The Forgotten White Rose

The New Beginning

It's the first day of school, and I'm not ready. Before this, I lived in a small town and attended a private school. Now, I am in Denver, Colorado, and going to a big public school. I am only nervous because I look a little different than everyone. In my world, everyone has a soulmate. The way you find yours is by your hair. Everyone has a streak of their soulmate's hair color within theirs. Me? I have all-white hair—no other color, which means no soulmate. I'm okay with that.

"Ivory honey, time to go! Your keys are in the kitchen!" my aunt shouts from downstairs. I get up, grab my keys, and drive towards what might be actual hell. When I arrive, I look at the building and sigh. It's huge, maybe even a little too much. As I enter the parking lot, I feel everyone's eyes toward me. Not surprising because of my looks. Along with my white hair, I have white eyes. I have tan skin and freckles, which makes my features stand out more.

I decide to ignore everyone and walk into the building. I go to the front office and ask the lady at the front desk for my schedule. "Yes, Ivory Rae? Here you go," she says with a genuine smile. I smile back and walk to my first class: AP Biology. Luckily, I'm the first one in the classroom and sit in the back of the classroom. When people file into the room, they instantly look at me—some with disgust, curiosity, and even jealousy. About 5 minutes before the bell rings, a girl sits next to me.

"Hi," I whisper. She turns, looks at me with curious eyes, and smiles.

"Hi, I'm Avielle," she whispers back.

"Ivory," I say as I stick my hand out. She shakes it right as the bell rings. I decided to look around the classroom to look at the other students. As I look around, the hairs on my neck start to stand up. I glance to the corner of the room and see emerald green eyes staring straight at me. This man was staring at me with a raised eyebrow. He looked tall, maybe about 6'5, which is rare to see these days. He had a light dusting of freckles across his whole face. I glanced at his hair to see if he had his soulmate's streak of hair. He did, and it was white? I've never known anyone else with white hair. Maybe I'll see them here.

The man is still glancing at me with curious eyes. I make eye contact with him and instantly feel my world shift. It's as if it is only us. I'm unsure if he feels it, too, because his expression doesn't change. I look away and avoid him for the rest of the class. The first half of the day ends up going by in a blur. Now, it is lunchtime.

I opened my bag, and thankfully, my aunt packed me lunch. She is the best. I end up taking a seat at the end of one of the long lunch tables. As I open my lunch, I feel someone sit across from me. I glance up and see Avielle looking at me with a bright smile and making sure to flash her k9's at me.

"Ivory, I was going to tell you I-" she cringes as I open my fruit. Her pupils dilate hard as she looks down at my Lunarshade berries.

"You eat that?" she asks as she sniffs the air and fake gags.

"I do," I say as I pop one in my mouth. She shakes her head.

"Weirdo. Anyway, I was going to say I love your hair and eyes. They're quite enchanting," she says as another girl sits beside her.

"Thank you," I say with a smile. The girl that had sat down next to her had the same emerald eyes as the boy in my first hour. She even looks like him. Probably his sister.

As lunch ticks by, I talk to Avielle and the other girl, Saraya. This is the first time I've thoroughly enjoyed having a conversation at school. After lunch, I only have one class, which is AP Calculus. I make my way in, and there are not many people there—about only 7. I decide to sit in the front of this class beause math is my favorite. Right as the bell rings, I feel someone sit to my left. It was the boy from first hour an right behind him sat a girl with white hair and a black streak, matching his hair.

"You're Ivory right?" the girl says to me as she sticks out her hand with acrylic like talons.

"Yes," I say as I shake her hand. However, as soon as we touch I get a sharp pain in my mouth.

Did I not mention that I am a vampire hybrid?