, as she walked through the halls, people called out to her, "Hey Caden!" or "Hi Caden, how's it going?" It was silly to ask the latter as there wasn't time to stop and chat. She smiled and waved and said a few "heys" back. Her life at school was so bright, if only home were the same…
She noticed the tall, broad blond boy up ahead of her, and how people gave him a wide berth, though he seemed not to care. Interesting. Even though people were curious and eager to know about him, they still regarded him warily, as though he gave off an aura to tell them, "Stay away."
Funny, she didn't sense it from him, or maybe there was something wrong with her brain. Walking up to her Composition class, she immediately spotted her friend, Cheryl, and waving her over she gave her a huge hug.
"Hey you!" Caden squealed.
"I missed this!" Cheryl replied with a bright smile. Casey, one of their guy-friends muttered, "Scary lesbians…"
"You only wish, Casey!" Caden teased. He smirked and went to his seat. The two girls continued to laugh when Cheryl's suddenly died away as her gaze was caught on something behind Caden. She noticed the room's noise level drop dramatically. Turning, she saw the new boy walk in. It was the smaller dark one. Ignoring the scene he had created, he leaned nonchalant against the wall. By now, the teacher had appeared at the front of the room and was assigning seats alphabetically.
"…Caden Fairchild…" he said, pointing to a seat at one of the two-person tables. She sat and then the teacher pointed to the seat beside her, "…Levi Hepzah…" he mumbled through the last name, unsure of the pronunciation. Levi didn't seem to care and he fluidly took his seat. As the teacher continued down the tables, Caden caught Cheryl's attention a couple seats across from her. Thankfully, Levi wasn't looking, and Cheryl gave her bug eyes and nodded toward the new boy. Caden just shook her head as though to say, "It's no big deal,"
As the teacher continued to be occupied with students and handing out the syllabus and rules, she decided to take the opportunity.
"So, your name is Levi?" she said it more like a statement. He turned his head a fraction in her direction and nodded once.
"Where'd you move from?" she asked, not one to give up easily by his silence.
"Egypt," he replied tonelessly.
"That's a big jump. Are you a foreign exchange student?"
He simply shook his head. She decided not to waste time or words.
"Well, I'm Caden Fairchild. I've never moved, I'm Native American, a full-time student, and you and your friend are the most exciting thing to happen in this school since the time when the pool got filled with Jello."
A long pause passed and she wondered briefly he thought her retarted.
But then, a smile cracked across his face, and this time, looked at her. His eyes were so big and warm. Now, he looked completely different then before. She smiled back, a relieved smile. The rest of the hour they talked. He and his friend, Roddy Campbell, weren't foreign exchange students. Roddy was Scottish and they had been childhood friends and decided to move to America. They now lived outside of the town in a secluded region. Caden chewed on her lip, rolling around a thought in her head.
"So…are you two…gay?" she winced slightly. Surprisingly, he threw his head back and laughed, which immediately drew stares, but he didn't care.
"No, we are not!" his laughter cooled down and he play punched her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm not offended. We lean toward women." And he gave her a wink. She shook her head and shoved him a little.
***
As the days turned to weeks, Caden felt herself become more lively. So far, everything was perfect. Even though she had yet to have a proper conversation with Roddy, she found that her and Levi had grown very close, much like siblings.
One day, she even skipped to her dance practice and nearly collided with a large body.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! Lack of breaks, you know,"
It was Roddy. He didn't smile or say anything, but deftly moved out of her way and continued on. She frowned. Him and Levi were friends?