Labor Day officially marked the end of summer and the beginning of another school year.

Though Jess felt a certain degree of excitement to be back, having things such as cross country as well as track & field to look forward to, it was still so sweltering hot that shuffling through the hallways between classes made him feel like he was crawling through a desert. It was so bad that, if given the chance, he would have preferred to work outside on his parents' farm all day than slowly wither away inside a stuffy building with no air conditioning.

He didn't even know how it was legal to allow three-hundred something students and their teachers to suffocate inside a hot building for nine hours a day. And no, being told that the weather would cool down in about a month wasn't enough to placate him enough to suffer with it because fall never came soon enough.

After the first bell of the day rang and they sat through the morning announcements, Jess' teacher stood up and came to stand in front of the classroom.

"Hello, good morning, and welcome to your first day of senior year! My name is Ms. Steinberg and I will be your homeroom teacher as well as your English teacher."

At first glance, Jess felt he liked his homeroom teacher.

She appeared young enough that she was still capable of keeping up with current ideas and didn't appear to look down on her students for their interests, which was unlike the other, much older teachers in the school who despised anything that "kids these days" enjoyed.

She also appeared stern enough to know how to control her classroom so that nobody ever stepped out of line and transformed the classroom into a circus. She definitely had years of teaching under her belt but still walked with a skip to her step like she hadn't become completely disillusioned by the unlikeable aspects of her job.

The syllabus was passed out and his teacher went over the rules of her classroom, the novels they were going to be reading and, of course, all of the assignments they could expect week to week in between several major projects throughout the year. The transparency was nice, and allowed Jess to mentally prepare himself for each assignment and plan ahead because he worked at the hardware store on weekends and needed to be able to manage his time well.

"Now, let's start with an ice breaker! I want everyone to take out a piece of paper and answer the questions I've written out on the board. When you're done, give me a thumbs up."

Ms. Steinberg then directed their attention to the board, where she had already written a list of items she wanted everyone to answer.

Ice-breaker activity

Let's start the year off by making a new friend!

I want you to write five facts about yourself.

Do not write your names on your paper!

Ideas to help you write:

- Something special about you (hobby, favorite food, favorite animal, favorite vacation destination, etc.)

- Where you see yourself in 10 years

- Your dream job

Jess pondered the questions for a few moments before scribbling down the following responses on his sheet of paper:

1. Art is my favorite subject.

2. I would like to have a dog… if I could afford it.

3. I want to go to college out of state.

4. I want to travel the world after college.

5. My dream job would be working as an animator or concept artist.

"Okay, now crumple up your papers and throw them into the middle of the room!" Ms. Steinberg said once everyone had finished writing.

Jess threw his snowball and watched it join all of the other paper snowballs land on the hardwood floor in the middle of the classroom with a soft, barely audible clatter. Their desks were arranged in a circle that stretched around the classroom, allowing for lots of space in the middle that Ms. Steinberg had called "the fishbowl" for some reason, and that was where the class came to mingle when the teacher urged them to get up and grab a snowball.

Jess found himself drawn towards a pastel pink paper snowball that stuck out like a sore thumb and uncrumpled it.

1. My favorite animal is the polar bear.

2. My favorite subjects are math & science.

3. I have a twin brother.

4. My dream job would be working as a data analyst.

5. I want to major in computer science when I go to college.

It wasn't quite like searching for a needle in a haystack like he thought it would have been because Jess quickly noticed a girl he hadn't seen before mingling among his classmates and walked over to her. He wasn't sure how to justify it but he just had a hunch that he'd matched the information on the paper to the right person.

"Is your favorite animal the polar bear, by any chance?" he asked, watching as her face lit up.

"It is!" she then glanced at the crumpled piece of paper she was holding and asked,

"Are you good at art?"

What are the odds? Jess thought. "Yeah, I am," he said with a smile.

"That's really cool. I'm Alexandra."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jess. And hey, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think I've seen you around before." He knew everyone in his year on a first-name basis ever since he'd started school as a young boy and up until he'd learned her name, Alexandra had been a complete and total stranger.

That was the way life operated in Lark Creek: it was such a small town that everyone knew everyone and a single outlier, like Alexandra, for instance, stuck out like a sore thumb. She was definitely new and may as well have 'New girl at school' tattooed on her forehead.

"That's because I just moved here."

"Oh, cool. So where are you from?"

"Hawaii."

"Oh, wow, that's really far away. What brings you all the way out to Lark Creek?"

"I think we needed a change of pace, me, my brother, and my parents," Alexandra said with a shrug.

"Do you miss your old school, old friends?"

"I do but… I think I'm ready for a new experience. I'm hoping to make some new friends here."

