I Am Number Four

Chapter Six: Meeting John Smith

It had been nearly a week since Avalon had started school in Paradise, during which John had settled in and prepared to start his new school; he and Henri were currently sat in the truck facing the school watching the students with interest. 

"Remember, don't show anyone how intelligent you really are, and try to blend in," Henri murmured before John could climb out of the truck with his bag, the last thing that they needed was to attract attention again. 

It had taken a lot of convincing for Henri to agree to allow John to attend a new school, especially after seeing how attached John had gotten to his last one; they didn't need attention now that the Mogadorians were looking for them. 

Henri sighed looking at his 'son' who nodded once before he climbed out of the car so that he could head inside and get started on getting blending in. 

"And remember... be ready for your legacies. They will appear any day now, I'm only one phone call away," Henri warned leaning over to speak to John while John, who shouldered his bag before he shut the door and walked away without a word making Henri frown. 

"What's the bet he wasn't even listening," Henri muttered with a shake of his head, he drove away wanting to get on his own business sorted out. 

John sighed walking up the stairs and into the school, blending in with the crowd around him; he knew the rules all too well after attending fifteen or twenty other schools in the past few years. 

He never stayed long enough to make friends like he did in California and John doubted that Henri would allow him that luxury again with Three dead. 

As John walked down the main corridor he spotted two girls moving between the clicks, the first was a beautiful blonde with blue eyes that was taking pictures of people as she passed while the other was someone John hadn't expected to see again. 

He stood frozen for a second before shaking his head and diving into the office; unaware that he had caught the attention of both of the girls however only one of them followed him.

***

Standing in the office waiting to receive his timetable, John couldn't help but feel someone's eyes on him; the hairs on the back of his head stood on end and it made him wonder if he had made the right decision to come to school here. 

"You must be the new kid," a soft voice greeted making John jump before turning around to face the voice; he turned around and was surprised to come face to face with the blonde with the camera from the corridor. 

His heart pounded in his chest worried until he realised that she was alone, John didn't know what would happen when he run into Avalon but he hoped that she wouldn't blow his cover. 

"Yes that's me, John Smith," John murmured it was still strange to say his new name after being Daniel Jones for so long and he was sure that people would notice how plain and boring it was. 

It was meant to be able to hide him better from those who wished to kill him and John doubted that it would work; Three had been completely off the grid when the Mogadorians found him. 

"Sarah Hart," Sarah replied smiling at him, she couldn't help but admire how good looking he was and it was sort of nice to have someone else that wasn't going to judge her around. 

John quickly turned and thanked the receptionist as she handed him, his timetable and locker number wanting nothing more than to get to class before it started. 

Reaching over, Sarah took John's locker number and timetable to see where he would be going; she was a little disappointed to see that he didn't have a lot of classes with her.

"Let's see... ah locker 234," Sarah said before leading John from the reception and down the corridor; she ignored the looks that they gained as they went.

Sarah didn't care what anyone else thought, she couldn't wait to graduate and put all these people behind her; she was tired of being judged by the lies that her idiot of an ex-boyfriend had spread about her. 

"So where did you move from?" Sarah asked curiously while they walked down the corridor, she ignored the glares from Mark and his friends which caught John's attention. 

He didn't know what it was but John had a feeling that he wasn't going to be staying off the radar here, he doubted that Henri would be pleased about the attention he would receive. 

"Santa Fe, New Mexico," John replied with ease before he spotted the brunette that had been with Sarah before; he swallowed wondering what was going to happen now.

There was no way that Avalon wasn't going to recognise him and John knew that the moment that Henri found out that she was here they would be on the move again. 

"This is you, and this is my good friend Ava, she moved here last week from Florida," Sarah introduced grinning at her best friend, she was so glad that Avalon had moved here and she hoped that she stayed until they graduated. 

Avalon turned to greet the new kid but stopped when she saw who it was; she was pleasantly surprised to see Daniel from back in California standing before her and couldn't help but wonder what he was doing here. 

"Ava, this is John; he just moved here from Santa Fe," Sarah said taking no notice of the stunned look on both of their faces; Avalon cleared her throat before looking at John knowing that it was best to go along with it. 

She had no idea why John had changed his name but she guessed it might have something to do with the glowing leg incident; she didn't blame him for wanting to hide away from that.

"It's nice to meet you," Avalon said with a polite smile, she was going to reveal that she had known him before and she guessed that he had his reasons for being here under a different name. 

Avalon noticed that Sarah wasn't paying attention to them anymore, it was a few more seconds before she darted away; no sooner than Sarah was out of hearing range than the pair let out a sigh of relief. 

"Your name's John now?" Avalon mused making John smile before he opened his own locker, it was so odd to be together again and it allowed them to start afresh and be friends. 

John was pleased to see her again and it made things better that she hadn't said anything about having met him in Florida to Sarah; it was one less thing that he had to worry about. 

"My dad thought it would be easier to avoid being recognised after what happened back in California," John lied simply, not sure if he should call Henri; he was sure that his Cêpan would want to know about this. 

However, John knew without a shadow of a doubt, that once he told Henri that Avalon was here that they would leave without warning; this was the last thing that John wanted. 

"Makes perfect sense," Avalon replied picking up her bag and smiling, John nodded before he noticed Mark was watching the pair, a frown firmly set on his face. 

John looked thoughtful for a minute before making a decision he knew Henri, would hate, he wasn't just going to disappear again and the connection that he seemed to share with Avalon made him sure he wouldn't regret this.