Lux Et Tenebrae

The girl whose long golden locks shone

Jace Marcelo had always found most things boring. Once in a while he would find something interesting like playing sports, participating in plays and competitions. But he would only enjoy them temporarily. The problem was that Jace was good at everything he did. Any challenge that came his way, he would always conquer it. He was the most popular boy in his school because of his knack for being good at everything. Well, that and the fact that he was also the most good-looking boy in school. The girls and a couple of boys loved his electric, bright blue eyes and his wavy, brown-blond hair. Jace decided to stick to doing sports just to occupy his time, so he was definitely fit. Everyone, apart from some green-eyed monsters, loved Jace Marcelo.

Jace walked into the classroom, sat in his usual seat near the window and gazed through the opaque glass with an indifferent expression his face. Droplets of rain streaked down to the window pane, the clouds above were a dull, grey colour, claps of thunder could be heard miles away and rain poured down from the darkness of the sky and drowned the emerald grass that once brightened under the rays of the sunlight. It had been raining for seven days and mother nature didn't seem like she was going to change her mood.

So it was a surprise when the sombre clouds disappeared and revealed the brightness of the sun. The bright, glowing orb of light was back again and had already started to evaporate the drops of rain. A girl walked into the classroom. Jace turned to look at her and was astonished by her beauty; the weird thing was that she was too beautiful. It fact it was quite overwhelming. He had never seen a human look so stunning. The girl had long strawberry-blonde curls that cascaded down her back, her onyx, green-blue eyes glistened in the sunlight and her petite frame made her look adorable, but something about her made him think that she was nothing like a little kitten. Everyone was mesmerised by her and even the teacher couldn't help but stare. Mr Robinson shook his head quickly and cleared his throat. 'Would you like to introduce yourself, new student?'

'My name is Annabella Cortez and I will be attending Golden hills Academy from now on.' said the girl, she didn't seem at all shy as she spoke in a clear voice and she seemed very poised and elegant as she stood up straight. Annabella smiled at her classmates, earning wolf-whistles from a couple boys in the back. Jace couldn't take his eyes off of her as she gracefully walked over to the desk next to him and at down.

'I didn't tell you to sit down yet, Cortez.' said Mr Robinson, as he crossed his arms and looked at her expectantly.

'You don't need to tell me when to sit down because I choose whether I want to sit down or not.' commanded the girl in an authoritative tone.

'I can already tell that your attitude is going to be a problem.'

'Will it really be a problem?' she flashed a smile and his eyes widened as though he was being put under some kind of trance. Mr Robinson coughed and cleared his throat once again.

'Actually no, it wouldn't.' answered the teacher with a dazed look on his face.

Everyone was shocked as to how he changed his mind so quickly. Jace was still staring at her but with a puzzled expression. Many minutes passed and he continued to think about the girl sitting next to him.He enjoyed discovering new challenges and Annabella Cortez might just be the challenge he was looking for.

'You know its rude to stare.' said Annabella and she chuckled lightly. Jace blinked a couple times and he was at a loss of words for a few seconds.

'I just find you...intriguing in some kind of way.' Jace smirked at her.

'Well, I hope you find geography intriguing because Mr Robinson has already begun the lesson and you seem to have written nothing down.' she laughed.

'Wait. What?'

'Oh he's already coming to check our work.' the girl gave him a devilish grin, seemingly amused by his misfortune. Then Jace noticed something extraordinary; her eyes had turned yellow. He was absolutely shocked, that definitely wasn't normal.

'Your eyes, they turned yellow!' he gasped.

'No they didn't.' she deadpanned as the smirk on her face disappeared and her eyes returned to the onyx colour that they were before.

'Yes they did. I saw it.'

'Then it must have been a trick of the light.'

Jace still wasn't satisfied with her answer but he decided to get on with his work and question her later.