chapter one

northbrooke haven, virginia

"Alexander!" the voice of my little sister cried out into my thoughts. I roused and turned to her. "Yes?"

"How many subjects have you done?" she inquired. I tapped my pen to my cheek. Science - check. I was working on Geometry now. "Three." I offered.

She whined back, "Well, hurry up. Remember, you've got Culture classes in forty-five minutes."

Yeah, I remembered. Though I was homeschooled, I took Culture classes outside of my house. Some of my closest friends also went there. Maria, the short bottle-redhead who never seems to take off her hat. Lydi, the tall brunette with an amazing voice and knack for writing. Finally, there was Isaac. Tall and golden-blonde, he was the jokester of our group. I couldn't wait to see them again. Somehow, we all seemed to find ourselves immersed in Ancient Greek culture, which was the unit we had dived into these past months. Simply, just like that, I noticed the time. Had the moments really flown that fast? I stood up and brushed my brown hair down. It was almost black, contrasting with my icy blue-gray eyes. Hastily, I snagged a backback and rushed into the car. My mom shuffled into the front seat. Her frizzy brown hair was patted down on one side. She shoved the key into the ignition. The car started. We drove four miles down into the gravel driveway of Maria. She ran out in her trademark gray sock hat and green skinny jeans. Her green eyes looked worried, but I didn't ask her to elaborate. She didn't talk to me much at all. In fact, we scarcely spoke at all. Then again, she was awful close friends with Lydi. Maria slammed the door shut and buckled the seatbelt. A few doors down, we picked up Lydi. She ran out dressed as she always did - quirky and elegant at the same time. Her long brown bangs swooped just over her ceylon-brown eyes. She sat by Maria, and the two drowned in hushed giggles. I still didn't understand what they said. Something about pinapples and mangoes. Girls: they don't make sense. Lastly, we halted in front of the driveway of Isaac. He stepped into the car. The tallest of our group, he crouched low to take his place in the last seat. All together, things just felt right. Like we were somehow all related.

At that time, I had no idea just how appropriate that was.