Two

The parking lot is full of cars and empty of students, aside for a few stragglers, when we pull in at school. I automatically drive towards the back of the parking lot, knowing there wouldn't be any good spots left in the front. You have to get to school really early to get one of those. Finding an empty spot in the last row, I pull in. Putting my car in park I remove the keys from the ignition. I make sure to grab my bag, purse and cell phone before stepping out. Olivia is on my heels as I weave between cars towards the side door of the school that students use in the mornings.

"Running a little late, are we, Mere?" asks a familiar, male voice that causes me to cringe.

Staring straight ahead, ignoring the question, I whisper to Olivia, "Just keep walking."

Olivia nods slightly and interlocks her left arm with my right one.

"You weren't just going to walk by and not say hello, were you?" ask the grating voice of Chad Schmidt, varsity quarterback.

Trying to ignore him, I continue staring ahead. My frustration gets the best of me, I look in his direction and we lock eyes. I give him a nasty look, which makes him smirk arrogantly. Sliding off the tailgate of his truck, where he was sitting with a few of the other guys from the football team, he makes his way towards Olivia and I. Stepping in front of us, he places his hand on my shoulder and squeezes, stopping me from going any further. I wrenched myself away from him and take a step back. Olivia unlocks her arm with mine and steps back as well, placing herself behind me. She's never liked confrontation.

"How 'bout a hug? I haven't seen you all summer," Chad states, flashing his million-watt smile, that used to make me swoon and now only makes me want to vomit. "Come on now, Mere. Don't be like that," he insists, taking a step towards me. Now we're chest to chest.

A death-glare is the only thing he receives from me. "Get out of my way, Chad!" I demand, trying to push past him to no avail. "I'm serious, move," I try to advance once again, attempting to dodge around him. Grabbing me by my arm, he stops me in my tracks. I hear Olivia's breathing grow rigid behind me.

"Now how are 'ya going to treat me like that?" Chad questions, his brown eyes growing large as he feigns hurt. Holding his hand up to his heart, he declares, "You wound me, Meredith Jordan!" This earns him a snicker from the goon squad, still sitting in his truck bed. Chad glances towards them and slightly bows, before focusing back on me. "What do you say, Mere?" he asks, his arms outstretched.

"Seriously, could you just fuck off?" I growl out. Feeling Olivia pinch the back of my arm, I sharply turn towards her, "Ow!" I shriek, giving her a dirty look. She looks down at the ground, ashamed.

"Woah! Such language!" Chad exclaims, pretending to be astonished, "You never swore like that when we were dating. I wouldn't have allowed that."

Rolling my eyes, I scoff at that, "Yeah, well, you weren't my boss then and you're definitely not my boss now." I grab Olivia by the hand and move swiftly around Chad, continuing our journey through the parking lot.

"Swearing isn't attractive, 'ya know?" Chad informs me as he runs to get in front of us again.

"Chad," I start, as he blocks our path again, "could you please let us go? We're going to be la-"

I'm suddenly cut off by a deep, unfamiliar voice, "You know harassing women in parking lots isn't attractive either, right?"

Turning I see an attractive boy standing a few feet behind Olivia. He's tall, significantly taller than Chad's 5'11. His coffee-colored hair frames his lightly tanned face and ends just above his shoulders. Black apparel covers him from head to toe: black V-neck shirt, black jeans and very impressive black combat-looking boots.

"And who the hell are you?" Chad asks, face starting to turn red, his jaw ticking.

The stranger's amber-colored eyes sparkle as he lets out a dry laugh, "That isn't important. What is important though, is why you're harassing these girls."

"This doesn't involve you, so why don't you just keep walking?" Chad steps around me, putting himself closer to the stranger.

Moving in even closer, nose almost touching Chad's, he asks with a smirk, "Who's going to make me?"

The redness in Chad's face intensifies and he clenches his fists, "I will! So why don't you just fuck off before things get bad?"

The stranger scoffs at that, rolling his eyes he asks, "Is that so?"

A couple of Chad's friends jog over from his truck. "Dude, it isn't worth it. You can't get in trouble again this year. You know what Coach said," the taller of the two friends reminds him.

"Yeah, dude, it isn't worth it," the stranger mockingly reiterates.

Chad steps back and cocks his arm as if to throw a punch, but his friends each put a hand on his chest to stop him. Still clearly livid, he swings his body around and we all watch as he begins walking back towards his truck. Stopping, he turns around and looks at the stranger, "This isn't over, " he starts, then turns his gaze in my direction, "I'll be seeing you later, Mere." He winks then continues walking to his truck.

