2.

Shadowplay

Even though her first class wasn't bad at all, Grace was still annoyed about the name thing. I mean come on! People have different last names, it was that hard to figure out. Ally said they had to part their separate ways for now, but she would meet up with her at lunch, Grace felt a little nervous walking through the halls alone, only knowing in theory where she was going.

Grace had a terrible habit of getting far too wrapped up in her thoughts, and right now was certainly one of those times. But it was much more than just her usual grumpy moods, with a sudden jolt, Grace suddenly felt out of her skin. She wasn't in the crowded halls of Duchesne prep anymore; in fact Grace had no idea where she was. But she knew she really didn't want to be there.

She could feel a strong breeze lift her hair around her face, the scent of the sea was all around her, it was bitterly cold, and a kind of cold you felt in your bones. The sun was nearly gone, with only a slight orange left in the sky; the blue of Twilight had already descended on most of the world. The wind blew through her thin layers, the cold stung her eyes and forced tears out of them, Grace didn't know whether they were because of the wind or something…else. A blur of movement caught her eye, Grace whirled around to see it, but then…

CRASH!

With another jolt Grace was suddenly thrown back into her own world. Her books her scattered all over the floor, in fact Grace had also landed on the floor, with no memory on how she got there. But with the slight ringing in her head, and the cute boy across from her, Grace had a pretty good idea. "

I'm sorry!" "I wasn't looking where I was going and there was this thing-" Grace decided not to tell the cute boy about her brush with insanity. "No it's completely find, I wasn't really watching my step either" he had a nice voice, Grace Thought, he flashed a warm smile, he had warm hazel eyes, on of the nicest eyes Grace had ever seen. He quickly stacked up her books, before standing up, and holding out his hand to her.

She took it, and like a gentlemen he lifted her to her feet, "Thank you" she said, maybe these people weren't as snooty as she thought. "You're welcome; I'm Oliver by the way" "Grace" "Hey didn't Mr. Orion Get your name wrong in class today?" "Yeah" Grace muttered "Cool" "Not really" "So does that happen often?" "Often enough" Grace sighed

"I'm sorry, I know this is a little weird, but the name he called it was Ward right?" Grace nodded "Yeah" "Um, do, do you by any chance know a guy named Dylan?" Grace bit her lip, for a second she couldn't meet Oliver's eyes "He's my cousin" Grace said softly,

"oh-oh, hey I'm sorry" Grace shook her head "It's fine" Grace said, but she wasn't really sure if it was or not. "So you knew him then?" "Yeah I know him" Grace smiled "He's a bit of a loose cannon" "He was a good guy" Grace nodded "Yes" "I'm sorry for what happened to him" "I'm not even sure what happened to him" "I don't think anyone does" Grace saw it, a little flicker behind, she saw him hesitate, on something, she didn't know what, but she could guess easily.

Just like everyone, they knew a hell of a lot more than they were saying, but Grace wasn't going to concentrate on that right now. "Hey do you want me to walk you to class?" Grace smiled gratefully at him "That would be wonderful"

Schuyler didn't recognize the girl Oliver brought to sit with them at Lunch. She was pretty, Schuyler noticed, not in the way the girls in New York were pretty, she must be new. "Hey Sky" Oliver said bright "This is Grace, she's new" Grace smiled nervously and waved "Hi" "Is alright if she sits with us" Unusual, Schuyler thought, Oliver had never wanted anyone to sit with them, Schuyler nodded "Yeah Of course" "I'm Schuyler by the way" "I'm Grace"

she sat very carefully down, as if she was afraid she was going to break something. "So, Grace" Oliver began, Grace looked surprised that he was actually talking to her. "Yeah?" "Where are you from" "Toronto" "Like in Canada?" "Is there another one?" "Do you live in an igloo" "Yes, I do" she flashed Oliver a smile.

Schuyler felt strangely awkward between the two, were they actually flirting? Oliver never flirted with girls; Schuyler almost believed he thought they had cooties or something. Schuyler wanted to say something, but whenever she thought of something, well it just sounded weird. So she laughed with them, she liked Grace already, she was quirky and funny.

"Hey Grace" "Yes?" "What's your next class" "Um, I think it's Ancient Civilizations or something, are either of you taking it?" "No, sorry" Schuyler said, she knew Oliver wasn't taking it either. "No" Oliver said, "But we can walk you there" Grace smiled "That would be great, if it's not too much trouble" and it wasn't. Grace said thank you once they arrived "Are you doing anything later?" she asked "Not really" Schuyler and Oliver said in unison "But do you want to go to The Met?" Schuyler offered, Grace grinned "I love how casually you said that"

"Go to the met, yeah sure" she turned on her heal and it almost seemed she floated away. "She's Dylan's cousin" "What?" "Does she know?" "I don't think so" Schuyler bit her lip, Schuyler herself wished almost that she didn't, there was Grace, no wonder she looked like she was having such a hard time.

"Do you think we should tell her?" "I don't think so Sky" "Why not?" "Some things are just better off, you know" Schuyler nodded "Yeah, but she's family" "Hey Ollie" Schuyler asked as soon as Grace was out of ear shot. "Yeah Sky?" "Do you like her or something" and he turned red

"No!" "Well, I mean I think she's great" "Uh huh" Schuyler added skeptically "Does that bother you?" he said, his voice was serious; it made Schuyler's stomach do a little flip. "Do you want it to?" Oliver bit his lip, and Schuyler knew he was picking his answer, very, very carefully "I don't know" he said quietly. But he didn't say anything else, and they walked in silence together to Art.

Grace felt exhausted by the end of the day, it was hard work pretending everything was okay. She went to her locker, and half through collecting her books forgot what she was doing, she just stood there like an idiot watching the inside of her locker.

"Hey" a voice said, Grace blinked, there was a blonde girl staring at her with wide eyes "Are you the Dead kid's sister?" What?" Grace said, taken back. "You know, that weird kid Dylan Ward, you killed Aggie, are you his sister?" "Um no" "He's my cousin, he killed who?" "Aggie, Carondelet," "I'm pretty sure he didn't" Grace said, she had nothing to say, she had never laid eyes on this girl before, yet some how she knew stuff about Dylan?

"Hey, Katie" a voice said "I know you're a bit fuzzy on the whole tact subject, but" a new voice said, Grace turned to see a dark haired boy who looked very, very amused. "You really take the term bitch to horrifying new levels" Katie scowled, a real one, "No one was talking to you Seth" Katie said and slammed her locker door and walked away quickly. Leaving Grace very confused.

"If I'm supposed to say thank you, you really need to tell me" Grace said "No thanks needed, it was just a public service" "Well Thanks anyway" "You're welcome then" "Not everyone is as bad as they seem" "But then again we are in New York" he cracked a wicked grin.

"So, Dead Kid's Sister" "Grace" Grace said firmly "Please" she added "Well then, Grace" "I will bid you good day, but beware, here be dragons" "Yeah, I think I figured that one out" "I'm Seth by the way" "Well Thanks Seth" "You're very welcome Grace" and suddenly, for no reason at all Grace smiled to herself and watched Seth walk away.