Nobody noticed him at first. It was about 2 minutes before the last morning bell rang, and the hallway had become completely silent. The only sound that could be heard was the faint chatter of classrooms that were down the hallways. Not even the buzzing of the lights could be heard.

He stood at the front of the Math wing with his back turned to the stairs that led up to the classroom hallways. The fluorescent lights illuminated the dim hallway, creating a blurry reflection of him in the white tile floor. Tmp. He took a cautious step forward. This was new territory for him. Tmp tmp tmp. A few more steps were taken. Eventually, he started to make his way slowly down the abandoned hallway, his leather boots echoing in the empty space each time he took a step. His black reflection snaked along the lockers as he walked, like the slim shadow of a predator stalking its prey in the bushes. He stood in front of his classroom door now. He could hear the sounds of the students talking. Placing his notebooks gently on the floor, he slid his hood over his head. He had no deisre to reveal himself whatsoever. He'd rather have been invisible.

Notebooks in his arm, he sighed through his nose. Fear trickled down his viens as would rain down a drain pipe. What was this place? Why was here? Why was he alive for that matter?

He rapped his knuckles against the door softly, hoping no one would hear him and he could turn around and leave the school, leave the town, leave the country, leave the continent... leave the world. But sadly, someone had heard him, and the smooth wooden door was opened.

He slithered in, trying desperately not to draw attention to himself. His efforts failed however as almost all the students stared at him. He looked unnatural, out of place, non human. He timidly dropped his notebooks on a desk next to a teen wearing a red snapback hat. The boy looked at him strangely.

He took his seat in the cold, hard, uncomfortable chair and pressed his thighs together. He plucked his hood a little so it draped over his eyes. Didn't need anyone seeing those hideous, pale things.

Opening one of his notebooks, he decided to sketch to pass the time. The pencil was almost like a brush painting strokes over a fresh canvas and, for a moment, he was lost in his own, crumbling little world.

Suddenly, the teacher strode into the classroom, papers overflowing in his hands.

"Alright, kids, these are your..." The short man stopped at his desk, slowly putting down the papers. Now, with the teacher noticing the unfamiliar person in his midst, the whole class focused their attention on him. The room was quiet. Deathly quiet. He did not like it.

"And who are you, my boy?"

He did not want to answer. He wanted to curl up on the floor and melt into a black tar, never to be seen again. He knew it could not happen though, so instead he dropped his pencil, stood up, pulled out a slip of white paper from his back pocket, and stood with it in his hands, unsure of what to do.

"Is that for me?" Mr. Grant asked, trying to understand why the boy in front of him was acting so shy.

Kevin looked at the stranger. A weird feeling boiled in his veins. He suddenly had a major interest in this guy. Just who was he?

The teen clad in black walked over to Mr. Grant and hesitantly pulled his hood off of his head. He handed him the slip of paper.

"Eddward Palmer."

Kevin was in shock. He had never seen anyone so... hypnotizing. This Eddward had a flawless, pale face, elegantly sharp; his cheeks were highlighted and his chin was slightly prominant. His nose was thin and almost resembled a doll's. His lips were China doll-like, full and pale with a moist look like lips that had just been coated with chapstick. He had a very edged jaw that was connected to a beautiful neck, strong and sturdy. His eyes... his eyes. His eyes. They were just, gorgeous. Breath taking. Earth shattering. Deep, ocean blue mixed with a powdery sky blue that shimmered around his sparkly pupils. Kevin blinked, unsure if he was looking at a human or a painting. Kevin shook his head when he heard Eddward clear his throat and nudge the paper at Mr. Grant, who also seemed to be entranced by Eddward's beauty.

"O-Oh, yes... new student," Mr. Grant chuckled nervously. He took the slip and looked it over. "Well, welcome, Eddward." Mr. Grant motioned for Eddward to take a seat.

Kevin couldn't stop staring at him. 'Oh my God, he's... fuck.' Kevin jumped when a green textbook was dropped on his desk.

"Now, kids," Mr. Grant said in a lecturing tone as he passed out the rest of the textbooks, "I know these textbooks are heavy and you're weak, but if you want to pass my class, you're going to have to deal with these. And yes, I ordered the ones that weigh 3 tons, not just 2."

Kevin was so distracted by Eddward's aura that he didn't have time to be amused by Mr. Grant's great sense of humor. Kevin examined the beanie Eddward had dawned over his head. It was black with two small white stripes running down the side. He wondered if the beanie was just a beanie, or if it had a significance like Kevin's own hat. Kevin also took note of the few thick chunks of jet black hair that came out of the beanie, as well as the strands that fell in Eddward's face and in front of his ears. 'Huh... interesting...'

