Chapter 1: The Transfer Students Part 1

Nicole Summers

'Her eyes doth shine like the moonlight

I have always cherished the locket my mother gave me on my twelfth birthday. Ever since then, I always wear it, thinking of it as a lucky charm to protect me from harm or to get me through situations that make my heart race. Sometimes, I just open it up to read this four-lined poem inside it.  

“Earth to Nicole!” A hand waves in front of my face, bringing me back to reality.

Jace crouches down in front of me and gives me a worried expression. “Are you that nervous to meet the transfer students?”

Transfer students? What is he talking about? And why am I so out of it today? This is the third time I zoned out every since I woke up and classes haven’t even started yet. I slap my cheeks as an attempt to wake myself up.

“I’m sorry, I really zoned out,” I start saying before closing the locket. “By the way, have you been working out on your free?” I randomly ask, punching his newly developed biceps.

Jace stands up and proudly announces, “I did,” before running his hand though his curly brown hair. “Also, I was asking if you’re nervous to meet the transfer students. You’ve been quiet for a while even though you seemed so delighted to see us earlier. What’s on your mind?”

“Don’t worry. As I said, I just zoned out for a while,” I answer with a smile, putting the locket on me again. I grab his hands separately before asking, “Where’s the bag of fries you were eating earlier? I was going to ask some from you.” I pout, crossing my arms in front of me.

Jace closes the distance between us and pinches my cheek, making me swat his hand away. “I already finished the fries, Nikki.”

Jeremiah clears his throat. “Don’t do that, Jace.”

Jeremiah is Jace’s older brother by eleven months. The two of them look alike, and sometimes people mistake them for twins with their similar curly brown hair. Jeremiah’s green eyes also differs from Jace’s brown ones. Jace, although protective, acts like a clown sometimes while Jeremiah’s usually the serious one between them. 

“You’re going to get in trouble if you keep doing that,” Caleb informs him, not bothering to avert his gaze from his notebook. He continues writing in his notebook with Elina guiding him.

“He’ll get in trouble either way,” Kathleen declares. She sticks her tongue out at Jace playfully.

Kathleen is Jeremiah's long-term girlfriend. They've been a couple since last year which surprised us all. Jeremiah, Jace, Kathleen and I have always hung around each other since we were little kids. It truly hope they won’t break up and go back to strangers. If that were to happen, then the group would become awkward.

The six of us usually meet up on one of the tables in the school quadrangle. Even though our house is nearer, Jace and Jeremiah are usually the first to arrive at school since they wake up early to get here in time.

“How are you so good at this?” Caleb suddenly asks Elina. He taps her button nose and chuckles while Elina ties her chocolate brown hair into a high ponytail.

The two of them are also together. Caleb transferred here last year and ever since then, the two are inseparable. If you come to think of it, only Jace and I are the single ones in the group. It’s irritating at times because they act all lovey-dovey when the six of us are spending time together.

"Which class are they going to be in?" a student asks her friend as they walk past us.

"Right, about those new students," I inquire, "Are there any news about them that I should know about?"

The five of them exchange looks, probably giving my question a thought.

Kathleen responds, "Nope, we haven't met them yet."

Jeremiah tucks Kathleen’s caramel brown hair behind her ear and whispers something which causes her to giggle.

Are they doing this on purpose? Can't they wait until they're alone to do all this cringe-y couple stuff?

Jace suggests, "Let's get to class."

"Yeah, let's do that. I don't want to be the fifth-wheeler anymore," I reply in a small voice, laughing at my statement.

Jace nods in agreement and offers his hand to help me stand up. Since they are couples, you could say the two of us were completely out of place.

Jeremiah chuckles and returns, "We heard what you said, you know?"

Jace and I laugh at his defense. We were all in the same homeroom so we'd just stick together unless we have different classes to go to. While on the way to class, Jace jokes around with the rest of our group and I keep on smiling at this.

I have always wondered though. Why didn't Jace ask me out? That way, we would no longer be out of place and we'd all be couples in our little group. The two of us might work out, right? But then again, breakups happen and there is a fifty percent chance that we might lose our friendship after. Maybe we'll just stick to treating each other like siblings.

When we arrive in the classroom, some students are already in their seats. Some are laughing and talking while the others are busy reading our General Biology textbook. I spot Valerie sitting near the window gossiping with her friends.

We take our seats—Kathleen and Elina on the front row, Caleb and Jeremiah behind them. I sit behind Caleb on the first column near the door while Jace sits behind me. The two empty seats beside Jace and me reminded us of the twins that moved to another part of the country.

I look at Jace with puppy eyes, asking him to change seats.

"No. Nuh-uh." He shakes his head, forming an 'X' using his arms. "If we're seated together, we're going to end up talking the entire period."

As if on cue, the bell rings and Ms. Calvin opened the door to the classroom with two students behind him—a boy and a girl. Are they twins? I can tell right away that they're the new students, considering the fact that I’ve never seen them around the campus before.

Both of them have black hair. The guy's hair is clean-cut and he wore a black fitted shirt that shows his toned muscles along with dark blue jeans. A backpack hangs on his left shoulder as he stands rigidly. The girl's hair is done in a French braid. She frown for a minute, her hands playing with the ribbon of her red blouse. Her aura screams of sunshine and rainbows. She grins at me which makes me return it awkwardly.

