Eleanor would have never imagined that Tommy, the boy Eleanor had met only a few weeks ago, would be able to gain her trust. She was a bit surprised when he walked up and talked to her the day after their conversion like he said he would. She didn't expect him to. She really didn't expect anything.

She really didn't think anyone could actually gain her trust in a few weeks. It seemed almost impossible. But Tommy did it anyway. And she was happy he did.

Having a friend was certainly a weird feeling. But she would have been lying if she said she didn't miss it.

Ever since they became friends things seemed to get better and Eleanor was grateful. She was grateful Tommy was her friend. She was also grateful that almost everybody had already forgotten about the cafeteria accident. But most of all, she was grateful she didn't have to be paired up with Brad in the Chemistry project anymore.

Much to Eleanor's relief, Mr. Smith had decided to switch Brad with someone else.

At first, Eleanor thought that Mr. Smith was kidding when he said he had paired her with Tommy. But Mr. Smith was never kidding about anything. Later that day, she found out what happened when her mother 'coincidently' asked her about the project and her mother winked. Winked. Eleanor knew then that her mother had something to do with it.

She was somehow beginning to see the benefits of her mom being the principal (Though, Eleanor didn't know if her mother had done it because she found out about the cafeteria accident or her mother just wanted Eleanor to get closer to Tommy. Either way, Eleanor was happy.).

Eleanor refused to admit it out loud, but part was her was happy since she could spend more time with Tommy.

"Mr. Smith has just turned to be my favorite teacher!" Eleanor said happily as she and Tommy walked out of the class. Tommy had an amused smile on his lips.

"I thought you hate Chemistry."

"Oh, I do. I hate it with a passion, trust me. I'm just glad I'm not stuck with Brad anymore." When Eleanor looked at Tommy, the look on his face gave away that he, too, was satisfied with the new arrangement. "We should go after school and eat ice-cream to celebrate," Eleanor suggested. The weird, uncertain feeling that called friendship was back; it was as if a new side of her was beginning to awake, and she felt excited.

"Sure. Sounds ni-" Tommy started to say, but he was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

"Hey, Elle! Eleanor!" A girly voice called. Before Eleanor had even had the chance to do something, someone gave her a quick hug, catching her off guard. Bright hazel eyes, silky straight hair, perfectly tanned skin and a green-and-white cheerleader outfit. Yep, Eleanor knew who it was, she knew too well. Right in front of them was standing Bella Carter, the cheerleader captain, and undoubtedly the most popular girl in Pinehearst High school.

"Oh, Elle," Eleanor cringed slightly at the old nickname, but Bella took no notice to it. "I haven't seen you for so long! How are you?" Bella asked with a big (obviously fake) smile.

"Umm," Eleanor glanced at Tommy, who was watching her with a confused look, she shrugged. "Good, I guess." Eleanor said, though it sounded more like a question.

She couldn't help but feel skeptical about the whole situation. Bella had been one of Eleanor's friends before they had gotten to Pinehearst High school. Once they reached high school, they stopped being friends. At first, Eleanor tried to befriend Bella again, but Bella pushed her away and ignored her. It was later than that Eleanor found out Bella had done something terrible. The two hadn't spoken since then. Until now.

"Great! Anyway, since Zoey quitted the cheerleading team, I've been thinking and I was wondering if you'd like to join the team!" Bella said, rather excitedly. Eleanor was stunned, "It'll be like the old times," Bella added.

"I'll think about it, okay? I just... I got to go." Eleanor answered and turned quickly to walk away.

"Alright, see you later, Elle!" Bella called as Eleanor continued to walk away. She reached to her locker and opened it, Tommy standing next to her.

"What was that about? You don't like cheerleaders?" Tommy asked Eleanor. She grabbed her books from her locker and slammed it shut.

"It's not that..." Eleanor shook her head, "Bella was my friend, she has been completely ignoring me for the last two years, and now suddenly she acts like everything's okay." Eleanor knew she couldn't trust Bella again. She had already made that mistake.

"So? Maybe she wants you to become friends again..."