"I can be your first friend, if you want," Jess boldly propositioned, to which Alexandra smiled.

"Sure thing, friend," she giggled and Jess could only smile in return. "So how about you? What do you like to do in your spare time? Any hobbies?"

"I like to draw. Maybe, hopefully I can go to college for graphic design or something."

"You should definitely show me your drawings one day," Alexandra said rather enthusiastically. "If you want, I mean."

"Sure, one day," Jess agreed. He saw no harm in humoring Alexandra, even if he never ended up allowing her to sift through his sketchbooks.

He was quite protective of his drawings and didn't allow just anyone to look through his sketchbooks - despite being confident in his talents, he wanted to avoid criticism until he was ready to show off his works at his own pace - but if Alexandra proved to be friendly enough, he would let her take a peek at one or two of his better pieces.

"How about you? What subjects do you like?"

"I'm the opposite of you," Alexandra chuckled lightly. "I'm bad at art but I'm really good at math and science. I'm hoping to study computer engineering or maybe game design when I go to college."

"Know anywhere you want to go?"

"Anywhere, everywhere… not sure yet."

"I'm the same," Jess admitted.

He wasn't even sure if he wanted to go to college yet and hadn't brought it up to his parents but that was because he knew that they would tell him "boy, we don't have no money for college!" and he didn't need the extra drama when he knew the answer was no.

It would take a miracle to convince them to let him go to college even if he found some way to pay for it. That is, unless he somehow won the lottery.

"Good thing we have all year to figure out where we're gonna go."

"Two minutes left!" Ms. Steinberg called. "Make sure you're ready to represent your classmate!"

"So what do you want me to say about you?"

"Just don't mention that I'm new."

"I think everyone's figured it out already."

"You think?"

"It's a school of 325 people - well, 327 now. There's no way you don't stick out but don't worry," Jess soothed when he saw a look of slight panic crossed Alexandra's face, "people will get used to you sooner or later."

"How soon?"

"After homecoming, they probably won't even know you're there."

"Okay!" Alexandra chirped. "That's not too bad, actually!"

The rest of the day went rather well, except when Jess found out that Gary Fulcher was in his sixth-period math class. Jess quickly brightened up when he noticed that Alexandra was also in his class.

Jess immediately gravitated towards her upon spotting her sitting by the window near the back of the class and was glad that his teacher didn't have a seating chart, which meant that he could sit wherever he pleased. However, even with a seating chart, he was sure that he and Alexandra would been fortunate enough to sit together since their surnames both started with the letter A.

He was proud to say that, out of everyone at school, he already liked Alexandra the most.

"Fancy seeing you here, stranger," she playfully teased.

"Are you following me?" he joked back.

"The real question is: who's following who?"

"You're following me," Jess playfully accused.

"Well, I got here first so I think you're following me."

"Alright, alright, settle down! Let's open to chapter 2!" their teacher, Mr. Reed, ordered as he called the class into session. "It's a review of advanced algebra, which you should have learned about last year!"

It was not a review.

Jess felt like a fish out of water as he waded through questions that didn't make sense to him even as he struggled to recall things he'd learned last year.

Perhaps it was just his artistic brain refusing to cooperate with him even as he plugged in functions into the calculator in a vain attempt to get the right answer without knowing what he was doing. When he looked over at Alexandra's desk, she was already more than halfway through the problems, burning through them like they were simple addition problems meant for first graders whereas he was just starting on question three and still had seven more to go.

"Hey, are you getting any of this?"

"Yeah, it's actually pretty easy."

Easy? What planet was Alexandra on where advanced algebra was easy?

"I'm guessing you're not getting it?" Alexandra asked, reading the look on his face that all but screamed "I'm so lost, please help me!"

She seemed to take pity on him and decided to help him out, to Jess' immense relief.

"Here, let me show you." She flipped her book open to a page that explained the process and had him follow it step-by-step until he managed to get the right answer. It felt like a miracle in itself because he was still shaky, like a baby deer just learning how to walk… or in this case, doing advanced algebra.

Wherever he stumbled, Alexandra was nearby to help him back up, her mathematical prowess being such a great help that he actually felt like he understood what was being asked of him for every question and was even able to explain the process he took to get to the correct answer for question 10, earning himself a satisfied nod of approval from Mr. Reed.

There was no way he was going to skate by that easily once they started studying more complicated topics but at least he'd made a good first impression, which was more than what some other kids in his class could say for themselves.

"Hey, thanks for the help earlier," Jess said as he packed up his things at the end of class.

"Oh, yeah, anytime!"

Jess said goodbye to Alexandra before making a quick stop at his locker and then hurried to the other end of the school to his last class of the day: art studio. The classroom was barely full yet, only occupied by a couple of students and the teacher, but there was one person in particular sitting by the window near the middle of the room that caught his eye.

