Chapter 2

It's 7:40 the next morning when I walk up the steps and find my way to the principal's office on my first day of senior year at Eulogia Academy. The truth is, I'm nervous. I haven't had a proper conversation with a human before. I want to run back home, but at the same time, I have to pretend to be a normal human.

"Thanks for choosing Eulogia Academy. We are happy to have you here, Miss Sivan." The principal smiled at me across the desk. She is a bit tall and she was also in heels. She wore a black blazer, neatly pressed, and her hair was packed into a ponytail. She adjusts her glasses. "I'm principal Elise."

"Thank you for having me here. I'm happy I will also get to study in this beautiful school just like the famous scholars." I swallowed hard.

"Listen, if there is anything I can do to help you transition here, you let me know, okay?"

I nod and give her a small smile.

~~~

The hall is crowded as students stop to talk with friends. Immediately, the school is buzzing with gossip about the new girl. I stand in the middle of the hallway as I walk by people. I look around me, trying to find my locker. The school is huge, and the hall is also big. My eyes scan the halls for the right locker number when they stop on a tall, dark-haired boy. He is quite attractive, but what made me look in his direction was that he was already staring at me. Suddenly, I'm in shock that I'm being drawn by a stranger.

I blink and avoid his gaze. My locker is a few feet down from where I stand as I quickly walk to locker 61. I open it and put my books inside. I look over my shoulder to find the dark-haired boy still watching me. Some group of lousy boys walk over to him with footballs in their hands. He laughs with them, then turns to shut his locker and disappears into the crowd of students.

I focus again on my locker.

"So, you are the new girl." Two girls step into my line of vision and stop beside me and I turn to face them. The first girl who spoke was tall. She has long blonde hair. She wore a short leather pink skirt and topped it up with an ankle boot. The second girl who stands next to her is short, almost my height. She has neck-length black hair with three piercings each along her earlobes. They are both beautiful and now I'm curious to know what they have to say because 'Don't trust humans' was what mom said to me before I left.

"Yeah, that's me." I smile.

"You are very pretty." The blonde haired girl smirked at me.

I don't trust them a bit, but still, I pretend. I turn to close my locker and look back, but the two girls are gone. I look down the hallway, but the two girls are nowhere to be found.

Another girl approaches me as I turn to face my locker. Oh no, not another one, I thought. She has long black hair, and I am instantly jealous of her beauty.

"That's Jada, the cheerleader's captain."In...

"Hmm, she's convincing." I turn to face her.

She grins at me, revealing her perfect white teeth. "Hi, I'm Denise."

I decided I liked this one. She seems nice. "I'm In..."

"Inez Sivan. You are the gossip of our school today." She cuts it, taking me by surprise, then I nod. "There will be a match by 3:30 pm today on the field. You should come. Everyone will be there." She adds.

I don't have anything to do after school, so I accept her offer, and then Denise, too, disappears into the crowd.

~~~

It's approximately 3:40 when I walk into the field. The crowds were clapping. The cheerleaders were flipping and doing their moves to encourage the players. Immediately, I see Denise as she waves at me. I walk to meet her and then sit next to her. We focus on the players immediately after the cheerleader's captain does her last and final routine.

I see the dark-haired boy staring at me again before placing the helmet on his head. He runs towards the other players as they gather to talk or pray or whatever it is they always do.

"That's their captain, Chase Parker. He is also the son of the richest man in this town. Girls love him and he was Jada's ex-boyfriend." Denise says and looks at me. "You find him attractive?" she asks.

"Don't you?" I say, not like asking a question, but more like a rhetorical question.

"Who doesn't?" She replied with a question. "He is the typical boy for every girl's dream guy." She adds.

"Hmm, so what is this called?" I ask. Honestly, we don't do this in the shadow world. Instead, you will see kids playing with the skulls of their ancestors.

She looks at me with a surprised look on her face.

"What?" I ask.

"You don't know what football is?"

"The football dad watched last night was played by foot, but this one is by hand and they even wear helmets, which is weird."

"Okay Inez, this is American football, also called gridiron football, and it also has rules."

"Which are?" I ask as I focus on Chase, who is running with the ball.

"If they kick a field goal, then the other team gets a possession. If they score a touchdown, they win. If they tie the score by kicking a field goal, then the next team that scores wins. If the team with the first possession turns the ball over without scoring any points, then the first team to score wins. Get it now!"

"I guess so, but this team they are playing against is really strong."

"I know, but the Chase team is stronger, they win all the time, and they have made this school proud."

"Wow," I say as we focus on how the other opponent tries to collect the ball from Chase's team. They are really strong and they keep forcing themselves onto the ball. Immediately, the other opponent uses his helmet to fight for the ball, and the steel on the helmet injures one of Chase's team players. He falls to the ground, bleeding from his shoulder. The crowds stop cheering, and instead silence takes place. They call on the trainers and they take him into the hall. I can see the blood on the floor because of my good sight and my focus on it, even though I don't want to, doesn't make me feel so good. Not again. My fangs are forcing their way out again, and this time they are coming out fast.

I looked at Denise and ran as fast as I could to avoid the blood.