Chapter 2- The new guy

Dawn arrived like an uninvited guest, and sunlight peeked through my blinds, shining directly onto my eyelids. I groaned and turned away from the window.

"Good morning, girls," my aunt's voice drifted from the doorway. "If you don't wake up now, you're going to be late for school."

I cracked one eye open and glanced at the door. My aunt noticed and took it as a sign that I had heard her and would be getting up soon. Satisfied, she turned and walked away.

Beside me, I felt Jane stir, a sure sign that she was waking up too. "I guess it's time to wake up," she mumbled, but instead of getting up, she rolled over and pulled the covers over her head.

I looked over at the clock and saw what time it was. The face of my digital clock transitioned to the next minute, its numbers shifting with quiet precision.

"Jane, wake up! We really are going to be late for school if we don't get ready now," I said, nudging her with my elbow.

"Ow," Jane groaned and sat up. I jumped out of bed, tripping over the duvet on my way to the closet. Jane followed shortly after, unceremoniously falling out of bed.

Both of us rushed through the shower together, handing each other a toothbrush, washcloth, soap—everything—as if we had rehearsed it a hundred times.

Once out of the shower, we hurried back to the bedroom in our robes. I grabbed the first pieces of clothing I could find and quickly got dressed. Blue jeans and a plain beige V-neck T-shirt would have to do. To complete the look, I slipped on my comfortable white sneakers.

Jane went with torn, loose-fitted white jeans, a cropped baby pink V-neck T-shirt, and a comfortable pair of white sneakers as well. Being fashionable has always been second nature to her—even when we were running late.

We rushed downstairs, grabbed toast with cheese and onion marmalade—our favourite go-to food—and dashed out the door.

My uncle was already waiting for us in the car.

"Long night?" he asked.

"Nightmares," I replied simply.

________________________________________

We had just stepped over the threshold—the school's front door—when the bell rang.

"Now that’s perfect timing," Jane said with a grin.

"What do you have on your agenda today?" I asked while glancing at my schedule.

She looked down at hers. "I’m starting with PE. How about you?"

"Same."

I glanced over at her, and in our rush to get to our lockers quickly, I bumped into someone.

"Would you look at where you’re going?" a male voice chided as I struggled to regain my footing. I looked up at the incredibly rude person and was stunned by the sight in front of me.

As he turned around, my eyes instinctively studied his physique. To put it plainly, he was gorgeous. He looked like he had grown up in Hawaii—tall, with golden-brown skin and striking ocean-blue eyes. His long, golden-brown wavy locks cascaded down his shoulders, and he had the kind of toned build that suggested he hadn’t missed a day at the gym. Safe to say, I was at a loss for words.

For about two seconds.

"Look here, mister, I am freaking sorry I had to grace your body with mine. But please, if someone peed in your fruit loops this morning, don't take it out on me."

He tilted his head, studying me now, his gaze tracing my body from the bottom up. Our eyes met, and he simply smirked before walking off.

Walking down the school hallway to our lockers, Jane couldn't help but mention the chemistry she felt between me and the new guy. "I saw the way you looked at that guy." She raised and lowered her eyebrows teasingly.

"Oh no. Not in a million years. Yes, I'm not going to pretend I'm blind to his," I paused, searching for the perfect word, "his demi-god body, but he was incredibly rude. It’s not like I bumped into him on purpose." I opened my locker and started shuffling through my books.

Jane opened her locker while scrutinizing me for more.

"I have no interest there," I said firmly, ending the conversation with a warning stare.

We quickly grabbed our books and rushed to homeroom.

I stepped into the classroom while talking to Jane. She suddenly stopped and stared straight ahead, a mischievous smile forming on her lips. I followed her gaze reluctantly.

My eyes landed on the desk right in front of mine. I froze in disbelief. Jane continued to her desk behind mine, grinning all the way there. I walked over to my desk and shot daggers at Jane with my eyes. She was thoroughly enjoying this.

We hadn’t expected Mr. New Guy to be in our homeroom as well.

I sat down and turned to warn Jane, but Miss Evervine entered the class. "Alright, students. I hope you all had a good night’s rest. Today is going to be a fast-paced day since we have a lot to cover." She handed stacks of paper to the students in the front. "Please pass these to the back." She turned and began writing on the board.