"Wasn't expecting to see you in this class," Jess commented as he sat down in the seat next to Alexandra. It wasn't his preferred spot, seeing as he liked to sit closer to the back of the room, but he wanted to get to know the new girl better.

He just couldn't understand why anyone would leave a place like Hawaii for a dead-end, backwards part of the country like Lark Creek? Sure, Alexandra had provided him with her reasons but he still found it hard to believe that they had chosen Lark Creek out of everywhere else.

Had her parents thrown a dart on a map that had somehow landed on Lark Creek? That was, if it was even on any map.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting to be here, either," Alexandra grumbled. "I'm no good at art."

"So then why are you in this class?" Jess asked. He hated that he sounded snarky but there was nothing he could do to take it back now. Plus, he genuinely wanted to know why Alexandra was taking art if she didn't like it.

"It was one of the only classes that had an opening and my counselor just dropped me in without asking me, because, well, I signed up late because of the move. Honestly, I would have preferred a programming course but this school has the worst curriculum," she explained, sounding more and more miserable by the second. "So I guess I'm stuck here."

"Stuck here with me," Jess corrected. He wasn't sure if his words provided any comfort to her but then she smiled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that."

The teacher was an older woman named Mrs. Allen, who wore clothing that Jess associated with librarians, and had a stern look about her that was sharpened by her cat eye-shaped glasses. She spoke pleasantly, though, but Jess was secretly convinced that Mrs. Allen was strict and that she was only being nice to them because it was their first day. Only time would tell if art studio was going to be a fun experience or hell on earth.

Mrs. Allen had them endure grueling introductions that nobody was enthusiastic about, especially after having to do them in their other six classes, for the first half of class, and then had them spend the second half of class doodling in their sketchbooks because she had decided to let them get a head start on their homework. Tomorrow, she told them that they would be working in groups to create a collage, which Jess was a little more excited for.

"So, uh, what do you parents do, if you don't mind my asking?" Jess said as he looked over at Alexandra, who was drawing elaborate wizard and party hats on her stick figures.

"I don't mind," she chirped. "My mom works as a museum curator in Washington D.C. and my dad is the new deputy sheriff for Lark Creek County."

"That's pretty cool. But if your mom works in D.C., why do you live here?"

"Well, she didn't want to give up that job opportunity but my dad felt he needed a change of pace for a while. I think Freddie and I needed it, too, so they made a compromise: we'd move to Lark Creek and Mom would take that job opportunity."

"So she drives between Lark Creek and D.C. every single day?"

"Yeah, but I don't think she minds that much, really. She loves being on the move and always talks about how traveling to and from work feels like an adventure… supposedly."

"I guess that's possible when you do what you love."

"Yeah… I hope I can do that, too, someday."

Yeah, me too., Jess quietly agreed.

For the rest of class, Alexandra and Jess worked on their drawings in silence until the bell rang and finally dismissed them from eighth period and put an end to a long first day.

One school day down. Only 176 more to go.

Tomorrow, he would have to stay after school for the cross country team's tryouts - all returning members didn't have to try out but they did have to show up to be considered part of the team - but since today was only the first day of school, Jess could go home early. After a grueling first day, he had been ready to go home and take a nap by sixth period and wasted no time in packing up his things before hurrying out to the parking lot.

He didn't immediately climb on his bike and head home because he had to wait for May Belle, who was a freshman and wanted to ride home with him instead of taking the bus.

Almost ten minutes passed before he saw her emerge from the school building and when she was within earshot, Jess smiled at her and said,

"Hey, how was your first day?"

May Belle had been plagued by some jitters this morning as a result of it being her first day as a freshman but it seemed to all be forgotten now, judging by his sister's smiley demeanor.

"It was good!" May Belle chirped. "How was yours?"

"Pretty good," he admitted. "Ready to go home?"

"Yeah, let's go!"

He climbed onto his dirtbike first before May Belle followed suit, putting on her helmet and wrapping her arms around his waist just as the bike came to life with a rumble. Then, he shoved the kickstand out of the way and rode out of the school parking lot in the direction of their house.

They managed to make it home in record time, putting the school bus to shame even though it was so far behind that they hadn't heard it trailing after them the entire ride home. When the bike came to a stop at the driveway leading up to their house, May Belle hopped off the back of the bike and said "thanks!" before skipping off into the house with her helmet still on her head.

As he climbed off his dirt bike with the intention of putting it away in the shed until he needed it tomorrow, Jess saw a girl on a bike out of the corner of his eye and as she neared, he realized it was Alexandra Atwater, his classmate from school.

"Are you… following me?" he asked once she was close enough that he didn't have to shout in order to be heard.

