CHAPTER ONE

I had always considered myself one of the weakest, most observant and one who always kept to myself in class. Consequently I am one of the most teased and bullied students at School.

Standing at 6'5 foot,a lean figure decorated with chocolate brown skin and moon shadow black hair, I could not pass for a model nor a school star at a school full of white kids and of course bullies.

The main bully of all of them was my brother, Roger.

I might as well not call him my real brother because I was adopted into his family when I was still an infant. Besides, our skin color told it all.

However, he ought to have loved me as he now had a baby brother but sadly,the opposite was the case.

It's like he saw me the first time I was brought home and thought to himself, 'I don't like this guy.'

Roger was exactly my opposite,as I had a lean figure he beheld a manly Samson figure accompanied by a military moustache he seemed to take from his father, an almost old man in his late seventies and also quite a strict father, sadly to me alone.

Roger that used this tough looks to his advantage and intimidate me to his satisfaction. But of course he always came back. He always loved to bully me more and more. He could never stop. It was his nature.

However he never executed his plans to the fullest at school as by my side I had the most famous friends at School; Brady ,Osric, Thale and Illyra.

Brady was a vermilion red haired girl with a smooth round face that held bushy eyebrows and butterfly wing eyelashes that swept over her coral black eyes.She had a joyous personality that one never missed to enjoy as they interacted with her.

Osric is one dedicated gym guy and consequently he had huge biceps that identified well with his walrus moustache which he always tried to keep at bay though it never stopped growing. Maybe He was the only one in Horizon Institute with the capacity to intimidate Roger and his accomplices Terbium and luteam darker than I with grainy and sand rough stubbles respectively. I always loved seeing the annoyed faces of Roger and his friends when Osric stepped in for me.

Illyra on the other hand was kinda weird. If you could just take a look at her lime green pair of delicate eyes hidden under those peculiar butterfly shaped glasses staring blankly at you, then you know why I am saying this. She was the nerd in the group and always carried a bundle of books everywhere she went and took every slightest opportunity to immerse herself in them.

Thale is a male model adored by the fairer sex for his teutonic gold hair which was sometimes in a casual jumble but mostly neat and flowing. He had perplexing sky blue eyes and s-shaped brows that added to his complexion and annoying personality. He and Brady were the most annoying in the group and consequently, they were a thing, or should I say that birds of the same feather flock together. Yes, they did flock together.

After lunch at the cafeteria, I and my friends normally do not go to class but sit at the cafeteria enjoying friendly discussion . I know we're supposed to be in class but defiance worked best for most of us.

We did that most of the time to escape the rowdiness in the classes which were common after lunch. It was the only place at school one could find quietness at this time. After all, the teachers cared less to come and teach and that meant that the whole afternoon was always free. How better could we make it be? Only Ms Brotheria cared more to attend her history lesson on Thursdays, much of which were poorly attended or if attended,they were poorly listened to. This day, a Friday, we were at our usual spot at the cafeteria and All but Illyra and I were fixed to a conversation that was quite interesting but I didn't wish to join since mind was not at ease. I could feel a strange feeling churning within me. It was quite unusual that I could not comprehend but just sat there staring blankly at the ceiling in deep thought.

I could not explain the feeling but I felt like something imminent was about to take place, something that could change my entire life and that of my friends and by extension the whole country.

However Thale kept pestering me asking if I had heard some school news.

' What news?' I asked him

' There's a new girl in school,' Brady said and I cast her a flat look. That was absurd and I was unaware of what to say.

What exactly was I to do with a new girl? Okay, my friends always wanted me to have a girlfriend, something I considered really hard to do. They always tried to connect me with almost any beautiful girl they met. I had always rejected all of them anyway.

But again, something was off in one perspective of her tone- there were no new students in Horizon Institute especially at the middle of the year . Admissions only took place once a year.How did that new girl happen to be admitted? This was something to question as there were no exceptions at all in Horizon institute.

I looked at the rest for clarification but they were all staring blankly at me, waiting for my response. I sighed and said, ' But how is that even possible? '

Illyra scoffed and lifting her head from the book she was reading, shesaid, ' What do you mean by that, Adelard?' She scolded, ' Should you even care about that? Now c'mon, what do you think of her?'

Okay now I had to look at it again from their perspective. But I could not accept to yield that easily anyway. I looked at them quizzically pretending not to have understood them.

' She means if you two could become a... you know,' Osric elaborated,rubbing his palms together to neutralize a cold breeze . I scoffed. ' But I don't even know her yet! ' What were they saying, I hadn't even seen this girl yet.

Thale chipped in to this, ' Well just so you know, Her name is Brynlee and ofcourse she's new. The most beautiful thing is that she's in our class so you're going to have all it takes to get her before someone else does.'

Great. I was dumbfounded. The new girl called Brynlee is in our class and my friends are trying to pressure me to make her mine. That's just one of the most incomprehensible coincidences of fate.

' Speaking of class, Why don't we go in see her?' Illyra suggested standing up and all the others gladly accepted also standing up and following her.

I tried to protest but it was just like punching sea waves in the opposite direction. It was impossible. They were fixed on that idea of getting me a girlfriend and it seemed that I could do nothing about it as nothing could change their minds.

I had never changed their minds when it came to this topic anyway.

