I came back out of the bathroom, putting my fingers through my new hair that was not cut a little shorter and darker. Since my hair was bright red, I dyed it to be a bit darker and more auburn, my long hair was now a bit shorter and all one length, loosing the layering that I had in Canada. Nico was already setting up the computer in the extra bedroom that was near the living room, the one room where I am never allowed to go in without his permission. He walked out and looked at my new look, in which I smiled at him.

"Good work." He replied back to me, making me raise an eyebrow and walk past him to Nora, who was sitting on the sofa that was already set up by the window.

"Thanks sir." I replied back to him, hearing him sigh as he went back to the room with all of our information in.

"I enrolled you at the local school here as a senior, and since it's the beginning of the school year it would be no problem." Nico explained to me and I groaned, not wanting to go to another school and go through the cycle all over again.

"You know the drill, we have to look normal and blend in." Nico said to me in a low tone, telling me with the tone of his voice not to push it.

"I know I know." I replied back to him, not feeling like having a fight with him, "Can I at least go out tonight and go shopping for some new clothes."

"You need me to come with you?" Nico asked me in a somewhat a concerned tone.

"You really need to ask me that question?" I asked him back in retaliation. He rolled his eyes and walked over to the kitchen.

"No, you can go. But I want you back in two hours, no later. And this time, have your phone on. You better answer it whenever I call you, you understand me?" He asked me as I grabbed the jacket on the couch, throwing it on and grabbing my messenger bag as well.

"Yep." I replied back to him, opening the door and about to leave when I felt a hand on my arm. I looked at Nico, seeing concern in his eyes. I then knew he was serious about my safety, not that he wasn't serious before. But this time he was more concerned since we weren't in danger. Anything could happen out there, and I had to be prepared since my Legacy wasn't present just yet.

"I know I tell you so many times, but please, be careful for my sake." Nico explained to me in a softer tone, making me nod at him sincerely and smile at him.

"I will, Nico. Don't worry about me for a few hours. I'm only going to get some clothes and see what there is around here thats fun." I reassured him and he nodded his head, letting my arm go and letting me go for two hours. As much as I loved Nico as a guardian and friend, I was suffocating under his grasp of me.

And I needed to breathe.

I finished buying the last of my new shirts at Forever 21, smiling at the cashier and walking out into the busy streets. I bought at least a dozen new shirts, a couple of skinny jeans, some skirts and a new pair of shoes. Whenever we would move, Nico would have to burn some of my clothes and belongings to loose the scent and I won't be traced. Thank goodness Nico can get money and get it fast, so I would but new clothes all over again. He knew how to work the Stock Market, also hacking and getting it from the bank without being traced. Nico knew how to do that kind of stuff on the computer.

I walked down the busy streets of San Francisco, a brand new person in the busy city and not knowing a single person. It was nice to know I wasn't knowing by the locals, and since there were so many people around, I didn't feel exposed.

Well, not just yet.

I saw a small record shop on the corner of two streets, it looked rather interesting and I decided to go and check it out. I love music stores, something about the different genres in one place, the smell of vinyl (yes, they smell nice) and seeing all of the bright colors morphed together was soothing to me. So I walked into the store, my new clothes already folded neatly and stuffed into my messenger bag so it looked rather puffy.

The store itself was rather nice for my liking. Posters were all over the walls, not one white spot was scene on the walls and there were five aisles of vinyl records, people already looking through them and pondering what to buy as I looked as well. As I did this, Amy Winehouse's Back To Black was playing in the speakers giving a eery feeling around me as I moved from one selection to another. I hated not being able to keep things, I wished I had a record player and a collection of records to keep as my own.

I kept walking around, seeing what there was to see when I saw someone out of the corner of my eye looking at me. I still kept my head down, throwing the hoodie over my head and tucking my hands into my peacoat as I looked some more, thinking they would get the hint and leave me alone. But no, this person was still watching me and not saying a single word. I looked up briefly, only to see what he wanted from me, but as I did I felt frozen.

He was about my height, if not a inch higher. He had dark hair, curly and short to his head but looked rather perfect in the condition it was with gel. He had a strong jawline, somewhat tan skin and dark eyebrows to match his hair. But what struck me was his eyes, they were almost like liquid gold, but a shade darker like almonds. They were bright, yet dark at the same time. He was handsome, very handsome to me as he stared at me for a few seconds.

His attire was of a grey v neck shirt, skinny jeans and black shoes, sunglasses hanging from the v part of the v neck shirt, it was simple yet effective as I immediately looked back down at the records in front of me. What was wrong with me? Nico told me to lay low and now I was being looked at by a good looking boy, this was so not how it was supposed to happen. I mean, I knew that being a alien that looks had to come with the package, but compared to other girls I wasn't a real head turner. I was fine with that, but this boy was making it confusing again.