"No, I live over there," Alexandra explained as she pointed in the direction of the old Perkins place. She quickly hopped off her bike and walked it down the dirt road, trudging alongside Jess, who suddenly felt distracted by the information Alexandra had just provided.

There was a new family moving into the old Perkins place, which had remained unoccupied ever since Bill and Judy Burke moved away seven years ago, and he felt quite conflicted.

The house's reputation hadn't changed one bit, as it was still known for being one of those ratty, old country houses that a person was forced to move into because there was no other decent place to go, and moved out of as quickly as possible. Because of this, Jess doubted Alexandra would remain for very long and had a feeling she would move away once she graduated from high school at the end of the school year.

He couldn't imagine anyone willingly putting up with the broken-beyond-repair fixer-upper that was the old Perkins place longer than they had to. The house was genuinely cursed and there was nothing anyone could do or say to convince him otherwise.

"Hey, Dad!" Alexandra chirped as she approached a man who appeared from the driveway leading out of the old Perkins Place. He looked to be in his mid-forties, had brown, slightly graying hair, and was dressed as if he had just come from a construction site, minus the hard hat, of course.

"Hey, I'm off to the hardware store to buy some paint so we can start fixing up the place. Whoever lived here before us didn't know how to paint worth a damn and left us with that golden eyesore in the living room."

Jess tried not to bristle at Mr. Atwater's comment regarding the golden room nor at but it was difficult, especially when he could see the man didn't appreciate beauty in the same way he did - or in the way that Bill and Judy Burke had. And that Leslie had.

"Do you want to come along? We can grab a bite to eat on the way."

"Yeah, sure, I'll come," Alexandra said. She then gestured to Jess and said, "by the way, this is Jess Aarons. He's our next door neighbor."

"Hi, Jess." Alexandra's father warmly greeted him and even shook his hand. "I'm Paul Atwater."

"Nice to meet you, sir."

"Yeah, likewise. See you 'round, kid," Paul remarked before he brushed past Jess and walked over to his vehicle, which was a shiny, dark blue truck that looked like it had just left the car dealership.

"Bye!" Alexandra chirped, leaning her bike against the rotten picket fence that was now a part of her parents' property before climbing into the passenger seat of her father's truck.

"Yeah, see ya," Jess mumbled.

But even as he sat down at his desk to complete his art studio homework, of which Mrs. Allen required one page of sketches per day or five per week, insisting that all good artists drew every single day, Jess just couldn't bring himself to finish the sketch of the princess he'd started.

He'd given her blonde hair that reached to her shoulders, a crown made from thorny branches, and had planned on giving her a slim, flowy gown, but couldn't motivate himself to pick up a pencil and finish what he'd started.

He hated to admit it but he felt distracted and while it was a feeling he was familiar with, Jess knew from the get-go that he wasn't dealing with art block.

He had been avoiding the real cause behind his lack of productivity and it was that he didn't know how to feel about his new neighbors or their decision to move into the old Perkins place. Jess knew that they couldn't possibly be planning on staying longer than a year and sure, Alexandra had just started school at Lark Creek High but the thought of them fixing up that old house so that they could live in it long-term just didn't sit well with him.

Perhaps his unease had something to do with the fact that he still associated the house with Leslie and her parents, who would probably still be living next door if things had turned out differently on that awful day.

Bill and Judy had attempted to make a go of the same thing that the Atwaters were doing now and it was blatantly obvious what that got them.

Jess had lost his best friend and the Burkes had lost their darling daughter.

He hoped the Atwaters would have better luck but he wasn't optimistic because, after all, nobody stayed in Lark Creek for very long, especially not in the cursed house next door. Still, he silently wished them the best and went to go do his chores in hopes of clearing his head and then went back to his homework, only setting aside his art homework once it was time to join his family for dinner.

Dinnertime had become a peaceful affair ever since his sisters had married their boyfriends and moved out of the house, because nobody had to endure Brenda and Ellie's endless bickering anymore, and even doing the chores took less time than it had before. Plus, he and May Belle got along pretty well now that they had grown up and matured a bit - and no longer had to interact with their catty older sisters every single day - and they let Joyce Ann hang out with them sometimes so she didn't feel left out.

"Seems we've got new neighbors," his father remarked.

"Alexandra said that they moved here from the city for a change of pace," Jess provided.

Alexandra seemed nice enough compared to the other girls at school, who were nearly impossible to interact with for longer than a few minutes at a time - some for even a few seconds - because their huge egos got in the way. That, and he was sick and tired of everyone at Lark Creek High and couldn't wait until he graduated so he no longer had to see them.

"Is that so? Well, I hope they like it here," his mother commented.

Jess hoped so, too.