His return.

FIRST CHAPTER

Here's how things are when you're different in high school - you sit on the closed toilet seat and eat a snack. It's not my favorite place to have lunch, but it's the only place where I can be alone and away.

It's not very glamorous and it's gross, but hey, at least Brittay and Riley won't harass me eating my peanut butter and jam sandwich.

I hear the school bathroom door click creakingly and I breathe a sigh of relief when I realize it's just the cleaning lady. He always gives me a frantic nod when he sees me here, but never says anything. I like him for that. He knows I'm hiding and I just need some space.

Every school break is the same story. Like a stupid counter that makes me cringe every time. Two of them are waiting for me in the canteen, girls who wear the latest brands, have the most expensive hairstyles and talk about social networks as if they are important things in life. It's just that I'm not part of their story.

I'm just Bella, a girl whose mom is a scientist and who never had a real friend in this school.

When I was younger, it was easier. Kids were just kids, and I was the weird one, but no one held it against me. But now? Everything is different. Everyone became ruthless.

Even those who smile to your face, later make fun of you. And I... I didn't fit in. Maybe because I was always more interested in science and history than fashion and gossip. Maybe because I'd rather be with books than at a barbecue or a party.

Sometimes I wonder if everything would have been different if my dad hadn't left. Mother says that it is not important, that everything is fine, but I know that it is not. She works too much, she's in the lab almost all day, and when she gets home, she's too tired to talk. So even at home I feel like I'm in the bathroom—hidden, isolated and ignored.

The sound of the school bell brings me back to reality. He sounds harsh and uncomfortable, just like everything else in this school. I pull a towel from my bag, wipe my hands and throw the leftover sandwich in the trash. I have to get back to class. A few more hours of staring at books and listening to teachers talk about things I already know.

But mom will pick me up at school. Then we will go to the laboratory and study the results of her experiments.

And I will help her, learn something new, be part of something real. It's my place, where I feel like I belong, even if the rest of the world doesn't understand me.

I take a deep breath and leave the toilet, ready to face the rest of the day.

***

As I walk towards the classroom, the corridors are always crowded, students rush from one end to the other, and I try to pass through the crowd without paying too much attention. But then I see him-Luke.

He is standing with his friends, near the locker, smiling and looking like every day is perfect for him. He is tall, with black hair that falls over his forehead, with the kind of smile that could melt the ice in Antarctica.

Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but really, every time I see him, my heart races and my cheeks get hot. I'm not the only one. In Luke has a crush  almost all the girls at school.

His friends are the popular guys from the school football team, and everyone always laughs at his jokes. He's the type of guy everyone wants to be or at least be close to. I, on the other hand, feel like a ghost when I walk past him. Sometimes I wonder if he even notices me. Probably not.

Today he's dressed in casual jeans and a t-shirt with the logo of a band I've probably never heard of. I'm wearing my usual school clothes—something comfortable but inconspicuous to avoid unnecessary attention.