The class was not as quiet as the cafeteria by the time we arrived. This was the second reason why we never spent our afternoon in class.Instead of peace and tranquility that one might expect from a typical class with lots of serious students with eyes glued to their books,ours was rowdy market place, filled with massive mayhem as kids jumped from seat to seat, cursing and yelling at the top of their voices. It was such incomprehensible chaos.

However as soon as we stood by the door way to the class, they went dead silent. Then from somewhere within the class, someone yelled, ' Hey Lard, Someone's on your seat, a Beautiful girl.'

Whoever said that stressed the word beautiful in a rather aggressive manner and soon the mayhem returned.

I slowly directed my eyes to my seat and they dilated in awe and wonder. Seated at my seat was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen yet. Her lemon yellow eyes focused on me as I stared blankly at the beauty in front of me. How could a girl be this beautiful? Wait, was this real?

Her sherbet sweet lips which were attached together in an amazing manner. Slowly and beautifully, they wore a sweet smile which replenished her flamboyant and gregarious personality.

It was then that I noticed that the whole class was quiet and everyone's attention was fixed on me. Busted! I quickly composed myself and tried to pretend that nothing had happened but I knew that it was all useless. I was caught and a serious repercussion was to follow. It had always followed when I looked at a cute girl for more than five seconds. Normally, it was always degrading and I was sure this could be much worse.

I waited for it, eyes closed. It came from someone at the back of the class - Luteam,' Isn't she a beauty, Adelard? Go on, compliment her. '

He was Roger's close ally and I could sense how he pronounced his words, in a sinister manner that got me shivering. I opened my eyes and directed them to her. She was still smiling. She did not notice the sinister tone Luteam had used. No one did. Not even my friends who stood by my side. Then suddenly, she stood up from the seat and made towards me. What was she thinking, I wondered. She had shocked me enough and was about to shock me some more?

My heart throbbed faster as she approached. I loved everything that I saw about her- her long delicate nose, her moon black long hair, her elegant walking style that seemed to rewrite my life story as she made each step.

' Hello, Adelard,' She said in that sweet melody of hers, extending her hand for a handshake. Tongue tied ,I also extended mine and received hers, ' Hello, ' I stammered.

She smiled even wider and beneath those honey lips, I could see a set of immaculately arranged angel white teeth.

Her hands were softer than an angel's heart and I didn't feel like disengaging.

' I so much wanted to meet you, I hope we get to meet more,right?'

' Well yes... certainly, ' I stuttered.

' They call me Brynlee and oh , I heard a lot about you and that's why I wanted to meet you.'

' More about me? What exactly? '

' Don't worry, I will explain it all when the time comes.'

' But...,' I tried to protest but she put her index finger on my lips cutting me off.

' I will tell you.'

Hyptonised, I nodded .

That night as I lay in bed, I recounted the day's events and could not help but recall Brynlee. Our encounter had been small but something about her stuck completely in my mind. I could not shake it off.

Was there some strange connection between me and her?

I could guesstimate following the strange heartthrobs I experienced during my small encounter with her.

Or maybe it was just a rush of adrenaline or just a wave of childish infatuation . Oh yes, Adelard. It is, I told myself. You can't love a girl on first sight, remember, I cautioned myself.

Slowly, I drifted off to slumber.

I found myself standing along a shore in a somewhat pale and miniature morning. Beside the vast ocean was a huge jungle where florid orange rays of the sun penetrated skillfully striking the waters producing a spectrum.

Then from a distance I saw a silhouette of something staggering towards me. As it drew near, I could sense how huge and and demonic it was. I could feel its destructibility.

The air turned hostile as it's rogue red eyes pierced through my tiny body. It was suddenly so near that I could feel its dreadful presence, the toxic smell it emenated from its bloody mouth. I could see death with my eyes.

I drew back in panic my eyes still fixed on the creature as it menacingly staggered towards me sneering wickedly.

It was surely meant for destruction and nothing could stop it.

I started frisking myself in search for a weapon but I found none.

I turned around and started running away from it.

It lurched at me charged by my fearful nature. I could not outrun it .

Suddenly, it pounced on me and held my right leg tightly with its long sharp claws.

I fell down with a thud groaning in pain. Triumphantly, it hovered above me, opening its devilish mouth which was dripping with stinking saliva smelling decaying eggs.

It was about to stab my neck with its sharpest canine when a huge log of wood hit it on the head. It gave out a loud shrill of anger and pain. My rescuer was a girl that I could not see her face clearly.

Enraged, the creature surged towards the girl but she did something that shocked me. She stretched both hands while her eyes were fixed at the creature and two trees that had fell on her either side began to rise in the air. In an instant, she directed them towards the creature. The two trees floated swiftly in the air towards their target.

The two hits were so fatal that the creature started to fade away shrieking in excruciating pain.

I took my glance back to my rescuer but she was gone, just like she came - anonymously.

The air returned to normal with the sun up high in the sky; a bleak golden morning. I woke up.

As I sat in my room the rest of that evening, I could not help but shudder at the kind of dream I just had .

Who was that creature?Why did it want to kill me?Who was that girl? Why did she save me? Why did she disappear immediately?

But then the yellow tinge in her eyes seemed familiar. Where had I seen it?