Luna

Chapter 1: Physics

* * *

Mondays were always like this.

I busied myself with my locker as Dahlia's voice went on and on next to me. We had been best friends since elementary school, to the amazement of most students at Brenton Hills High, and sometimes we still received odd looks here and there.

But hey- this wasn't the breakfast club. So what if the princess and the punk were inseparable?

Not that I was a princess or anything. I was delightfully normal. I got decent grades, enjoyed acting small parts in the school musical, once let Dahlia dye my hair turquoise... All was good in the world of Luna Khan.

Really, I was just trying to survive. High school was only three years long, but one fatal misstep and those three years could feel like forever.

"... literally on the floor all night!" Dahlia broke out into laughter, her blue eyes shining.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help smirking. "Your brother's parties always end up with someone on the floor."

Dahlia grinned. "Isn't it the best? You have to come next Saturday."

I nodded noncommittally, the smirk dissolving off my face as we approached the physics classroom.

Okay, decent grades in everything but physics.

Seeing my expression, Dahlia patted my back sympathetically. "Here, I must leave you." Her eyes glittered with some humour, but she also did understand my turmoil.

My parents were doctors. Both of them. I had a suspicion it was the only reason they were still married. Their hectic hospital schedules meant they rarely had to see each other. Or me, for that matter.

I chewed my lip. Physics was my last prerequisite for pre-med next year. And no way was I going to be the offspring to disappoint my no-nonsense Indian parents. This was one thing my father was adamant wouldn't skip a generation.

"Bell went two minutes ago, Miss. Khan."

I broke out of my reverie and gave a sheepish smile to Ms. Desmond, who - unsurprisingly - didn't smile back.

I shuffled into the room, spotting June and Leila immediately. Sidling into the seat next to them, I let out a sigh.

"At least that's two fewer minutes of insufferable Desmond."

June looked about as happy as I felt. "Physics first thing, Monday morning. And I actually like the subject... you must be dying inside."

I laughed quietly, as if laughter could hide how true that statement was.

I didn't want to be a disappointment...but I didn't want to be a doctor either. I was suspended in between two agonising truths.

"Since we finished our lab safety unit last week, we're going to begin our first lab of the semester." Desmond's voice cut through the chatter. This was met with a chorus of sighs and groans. I wouldn't expect any less from my graduating class.

"Don't worry, Lune," Leila was all smiles. To her, our little budding model - well, as little as someone who was 5'11 could be - physics was all fun and games. She only took the subject because she was best friends with June, and needed something to fill up her timetable. "Group projects mean we take June out for sushi and she explains Newton to us like a pro."

June rolled her eyes, but didn't disagree. "As long as you guys take care of the presentation and public speaking, I'm happy with a circuit and some sashimi."

"Circuit, right." I grimaced. Calculations and formulas weren't my strong suit, but I could struggle through F=ma. But we were doing robotics and programming now. And that was utterly outside my realm.

Nervously, I tucked my brown hair behind an ear riddled with studs. A strand with remnants of faded turquoise at the ends fell back into my eyes. June couldn't write my final for me, no matter how much sushi I smuggled her.

"... groups of two, and we'll get started."

My head snapped up at that. Leave it to Desmond to conjure up a sixteen-year-old girl's worst nightmare.

Leila and June shared awkward looks. They were best friends, and I had only just started hanging out with them this semester, in this class. I knew where this was going.

"Maybe we can have a group of three," June offered.

Desmond overheard her, of course. "We have an even number of students in class, so I'm afraid groups of two is firm."

I smiled bravely, even as no no no repeated in my head. "Oh, it's fine. I'll just find someone else to work with ..."

My eyes scanned the room, watching in horror as my acquaintances quickly paired up with one another, everyone with the same "flight or fight" look in their eyes.

Another reason to abhor physics.

And then, my eyes met the only other pair still searching for a partner and I blanched.

Not him. Please not him.

The hazel eyes that bore into my own looked indifferent to my horror. They also seemed to say, I've been through this before.

"Oh no..." Leila caught onto my horror. Anyone, anyone but Noah Hadley. Please.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a bully. I'd pair up with the nerdiest of them with no qualms. I'm not the kind of girl that sits gossiping about this haircut or that skirt, this couple or that loner. I'm really not.

But Noah Hadley is another issue entirely. He's not just another nerd, or geek, or dungeons and dragons burnout. He's not just someone I don't see myself being friends with. No. I'm actually terrified, utterly and totally, of Noah. And I'm not alone.

"No, this won't do," Leila whispered in her authoritative 'do you know who my father is?' voice. Her father actually had no pull whatsoever, but that didn't mean Leila couldn't have a false sense of entitlement.

But Ms. Desmond was already staring at us expectantly, and I knew there was no getting out of this.

See, Ms. Desmond was new. She just started last month, at the beginning of the school year. She'd definitely heard about Noah's outburst in tenth grade, but she didn't experience the full, severe gravity of it.

Noah Hadley was one hundred percent psychotic. I wasn't sure how they let him back into the school after the incident, but there he was, staring right at me.

The fact of the matter was, Ms. Desmond couldn't grasp the weight of the situation because Noah didn't look menacing. He was tall, but medium-built, and wearing a forest green sweater with a few holes near the wrist. He also had the darkest hair I had ever seen. Sure, he looked a bit anemic-super pale skin, a few shadows under his eyes-but that wasn't so unusual. He could have easily existed under the radar.

But it was the rage in his eyes, the fire that ignited into an eerie paranoia, almost two years ago now, that no one could forget. It wasn't there now, but I didn't want to be the one to summon it again.

As if unperturbed by my intense stare, Noah merely dropped his gaze back to his notebook and flipped the page. One of his hands crumpled in his hair, as the other, which was quite furiously ink-stained, continued writing whatever it was he'd been jotting down.

"I'm sorry, Luna," Leila relented, and she would not hold my gaze. I picked up my book bag by the leather brown strap and shrugged, even as my heartbeat quickened.

Physics had, undoubtedly, gotten even worse. Who knew that was possible?