A/N: I really hope that everyone is enjoying the story! If you really like it, tell someone else... the more, the merrier. I'm sorry if this chapter seems a little slow, I tried to keep it short, this is still just in exposition phase. Everything will definately be picking up in the future.

Chapter One

The sky was a dull shade of gray that reminded me of dust as my mom and I walked across the street. I shivered under my jacket; it was only late October but there was a definite chill in the air that nipped at your nose and ears. The trees swayed back and forth as if they were trying to keep warm too.

The house across the street had once been occupied by the Katz family, who had been friends of the family for years. Their daughter, Kaylie, is my sister's best friend and my cousin's wife. They put their house up for sale at the beginning of the year and then high-tailed it to Florida, where the weather is warm and their allergies don't act up.

I missed the presence of my odd neighbors, and I wondered what these new people would be like. Either way, they couldn't possibly be weirder than my family.

A hybrid car, similar to ours, was parked in the driveway. My mom gave it a nod of approval.

We approached the door, and my mom gave a sharp, confident rap with her knuckles. I heard skittering on the floor, and the "yip-yip" of a small dog. There were several clicks as the locks were undone. The door swung open about three inches, revealing a bright hazel eye.

"Hi," my mom said. "I'm Sam Fenton, I live across the street. I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."

The door swung open in full, revealing a girl of about my age. She had straight brown hair that was tousled and pulled back into a ponytail. She wasn't much shorter than me, and was dressed plainly in jeans and no shoes. Her eyes were a sharp, bright hazel.

"Um…" she started. She had obviously been disturbed from her activities; a thick book hung at her side in her hand. "I'll go get my mom. You can come in if you want."

My mom and I stepped into the foyer. Boxes were everywhere; not surprising, seeing as they had just moved in. Printed on the side were the words "EcoProduct: Made of Recycled Materials". Again, my mom nodded in approval.

A woman entered the room. She had short blondish hair and was about my mom's age. She had rich brown eyes and was tall and lean. As different as she was, she struck me as very similar to my mother. Her high heels even clicked on the floor in a similar fashion. She held a small scruffy looking mutt-like dog in her arms. It panted and wiggled. She placed it on the ground and it scampered out of sight.

"Hi," my mom greeted again, shaking hands with her act-a-like, "Sam Fenton. I'm your neighbor from across the street."

"Leslie Auttenberg," the woman said. She summoned her daughter. "And this is my daughter, Hazel." Hazel gave a small forced smile. I looked at her hazel eyes; I wondered if her parents knew that she would have hazel eyes when she was born, or if it was a just a lucky guess.

"Introduce yourself," my mom mumbled to me.

"Sullivan Fenton," I said with the same forced smile Hazel had given.

"We brought you a cake," my mom said, "I know we were low on food when we moved in. So, just, welcome to the neighborhood. Where are you from?"

"Staten Island," Mrs. Auttenberg said. "It was crowded, though. It's just so much nicer to be out in the wilderness like this. It's just much harder to find work out here."

"What do you do?" my mom said.

"I'm an environmental lawyer," she responded. "I represent small organizations in cases about pollution, mostly."

I practically saw the fire light behind my mother's eyes at these words. She had found her long lost eco-morality twin. "Really?" she said. "I work for the EPA."

"I thought your name sounded familiar!" Mrs. Auttenberg exclaimed. "I believe some of my clients have mentioned you."

My mom smiled, and looked around for something to talk about. She spied a family picture on the wall; it showed Mrs. Auttenberg and Hazel with a man next to them.

"Your husband?" my mom asked.

"Yes," she said, "He's out right now. He works at the new planetarium about an hour away."

"I've heard about that," Mom said. "My husband's been trying to get us to go up there for months now. He works at the space supply company."

It was official. My parents had met their perfect match. My space nut father and my eco green mother had finally met their mirror image.

"Well, we should have them meet, then," Mrs. Auttenberg said. "So, where do you go to school, Sullivan?"

"Drogo High," I responded.

"He just started his freshman year," my mom added.

"Really?" she said, surprised. "Hazel's going to be starting her freshman year there tomorrow."

I looked at Hazel. Her eyes were gazing out the window. She definitely didn't want to be here right now. I could relate.

"Well, Sullivan has homework to finish," my mom explained. "But I would love to have you and Hazel and your husband over for dinner next week. My daughter Ellie is coming home from New York to stay and I would love to have everyone over."

"Sounds wonderful."

"Bye."

Leaving, I definitely foresaw that there would be a lot of the Auttenberg family in our future.

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The next day, I sat in Algebra class, listening to the clock tick as Mr. Atlas droned on and on about linear combinations, something I already knew how to do.

I am the only freshman in Honors Algebra 2. I'm mostly surrounded by confused juniors. I try to keep a low profile in my classes. As the only freshman in upperclassmen courses, you do tend to attract a lot of resentment when you do better than people who are older and supposedly smarter than you. Drogo High has some pretty serious upperclassmen; it's much better to be on their good side.

Mr. Atlas continued in his slightly eerie monotone voice. He was going slightly gray and had a long, beak-like nose that made you expect him to squawk. Every few minutes he would re-sanitize his hands with Purell. He's what most people would call "eccentric", but in my mind he was just plain crazy.

It was only fifteen minutes into class, and it was first period. It was going to be such a long day. I drew a small cartoon picture of a fish in a bowl in the upper right hand corner of my notebook. It looked lonely. I drew another fish in with it.

There was a knock at the door from the hallway. I jumped slightly at the sudden noise; the junior behind me snickered. "Freshman," he murmured.

Atlas mumbled under his breath about disrespectful people who disrupt his class. He opened the door and talked to whoever was just outside of it while re-sanitizing his hands. Finally, he stepped back and allowed the people outside into the room.

One of the guidance counselors stepped in with, surprisingly, Hazel. Hazel looked at her feet. Her mousy brown hair had been let down today; it fell just past her shoulders.

"Hi everyone," the counselor said in the creepy, confident voice that counselors use, "this is your new classmate, Hazel Auttenberg. She's a new freshman and she just moved here from New York, so please make her feel welcome." The counselor gave Hazel a pat on the shoulder, gave us one last smile, and left the room.

"Miss Auttenberg," Atlas said, "Please take the seat in the back next to Mr. Fenton." Hazel sat down next to me.

Correction: I used to be the only Freshman in my Algebra 2 class.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. Just so you know, Hazel may seem dull right now, but she'll become a lot more interesting later. The next few chapters will also be including a visit from Sullivan's older sister... so, hang in there, things are going to get good!

-Rachel