It was almost like you went through the Twilight Zone. It's been a week since you moved to your new place, and there hasn't been an attack since the first day. It was almost like you dreamt the ghost attack because it was so peaceful.

Well, except your grandfather, who saw the tethered boxes and knew something was up. He even saw his trinket boxes open and knew something unnatural happened. It got to the point of putting a cross on every part of the house. Your parents didn't really care, thinking your grandfather was just doing his usual rituals. Your family believed something was out there but didn't really dwell on one thing besides your grandfather. That's why they just let him do his thing.

But this morning, he was doing a bit too much.

"Papa," you whined, "I'm just going to school." You stood in the entrance ready with a white blouse that was loose on the chest but hugged your torso, black jeans with rips at the knees, and black wedges. He was adamant on having you wear a pendant before you left for school. You tried shoving the necklace away, only for him telling you to turn around so he could put it on you. You were going to ignore him and continued to go outside to the used car your parents bought you a few days ago. You insisted you didn't need one and would just walk to school and other places if needed. They countered it and you settled with helping them with errands such as taking Emily to school and more.

Your father heard you from the kitchen table where he was drinking his cup of tea for the morning and looked up to the entrance where you were trying to shake off your grandfather. Your mother was no where to be found since her classes started early morning. Your father's work didn't start until a few more weeks but NASA still kept him busy for his money. He shook his head, "Dad, [Name] will be fine. It's the first day of school. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I just want to make sure my granddaughters are safe and prepared, so I dipped the silver in blood blossom water," he added, "I don't like the feeling of this town you pick, son."

You rolled your eyes already knowing half the truth, and if your grandfather ever really found out, you wouldn't hear the end of it. You spotted Emily holding the straps of her backpack on her shoulders. Her outfit was cute consisting of a pink sweater, light colored capris, and white vans. You saw a similar pendant dangle around her neck, seeing your grandfather has already convinced Emily to wear her necklace. You sighed in surrender as you went over to your grandfather before he starting biting heads with your father.

"Fine," you said with a hand out, "Just give it to me."

The bickering stopped immediately and your grandfather smiled. He handed it to you, and you fumbled with the clasp as you were heading out to the front door with Emily following behind. She hopped in the passenger seat while you in the driver's. You tossed your brown shoulder bag in the back and started the car.

Emily's middle school wasn't far from yours, so when you dropped her off with the courtesy of a goodbye kiss on the cheek, you got to your high school in a matter of minutes. You went to the office to pick up your schedule and locker number since you couldn't do so earlier. The lady behind the desk wasn't nice nor rude, just indifferent. Considering it was the first day of a new year, you weren't surprised that she handled you quickly. In search for you locker, you looked down at your schedule trying to map out the school and when you're able to take breaks at your locker.

While distracted, you bumped into someone. A page slipped out of your hands and onto the floor. Without hesitation, you apologized, "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." You scoped up the page from the ground effortlessly. You didn't even look up to who you ran into, knowing whether they stayed or already left.

"I haven't seen you around here before," the person said, "and I definitely would remember a face like yours."

You finally met the pale blue eyes of the blond to see him with a flirtatious smirk. You tried ignoring the remark and his stare. "That's because I'm new in town," you spoke honestly. You figured it wouldn't hurt.

"Oh, so you're the new girl, huh?" His tall stature only made you want to disappear from the way it crowded you. He wasn't touching you but the way he was in your personal space made you want to shy away. You weren't exactly fond of guys like him.

"Yep," you answered, "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go find my classes."

You slipped away before he trapped you. His hand stretched towards you in a "Wait!" motion. You didn't turn back and quickly turned the corner, hoping he wouldn't follow you. Luckily, he didn't and you found your first class. You knew it was still a bit too early, but you wanted to talk to the teacher and you certainly didn't want to go back out there in the hallway to run into another player.

A bald man with a black beard and a beer belly sat behind the teacher's desk when you walked. He rose an eyebrow at your slightly flustered figure from when you rushed here. He cleared his throat, "Young lady, it's too early for you to be in class just yet."

"I know," you answered, "Are you by chance Mr. Lancer?"

"Yes, I am."

"I'm new in town and I was hoping you could tell me what textbooks I need for this class," you continued.

He nodded when he heard the explanation. "Come here for a second," he motioned for you to come closer as he opened a drawer. Your gaze went to a photo of what seems to be a woman with ginger hair and a pink dress that looked oddly familiar to the man in front of you. Your attention went to the teacher again when he slapped a paper that had a list of books.

"You need to pick up the English Literature textbook from the library. As for future writing assignments, you would need to pick some authors and their books," he explained.

You thanked him and silently picked a desk to sit at and wait for the morning bell to ring.

That's how it was for the rest of your classes until lunch. You noticed for the next several hours a lot of people were staring at you, not familiar with a new face. You caught the blond trying to get your attention a few times and wink at you, but you ignored him. It seems like some of his friends were also interested in you but he was the only one making the moves. And you knew they were friends because they literally wore the same jock jacket. Talk about cliche.

Not exactly feeling hungry from the constant nervousness you felt, you headed straight to the library from what you memorized of the map. The library was quiet with a couple of people hanging around reading peacefully. You walked to the librarian desk where it wasn't too far from the entrance. You told her about the textbooks you needed from your classes and she gathered them for you. When she was done checking them out in your name, you asked her about a specific genre. She pointed upstairs and told you to follow the signs. Once organized and stuffed in your bag, you began walking to the second floor.

Following the Horror sign, you spotted someone already there holding a book in her hands as she read through a bit of the book. She didn't glance up at you, so you took this as for you to continue your search for The Tell-Tale Heart. You managed to find it without invading the space of the dark girl, but she still looked up at you feeling a presence nearby. She quirked an eyebrow as she saw you picked out the book and saw the author.

"Edgar Allen Poe?" she questioned.

You, slightly startled, looked up in mild surprise. You smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, some English projects were coming up and I thought I would pick him since it's almost Halloween and he was on the list the teacher assigned."

She looked at you, giving you a quick look up and down before smiling. "You have nice taste," she laughed quietly, "but Halloween is still a couple of months away."

"Yeah, I know," you shrugged a little more relaxed. Despite the way she dresses, she sounded easy to talk to.

She reached out a hand when she closed her book in her other hand and placed it on her hip. She smiled again, "Name's Sam Mason."

You met her half way and grabbed her hand, "[Full Name]," you said back to her.

"So, [Name]," she started, "where are you from? Considering I've never seen you around before."

"[Hometown]," you answered but added, "Despite having a large area, you guys have a small population, don't you?"

"People come and go, mostly go," she shrugged, "why you ask?"

"Everyone seems to know each other and almost knew immediately that I'm new," you thought out loud, "even though I started the new school year with you guys."

"Yeah," Sam confirmed, "it's not that small but everyone knows everyone."

"Sam! I need your help I—!"

You and Sam turned towards the new voice behind you. A boy with equally dark hair like hers stopped mid-run at the sight of you. His bright blue eyes widen in surprise. He smiled nervously when he realized he was staring at you.

"Uh, hi," he stuttered out.

You glanced to the side awkwardly before looking at him again and raised a hand in a short wave, not even saying a greeting back.

"Uh, Sam, there's a thing that—uh, I need help with," he continued but towards the girl in black.

She rolled her eyes in response before walking past you. She bid you goodbye, "I have to run, but it was nice meeting you."

"It was nice meeting you too, Sam," you greeted back politely. You waved goodbye as she grabbed the poor boy by the ear. You flinched when she dragged him out of sight.

"Let's go, Romeo."

Word Count: 1774

Status: UNEDITED