As the papers were passed down the rows, the new guy smirked once more, his gaze traveling up and down as he assessed me again. Seriously? Not only does he share our homeroom, but he also sits directly in front of me. How convenient. I sighed to myself.

I tried to take out my things as calmly as possible, but as luck would have it, my pencil bag slipped and spilled its contents all over the floor. "Great," I muttered.

As I started picking up my scattered stationery, I heard a soft, husky voice. "Let me help you with that."

"It’s okay, I’ve got it," I replied politely, continuing to gather my things without looking up. I fumbled with one of the pens, and it rolled in the direction of my unexpected helper.

Could this get any worse? I thought to myself.

"I insist." A large, muscular hand reached down to help. I looked up—and locked eyes with those ocean-blue depths. For a moment, I was mesmerized. His irises had a black ring around them, and I could swear it looked like waves were crashing near his pupils.

"My name is Marlow, by the way."

Snapping back to reality, I stammered, "I... I’m Nadia." Nice going, Nadia.

"I'm sorry about this morning. I didn't mean to come off so rude," he said apologetically.

"It's okay. I also came off a bit strong. I guess we both had a rough start to the day." I smiled, suddenly realizing I still hadn’t picked up all my stationery.

I fumbled once more, dropping another pen. Before it even hit the ground, his hand caught it effortlessly.

Once again, I was captivated. Struggling to tear my eyes away, I thought, Okay, that's my cue.

"Thanks for the help," I said quickly, gathering the last of my things and sitting down.

I glanced back at Jane for support, but she was still grinning mischievously. She was dying to say it.

"I thought you weren’t interested in boys. Pff."

________________________________________

At lunch, Jane and I stood in the cafeteria line, waiting to collect our food.

"Can we talk about what happened in homeroom?" Jane asked, giving me her signature pout. "Please?" She was eager to discuss it.

"What is there to talk about? He was rude, and then, like snapping your fingers, he was super sweet and helpful. A little weird if you ask me." I slid my lunch tray forward to receive the next food item.

"But I saw a little blush in between you two exchanging words." Jane wore the smile of an over-excited teenage girl—like someone about to ship her two favourite romance characters.

"Oh no, I did not. Please tell me I didn't." I looked at Jane with wide, panicked eyes.

First, I stutter and drop almost all my stationery on the floor, and now my body has to embarrass me with a blush too.

"Yes, you sure did, but it was super adorable." Jane tried to reassure me.

We finished getting our food and headed toward our table. "He is really sexy, and he did apologize for being rude. I guess I should probably get over myself."

"Good," Jane said quickly. She glanced over my shoulder and then whispered, "He's heading this way. Act cool." Her eyes widened in warning.

"May I join you for lunch?" Marlow's voice came from behind me. "If you haven't already guessed, I’m new here, and I don't really know anyone else."

"Yes, sure," Jane shifted over to make space. "Jane, this is Marlow. Marlow, this is Jane." I quickly introduced them.

"Nice to meet you," Jane said, holding out her hand for a handshake, all the while glancing between me and Marlow with a grin. "So, Marlow, do you work out?"

"Uhm... yes." He seemed a little uneasy with the question, which surprised me. He looked so confident.

"Jane..." I whisper-yelled at her.

"What? He looks really buff." She seemed confused and shrugged.

"No, it's okay. I just didn’t expect that to be the first question, that’s all," Marlow explained.

"What did you expect the first question to be?" I jumped in, trying to shift the conversation.

"I thought you'd ask me why I'm new, where I moved from, why I moved—those types of questions," he laughed it off.

"Oh, sorry. I was getting to those. I just couldn’t take my eyes off your muscles," Jane teased. Marlow chuckled at that.

"It's okay," he reassured her. One thing I did notice—he and I couldn't seem to stop glancing at each other.

"So, why are you new? Where did you move from? Why did you move?" Jane asked, smiling as she hit him with every question he expected.

"Uhm... okay. Straight to the point, I see." He nodded in acknowledgment. "Well, I’m new because my dad moves around a lot for work."

"That must be tough," I said sympathetically. He looked at me and shrugged.

"I’m kind of used to it by now," he replied, glancing back at Jane. "That answer covers two questions." She smiled, pleased with his response.

"Where did I move from? That one is tricky. We moved from a tiny town not very well known. I doubt you'd have heard of it." He looked down at his tray, and for a split second, I swore I saw a flicker of unease cross his face.

