Protected One Series: Book One- Protected

A New Perspective

I walked up to Halligan High School, home of the Tigers. My dark brown, almost black, hair blew in the breeze, and my ice blue eyes watched as kids all around me were talking about the new field trip that's soon to come. "Hey, Stella, wait up!" my best friend, Melanie Velvet, said. I stopped and turned around, waiting for her, "Hey, Mel," I said. Melanie is very pretty. She has long red hair that goes a little past her shoulders, and big, round hazel eyes. She smiled and caught up with me. The bell rang signaling it was time to hurry up and get to class. "Oh yeah! Are you ready for the trip to the museum?" Mel asked anxiously. I nodded, "I guess so. I really want to see the new art pieces," I said excitedly. We hurried to our first class, AP Chemistry. Today was the first day of our lab.

Mr. Vail, our teacher, is a young man around his mid to early twenties. He has one green eye and one light brown eye, with sandy blonde hair. Overall, for an older guy, he's handsome, I guess. Mr. Vail began the class as soon as everyone was seated. "Ok. Knowing that you would all choose your friends for partners, and not get anything done, I chose your partners," he said. Everyone sighed. "This gives everyone a chance to get to know each other, and it will be fair for those who don't know anyone in this class," he continued. He began assigning partners, "Ok, first, is Adrian Layre and Melanie Velvet." Adrian is a tall boy with light brown hair and light brown eyes to match. Soon, almost everyone got a partner, except for me.

"Astella Twilight, your partner should be here shortly-" he was cut off by the sound of the door opening. "Here he is now," Mr. Vail said. A guy with black hair and light grey eyes walked in. His eyes are so... unusual. The guy that walked in gave Mr. Vail his schedule, to sign, and sat down in the last seat available, which was next to me. "...Hi..." I said quietly to him. He didn't say anything, and just leaned back in his chair. "This is Mr. Zander Drake," Mr. Vail said. A few hands shot up, begging for their questions to be answered. Mr. Vail picked one student, who asked, "If he's new, why'd you have to sign his schedule for him being late?" Mr. Vail shook his head, "Technically, he's not new. He was supposed to be here a few weeks ago, but due to family problems, he wasn't able to come. Now, any more questions?" he asked. Everyone shook their head no, and soon, our lab began.

Since Zander didn't want to talk, he just had me do the project by myself. Well, that was until he warned me about something, "I wouldn't put that in there if I were you," he said, sitting slightly away from me. "Why?" I asked, suddenly curious. "Because, it will cause an extreme reaction, meaning, it would cause an explosion," he said. I froze. Why hadn't he said something before? No one in the class had heard him, so I guess it was a good thing. "Well, what do I do?" I asked frantically. He scooted over, taking the vials and containers away, but being extremely cautious of not touching me. What is his problem? Does he have germ- o-phobia?

He finished the project easily, and sat back in his chair again. Mr. Vail dismissed us, and Zander left very quickly, giving me a quick glance. I told Mel that I'd wait for her by our next class, but ended up getting side-tracked. As I walked up the stairs to my next class, Art History, I saw Zander standing outside by a bench, talking on his phone. He looked mad and confused. He yelled, quietly, and then sighed. He said something in the phone again, but stopped once he saw me through the open window. He said one last thing that, for some reason, sent shivers down my spine, and then disappeared. The wind blew through the window, carrying Zander's words... "Don't be discovered..."

I walked down the quiet corridors, thinking of what Zander said. So many questions came to mind. Who was he talking to? What did he mean by "Don't be discovered?" and the question bugging me the most was, What did he do that he can't be caught doing?

I was so caught up in my thoughts; I hadn't heard the bell ring. I went to class, and didn't really pay attention to the teacher, only Zander, who sits in front of me. After all my classes, I realized I had all of them with Zander. It was a little too convenient. I wanted to know what in the world was going on, and I was determined to find out. Even if it was something, unspeakable.