The day certainly started off like no other – dawn breaking over the horizon, birds warbling their serenade to the morning Sun, followed by the bustling of footsteps along the pavements of Amity Park… Boringly typical this sight may seem, yet there was a certain feeling in the air that whispered otherwise as the wind brushed past. Something was different from usual…but what? There was the same old town, same old trees, same old people… What was it that marked the day so special?
The reason was simple, really.
Today marked the start of a new year.
Of course, not all of the townsfolk bore the enthusiasm one should have on this particular day. Some dreaded it, even. Adults hunched over at the thought of the mountains of work awaiting them in their offices; Students glum and scowling at the thought of school and bullies and other problems that waited for them with sadistic smiles…
And a certain girl by the name of Samantha 'Sam' Manson was one of those pessimistic people.
The raven-haired teen seemed to have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed that morning and was rather cranky as she ran a hand through her messed-up locks, attempting to smooth them out. Of course, it may have been because of her little "goth" indifference, or it may have been because her alarm failed to wake her up that morning, promising her a "tardy" at the very start of the year if she didn't get a move on.
No matter, however. She managed to pull on her usual attire (her mother clucking disapprovingly at the gothic colours), and got a bite of her ultra-recyclo vegetarian breakfast before whisking off to school. On the so-far-uneventful walk to Casper High, Sam caught sight of her best friend, Tucker Foley, lifting her spirits slightly.
"Hey," she called from a distance, quickening her pace to catch up with him. "Tucker, wait up!"
The African American turned at the sound of his name, only to have his face break into a smile as he caught sight of his friend. He grinned, waving hello, slowing down to wait for her.
"Nice morning, eh?" he joked as she caught up with him, noting the none-too-happy expression on her face.
She tried to scowl, but only got caught between an involuntary smile and an instinctive frown before giving up, shaking her head, chuckling. Around her techno geek of a friend, it was pretty hard to keep up her goth exterior at times.
Luckily for her, she and Tucker managed to get to their first period class (their timetables having been given out beforehand) before the bell shrilled the start of school despite the late wake-up call. Sitting at her table beside Tucker's, Sam quietly slipped out her text book and stationery from her bag and placed them on her desk, ignoring the loud voices around her. Tucker was already engaged in a conversation with a girl called Amily, and Sam knew he didn't like her interrupting when it was so obvious that he was hitting on a girl.
Out of sheer boredom, she glanced around the room, uninterested. She recognized most of the faces from last year, only occasionally spotting a few unfamiliar ones as her eyes took in what she saw. She didn't spare a thought for the new students, though. She was too busy counting away the seconds as a small part of her yearned for the infamous Mr Lancer to turn up and tune down the volume of the talking. It was safe to say that she wasn't really the social type.
Just as she was about to fall asleep from waiting for the teacher, Sam caught sight of an unfamiliar teen out of the corner of her eye. The reason why she didn't spot him before was due to the many people walking around the classroom, masking him from view. She couldn't help but stare at the nonchalant figure slumped over his table by the window, his right hand perched on the desk, propping up his cheek as his baby blue eyes gazed out the window, all the while quiet.
There aren't many peers like him...quiet and thoughtful, she mused to herself, snapping out of her reverie as a booming voice filled the classroom.
"Alright kids, settle down! Take out your textbooks and turn to page 27…"
…Resulting in a fair share of groans echoing throughout the room.
"Say Tucker, did you notice the kid sitting by the window just now?" the goth girl questioned her friend as the class filed out of the classroom.
Said techno geek turned around to face her, quirking an eyebrow.
"No, not really," he replied apathetically, surveying Sam under his gaze, one hand clutching at his PDA. "Why?"
The fourteen-year-old chewed her bottom lip unconsciously as she mumbled a "It's nothing", before hastily making for her locker to get her books. Tucker couldn't help but snort.
"Sam…" he pressed, hurrying up to match her pace. "I've been your best friend since forever. I can tell when "it's nothing" or not, you know."
Sam sighed.
"Well…" she paused, frowning, "that kid was really quiet back there… You would've thought a guy our age would be a bit more…talky. He didn't even utter a single word throughout the lesson!" another brief pause "Of course, there's nothing wrong about it…it's just…there's something odd abou – What?"
Sam stopped short immediately, glaring at Tucker's ever growing grin. "What?!"
"You liiiike him, don't yooou?" he burst out in a sing-song voice, smirking at his friend as she reeled back, startled.
"W-what?! That wasn't what I meant!"
"Aw c'mon, Sammy! Why else would you even glance at him, much less spy on him throughout the entire lesson?"
"Tucker, I don't even know him! And I wasn't spying!" she added hastily on an after thought.
Ignoring her completely, the techno geek launched into a simple yet famous tune, either uncaring or oblivious to their unwanted audience of bewildered students, "Sammy and her boyfriend, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S – "
"Tucker!!" she protested, shoving her friend indignantly, using a little more strength than she meant to.
A second later, Tucker was found blinking dazedly up at her from the ground.
