Mary stood outside of the school building, taking quick, deep breaths. You can do this, Mary! She told herself, and flung open the doors.
She walked quickly down the hallway, her black shoes clicking on the tiles. Many male eyes glanced at her, and then did a double take. It wasn't surprising. Mary was used to the eager looks she got from most boys. Her long black hair, thin stature, and strangely silver eyes gave her an outlandish, elven appearance. Hurrying past all of the staring people, she put her slender, pale hand on the doorknob to the Vice Principal's office and pushed it slowly open.
"Hello." Vice Principal Chapman stood up to greet her. He looked her up and down. "Are you lost? The ninth grade is two floor down."
Mary smiled, showing thousands of shiny white teeth. "People say that I look younger than I really am."
"Well," Chapman smiled warmly. "What brings you to my office today?"
"I just transferred here. I was told to come here for instructions." Mary said.
"From where?" Chapman asked. Mary hesitated.
"Canada!" She blurted, mentally cursing herself.
Chapman bent down over a stack of folders. After a few moments of searching, he looked up again.
"We don't have any Marys from Canada." Chapman said. "Last name?"
Mary knew that nobody could be allowed to know her last name. It would blow her cover. Distraction, She thought desperately. I need a distraction!
Suddenly, Chapman's scalding hot coffee toppled off of the desk and splashed all over his jacket.
"Damn!" Chapman swore in pain. He tore off his jacket, swearing more as his fingers burned. Mary winced sympathetically and slipped out the door.
"Hey!" Mary spun around to see a cute, short, kid sitting on the bench outside the office. His black hair and olive skin was sweaty, but he was grinning.
"Um, Hi?" Mary said. Suddenly, a feeling coursed through her. Somehow, this boys was very important in her life. The only time she had felt the feeling this strongly was ten years ago. . . After the accident.
"What'd Chapman bust you?" The kid smirked, yanking her away from dark thoughts. "I, personally, am sitting here just because I made my pal Jake chase me all over the room for his English paper. It's not my fault that I used up all the class time, and, consequently, didn't have to turn in my English paper. Which just didn't happen to exist at the time."
The kid looked her up and down. "You...You look like the kind of girl who'd be given detention for being too beautiful." He smiled. Not a smirk, which seemed to be his natural face expression.
Mary took his hand. "I think we'll be seeing a lot of each other, Marco."
She walked off, leaving Marco to wonder how she had known his name.