He looked away from me, and I could tell he knew I was uncomfortable as I drifted over to the clothes in the back of the store. Seeing a couple of things, I grabbed a pair of glasses, gloves and another pair of jeans, bee lining it out of the store after paying. But as I walked, his face was engraved in my brain. How he looked at me, how his hair was perfect curly and how strong his jawline was.

Why was I thinking about him?

I've seen boys before, attracted and handsome just like this one, but none of them had a effect on me like he did. Something inside of me shifted and made me feel like I could loose my breath. Was it love? How could it be?

We just looked at each other, that was it.

The next day was my first day at school, and walking onto the campus was already a bit awkward. I got the awkward stares, passing glances as I approached the office with a green beanies tilted back slightly on my auburn hair, wearing my peacoat and skinny jeans and ending it with vans shoes. I called that a normal look as the other girls wore short skirt, revealing shirts and had blond hair. They stared at me like I was an alien.

Well, I was, but they didn't need to know that.

The principle was nice, trying to make me feel welcome and letting me know the mission for their school. It was the same as the others, trying to bring out the best in the students and make them succeed in everything in life. I wasn't worried about that. I was worried about staying alive.

My classes were bearable: Statistics, English Lit, Chemistry, Government, Psychology elective and my personal favorite: art. I liked that class better than any other classes, since the teacher was less wound up on facts and nonsense and more into freedom and emotion. I preferred photography myself, having a nice Canon Rebel after begging Nico not to burn it with everything else of my past. He let that one slide by, thank god for that.

I was about to pack up my things in my art class when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw it was one of the girls in my art class. She was short than me, with thick brown hair with brown eyes to match. She wore glasses, thick rimmed that were black, with a barret over her hair and a jacket on. She looked rather hip, not like the other girls in the school or even in the city.

"You new here?" She asked me in a curious tone. I nodded my head at her and she smiled at me, thrusting her hand out at me. I took it gently in my own and she shook it.

"I'm Emily, it's nice to meet you. You looked kind of lost in here and I thought you would be new." She explained to me in a lighter tone, her voice reminded me of those brassy lounge singers in a jazz club. I smiled slightly at her and grabbed my bag, throwing it over my shoulder.

"So, where did you move here from?" Emily asked me in a casual tone as I shove my hands in my pockets.

"Canada." I replied back to her in a shrug and she nodded her head.

"Interesting, and why the move down here?" Emily asked me. I was a bit surprised at how forward she was being with me and I tried to think of a lie, and quick.

"My brother got a job out here that was better than the one he had in in Canada."I explained to her and she once again nodded her head.

"Well, if you need anyone to show you around, I can totally do that. I grew up here in San Francisco, and I know all of the cool spots that even the popular kids don't." Emily explained to me, "All of the coffee shops, which one is better and the music store too." I nodded my head, showing I was listening. I told myself mentally that I couldn't do that, because according to Nico that was getting attached to people around here and that last thing we needed was exposure, let along broken hearts. But I was about to say something else when I looked over to the door, seeing the boy again from the store.

He was walking out of the classroom with his backpack over his shoulder, seeing me and looking at me for a brief moment. I saw his eyes again, how big and how warm they were. I froze in my spot, Emily then seeing my actions and then looking over to see what I was looking at. The boy, seeing the both of us rushed out of the room and Emily smiled, looking back at me.

"That's Trevor, he's in our grade too." Her voice told as I still stared at the door. So he did have a name, Trevor. The name fitted him perfectly as I looked from the door back to Emily.

"He was in our class?" I asked her with a bit of shock. Why didn't I notice him at all? He must of sat in the back of the class when I took the last seat in the front.

"Well yeah, he's a bit of an art freak, does a lot of sketches and paintings. He used to date one of the cheerleaders a while back, but she cheated on him and they split up. Ever since then he became a bit of a loner." Emily explained to me as I got up from my seat. Someone that good looking would date a cheerleader, but for her to cheat on him, that didn't make sense.

"Really?" I asked her, clearly interested. She nodded her head and I nodded my head as well.

"Totally saw him last night, he was at the record store downtown. He was looking at me...well...like that." I explained to her, pointing back to the spot where he was and I saw a small smile on her face.

"He hasn't been with a girl since Rachel, the cheerleader. So, he must like you then." Emily said with a teasing tone. I only smiled and waved her off.

"Yeah right, I don't know his name anyways." I replied back to her and she threw off her hands in surrender. The both of us started to walk out of the classroom and down the hallway, seeing more weird looks around us and Emily snorted.

"That's odd, they look at us like we're aliens." She replied to me in a giggle and I smiled back casually.

Yes, that would be the case.