"Well, here we are. Sweet Amoris Middle School." Brandt said as the truck slowed to a stop in the driveway. He glanced over at the girl next to him. "I am sorry about the sudden transfer, Lina. With the new job and the move and everything it would be too hard to keep you in your old school."
The redhead rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face. "Dad," She said with a sigh. "I got it the first dozen times. It's not like it's that big a deal. Not like I had many friends there and those I did, it's not like I can't ever see them after school."
"True. Well, I hope your first day in your new school will turn out well. Now, behave yourself. I don't want your running track record of being sent to the principal's office on the first day to persist here, too." Lina lowered her head, shrugging her shoulders in and gave her father a sheepish grin. "My... to think you're already starting seventh grade. Where does the time go?"
Lina fell back into her seat. "It's just school, dad. You act like I'm already leaving for college or something. I'll be back home in six hours. I'm not running away or anything."
He chuckled. "With you, I can never be sure. But you should start heading in. We got here early so you can take a look around before classes start." Brandt gave his daughter a quick hug before she slipped out of the truck and with a wave walked swiftly toward the school.
Lina looked around. It was bigger than her other school. Most of the kids in this area would go on to Sweet Amoris High. Her old school wasn't connected to that one. That school had a reputation from what she heard. Not that it really mattered. She wasn't one for getting involved in stupid stuff. Walking around, she tried to get her bearings of the school. It was like a doughnut. No, really. Not even a full one, either. The auditorium was like the bite mark that interrupted the nearly perfectly square hallway. Okay, so the doughnut analogy wasn't really a great one. A square doughnut. But it still reminded her of one. This was the top floor though, and the hallways were different on the other floors. The school was added on to recently, and it seemed with no regard for consistency. Time was running out until first period started and if she didn't find her class soon she'd be late!
Looking around quickly she ran down the hallway, heavy backpack in tow. At least there were no teachers to-
"No running in the hallway, young lady!"
Crud.
Lina immediately stopped, almost toppling over from the force and the imbalanced caused by her pack. A few seconds of flailing her arms caused a few students around her to laugh. "S-sorry." She muttered, face flushing pink. "I just got a bit lost. I transferred here over the summer."
She was glad her mother told her to say this if she got into any trouble like this. It was only a temporary excuse, though. The teacher sighed. "Very well, then. Mr. Kincade, could you please escort..."
"Lina. Lina Sternberk."
"Miss. Sternberk to her proper classroom?" Lina's heart fluttered lightly in her chest when she heard the name. Kincade? Really? Could he really be who she thought it was?
It had been years since Lina heard the name. After her father said there would no longer be any new material from Dr. Grace Kincade Lina tried her best to keep up with her shifting. Before she knew it her brother and parents weaned her off the videos and they were put on the shelf to collect dust. But just hearing this boy's name sent the memories and emotions flooding back into her body. She approached apprehensively despite the boy's gentle smile.
Weird. It seemed almost too gentle. There was something... off about it.
"Lina, right?" He addressed her, holding out his hand to shake. She looked at his hand and for a moment honestly didn't know what to do with it. Shaking hands was a greeting of unequals, was it not? It was something you did with a teacher in a more formal meeting, or parents friends or co-workers. Handshakes as a greeting between two kids the same age seemed incredibly foreign to her. Eventually she took it.
"Yeah... hey, um are you a shifter by any chance?" Nathaniel's grip on her hand tightened with the twitch of his fingers. With the sudden squeeze she noticed his entire body went more rigid.
"No." He said simply. Lina's shoulders sagged. She had been so sure it was him. But it wouldn't be that easy, would it? Most likely she'd never get to meet any of them anywhere but her most precious fantasies.
Nathaniel abruptly took his hand from Lina's grasp and curtly uttered for her to follow him. They didn't speak much during his tour back to her assigned classroom except for asking necessary questions and a rehearsed parting by himself. As Lina sat down in her seat, thinking about Nathaniel's weird behaviour she could never have guessed the thick, uncomfortable atmosphere between them and the enigma of the boy would persist for the next three years.
Nathaniel Kincade – The boy with the fake smile.
