I was hit with a blast of cool air as I stepped into the school. I was almost halfway through my Junior year and had learned the same things as everyone else here, but I felt out of place. Nobody knew that a new student had just entered the building, and no one would know until that dreaded teacher came along who introduced me to the entire class with an annoying enthusiasm that automatically made the other students both indifferent and intrigued. That would be the point from which I spent the rest of the year hiding behind my hoodie.

Posters were hanging on bulletin boards decorated in the school colors- red, white and gold. People sat happily in the commons, talking and laughing, preparing for a day of uninterrupted learning. Light filtered in through thin-lined square windows and the walls towered high up to form two levels, all devoted to classrooms and offices.

I shuffled my feet wearily, standing petrified in the entrance hall as my gaze scanned quickly over the students walking through the front doors. Only a few people caught my eye as a person nice enough for me to approach, so I chose a dark haired girl standing in a corner of the entrance hall, staring down at her phone. She wore a jacket around her waist and sneakers that gave her the air of being the most relaxed person in the room.

"Excuse me," I said, waving my hand to get her attention. "Could you point me in the direction of the office?"

She lifted her head from what was most undoubtedly some sort of social media and gave me a who-are-you-talking-to sort of look. I nodded at her and she immediately straightened up. "Uh, sure. I'll even take you there, if that's better. This school can be a bit confusing for new kids."

"That'd be great. Thanks," I replied, moving my backpack to a more comfortable position. The girl guided me to the commons and glanced back occasionally to make sure I was still behind her. Kids stood or sat in small groups at the red tables that dotted the room. My gaze shifted to the hallway to see where we were going when I happened upon the most attractive man I had ever seen.

He was walking in a cluster of other people but stood out because of his height, another boy just as tall as him in perfect stride along his side. His hair was short, straight and dusty blond and seemed to grow forward, not up, creating a small crest that stuck out above his forehead. When he smiled, the skin around his eyes wrinkled in a perfect almond shape.

"You see something you like?" Inquired the girl, waving her hand in front of my eyes. "You see somebody you like?"

"Oh-I-I-uhhhh . . ."

"Nah, it's cool. I won't tell anybody. And by the way, the guy that you're eyeing- his name is Maverick. He's a senior," said the girl. "The office is right around the corner, first door on the left. Oh, I almost forgot! My names Rena. Feel free to give me a holler if you need anything else."

"Thanks."

When I stepped in the office and up to the desk, the lady glared up at me momentarily, then back at her computer. She repeated this, each time the length between angry stares growing smaller, before finally speaking. "Do you need help with something or are you just going to stand there?" She asked exasperatedly, rolling her eyes with crossed arms.

"I need to get the second copy of my schedule. One of the counselors from Guidance said I was supposed to go here to get it."

"Well, they were wrong. I'm afraid I can't help you, so you best be going to your first hour before you get a tardy," she shook her hair out of her face and went back to typing rapidly on her computer, completely oblivious to the world once more.

The past few days had been weird, to say the least. Rena had begun to act oddly, more uptight and constantly looking over her shoulder. I had a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that something would go wrong, that something was missing from the atmosphere of the town and of its residents. Though I knew nothing about how the town usually felt because I had said to myself that I would never enter the place, I could feel the difference in the air. It was thick and murky since the Missing Persons reports had come in. The town had somehow stiffened up, like it was holding its breath and would collapse at any moment if you gave it a little push.

I hoped nothing would go wrong that night. The Juniors and Seniors of the high school who were residents of Ember Heights had been asked to join a search party to help find two teenagers that had gone missing.

Everybody agreed that we would meet at the edge of the forest. The teenagers had been last sighted going along the eastern side of the woods, and since kids had school in the day and extracurricular activities on the weekends, we were practically forced to meet at night.

It was dark, cold and snowy when I had gotten there. I had seen Maverick immediately, but I tried with all my might to avoid him. He seemed upset, like the rest of the town and, at the announcement and overview of what the search party would be doing, I had discovered that his best friend was missing.

We were put into three groups of five- Rena and Maverick were in my group, but the other three people were mysteries to me, and as we stood in front of the Sheriff, listening to instructions, I couldn't help but notice the hardness of everyone's muscles. Their jaws were clenched, arms tight to their sides, and feet glued to the ground as if one wrong move would activate a bomb. Like they were in a minefield.

It had later occurred to me as we were walking into the forest that nobody had ever been allowed in there before. People were preparing, bracing themselves because ahead of them lay a great and dangerous unknown that they didn't know how to fight against.