During the whole seventh period,Kaito Huang sat in Mrs. Chang 's Home Ec. class,absentmindedly twirling his mechanical pencil between his fingers and staring at the clock on the wall that seemed to be moving slower and slower,and Kai felt like the ticking noises were mocking him.

Mrs. Chang's lecture was boring him out of his mind,and he had stopped listening to her droning on and on about how to properly prepare sticky buns a long time ago. He was currently the only senior in Mrs. Chang's seventh period Home Ec. class,a class in which Ms. Blackburn-Hayle, Artemisia Highschool's insane principal,put him in just to make him uncomfortable-and maybe a little less liked around the school.

Black-burnt-veil (a nickname the students said behind her back made up due to the rumors of burning her niece alive and,after getting harmed by the fire herself,wore a veil over her head at all times) knew that Kai's mother had taught Mrs. Chang's class in the same room before she died. Kai had been very close to his mother when she died of a strange illness when he was only seven years old. The illness was called the "blue fever," because you would break out in blueish-purple splotches all over with a raging fever. The scientific name for the blue fever was Letumosis, which had four quick-acting stages and there had been no survivors.

Last week,Kai's father caught Letumosis.

Kai's father also happened to be the mayor of their small town, and waas inevitably going to die soon. Since Kai was legally an adult at eighteen years of age, he was made to be mayor after his father's death. The mere thought of that gave Kai anxiety,and lately he wouldn't sleep at night or space out during the day.

Like right now.

"Kai,the guidance counselor needs to see you now." Mrs. Chang's words went unnoticed by Kai.

"Kai? Kaito...KAITO HUANG!" Chang blew the whistle hanging around her neck to get his attention,and he jumped,hitting his knees on the bottom side of his desk.

"What?"Kai asked,whipping his head around.A smattering of students were snickering,and he felt heat rushing to his ears.

"Guidance counselor's office,now."she ordered.

Kai miserably picked up his things and walked-more like trudged-out the door she pointed to with a vicious,bony finger. Once in the hall,he turned to gently close the door behind him so it wouldn't slam- But it did so anyway, and Kai cursed, jumping at the sound so close to him. He made his way to the guidance counselor's office and quietly let himself in,but froze at the doorway.

Dr. Erland,the guidance counselor,was talking to a girl sitting opposite his desk. All Kai could see was a black backpack (with a strange variety of tools sticking out of a pocket),some old,worn-out workboots covering her feet paired with gloves covering her hands,and a messy brown pony tail hanging from her head.

"So. . . Is anything, er. Is anything wrong, Dr. Erland?"Kai asked,hesitating to step away from the door.

"Nothing!Nothing at all,take a seat beside Ms. Linh here." He beamed and flourished an arm to the girl and the seat beside her. The girl turned to greet him,and Kai got a better look of her.

There was tan skin and brown eyes that were hypnotizing. Kai waved and smiled at her,showing rows of brilliantly white teeth. When she smiled back, he almost fell."Cinder Linh,Your highness," the girl joked.

Kai had heard her name. He pondered it for a moment before realizing she was the mechanic prodigy that worked in a shop near Farafra's marketplace. He gaped at her. "You're Cinder Linh?A teenager is the best mechanic in Farafra?"

"T-the one and on-only,"She rubbed at her left wrist and pulled at the gloves. For a strange moment, Kai thought she might be hiding something under those gloves, and he eyed them for a minute until he shook the thought away. He dismissed it as her still being in her work gear; She might have been tinkering before arriving to her new school and was probably in a hurry before she came, forgetting to remove them.

Dr. Erland cleared his throat, breaking their small moment and ran a hand through his hair, sitting down and mumbling to himself like he was so often found doing. Dr. Erland took over, "Miss Linh is going to school here tomorrow, and she requested a tour of the school so she wouldn't get lost. Who better to guide her than Kaito Huang, president of the senior class and son of the town's mayor?"

Kai looked to Cinder and held out his hand. "Alright then, call me Kai."