________________________________________

Sitting in my room after school, Jane and I were each engrossed in our own tasks. I was researching the topic 'How can a person overcome fear?' for a school assignment, while Jane was immersed in one of her newest books.

We were lost in our own worlds. She giggled now and then, but I couldn't stop thinking about Marlow. Those perfectly sculpted arms, legs, and the shirt he wore today left little to the imagination. His abs had to be sculpted by angels.

Yet something felt off. It was as if we knew each other, like we had met before our so-called school 'bump-in.' His scent was so familiar. I wanted to just hug him and stay in his arms forever.

"Snap out of it, Nadia!" I scolded myself, forcing my attention back to my assignment.

"Nadia, there's someone to see you!" my sister yelled from downstairs. I chose to ignore her, assuming it was another one of her pranks.

Moments later, a voice called out, "Hello."

That voice! I turned around and—what is he doing at my house? How did he even find out where I lived? Standing in the doorway of my room was...

"Marlow. Hi. How did you find out where I live?" I asked, feeling slightly creeped out.

"It wasn't hard to find your address. You live at the Gabriel Estate." That was true. Anyone in town could point you to the estate and tell you exactly who lived there. My aunt was well-known, but still...

"Okay, then why are you here?"

"Nadia, where is your hospitality?" Jane snapped from behind me. She got up from my bed, took Marlow by the arm, and led him downstairs.

After five minutes of overthinking what had just happened, I finally went downstairs to see what was going on. I found Jane and Marlow sitting at the kitchen island, sipping sodas.

"Ah, Nadia, nice of you to join us," Jane chided.

"I'm sorry for my reaction upstairs, Marlow. You just freaked me out a bit," I admitted, unable to meet his eyes. Everything that had felt off at school was now raising even bigger red flags.

"You do seem a bit on edge. I'm sorry for showing up unannounced," Marlow apologized.

Suddenly, my head erupted in pain. I couldn't see or hear anything. The agony was unbearable. Then, a chilling voice echoed in my mind.

"Give what you have to me. It belongs to me! Or this will never end."

"Give what to you? Who are you?" I cried out in pain.

"You will know who I am in due time. The sooner you give me what is mine, the sooner your suffering will end. The first warning was your parents. Don't let me take more of your friends and family away." The voice laughed maliciously, and just like that, everything went dark.

When I came to, I was lying on the kitchen floor with Jane on my right side and Marlow on my left.

"Are you okay, Nadia?" Jane asked, looking genuinely worried, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I tried to speak, but nothing came out. My brain was still reeling from the attack.

I turned to Marlow and saw sadness in his eyes—not worry or distress, but sadness. He barely knew me, yet he looked heartbroken. Did he know something? Was he involved?

Jane jumped up and ran to grab supplies. When she returned, she had a bucket of lukewarm water and a washcloth.

As she cleaned my face, I saw the water turn red. Blood. It was coming from my ears, nose, and even my tears.

What is happening to me? This isn’t normal. Why is this happening?

A warm hand suddenly enveloped mine. I turned to see Marlow holding it. Instead of pulling away, I embraced the warmth.

It was then I realized how cold I was—not the room, but my body itself. I started shivering, my breath visible like icy fog.

"I'm going to call your aunt. This is not normal," Jane said, running out to the garden where my aunt usually spent her quiet afternoons.

"Where do you keep your blankets?" Marlow asked frantically, trying to help.

Unable to speak, I couldn't direct him.

"Screw it," he muttered, sitting down beside me and pulling me into his embrace. I felt so small and delicate in his arms as he rubbed my arms, trying to warm me.

"I'm sorry that you have this gift, and he wants to take it away," he whispered, but I still heard it.

His ocean-blue eyes held nothing but sorrow.

What gift? Who wants to take it? I needed answers, but I couldn't ask.

Before I could process it, my aunt and Jane rushed back in. My aunt wrapped me in a thick blanket. "You keep holding her and keep her warm. I'll make tea," she instructed Marlow.

Jane swapped out the lukewarm water and continued cleaning me.

I looked up at Marlow, and he looked back at me. For a moment, we just stared into each other's eyes, forgetting the chaos.

"Here, drink this," my aunt said, helping me sip on the tea. After fifteen minutes, warmth returned to my body, and I could finally speak.

But I had only one question.

"What the hell is happening to me?"