Linh chewed on the end of her pencil, trying to focus. It was hard - especially in History class. Who wanted to hear about people killing others? Linh just wanted to draw.
And draw she did. Dragons, waves, flowers. Anything she could think of to drown out the rest of the minds around her.
Someone slid into the seat next to her. "What are they talking about?"
Linh looked up to see a boy with strawberry blond hair grinning at her. He was gorgeous, but not really her type. Why was he talking to her, then? She blinked. He had asked a question. "I don't know," she finally answered. "I wasn't paying attention."
"That's alright, it's not like anyone needs to know about their absurd wars."
Linh looked back at him out of the corner of her eyes. He seemed absurdly quiet. "You say that like you aren't like us. Were you in this class before?" Very, very quiet. Almost as if...
She couldn't hear his thoughts.
He leaned back, testing gravity to its limits with the chair. "Nope. You?"
She squinted at the strange boy. What on earth was he doing here? Invading random classes and talking to random girls? "Of course I'm in this class, otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"Well, that's not stopping me."
"I can see that. Why?" There went her mouth again, running without a filter.
The boy grinned again. "What do you think?"
Linh blinked again, unsure how to react. Who had the confidence to be this audacious?
He laughed at her confused face. "I can explain, but not now. Meet me by room 618 after last class." Then there was a flash bright enough to blind everyone in the room, and by the time Linh's eyes cleared, the mysterious boy was gone.
"Miss Mai, detention! See me after class."
Linh's cheeks burned. "But it wasn't me-"
The professor silenced her with an icy glare. Idiot girl. Can't believe she thought she'd get away with that. "Detention."
Eventually, Linh was startled out of her science-and-headache-induced daydreams by the bell signaling the end of the day. The random boy had been on her mind all day, with that careless grin, impenetrable mind, and the words "Meet me after last class." Now she only had to find room 618.
She pulled out her phone to check the time. It was 3:14, but she had to be at detention by 4:30. Time enough to meet up with someone, as long as he wasn't some creep out to kidnap and murder her. Somehow, she doubted that was it.
She hurried through the halls, finally reaching the sixth floor and nearly crashing into the same boy, the one who hadn't actually answered any of her questions that morning.
"There you are, at last! I was wondering if you'd actually come!" There was the familiar somewhat arrogant, somewhat genuine grin. He put a hand on her shoulder. "I want to show you-"
Linh turned away from him, only feeling a little guilty about the sad puppy look on his face. "Okay, first of all, you didn't answer me this morning. Why were you randomly in my history class? Who even are you?"
"Well, it's less about the history than the fact that you're in the class. and for starters, my name is Dexter Vacker, but usually people call me Dex. Now, can I-"
"Hold on." Linh waved her hands around to cut him off. "What does this have to do with me?"
Dex sighed, but still smiled. "That's what I'm trying to show you. May I?" Then he held out his hand.
Linh looked at him sideways. How was she supposed to know whether or not to trust him when she had no idea what he was thinking? "Alright." Then she took his hand, and Dex pulled out a crystal - then they spun into a world of light and warmth, blinding her for the second time until they reappeared. The first thing she noticed was a glittering castle surrounded by a brightly glowing fence. The second thing was the absolute silence. For the first time in her life that she remembered, she couldn't hear anyone's thoughts. She just wanted to lie down on the grass and stay there forever - it was so peaceful.
Dex turned around and spread his arms out, while somewhere behind him, a screech filled the air.
"Welcome to Everglen."