Kevin will never forget how fast Eddward got up and marched out of the classroom when the bell rang. The redhead swore he blinked and Eddward had disappeared. Kevin desperately tried to follow him as he ran unsuccessfully through the crowd of students. He was almost tempted to say "wait", but he figured he'd look stupid if he did. So instead, after looking around frantically for a few minutes, he gave up. His eyes automatically brightened when he saw that Eddward was in his second period class, choir.

"Hello, hello, hello!" Mr. Ivan boomed as kids made their way into the music room. Mr. Ivan was a short, jolly man with salt and pepper hair and a beard to accompany it. Being 51 years old, he appeared as though he were only 35, inside and out. Kevin thought his choir teacher was the best teacher in school based on his personality.

"Just sit wherever," Mr. Ivan said with a wave of his hand as he slipped into his office.

Kevin sat where he always sat in the front row of the bass section. He was pleased to see Eddward sit only 3 chairs away from him in the tenor section. Kevin couldn't help but smile. 'Why the fuck am I so into you...'

After the bell rang, Mr. Ivan happily bounced out of his office with a smile. "Alright everyone, settle down! I know you're excited to look at me," he beamed his face, "for the whole year, but the first few days in this 'class' room are always business. Sowwy." The choir teacher made a pouty face, then smiled and went to his music stand with his attendance sheet on it beside his laptop.

"Alright... Andrew Anderson?"

"Here!"

"Grayson Antreassian?"

"HHHEEEEERRRREE!"

"Ok, thank you for announcing that so proudly- Rebecca Brooks?"

"Here."

"Emily Brooks?"

"Here!"

"Makayla Brown?"

"Present."

"Christian Claudison?"

"I like pancakes!"

"I'm sure you do- Evan Clee?"

"Here, bro!"

"Kevin Deangle?"

Kevin loved the way his name sounded when spoken out loud. Kev-in De-an-gle. "Here! he bellowed, holding his hand up.

Mr. Ivan read down the list of names until he came to Eddward's. "Eddward Palmer?"

Eddward was silent, and only raised his hand. Mr. Ivan noted him and marked him down. "New student. Always good to have more. Sometimes," he added jokingly with a nervous chuckle.

"Alright, everyone! Now I promise we will get to sing soon, but first, let me give you the agenda of the year!" Mr. Ivan said, clapping his chubby hands together.

Kevin was satisfied after choir. He walked merrily down the hallway, content that he was going to see Eddward more often. He walked into his Mythology classroom and was delighted to see Eddward sitting in the front row in the corner of the room! Now Kevin had something to look forward to besides the Greek gods! Kevin casually took his seat next to the black haired boy, trying his best to contain his excitement.

Mrs. Wagner was a funny and crazy lady who had been introduced to theatre and drama at a very young age. She had traveled with acting groups all around the world, co-wrote Broadway productions, and knew 17 languages. She had seen a lot and always loved to share her experiences with the youth of the world.

She strode in the classroom, her tiny feet thumping against the tile floor. "Oh, my Goooood, today has been crazy!" she announced, pressing her hands against her forehead. She pulled out a stool from underneath her desk and sat on it. "Ok, ok, kids, settle down, this isn't a bull fight." She looked around the room. "Hm... lots of familiar faces. And a new one! I like that. Well, it's been a while since a new student has come in. I have been wishing for some change around this old, crumbling building. Maybe this year we'll get to see that."

Kevin nearly had a heart attack when he saw Eddward sitting quietly in his 4th period Honors Anatomy and Physiology class. Making sure no one else took the seat next to Eddward, Kevin dashed to it and claimed it. He wasn't afraid to growl if anyone tried to take the seat or say they had already taken it. Kevin wasn't keen on making any exceptions.

By the time the bell rang to mark the end of 4th period, Kevin bolted out of the room and kept right on Eddward's tail. 'Please have A lunch please have A lunch please have A lunch,' Kevin repeated over and over in his head. Peach Creek High's luch schedule was set into 3 different blocks: A lunch, B lunch, and C lunch. High schoolers ate in A or B lunch, and the Peach Creek Middle School, which was connected to Peach Creek High School, ate during C lunch. There wasn't a lot of interactions between middle schoolers and high schoolers, and the teachers and faculty were relieved by that. The middle schoolers could be very obnoxious at times.

Kevin laughed out loud when he saw Eddward waiting patiently in line during the A lunch block. Dropping his books on a table, Kevin was about to go up and stand next to the new student. But suddenly, a teal haired boy cut in front of his march.

"Whhhheeerrre ya goin', sexy?"

