"Julie, hurry up! I'm gonna be late!"

Jesse, my little sister, was nagging like she did every morning.

I wasn't spending my time packing on makeup or curling my hair like most teenage girls spend their mornings. It was spent getting a couple extra minutes of sleep as it is every morning.

Grabbing my bag and breakfast, I jumped in my car. Jesse right behind me with her Pop tart in hand.

Pulling up to the high school, after dropping off Jesse at the middle school, I notice an unfamiliar truck so, me being me, I park my car and go investigate.

The license plate said Tennessee and it looked like it was at least 10 years old. Judging by the lack of organization on the interior and the excessive dirt on the exterior, it definitely belonged to a guy.

Walking up to the school at a pace that probably wasn't considered walking anymore, I hurry to my locker in hopes that I won't be too late to Ms. Green's class.

Before I can head to my homeroom class, I'm stopped by Mr. Higgins, the principal.

"I need you to do something for me, Julie." He says with that commanding smile.

Normally I would immediately ask what he needed to stay on his good side but, knowing my first period teacher, it's not a good idea to be late to her class. "Mr. Higgins I'm going to be late. Can I-"

"I'll talk to Ms. Green and tell her where you went." He cuts me off, still smiling.

"Ok-"  I wait to see if he's going to say anything else " what do you need?"

If I had to guess, he's going to ask me to show around a new student. I'm always the first person he goes to with new students, and there was that truck in the parking lot.

He takes me back to his office where a boy is sat in front of Mr. Higgins's desk. A new student. Of course.

"Alaric, this is Julie. She's going to show you to your classes."

The new kid, Alaric, stands up. He has to be a foot taller than me at least. I crane my neck to look up at him. He has stormy grey eyes. His hair, if it's there, is under a beanie. And not the kind of beanie that looks cool.

Mr. Higgins hands me a piece of paper. With a glance I realize it's his schedule. The same format I've seen a hundred times before on other new students' schedules.

"First period" it says " Geometry- Mrs. Green."
That's my first period.

I walk Alaric to Mrs. Green's. He pull his hat down, trying to keep it secure on his head.

"This is Mrs. Green's class: Geometry. Your homeroom." I say.

He doesn't say anything. Just nods and walks into the classroom as I hold the door open for him.

"Mrs. Green this is Alaric, your new student."

Mrs. Green grunts in acknowledgement. Frowning, like she always does, she says "I hope you like math."

He nods again just a little more like he actually meant it. Still completely silent and I wonder for moment if he's deaf. My eyes drifted down to where his hands hung by his thighs, waiting for him to start signing something. Spoiler alert: that never ended up happening.

I take him to all his classes and all Alaric does is nod and play with his hat.

We both walk back to Mrs. Green's. He sits. I sit. As Mrs. Green goes on with the lesson though, his hand is constantly going up. Answering each question. I hear his voice for the first time. It's louder than I expected after spending about thirty silent minutes with him.

At lunch Ravyn, the girl I've known almost all my life, talks about Alaric. She goes on about how gorgeous he is. I don't say it out loud but she's right.

Minus the beanie he's almost angelic. Over Ravyn I hear most of the other girls speaking. The words "Alaric" and "new kid" coming up a lot.

Despite Alaric's looks he's a little...weird. Not just him being silent but his whole - I don't know- atmosphere, I guess. No one else seems to notice but me.

During fifth period (I have that class with him too) every time-every time- someone tried to talk to him he tried to get out of it. Always giving dead-end, single-syllable answers

"So where'd you move here from?"

"East" he's answer.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No."

"Why'd you move here?"

"I had to." Okay, so that was three syllables but I think I made my point.

"Don't you think he's a little weird?" I interrupted Ravyn's speech about how his eyes reminded her of the sky. I don't know how. They're grey. Maybe during a storm?

Ravyn almost looked offended. "Huh? No" she laughed.

She wasn't acting like her normal self. She was acting like the Ravyn I saw every time she saw Channing Tatum. A possessed idiot is the only way to describe it. She just becomes this goo-goo eyed fangirl.

I decided the best way to get normal Ravyn is change the subject to something normal Ravyn talks about.

"So, what has your sister been arrested for recently?" I asked. That's a Normal subject for Ravyn at least.