"Bella is not that kind of girl. She probably only wants me to be a cheerleader so my mom will support and fund the cheerleader team."

"You don't know it,"

"I know Bella and that's enough for me. " Eleanor looked at Tommy, "And besides, I don't even want to be a cheerleader. Try to imagine me as a cheerleader, I'd be a walking green-and-white disaster."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Tommy smiled at Eleanor and she shook her head, smiling back.

Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling to everyone to go to their classes.

"I have french class, I have to go." Eleanor said," I'll see you after school, alright?"

"Sure," Eleanor waved Tommy goodbye and rushed to her class.

******************

Moe's ice cream parlor was a small and nice shop, not very far from Pinehearst High school. It was decorated with mostly green and white colors, both inside and outside the shop. On the walls were drawn a small ice cream drawings.

"Can I get you anything?" A voice asked and Eleanor looked up to see a girl with short blonde hair. She was wearing Moe's green uniform, standing next to their table and waiting for them to order something .

"Um, I'd like to have one ball of Vanilla and one ball of Chocolate," Eleanor said to the girl.

"Alright. What about you?" The girl turned to Tommy, smiling warmly.

"I-uh-I'll have two balls of Maple Walnut," Tommy told the girl and she nodded before walking to get their orders.

As they waited for their orders, Eleanor decided to ask Tommy something she hadn't had the chance to, "You never told me where you had lived before you came to Carbondale." Eleanor started.

"I-" Tommy shifted uncomfortably for a second. "My mom and I had gone to many places before we came here. We moved so many times that I don't really remember all the places we've been." Tommy laughed but it sounded somewhat forced.

"The last place we had been before we moved here was Denver," Tommy continued, but before Eleanor could ask him another question the blonde girl had already come back with their ice cream. Eleanor and Tommy had thanked her and paid her before they started to eat.

"She seems familiar," Tommy wondered out-loud and Eleanor turned around and looked back at the girl. She did seem a bit familiar. Eleanor was sure she had seen the girl before.

"Emily Duval," Eleanor stated, finally recognizing the blonde. "She goes to our school, we have Chemistry together." She turned back to Tommy and continued eating her ice cream. From time to time, as they kept talking, Eleanor caught Tommy glancing at Emily. Eleanor furrowed her eyebrows but shrugged off the feeling.

Eleanor was soon starting to think about their project, but her thoughts were interrupted by Tommy's phone. He looked at the number and quickly answered.

"Hello?...Hey, mom... No, I'm at Moe's ice cream parlor... Yeah, I know... I can't right now... No, I'm with Eleanor... Mom, no, this is not a good time... Mom, I'm sure she doesn't want to... Okay, I get it... Bye." He ended the call with a sigh, putting his phone back in his pocket.

Tommy scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "My mom wants me to go back home," Tommy said and Eleanor frowned. "And, well, she wants you to come, too," Eleanor stared at him for a second but before she could reply he cut her off. "But you don't have to come if you don't want to. It's okay, really.

"No, I'll come. It sounds nice. We can also start working on our project." Eleanor suggested, smiling at Tommy.

They finished eating their ice cream and went to Tommy's house. As they entered the house Eleanor couldn't help but let her eyes wander around.

Tommy's house wasn't any bigger than Eleanor's. From first glance around the house, she saw that they weren't many family photos, unlike the many family photos she had in her house. But other than that, everything about his house seemed pretty much normal but Eleanor got the feeling like it was protected, guarded in a way.

She could hear the sound of the TV and the sound of footsteps. She then saw a woman a dirty blonde, wavy hair and brown eyes. The woman smiled warmly at the two.

"You must be Eleanor. I'm Anne, it's nice to meet you finally. Tommy talks a lot about you," Anne said happily, walking towards Eleanor, while Tommy looked away in embarrassment, muttering something to his mom.

Eleanor giggled lightly, "It's really nice to meet you, too," She replied with the same tune.

"Why did you want me to come home so early?" Tommy asked his mother.

"I was just worried," Anne replied hesitatingly and her eyes glanced at the TV for a second. It seemed like the warm look on her face was quickly replaced by a concerned look, but then she covered it up again.

