December

.One.

Their thoughts spiraled around her mind - like a tornado - and her hands shook. She wasn't used to hearing so many thoughts, which is why she usually avoided crowded places. People thought she was a freak, but she had a power that could destroy even the most protected people.

But, this morning, she knew that in order to get through the day she would need some caffeine, which brought her to the small coffee shop on her walk to school. The place was packed to the brim, and the persistent stream of thoughts blended into a constant hum at the back of her mind.

It was enough to cause a distraction when the irritated barista asked her what she wanted. She couldn't help but concentrate at the guy by the window that was meeting his girl he was cheating on his wife with. She also couldn't help but wonder about the girl in the back who wanted nothing more than to kiss one of the employees.

The very employee who was standing directly in front of her.

"Can I help you?" He asked again, his tone even more agitated. It was early in the morning, and he didn't want to be here. She could tell by his thoughts that he had a bad night the previous evening, and that he has no idea that the girl was in love with him.

"L-large Chai Latte, please," The girl stammered, blushing at knowing something that was so personal. Or, rather, knowing something that he didn't know.

"Name?" He asked.

"December," The girl answered.

The barista raised his eyebrows at her, and December knew he was wondering if she was giving him a fake name. Who would name their kid after a month? The boy thought. He muttered off her total, and December handed him a ten.

"Keep the change," December said, giving him a small smile. The boy - his name tag read "Andrew" - looked at her in surprise. Before he could respond, she leaned a little bit closer to him and said. "That girl? In the plaid shirt in the back. She likes you."

Andrew looked over his shoulder, eyes locking on the girl. He looked back to December, and through his thoughts he wondered how December had known that. His eyes had lit up and before he could respond, December grabbed her now finished drink, turned around and walked through the door and outside.

She had made his day.

December didn't normally use her powers like that - interfering in people's lives - but she knew if she hadn't done something to cheer that boy up he was going to blow soon.

She pulled her sweater a little bit tighter around her as her flats pressed on the dead leaves, crunching them. Her curly, dark brown hair fell around her shoulders, pushed around by the light wind.

Washington High School loomed in front of her.

December was sixteen years old, a Junior here. It wasn't that she hated high school - in fact, she loved to learn. Not only that, she could choose to read the words on a page of a book or an assignment, instead of them being shoved down her throat like the thoughts of her peers.

December was glad when she pulled open the door of Washington High School and the warm air encircled her. Despite her winter-esque name, she'd never been one for cold. Although, a book and a cup of warm hot chocolate were appealing.

It was a Friday night, which meant that there was a big football game on tonight. The guys were all wearing their jerseys, and the cheerleaders were wearing their uniforms. And most of them hiked their skirt up WAY too high. December found herself blushing at how blatantly bold they were with their clothing. She didn't even own anything that short.

All of them were thinking about nothing but the game, the party afterward and getting laid. Cheerleaders, football players and students who were attending's minds were all buzzing with thoughts of the weekend before them.

"Freak."

Cori Anderson had walked around the corner, bumping her shoulder into December's on purpose to get past her. Cori had always - always - hated December. The only reason Cori hated December was when December first came to the school her freshman year, she tried to get December to join her Bimbo Squad.

December declined, for obvious reasons. The "popular crowd" had thoughts that were filled with nothing but shallowness and backstabbing. And she wanted nothing to do with it. So, from then on out Cori had it out for her.

"Maybe you shouldn't shop at Goodwill. You might have more friends," Cori hissed before walking away.

After December opened her locker, she closed her eyes and let the cool metal rest against her forehead. She wished more than anything that she could hate Cori Anderson. She wanted so badly to loathe the girl that was so mean to her.

But she couldn't.

Cori's home life was Hell. December sat behind her English class, and when Cori's thoughts weren't on partying, boys and cheerleading she was thinking about how her Dad was always on "business trips" and her mom was constantly drunk. December had saw that Cori knew her father was cheating on her mother - and it broke her heart.

So as much as Cori was a Queen Bitch to December, she didn't have it in her heart to dislike her.

"Are we going to the game tonight?"

If December hadn't heard her best friends thoughts as she approached, the sudden words at her ear would have made her jump. She straightened up, raising her eyebrows at Jenna. Surely, she wasn't serious.

"You know I don't go to those things," December responded.

"Please?"

Jenna really wanted her to go, December could tell. If she didn't, Jenna was going to sit in the stands by herself. She didn't normally give in to things like this, but the sight in Jenna's head was making her feel bad.

"Alright," December relented.

Jenna left to go to class, and December grabbed her book, notebook and folder for her first hour history class. There was buzz in others students heads about a new student, and December did her best to ignore it. She didn't like when new kids came.

When they were good looking, the new kids were sucked into the popular crowd. And when they weren't, they were outcasted. She hated how shallow her classmates were. She shut her locker and started on her way to room 104.

December slipped into her seat at the back middle row of the classroom. She put her things neatly on the desk, lining her pens up perfectly. December practically had OCD when it came to school. She wanted to get every assignment perfect. It was the one thing she could control.

Her classmates thought it was strange that she had 4.2 GPA. Her lowest grade was a 99.7, and it was something Cori and her minions made fun of her a lot for.

Mr. Smith gave them an assignment to work on quietly for the day, and it was an article on The Holocaust with an attached packet to answer questions with. December liked History class and Mr. Smith the best.

He knew that December was much smarter than her classmates, and he challenged her. He would give her extra (optional) assignments and extra credit for them. He did this for a lot of the gifted students since Washington High School didn't offer an AP program.

It wasn't that the school was broke, just that it chose to spend more of their money on programs like football.

December was hardly paying attention when the door opened halfway through the class. She was consumed in her assignment, wanting to get it done before class was over so she didn't have to worry about it this weekend.

"Class, meet our new student. Kaiden Reynolds."

Unwillingly, she looked up.

December's heart caught in her throat at the sight of the boy, and she found that she couldn't breathe very well. It wasn't his handsome features that caught December off guard, or the way that he was tall and muscly. Not even the way he had an easy smile on his face.

It was that she couldn't read a single thought of his.