"Err, oops? Sorry 'bout that," Sam grinned down at her friend on the floor, her apology sounding like anything but sincere. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at her friend's pout, all but yanking him to his feet and dragging him to their next class roughly.
"Quit being such a baby, it was your just desserts…"
"But Sa-am…"
As she pulled her whining friend around the corner, laughing airily, she didn't once feel the unwavering baby-blue gaze piercing the very back of her neck…
Samantha let a small sigh seep through her lips forlornly. Time had passed quickly after first period, and now, she had to endure another long hour of being cramped up in the same room as a whole bunch of students whose style/type was what she loathed. She heaved a long sigh before plopping her head into her folded arms, risking getting seen by the strict Biology teacher. It didn't help that she didn't like the subject to start with (not since she found out they dissected frogs. She had practically blanched when she found out about that), nor that Tucker was scheduled for a different class that period.
Just a few more minutes… She mentally growled to herself. A few more minutes and it'll be time for recess…
At that point, she paused, blinking, glancing over to her left. She allowed her gaze to rest on a familiar figure who, once again, was almost as talkative as a man was with his lips sealed shut. It was a refreshing change; she had to admit, compared to the usual chatter-boxers which surrounded her almost every other day. Even now, (she looked around warily) mutterings filled the classroom, rising and ebbing almost rhythmatically. However, his silence just brought a frown to her face. It almost seemed as though he didn't want to draw attention to himself, didn't want anyone to know he was there with a strong desire to disappear…
Just as she was lost in thought, the recess bell's sudden ringing lanced through the air and through her heart, causing her to jump about a mile in the air.
"Oh, dammit," she cursed, laying a hand over her erratic heart in a bid to calm it down. To think she thought that the bell would sound as sweet as a melody that day…
Muttering darkly to herself about something which sounded like "irony", her other classmates around her gave whoops of joy, making a rather drastic point to bounce out of the "Room of Four Walls" which they had been confined in for a stretch of sixty minutes.
As she was packing up to leave, she saw, out of the corner of her eye, that the mystery of a lad hadn't made much of a move to exit the classroom. He was still gazing out the window like he had before first period begun, seemingly caught in a trance as his pale blue eyes misted over with an emotion Sam couldn't quite put a finger on.
Before she could dwell on it any longer, however, Tucker's loud voice erupted in her clearly-abused eardrums, causing her to wince.
"Sam! You won't believe what I found out! I'm so gonna have to charge you for this… I went through a lot just to – " he paused, noticing the notorious death glare on Sam's smooth features.
"… I shouldn't have done that, should I?"
"Glad of you to catch up that quickly," Sam growled as she shot Tucker another of those dagger-like stares which seemed to bore right through his skull. Tucker gulped, tittering slightly. He knew full well that Sam wasn't one to be trifled with, and he was speaking from first-hand experience. He had found the end of Sam's little temper once too many times to leave him mentally scarred for life. Literally.
Sam sighed, a little guilty as she spotted her friend's rigid mien. She gestured at him to move (a hand signal which he recognized at a glance) before asking him about what he was saying before.
At that, Tucker's wary expression melted into a proud smile. "You know the kid you were talking about a while back?"
Sam nodded sullenly. How could she forget?
"Well, turns out that he isn't one of the popular kids – "
"Tucker!" she snapped, "quit stating the obvious!"
"Let me finish!" the geek retorted, a little annoyed at the interruption. "He's considered weird by the rest because of his ghost-hunting parents."
Sam's footsteps died away almost instantly.
"What?! Ghost-hunting?!"
"Well, yeah," Tucker snorted, "The one time he had friends, he made a big mistake of inviting them to his house. His parents mistook them for ghosts of all things and blasted a gun thing at them and covered them with goop." He paused. "Not a pretty sight, from what I've gathered."
"Wait," Sam frowned, realization dawning over her expression, "you don't even know his name or how he looks, how were you able to find that much out?"
"We-ell," Tucker pouted, mocking an offended look. "You don't call me a techno geek for nothing, do you? I have my ways. And a little bird passing by told me some stuff too."
Sam lapsed into thoughtful silence as she pondered upon the information she just got. Instinctively, she turned her head, her violet eyes unconsciously searching for the young teen…
…Only to gasp and gape at the empty classroom which greeted her eyes.
Tucker raised an eyebrow at the spluttering goth.
"Okay Sam, I seriously think 8th grade has been addling your mind."
"No! H-he was there just now! Nobody walked past us ever since we – !" Sam frowned, shaking a head in disbelief. Was she just imagining things?
"You're just imagining things, Sam," Tucker said firmly, voicing her thoughts. "After all," the techno geek gave a light laugh. "It's not as though he could suddenly go invisible and disappear, right?"
Letting her best friend steer her to the canteen, Sam nodded reluctantly, trying her best to ignore the small part of her which was still filled with doubt.
"You're right, Tucker," she forced a wan smile onto her face. "No one could do that…"
She had no idea how close it was from the truth.
A/N: First DP fic ::titters:: Oh, I dunno, I just wanted to write something, so I did... Critiques are welcome, and if you want to use rather...err...explosive language in your reviews, feel free to do so. I really don't mind much... ;;