Chapter One

1 Sky

I stood outside the school gate, gazing at the building without interest. It walls were painted white and blue and the school motto had been printed in large capital letters: Integrity For Success. It'd been pretty obvious why my adopted parents, Rayne and Celia Ash, had decided to send me there.

I doubted that it would have much effect. The last three schools I had been in had only made me feel and act worse. Teachers were unreasonable and biased. Friends and enemies were hardly different from one another. Everyone was a dangerous stranger who could destroy you with just words. It had happened to me before.

Well, it's a new school. A new life. I'm not about to let that happen again, I thought.

The school uniform, like the school, was blue and white. The dark-blue, knee-length skirts were pleated and the blouse was plain white and had to be tucked in. The boys wore long dark blue pants and plain white shirts. Everyone had to wear a matching blue jacket with the school emblem. You could wear any shoes you wanted and makeup was allowed. Girls were allowed to keep their hair untied.

Being who I am, I couldn't help it. I folded my skirt to shorten it. My blouse was untucked. The jacket was tied around my waist. I just thought that it was easier to move around that way, and anyway, the weather was too hot for anyone to wear those things. Why would anyone want to wear such thick and long clothes?

It was nine forty when I arrived at school. The students were already in class, studying. I was late by almost two hours. I wondered what they were going to think if I turned up in the middle of the lesson. I decided it would be easier to skip the lesson so it would go uninterrupted and just go for the next one, which was Geography. I hadn't meant anything bad about it, honest.

The smell of food wafted out of the home econs room. I wondered what they were cooking. I was certain I'd smelled it before, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. I walked around the school, familiarising myself with where everything was and putting all my things in the locker. I was surprised by how clean and neat everything was. I could almost see my reflection on the polished floor. Ew.

I had just settled down at the deserted basketball court when a short, round man with thinning hair and sweat stains underneath his armpits approached me. I almost laughed out loud when I saw him, quite literally bouncing towards me. I mean, he was like a piece of wobbling jelly on a pair of stubby, little pencils. His face was red as a tomato and sweat was dripping off his thick Hitler-styled moustache. His little piggy eyes and overall appearance reminded me alot of Uncle Vernon from Harry Potter, and not in a nice way.

"What are you still doing here? Lessons have already started. go to your class immediately," he barked, wiping the sweat with a grubby handkerchief. I was unsurprised that he felt he could order me around like that. If he wasn't a teacher, he definitely wouldn't have dared.

"You think you can order me around just because you're a teacher. Don't you know that if you weren't one you'd probably be dead by now? You should at least be more polite." I glared at him, standing up and walking away. He only could only stare back at me, his mouth agape in outrage and shock, as I left.

I didn't know why, but for a moment, I could've sworn had felt a strange surge of energy in the air, like an electric shock. My hands were trembling slightly, though I was pretty sure it wasn't from fear.

Damn it, I cursed silently. My first day and I've already made a new enemy, and it just has to be a teacher, doesn't it?

The bell rang. Quickly, I walked back into the school, keeping my head down. I realised that I'd forgotten to wash off the red highlights in my hair. It would be pointless to deny anything now. I would be easily identifiable in this school full of law-abiding nerds -I mean, students. But it was okay. After all, it was only my first day. And anyways, it wasn't as if anything else was going to happen. I'd make sure that I wouldn't go out of line again.

Students were everywhere. The corridors were filled with the sound of people talking and proceeding to their next class. My skin prickled uncomfortably, goosebumps forming on my arms. I didn't like being in cramped spaces with lots of people. Especially since all of them had their attention focused on me. It was like being stabbed by tons of needles.

I could tell what they were thinking, just looking at them. Sniggering, pointing fingers. Some of them were pretending not to notice me, but I could see through it almost as clearly as glass. A group of girls wearing hot pink tank tops and miniskirts walked past, their expressions full of scorn and spite. I almost choked on the overwhelming smell of perfume.

Disposable life-sized Barbies, I thought. I ignored them, quickly walking over to my locker and getting my stuff for Geography.

"You're new around here," a voice said. It sounded like it was trying not to laugh.

I whipped around. My eyes widened with surprise. "Robin?!"

He towered over me. I only reached up to his jaw. That was the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed was a mess of long, light brown, almost blonde hair, trailing down to his neck. His fringe was so thick it covered his eyes. He had a huge, toothy grin on his face, his canines prominent.

Yep, definitely Robin.

For a moment, I stood there, frozen like a statue. The next moment I was in his arms, the air squeezed right out of my lungs.

"It's been a while," he said, quietly. I wanted to laugh but my throat kind of closed up and I was being hugged to death anyway, so I didn't.

When we finally stopped hugging, I found myself in the centre of attention... again. Everyone was staring. My face burned and tried to ignore it. Robin, however, seemed not to notice anyone around. He was grinning like an idiot, which isn't too hard for him to do. He flipped his hair out of his eyes, in a Bieber-ish way so that he could get a better look at me. His eyes were a strong, clear iceberg blue. I was almost surprised by how startlingly alike he looked from the last time we'd met.

A few words about Robin. He was a childhood friend of mine. My best guy friend. He'd left for a short period of time, something about his granddad being ill. In that time, my family got an emergency call and we had to go overseas for a business trip. By the time Robin came back, I was gone. Robin and I hadn't been in touch, so it I had assumed it'd be kind of awkward, but I was way wrong.