Twelve Years Ago Today

Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter

Present day

Two boys stood on the edge of a playground. They stood a few feet apart, fists at the ready. One boy, the larger of the two stood bloodied at the lips, and the smaller had barely a scratch on him. He prepared to throw another punch when a voice came from behind him.

"Stop your stupid fighting, boy. It's time to head home."

"Aww, It was just about to get good!" James was the spitting image of his dad: caring, comedic, and tough. He was constantly picked on due to his abnormal hair color: pure white. Nothing could stain it either. And because of that, he was often picked on by larger and older kids.

"Do as I say, boy. I'm very late for a meeting as is, and I'd like to not be even more late. You're both idiots for fighting on school grounds, so just leave him." James bounded away from the fight and started to walk alongside Pryce.

"Okay, pops. Just know I'm not done with him yet."

"Yes, you are. He's not going to be picking on you again. You've hurt him enough to prove a point, trust me." Pryce scoffed at the bloody teen.

Blake Pryce; a grizzled military veteran, and adoptive father to James. He took over as his parents when they were captured and presumed dead. His stocky and muscular physique could convince someone he wasn't actually 62, but rather in his mid-40's. He has a deep scar on his left thigh after he was shot twice during his service 23 years ago. After being shot, he continued serving for 3 years before retiring. When he did retire, he kept in close contact with all of those he served alongside with, and when he saw on the news that the U.S. had turned into a dictatorship, he realized what his duty and purpose now became.

Pryce not only was secretly the Governor of the Rebellion, but also a very good father to James. He would've never had kids, but ever since Jamison and Krystal were captured, he had raised him as if he were his own. He sent an intimidating glance at the teen, causing them to back down.

"So why's there a meeting today? They usually happen every other month, and the last one was 3 days ago. Is something wrong?"

"Probably. I'm not called in on the fly unless it's an emergency. This would probably go downhill if I'm not there soon. Come on."

They hopped into a car, and drove off. Pryce wasn't the best driver when he was rushing, but he managed to not kill them. When they finally arrived after an hour or so of driving, Pryce stepped out, looking grim, clutching his fists and gritting his teeth.

"Stay here. Do your homework or something, I don't care. Just don't let anyone see you. I mean it: no one."

* * *

"I've sat here for at least an hour. Nobody's walked by, not near the car, not in (or out) of the building, not even to or from the hippie corner store. Not even animals; it's creepy." He groaned; "How long does this take?! He could've at least left the radio on..." James trailed off in my complaining, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

"H-huh? Wait, he's, not back yet? Uhh, he's never left me alone for this long with these meetings. This doesn't seem good." He peered out the window to see that he was in the only car left in the lot. Strange, this lot was full when we got here... meh, I don't really care. More time to myself. Without warning, there came a knock on the window. It's... a person? Wait, it's just a kid. Do I... do I know them?" James slowly lowers the window, just enough so that sound wouldn't be muffled by the barrier.

"H-hi. Mind if I ask why you were knocking on the window? And while I'm at it, have we met before?" James stared at the figure standing outside the window.

"Me? Nope, never. Never met ya before. I just thought you had funny hair. It's so pretty!" The voice was higher than he was expecting, and with the last 2 comments, James went from annoyed, to vaguely confused.

"Okay, I get the 'funny hair' comment a lot, but my hair looks... pretty?" James stared out the window, trying to get a better look at the girl he was talking to.

"Yeah! I've never seen someone with white hair! Are you like me?" The girl was sounding more and more excited as she talked.

"Uh, like you? You mean like a teenager? 'Cause we're both teenagers, but I don't think that's exactly what you mean." He thought the girl was messing with him.

"Like me! How do you not know? You're here, aren't you? You must be like me. You gotta!" The girl's hood started to slide back with how exaggerated she was acting, giving a better view of her face. It was plain, save for her eyes that seemed to nearly glow a dark brown. Her hair was silver, brushed back into the hood."

"Uh, I'm not sure I understand fully, but if you're asking if I'm like you with how we both have similarly colored hair, then yeah, I guess I am like you." James felt like something was off already, but to see someone else show up out of the blue with hair like his gave him an odd feeling. Maybe I should go and see if dad knows who this girl is. "Hey, why don't we talk inside? I'm sure it'd be warmer in there." He motioned towards the building as he stepped out of the car.

"Sure! Mr. Pryce is in there, right? He'd know if I'm like you!" She said casually, while walking alongside James.

"Wait, you know my dad?" 

And that's Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter! I've had this this typed up for a little bit, and I decided that it may as well be time to post it. Not like anyone's reading this, but I still want to publish this. I'll post the next chapter after I think I've both written enough, and reviewed it. Happy trails until then!