A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! This is the biggest rate I've gotten! Thanks again :)

"Hey, Margaret, did you hear about the new boy?"

"I have! I have!"

"I hear he's really weird. Isn't he seven?"

"He scares me, Kevin!"

"I think he's a superhero!"

I turn around, slightly amused by the chattering group of kids in the next table. It is obvious they're talking about me, but it's not within my concern.

After Aunt Lily died, some adults took me to an orphanage in London called "Pauline's Home". No one has met the Pauline woman, but everyone has seen her stick-like and strict portraits in the hall.

Beyond and I haven't spoken in a while, but strangely enough, he ran away right after Aunt Lily died, and I haven't talked to him since.

"Hey, you!" A red-head boy with freckles appears at my table, green eyes wide with curiosity. "I'm Louis, what's your name?"

I blink. "L."

He laughs. "Isn't that a girl's name? You don't look like a girl to me."

"I concur."

Louis takes in my antisocial behavior as if he was eating sweets. "I heard that you only eat desserts, is that true?"

"That is."

"Do you get fat?"

"I doubt that."

"I heard you murdered your parents and aunt! How did you do it?" Louis asks. His eyes are shining with eagerness to ask more.

I pause. Who came with such an absurd idea like that? And why? Images of Owen, Victoria, and Aunt Lily pass through my mind. "That's none of your concern." I refer to him with his last name.

Louis falls back. "He murdered his family!" he runs away to his pack, scared.

Nice job, L. Now it is time to brace yourself.

"Murderer!"

"Evil!"

A girl with blonde hair pushes Louis. "Stop it! He didn't even say that he murdered his parents! So be quiet!"

Louis begins to cry. "Be quiet, Jamie! He's a murderer! I saw it in his eyes!"

Eyes. Those red eyes appear again in my head. Beyond. Beyond Birthday and his strange secret I haven't spilled to anyone.

The girl named Jamie scowls at him. "Leave!"

All of the kids back away from Jamie and I.

Jamie's face expression changes, and she holds out her hand. "Let's pretend this never happened!" she smiles and giggles. "I'm Jamie Smith. What's yours?"

I refrain from telling my last name. "L." I mutter. This girl is nice, but very hyperactive...

"Don't listen to them. They're just kidding." Jamie laughs. "Dinner should be ready in the dining room. Let's go!" she holds my hand and we go to the dining hall. I am shocked...

.:.:.:.

I am surprised when I learn that Jamie's parents have died of a shooting in a bank in London. She seemed so happy…so alive.

Jamie grins as she sees my arithmetic notebook on my lunch table. "Algebra, already? Wow, you really are smart!"

"Yes, I suppose." This girl can be annoying, but she is very kind.

She turns to face me. "Are you going to stay here for a while?"

I freeze, confused. Of course I was. "I guess so."

Jamie nods. "You should be in a better orphanage than here." She says, serious for the first time. "You deserve a better future." She mutters.

No one around my age has told me this. "Do you really think so?" I ask, slightly indifferent.

"Of course, why wouldn't I think so?"

The bedtime bell rings. She looks up. "It's 9:30. I should be leaving now. Nice meeting you, L!" Jamie runs out of the door, and I listen to her frantic footsteps disappear down the hall.

I stare at my untouched fruit bowl in my bedside table, wondering if I should brush my teeth again after eating fruit. I climb onto my bed, hugging my knees, wondering what tomorrow is going to bring. New friends? Enemies?

Little did I know that tomorrow is going to change my life ...again.