Paradise Pines (Shawn Mendes)

New Boy

Welcome to Paradise Pines! However, trust me when I say that it is far from paradisial. Sure, it's a cute, quiet, little town, but the nearest mall with actual brand name stores is 25 miles away. The town is so boring that the only entertainment the locals get is the retro drive-in/diner and a small skatepark for the hipsters. The only thing it's ever had going for it is its rural charm... until recently.

A week into the new school year, and things seem to be going well for the students that matter: Rebecca, Dahlia, Justin, and the list of high school socialites goes on. However, nothing is ever truly as it seems, and Iris Yamamoto might be the one to uncover that. She's a sweet girl with hard to please parents and good standing on the social hierarchy, but in the big scheme of things, she's just an insignificant girl from a small, insignificant town in the middle of Pennsylvania. Like Paradise Pines, she's nothing special, that is until a stranger with a familiar silhouette rolls into town, sparking up a bad memory (or the memory of a hallucination) that she'd tucked away deep into the recesses of her mind. She'd almost completely forgotten about it; but that very memory might change both her and the town forever.

As she sat at her usual desk in Homeroom, a tall boy with dark hair, a muscular build, and dark brown eyes walked into the classroom, immediately grasping everyone's attention. Mrs. Baldwin, her Homeroom teacher stood up and welcomed him. "You must be the new student!" she figured. It wasn't often that Paradise High received new students. In fact, Paradise Pines rarely got new residents. So, it was kind of a big deal, especially for the girls who would finally have more eye candy. Until the new boy, all they had to fawn over was Justin Holmes, who interestingly enough was absent from school. Why is that interesting? We'll find out soon!

"I am," the new boy confirmed in response. His voice had a subtle rasp to it. Iris studied his frame carefully, looking for clues to disprove her creeping thoughts.

"I'm Mrs. Baldwin. Would you care to introduce yourself to the class?"

"Uh, sure. Hi." He gave a faint, awkward wave to his new classmates. "My name is Shawn, Shawn Mendes."

"Where did you move here from, Shawn?"

"Ontario, Canada. More specifically, Toronto."

"Oo! How exciting!" What brings you to our humble, little town?"

"My mother wanted to live near family."

"Oh! Are you related to Rebecca Mendes?" Shawn was beginning to look bothered by Mrs. Baldwin's annoying enthusiasm. It was too much to handle at 7:30 in the morning. "Yeah, we're cousins," he replied.

"How lovely! We're happy to have you as a new student at our school and a new addition to the town."

"Thanks."

"Go ahead and sit wherever you'd like. We're just waiting on the morning announcements, and then you can go to your first class."

Shawn Mendes. The name sounded familiar to Iris, but she could not figure out why. She continued staring at him until he settled himself down at a desk in the back of the classroom. She looked at the day's schedule in her school agenda and that's when she noticed she was supposed to show an incoming transfer student around the school. She began to recall when the school principal personally asked her to be Shawn's guide. Since school started, her head hadn't really been in the right place, so it was no surprise that she'd forgotten her plans for Monday, but it was completely unlike her. She was the perfect student, friend, and daughter. She had no room for mishaps or mistakes.

The first bell rang, silencing the students' chatters as they awaited the morning announcements. The intercom came on shortly after and Principal Locklear cleared his throat. "Good morning students of Paradise High and welcome to your second week of the school year." He paused for a moment and sighed. "A great tragedy has recently struck our town. Last night, the body of one of our star basketball players, Justin Holmes was found in the woods dismembered." A series of gasps spread around the classroom. "Officials believe that it was an animal attack. It pains me to know that I will never see our dear Justin walking down the hallways of our school or running across the basketball court ever again. I ask that you please pray for his parents. In respect of his passing, the Homecoming dance has been cancelled. That's all for the announcements today. Stay safe."