirage. I fell asleep, and had an extremely strange dream.

I was walking through nothingness- not light, not dark. I saw no walls, but I could feel that I was in an enclosed space. It was completely silent, except for a faint whispering saying "Beware the academy" over and over.

I awoke just as the train pulled into the station. A voice came over the intercom saying, "Welcome to Death City station." I glanced around and realized that there was only one other person on the train. He gathered his few belongings quickly, and almost ran off the train. Strange, I thought. I grabbed my backpack, and walked off the train at a more leisurely pace.

Later that evening, after settling into my apartment, I went for a walk. After sitting on a train for seven hours, it felt good to be moving. I walked around a corner, and ran straight into the boy I'd seen on the train earlier. He mumbled a word of apology, and then glanced up. "Hi, sorry I ran into you..." I said, trying to make conversation. "Oh... Ummmm..." he said, and walked away. He bent his head, but I could tell he was blushing.

That night, as I was trying to fall asleep, my mind kept returning to the strange boy. School didn't start for two weeks, but I was already anticipating the first day of school. I rolled over, and fell into a restless sleep.

The same dream, I had on the train continued all night, on constant replay. Except that I cold now recognize the voice- 'Beware the academy' - but I could now identify the voice that was talking- it was the boy. Strange, very strange. Who was this boy, and why was he stuck in my mind?

It was my first day at the academy, the DWMA, and I was terrified. If you haven't heard of the Death Weapon Meister Academy, you don't understand my terror.

For every person who is either a weapon or meister, there is a perfect match. Like souls are puzzle pieces, and each piece fits with only one other. On the first day for Academy students, the only thing that is accomplished is getting to meet the other students. The second day is when most of the matches are revealed- but some people aren't matched until the third day.

I walked outside that morning to dazzlingly bright sunlight. As I walked in the direction of the academy, I noticed that maybe twenty other people were walking that way- all about my age. Oddly, the boy wasn't there. No, Charlotte, get the idiot out of your head. No reason to waste energy thinking about someone who acted that awkward and stupid.

I walked up to the oddly symmetrical building, the DWMA, about five minutes early. I sat on a bench in front of the school and pulled a book out of my backpack. I didn't have long to wait, however. It was hardly worth taking the book out, because just then a girl sat down on the bench next to me.

"Hi, my name is Brooke. I've been waiting for this day forever. I mean, seriously. I'm a weapon by the way. I don't know how the whole matching- souls thing works- but anyway, I suppose we'll find out soon enough. You haven't said much... Or anything at all. Sorry about that. I talk too much. Everyone says so, anyhow. What's your name? I bet you're a meister."

"I'm Charlotte. And yeah, I'm a meister." Brooke talked a bit more, then got up to go bug someone else. I mentally cheered.

Not even a minute later, an oddly dressed man in a mask came outside. Some people stared, and others only glanced at him. Even though I'd never met him before, I knew instantly that it was Lord Death, the Grim Reaper himself.

"Whazzup! So, you obviously all know why you're here. This is the DWMA, where basically students train to become the best meister or weapon they can be. Now, to get started, please split into groups- weapons this a- way, meisters that a- way. Put on one sticker from the table- and just get to know each other. Tomorrow's when the real work begins.

I mingled a bit, then looked around for the boy. I saw him sitting on the same bench I'd been sitting on earlier, and walked over to say hi. I walked through the crowd of chatting students, in that direction. As I approached the bench, he glanced up at me, but didn't say anything. "Hey" I said as I sat down. "Hi- how's it going?" he replied. That was the most he'd ever said. "I'm good. So have you found anyone who you think might be your partner?" "Oh... Not yet. Wait a minute, I haven't even told you my name yet." His sentences were getting longer at least. "Zander. I'm Zander." "I'm Charlotte. Nice to meet you." An awkward silence followed, broken only Lord Death coming outside again, telling us that lunch was now being served.

After lunch, we were all interviewed about how the Academy was, who might be partners, and stuff like that. I said that I didn't have any clue who my partner was, but my mind still kept returning to Zander.

The next day, we entered the academy building for the first time. We were lead into a large room shaped like a half circle, with long benches as seats. We were told that almost everyone's matches had been revealed yesterday, and the teacher began to read off a list of names. Almost everyone's name was called. Except mine. And Zander's. And two other people. The teacher told the people whose names hadn't been called to come out into the hallway. We were given paper and pencils, and told to write whatever came to mind. I wrote a poem about belonging and friendship. Zander, to my left, was writing a fictional story of some sort. The girl to my left was drawing a gorgeous scene of trees and a waterfall. The boy on the other side of her was scribbling with his head down, so I couldn't see what he was doing. As the bell rang for the end of class, the four of us filed bak into the classroom. The teacher took our papers and read them. He barely needed to glance at them before saying that The other two were partners. That meant that Zander was my partner!