Lifeline

The Mysterious Boy

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hilliard's Town. Our town is simple and has a serene feeling to it, at the end of our village is a beach where my family and I usually hang out during the summers. There are different shops, ice cream parlor, restaurants, bookstores, you name it, and of course a single school, Hilliard School of Excellence. We've been living here since I was born but it was not always the hometown of my ancestors. We are originally from England but my great-great-grandfather decided to migrate here because of some feud between a close family friend and poof here we are at the United States of America.

I stared at the towering castle in front of me, for me, our school depicts an old haunted castle where centuries before royal families reside to plot the murder of each other. Its ambiance is a bit overwhelming and a little bit scary, especially if you're new to the place. The vast exterior of the school gives you an essence of freedom since its all covered in grass and in the middle is a pathway covered in cobbled stones. The entrance is protected by giant oak doors, in which a huge troll could easily fit in. The stoned walls serve as a witness to the hidden history of the establishment before me.

People started gathering at the entrance before I decided to enter and start my last year at this school. I closed my umbrella with a heavy heart and left it at the stand in front of our school, finally welcoming the spirit of a new school year. Once inside I noticed the different shade of brightness from each student, some shining brightly than the others and some just shining brightly. Nothing out of the ordinary so I went for my locker and left my other books inside before getting my class schedule in the office. I found out that my first subject is Ancient History and I was really glad because I'm in love with it.

I proceeded to my class which is on the second floor of the establishment, as I walked through the second-floor hallway, I noticed that fewer students were present but then again most students hate taking History classes. I shrugged my shoulders and entered my classroom. No teacher is present in the room and only 2-3 students were already inside at that time so I took the seat in front since I want to hear everything that the teacher will be discussing to us. A few minutes later, more students started entering the room and at the final bell, our teacher entered the room. He seems new, he looks young to be a professor, his hair is black, eyes also black and his complexion is pale. I hear some girls sighing at the back of the room and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at them, he does not look handsome at all, at least for me.

"Good morning" He greeted. "I'm Professor Collins and I will be your ancient history teacher. I am new here and I graduated from Cambridge-"

Before he could finish anything, a boy appeared at the door and I was immediately captivated by his presence. Not because of his perfect messy black hair nor his mesmerizing grey eyes but the color of glow in his wrist. The color is pitch black not the original yellow and it was not glowing at all, It made him more intriguing to my perspective.

 "Sorry I'm late," he said in a deep voice "I got lost on my way here". 

Our professor nodded and signal for him to sit down and to my luck, he choose to sat next to me, wonderful really wonderful.

I pretend not to notice his presence but I couldn't help but be disturbed by the dark aura on his wrist, as if it's talking to me, mocking my knowledge and curiosity. I was trying so hard not to notice him that I didn't actually notice that we were asked to be paired for our project for the whole school year and to make things worst he was actually trying to catch my attention.

 "Hey" he called again and I realized that I couldn't run from this so I turned to look at him. 

I was taken aback for how close he is, he was leaning too much and our nose is almost touching, I feel my blush started to creep up my face and I moved back immediately. I noticed that he was also blushing lightly but he offered me an apologetic smile. 

"Sorry about that", he said. 

"It's okay," I said returning the smile. I regained my composure and he turned his chair slightly towards me so that we could easily talk.

"I'm Tristan Xavier Lacuna" he offered his hand which I shook

"Lacuna in Latin means a blank space" I informed him "and I am Juliette Aria Copland"

"So you know Latin?" He asked giving me a lopsided grin which I bet would make thousands of girls swoon

"A little bit" I smiled

That is how I met my first friend in the whole town of Halliard. I never had a friend before, first, they think I'm too weird because, during my junior year, I still used to freak out whenever I see someone whose glow suddenly vanished, making me a peculiar to this school. Your social status never changes in high school so here I am, a total outcast, I was contented since I knew that I will be leaving this place and the people here are not actually good influence. It is also a good thing not to be attached with someone especially when you can easily predict their deaths.

When the class ended, I was expecting that Tristan would leave me alone and go find new friends but I was astonished when he was still waiting for me. I stared at him weirdly and he looked back as if wondering what I was thinking. 

"Do you need some help going to your next class?" I asked breaking the silence. 

"Yes, and I want to tag along with you if that's okay?" He asked shyly which made him look a bit cute. 

"You don't want to tag along with me, believe me," I warned. 

He looks confused, "but why?" 

"If you hang out with me, you will be deprived of any social encounter with others" I reasoned out. 

"It's okay," he said enthusiastically. I shrugged my shoulders and let him follow me out of the hallway.

"What's your next class?" I asked as we walked in the crowded hallway

"I got biology," he said while checking out his program sheet.

"Great! I could drop you off first before my class" I said happily since I will be passing by his classroom before mine.

We fall into a comfortable silence and I couldn't help staring at his wrist, I never saw something like that before and I hope that grandma has an explanation for that. I noticed that some girls are ogling at him openly and when they turn to look me, they glared. I turned to look at Tristan waiting for his reaction of confusion or at least a sign of awkwardness or embarrassment but nothing is evident or he's just good at hiding it. When we arrived at his classroom, I motioned for him to stop and nodded towards the door.

 "This is Biology class" I informed him.

 "Thank you" He smiled.

I turned to leave him but he grabbed my wrist, "Do you think I could join you for lunch?"

He looks so vulnerable and scared like as if I would reject him and that's how I realized how innocent this guy was, how could he not see that I'm an outcast or that his look is alluring enough to belong to the popular squad. I just noddedmy head in reply and he looks so relieved, then he waves before taking his seat.