Nathan Goldberg, aka Nat, was the famous celebrity of Peach Creek High. Standing at only 5'6" with turquoise eyes and freckles, Nathan was the social king (or queen as he liked to be called) that knew everybody's insides and outsides in the school. He always wore a smirk on his lips, and carried sarcasm in a pocket sized pouch.

"Ugh, nowhere Nat, now let me through," Kevin huffed angrily, shoving past the smaller.

"Ah, ah, ah," Nat replied, yanking on Kevin's jacket sleeve. "You haven't talked to any of your friends all day. What's been on your mind, baby?"

"Ah, look! It's that girl I like!" Pointing to a wall, Kevin ran over to the lunch line, just to get away from Nat. He sighed in relief when he was safe, and smiled when he saw Eddward just a few feet behind him. Besides this good fortune, the main entree was chicken and rice, Kevin's favorite school meal.

After a nice, hearty lunch, Kevin walked with Jacob to his fifth period class, Concert Band. Being a percussionist all his life, Kevin knew how to bang on any kind of instrument, but he loved playing auxiliary; xylophone and timpani were his favorite ones. Kevin wasn't surprised to see Eddward in the room. 'Hopefully, I'll have all my classes with him.' Eddward sat in the flute section, and assembled a shiny red flute while kicking his case under his seat. 'Hm, so he plays flute,' Kevin thought as he leaned over a snare, 'How interesting.'

"Kev, come on," Jacob said suddenly, "let's go to the library since they're doin' marching band stuff." Being football players, Kevin and Jacob barely played in band until October when the football season was over. Instead, they went to the school library to do work and sometimes fool around. It was a lot of fun making fart noises in a quiet space. Kevin made sure to make them sound wet.

Taking his seat next to Emmett in 6th period, Kevin felt imaginary tears accumulate in the corners of his eyes. Where was Eddward? Oh wait, there he was, just running a bit late. The slender teen took his seat in front of the teacher's desk, 3 rows away from Kevin. Mrs. William sat at her desk shuffling papers and adjusting her glasses. She too, was multilingual, and knew Arabic, Russian, and Egyptian. She lived in the middle east for a large part of her life, teaching at multiple universities. Now she taught at Peach Creek High, and this course was Honors Ancient History.

Mrs. William was strict, and Kevin was going to have a lot of laughs this year when Mrs. William would send out disruptive students to the office.

Eddward's beanie once again captivated Kevin's attention in 7th period Honors English 12 as Eddward sat in front of him. Kevin almost wanted to lean forward at pull it off, but he had a feeling that it would result in a lot of consequences.

Mrs. Price was a tiny Asian lady that was born and raised in California. She was very sweet, and usually never raised her voice. But the first day was always rough on her vocal chords. "Alright, class! Time to be quiet! I have some announcements!" Mrs. Price was never mean, and Kevin loved it.

The final bell of the day rang, and Kevin sprinted down the hallway in order to keep up with Eddward. He secretly watched him from afar as Eddward stopped at his locker in the Science wing, taking his time to neatly organize his messenger bag over his shoulder with his books inside. Kevin was surprised when Eddward brushed right past him, barely acknowledging him as an existing human being. 'Is he blind or something? Shoot, I could've said something to him!' Kevin thought to himself in a scolding manner as he shuffled downstairs through the crowd of exiting students to get his own belongings.

"Hey, Deangle!" Kevin heard a voice down from the hallway bark. Emmet and Jacob came marching through the hall, stone expressions plastered on their faces.

"Where the fuck have you been all day?" Jacob demanded angrily, slamming his hand on the locker next to Kevin.

"Yeah, what the hell, Kevin?" Emmett added, his tone bitter.

"S-Sorry, guys, I've just been distracted today, ok? It won't happen again," Kevin replied. He couldn't promise that though.

"Alright, Kev, we trust ya," Jacob sighed as the three boys made their way out of the building to drive to the mall to hang out together with some other students.

As Jacob and Emmett chattered to each other, Kevin scanned the parking lot for any sign of Eddward. He didn't find him, and sighed through his nose. 'Who exactly are you?'

Eddward drove himself home silently, keeping his eyes on the road. The sun gleamed on the surrounding pavement, and Eddward glanced at students on the sidewalks walking home. What a day. Eddward had barely paid attention to any humans other than himself and the school teachers as he had blew through his classes. He didn't have the patience, nor the time to deal with anybody. Frankly, he didn't have any energy to do anything. All he cared about was living. If there was any life left in him at all, he was going to try to use it. Try.

Eddward pulled into the driveway of his home, getting out of the car elegantly. His mother wasn't home, and neither was his little sister, so Eddward decided to go inside and clean to pass the time. He tried not to cry as he dusted the kitchen, but he couldn't help it.

His heart was full of too much pain from losing her.