"What a creep, " I whisper to Olivia with a shudder. She nods in agreement.

"I don't know why you ever dated him. I told you it was a mistake, to begin with, but you wouldn't listen to me. You never listen to me, " Olivia states, starting to go on one of her mini-rants, "Bet you wish you had listened to me now."

I turn around to thank the stranger, but he's gone.

I wonder where he went, I think to myself.

"Come on, let's go, " I urge Olivia, tugging on her arm.

***

Walking through the door, two minutes before the bell is supposed to ring, we're gently ushered towards the auditorium by teachers in charge of greeting incoming students. We make it to the auditorium, which is way too loud to walk into just yet. I motion for Olivia, who already has her hands over her ears, to follow me across the hall towards the art room. The noise from the auditorium shouldn't be as intense over here. Olivia lowers her hands and lets out a sigh.

"We will just wait here until orientation starts," I tell Olivia. She nods in agreement.

"Ladies," a woman, who I think may be one of the upper-class English teachers, walking towards us beings," you're supposed to be in the auditorium." She gestures her hand toward the double doors on the other side of the hall.

"Yes, ma'am, we know that, " Olivia starts shakily, " but I have hyperacusis, which means I'm sensitive to loud noises. The auditorium is too loud for me right now." Olivia fumbles with her fingers and stares at the ground.

She seemed to be mulling this new information around in her mind, " Alright, I suppose. But that doesn't explain her, " she states, looking at me.

"Oh, I'm her support person during the school day. You can ask Principal Smith. He's aware of our situation."

The woman stands there for a second before slightly nodding, " Alright then, carry on. I better see you two in the auditorium when orientation begins," she replies before walking back down the hall.

We stand by the art room for another ten minutes or so after the bell rings. The noise in the auditorium dies down and we hear Principal Smith's muffled voice through the doors. Deciding that it's time to head in we walk over and I open one of the double doors. Looking around I see that most of the bottom bleachers are empty.

Cha-ching!

Most of our classmates are so quick to sit on the top bleachers. Olivia and I, on the other hand, have always preferred the bottom rows. We can make a quick getaway if needed.

Olivia and I scurry to our selected seats and sit down. I look around as I vaguely listen to Principal Smith go over the same things he went over last year at orientation, and the year before: New teachers, new rules, classrooms that have been moved to new places, etc. He just drones on. I would bet my small life savings that it's mostly scripted.

I'm scanning the rows of students when something Principal Smith says catches my attention.

"We know that some of y'all have heard the rumors and I am going to do my best to clear everything up."

What in the world is he talking about?

"This year we are welcoming students from the Tala tribe for the first time ever," he starts. The auditorium filled with a buzz of whispers and murmurs, the noise gradually picking up. Principal Smith holds up his hand, silently asking the students to quiet down. "I know this may be a shock for some of y'all, but I promise this is a good thing!" he boasts out gleefully.

"What is going on?" Olivia whispers to me, putting my thoughts into words. I shake my head, just as confused as her.

The Tala tribe is a group of Native Americans that live in a compound estate in Gilos Gap. It's north of Lonhearst, which is where Olivia and I live and is where our school is located. They are very private and rarely ever travel outside their estate.

My mom always said they were snobby, that's why they stay in their estate. "Too good for us townspeople," she would say.

There are dark rumors that follow them. I heard my stepdad say that they're all criminals and murderers, that's why they stay locked up in their estate. "They're all twisted." He's never had a nice word to say about them, which is true about most people he talks about. Many people agree with him though. The town's people are wary of them, but I think it's just because they don't like the unknown. The Tala tribe is mostly a mystery.

In my sixteen years of life, I have only ever seen them once. It was at the co-op in town this summer, actually. A few of them drove up in a large military-style truck and filled it with farming supplies, almost emptying the store. They've been known to grow all of their own fruits and vegetables and hunt their own meat, which explains why they wouldn't need to come to town often. They're said to be very self-reliant.

"From what we have been told, many of their elders, who are their teachers, have grown sick over the summer and are unable to teach," Principal Smith continues, "Due to a lack in numbers, they have requested that their high school-age children be welcomed into our school and we graciously accepted."

The buzz of whispers picks back up, gradually becoming louder and louder.

Principal Smith booms into the mic, "Quiet!"

Silence instantly.

"I know this may be a shock to some of you, but I want everyone to welcome our new students with open arms and be gracious hosts."