The guy suddenly stiffens and... sniffed the air? That can't be right. Did something smell here?

His eyes scan the entirety of the room until they land on mine. Why does he look gorgeous? Being that hot and that good-looking should be illegal.

I try to look away but his eyes got me entranced. His eyes were filled with happiness, adoration, and… love? Huh? That can’t be right. That's crazy. I'm crazy. Why would I ever have those thoughts about a stranger?

The corners of his lips turn upward into a smile which makes me swoon internally. There's this feeling in the pit of my stomach all of a sudden. Why do I feel nervous?

A tap on my right shoulder brings me back to Earth.

"Hey, Nikki. How do you do the Punnett Square again?"

I release the breath that I didn't realize I have been holding. I can't believe I was having a staring contest with the new guy. Heat rushed up to my cheeks as the occurrence dawns on me. I slap my face gently thrice, hoping it would be enough to get me back on my senses.

Mental note: Thank Jace.

"Good morning, Class," Ms. Calvin greets as the transferees stand awkwardly behind him.

The class greets back before some started whispering about the new students. I can hear the girls talking about how hot the guy is and how beautiful the girl is. I roll my eyes at their actions. They should definitely stop doing that, they might hear them if they have heightened hearing.

"Today we have two new students joining us," Ms. Calvin says, stating the obvious. "Mr. and Ms. Roberts, will you kindly introduce yourselves?"

I grab a pen and notebook and start scribbling doodles on the last page. I can still feel his gaze on me, making me shift uncomfortably in my seat. Did I do something wrong? Does he think the odd smell he noticed earlier came from me? I’m pretty sure I used strawberry shampoo on my hair and shower gel when I took a shower earlier.

"Hello, everyone! My name is Xandrine Roberts, you can call me Sandy. I'm seventeen. We transferred here from the school of the neighboring town," the girl introduces herself in a cheerful tone which made me glance at her. As I've said earlier, she has this bright aura surrounding her.

I immediately regret that decision because I catch her brother's eyes instead. My heart starts beating rapidly once again. Why am I even nervous?

I shake my head, looked down at my doodle not understanding what it was. I suck at drawing but it sure is distracting me from the new guy. I sigh in frustration at this foreign feeling. Why do I feel like I'm being pulled towards him?

Should I feel flattered that he can't look away from or should I be freaking out?

"Hello, everybody!" he starts to his introduction which startles me.

I look up at him. A smile is plastered on his lips when he sees that he got my attention.

"My name is Leandre Roberts. You can call me Lee, Andre, or Leandre. That's up to you," he continues, his eyes never leaving mine, making me feel uneasy. What’s with the stare? Did I do wrong you, kind sir? I'm pretty sure you should look at the entire class if you introduce yourself for the first time.

My friends have their eyes on me and I just shrug. It was as if they're internally asking me, 'Nikki. What the hell is going on?'

I could ask you the same thing, to be honest. I absolutely have no idea why his eyes are on me.

Is there something on my face?

"I'm eighteen years old. This school was nearer to our home so we transferred here. That's basically it."

What? No hobbies? Clubs? Likes? Dislikes?

I feel the gazes from people around the room on me. Great.

"Take a seat wherever you'd like," Ms. Calvin instructs them and they oblige.

Leandre sits next to me while his sister sits beside Jace.

After an hour of sitting awkwardly during Ms. Calvin's lecture, the bell rings. I release the breath I had been holding because of Andre's obvious gaze on the side of my head. I’ve had the urge to up and interrogate him of his agenda with me, but I stopped myself from doing so countless times.

I hurriedly gather my things and scurry off to the second period. I wouldn't want to be late for Mrs. Dane's class, especially since I’m one of the people assigned to prepare the chemistry laboratory today.

Someone follows closely behind me which makes me hasten my steps faster. The person grabs my hand, stopping me.

"MINE," he growls.

I widen my eyes as I stare into Leandre's gray eyes. 

"Did I just hear you growl?" I question him and raise my eyebrow in confusion.

Last I checked, humans don't growl like that, and well... they only do in those romance/fantasy books I used to read.

"And what are you talking about? I don't belong to anyone."

He knits his eyebrows and tilted his head in confusion, as if checking if I’ve grown another head. "So... do you know that we're mates?"

"Mates?" I repeat.

His eyes light up excitedly. Why is he acting like that?

"Mates... You mean like classmates?"

He shakes his head. "No. Mates as in sou-"

"Nikki! There you are!” Jace interrupts which makes me divert my gaze toward him. He jogs towards us and adds, “You and Sierra are assigned to prepare the Chem lab today. You’ll get in trouble if you don’t hurry up.” 

"Shoot! Mrs. Dane will definitely not like that."

Thanks to Mr. Transferee here, I almost forgot about my class duties.

Leandre tightened his hold on my wrist, making me flinch at the unwanted pain.

"I'd like to stick around and chat but I have to go, Leandre."

Leandre seemed satisfied at the mention of his name. He nods and hesitantly lets go of my wrist. 

"See you in class, Jace! Don't do anything stupid."