"Can I bring you anything? Water? Something to snack?"

"Oh, no it's fine," Eleanor shook her head, smiling at Anne. Eleanor and Tommy walked towards the living room, and Eleanor stopped and looked at the TV as she heard the loud sound of it.

A group of people was on the scream, screaming and chanting. They were holding big signs that were saying 'POWERS ARE EVIL', 'NO EVOS' and 'CHOOSE HUMAN'.

"Recent reports show that there has been an upward trend among the protesters. Due to the attack that had occurred a few weeks ago in New York, The Government imposed a curfew for the Evos, which Evos refused to accept." A reporter said, glancing at the protest and back at the camera.

"Those Evos shouldn't be out there. They are dangerous." One of the protesters spoke, "They should be locked up. All of them. The Government nee-" The protester's words were cut off when Tommy turned off the TV. Eleanor shuddered lightly. Sure, she couldn't deny her fear but the way people treated Evos like they were monsters, and it was truly horrible. And it somehow angered her.

"Let's just go my room and start working on the project," Tommy suggested and Eleanor just nodded, not saying a thing.

As they went upstairs to Tommy's room Eleanor was trying to shake off the angry feeling. Eleanor sat on Tommy's bed after he said he needed to do something and he would be right back. She glanced around the room and then peered over the window.

Her eyes narrowed at the familiar black car. The person was inside the car and it looked like he was watching the house. Yet, she couldn't see the person's face. Eleanor grabbed her phone and took a picture of the car. Before Eleanor could zoom in and try to see the person's face, Tommy came back.

"Your mom has a nice car," Eleanor suddenly stated, pointing to the black car. She was trying to find out more information. Maybe there was still a normal explanation for the whole thing.

Tommy furrowed his eyebrow at Eleanor words before he glanced at the car. "That's not my mom's car. This is my mom's car," Tommy pointed towards a car that wasn't so far from the black car. And that confirmed Eleanor's suspicions.

Someone was following Tommy. But Eleanor didn't understand why.

*************************

Working on the project with Tommy was pretty nice, and Eleanor was Two hundred percent it was better than working with Brad. Tommy actually had some pretty good ideas which only reminded Eleanor to be extra nice to her mother because of this arrangement.

As Eleanor walked back to her house, it was already afternoon and the sun was already setting. Eleanor suddenly remembered the person in the car and took her phone out of her pocket. She zoomed in the picture, only to find out she was now able to see the person's face.

It was a bald man, who had a beard and was wearing big glasses.

Eleanor didn't recognize this man, but she had a bad feeling about him. She was so deep in thought that she wasn't looking where she was going. She tore her gaze from her phone when she bumped into someone, dropping her phone in the process. She went to grab it but a big, rough hand was quicker than her.

"I believe this belongs to you," A voice said, and Eleanor looked at the person she had bumped into.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't l-" She stopped dead in her tracks, a quiet gasp escaped her mouth. It was him. The man in the car. He was standing in front of her and then he smiled.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person, Eleanor. Though, it's only for a short time. I know you've been watching me for awhile but I'm afraid you're going to have to forget about me," The man said, and Eleanor could have sworn her heart stopped beating. How did he know her name? And what did he mean by forgetting him?

He never answered her unspoken questions, instead, he took something shiny out of his pocket. He held it up as if he was inspecting it and Eleanor noticed it was a penny.

"He's lucky to have someone like you to support him," That confused her even more. What was he going to do? Who was 'he'?

"Penny for your thoughts?" The man said, and before she could understand what he had meant, he tossed the penny towards her. It was like she suddenly felt drawn to the penny, so without being able to stop herself, she caught it.

And then her memories started to slip out of her mind...

She didn't have control over it, it just happened.

What was she doing? Why was she just standing in the middle of the street? Was she looking for someone?

She didn't remember.

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Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, I've been busy with school lately and I didn't have the time to write... But since today it's June 13th I decided to update. Thank you so much for your comments, I really appreciate it! Also, check out the amazing cover that was made by Dαηηι Kαу.