I prayed they would not notice meand crouched even closer to the wall. I could not have felt more humiliated.Although the gorgeous one did look in my direction, he acted as though hecouldn’t see me and continued down the steps.

“What are we doing here, Talbott?”the one named Kiran demanded, almost growling.

“Please sir, you know what we aredoing here,” Talbott replied, almost too softly to be heard.

“No, I do not,” Kiran snappedagain. “Aren’t there any qualified girls in London? This is ridiculous. I don’teven know where we are. This is the ugliest place I have ever seen. I cannotpossibly be expected to spend the next two years of my life here. I want totalk to my father,” his voice had almost turned into a whine, but his accentwas so sexy that I hardly noticed.

“There are none in London with herpedigree and power. Your father looked. Your father looked everywhere. And thisplace is called Omaha…. Nebraska. I’m afraid he will not be moved; this was hisidea,” Talbott said humbly but persistently. Although inferior in looks, hecertainly seemed to be the more mature of the two.

“This is ridiculous. Where is she?”Kiran looked around himself with such pride and arrogance that I found hisbeauty quickly fading. Crouching closer to the wall, I could not believe theystill hadn’t noticed me.

“Please calm down. I believe youwill meet her soon; but we must get to class now or you will be late on yourfirst day,” Talbott half smiled and started walking in the direction of theacademic buildings; Kiran followed slowly behind, arms crossed, looking lessgod-like and much more child-like.

I breathed a sigh of relief andslowly stood up. Reluctantly, I collected my papers and adjusted my uniform,which consisted of a navy-blue, pleated skirt and white button-down collaredshirt, knee-high navy blue stockings and of course the classic prep school tie:navy-blue with red plaid. I gathered my nerve and headed in the same directionas Talbott and Kiran, already afraid of the rest of my day.

Chapter Two

My thoughts were preoccupied as I walkedinto class, not realizing that English had already started until I stumbledclumsily through the door. Not only was I starting school a week later than theother students, but I walked loudly into a class that had already started….awesome. The teacher, a skinny bald man, dressed in atasteful navy-blue suit and tie, looked up from a textbook and glared atme.

“Why do I even bother to startclass when we’re going to have all of these interruptions?” he said, stillstaring at me.

“Um, I’m sorry, I’m new,” I repliedguiltily, my face turning bright red once again.

“Obviously.Are you Eden?” he asked, speaking through his nose.

“Um, yes, Eden Matthews,” Iclarified, just to be sure, but obviously he knew that. I could barely containmy nerves. Usually a shy person, I hated having the attention on me, and atthat moment, the entire class was staring, probably laughing, at me.

“Nobody’s laughing at you,” theteacher declared unexpectedly. “I’m Mr. Lambert. Welcome to Honors English.Please take a seat over there.” He tried to smile and pointed to the back ofthe classroom where an empty desk sat between none other than the two boys Iencountered earlier…. fantastic.

Although I was oddly reminded byMr. Lambert that nobody was laughing at me, I still felt all eyes were on me asI walked quickly, head down, to my desk and slid in as quietly as I could. Iglanced around the room and realized, thankfully, that no one was looking in mydirection; well, no one except Kiran who was sitting directly to my left andstaring openly at me. I ran my fingers through my hair, pulling it over myshoulder and in front of my face. I hoped to build a wall of tangled curls toseparate me from this curious stranger.

I fumbled through my backpacklooking for the same book that everyone else was holding but I suddenly foundit hard to concentrate. My bag was full of books for every class and the coversall began to look the same. My vision blurred, I squinted to give myself aclearer view. I could hear the lecture, but it sounded far off, and I wasbeginning to feel dizzy. My breath became quick and shallow; I grabbed on to mydesk with both hands, trying to find my bearings.

As if from everywhere around me, Istarted to feel a wave of heat overcome me. My skin began to prickle again asif I were going through a low dose of electroshock therapy and there was ahigh-pitched sound resonating in my ears. I could feel my head hit the groundas I slid back out of my desk and onto the floor.

“Good grief, I’m never going to getthrough this lecture,” sighed a very exasperated voice, I wondered what anasal-sounding man was doing in my bedroom while I was trying to sleep.

“What did you do? This kind ofthing is strictly prohibited, Mr. Kendrick. I don’t care who you are. You willobey your father’s ordinances when you are in my class,” the aggravated voicekept going on and on. I thought, “Just let me sleep!”

“I didn’t do anything!” a familiarEnglish accent defended himself. Where had I heard that voice before? “I don’tknow what happened to her, she just fell over!”

“Ms. Matthews, Ms. Matthews, canyou hear me?” It was the annoying voice again. I could hear him, but I didn’twant to; I wanted to go back to sleep.

Then it hit me. Oh no! I did itagain. Well, I didn’t know what I did again, but I was too afraid to open myeyes and find out. Strong, small hands gripped my shoulders and began to shakeme roughly.

“Maybe you should slap her,” ahigh-pitched girl’s voice offered. That got my attention.

“What have I done now?” I groaned,closing my eyes even tighter. I refused to open them and assess the damage Ijust caused. I also refused to be slapped, I wasn’t unconscious anymore.

“You fainted,” the English accentthat I could now identify as Kiran’s said plainly. I thought I could also detecta smile in his voice and maybe something else…. amusement?

“What else?” I groaned again.

“What do you mean what else? Well,you’ve also interrupted my class,” Mr. Lambert’s unmistakably irritated voicereplied impatiently. “What’s wrong with you, do you need to go to the nurse?”

I finally summoned enough courageto open my eyes. The world around me was perfectly intact, perfectly as itshould have been and I was completely confused. This wasn’t the first time Ihad awoken in a daze after experiencing similar feelings. This was just thefirst time I had awoken to things still normal around me. Usually, it was allmass panic and chaos, due to lethal insects or flooding waters, or evenscorching flames. Truthfully, I much preferred a crowd of confusion. I wasinwardly overjoyed there wouldn’t be mass lawsuits and a new school in my nearfuture.

“No, I am fine, thank you,” I thinkI was actually smiling on the outside now too, because the entire class offaces staring down at me were more confused than ever. If only they had knownwhat could have happened to them; if only they had known that miraculouslytheir lives were saved. I could feel my smile get bigger and I knew without adoubt that I looked crazy.

I tried to push myself up onto myelbows, but was still a little shaky and fell back down. A nervous, almosthysteric laugh escaped me and it was the only sound in the room. I hadofficially begun my first day at my new school as a freak. A swarm of studentsstared down at me, a sea of white and navy-blue, with islands of hanging redplaid ties.

I decided to try to sit up again; Ineeded to move since everyone was still gawking at me. As I struggled, I couldsee that Kiran and Talbott, closest to me due to the proximity of their desks,attempted to help me. I watched as their arms reached out to grab mine andassist me in sitting up. As soon as their skin touched mine, I started all overagain with the heat and electricity and I let out a mild scream.