Reading romance books might have finally rotted my brain. The words in the book before me blurred as my frustration slowly rose. These characters were nothing like the heroes and heroines I'd come to love, and they certainly weren't falling in love anytime soon.

I glanced up at the notes on the chalkboard, wondering whether I was the only one in the room with these thoughts. No, everyone else was bored out of their minds. I sighed as I copied them into my notebook specifically for American Literature. My normally neat scrawl rushed over the loops and the letters' curves. It wasn't my best work and, I knew, neither would be the inevitable assignment.

Mr Travers flipped through a file on his desk at the front, chalk shaking between his fingers. When I walked into the classroom, he smelled of whiskey and I did my best not to turn my nose up at him. Instead, as I often did as I entered any room, I gave him my biggest smile before sitting down in my seat by the window.

Today, the football field of Sunnydale High seemed much more interesting to me than studying this... Honestly, I couldn't remember what book we were analysing let alone the chapters we needed to look at.

This wasn't like me, but stranger things happened around here. It was nothing like home. Two boys were missing from the front row of the class, but beyond the usual supernatural speculation, no one knew where they were or what happened to them. Whether they were alive was another matter. Though, rumours spread like wildfire around here.

I'd heard they ran away with two girls out of town. However, it was much more likely their mutilated, dead bodies would be found in a week or two. I couldn't imagine what their parents were going through, but it came with moving to Sunnydale. It was too often an occurrence to be anything but a coincidence.

I pushed it from my mind, trying to refocus on the abrupt monologue from Mr Travers.

The bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson. My shoulders sagged as I hurriedly—and clumsily—picked up my books from my desk, hiding a volume stacked between my notebooks and textbooks. Tugging at my tartan, plum blazer with my free hand, I rushed out of the classroom as quickly as my feet would take me. Thank goodness it was AP calculus next!

With the bounce of blonde curls, Libby bounded towards me until she was at my side. She was silent for a moment, allowing her radiant, golden tan to glow in the sunlight.

"How was Lit?" she asked with the high-pitched, girlish lilt I'd become used to.

I shrugged, linking my arm with hers. "I could hardly pay attention," I admitted with a grimace.

Libby threw her head back and laughed. "Megan, what has gotten into you lately? This is the third lesson this week."

"I don't know," I whined. "All these disappearances have me on edge."

She hummed, giving me a look. "Nothing will happen to us, you know. They'll stop in a few days or so, like they always do." Libby rolled her eyes and waved as she split away from me to go in a different direction. "See you after class, Meg."

I nodded with a stiff smile, watching her go.

Pulling my books close to my chest, I became distracted with the coming and going of the other students running through the hallways and accidentally bumping into me before muttering their apologies. I didn't notice where I was going, sinking into my thoughts and placing my feet on autopilot. They knew the way.

I collided with something solid, my mind drifting to the present as I fell to the ground with a shriek. I lost my grip on the books to save myself from the fall, my hands sprawled out behind me as the volumes clattered to the ground between me and...

My breath caught in my throat as kind, cobalt eyes pierced me to where I sat. He fumbled with his glasses, piecing them onto the bridge of his nose as mumbled apologies—was that a British accent?—spilt out.

"It's okay," I blurted more loudly than I intended.

He paused, his fingers brushing over the volume I tried so hard to hide. Those eyes flicked between the floor and the books as he picked them up, a small smile playing on his face.

Picking myself up and dusting myself off, I ran a hand awkwardly through my chestnut ringlets. "Um, hi," I began and instantly cringed at myself. "I'm sorry about bumping into you. I wasn't looking where I was going and—"

His smile only grew. "It is perfectly fine," his upper-class British accent shone through as he handed me the books. "Here are your... books."

Glancing down at the book on top, I felt my heart plummet. "Thanks." I snatched them out of his hands, our fingers brushing for a moment. I was too absorbed in the heat flooding my cheeks to notice the electric jolt that shot through my tendons at his touch—not until reflecting in hindsight.

His gaze was fixed on the book on top. "An interesting selection," he murmured more to himself than me.

I shrugged, grasping for any shred of justification for the old book in my possession. "Just my current obsession. Mythology. I'll move on to something else next week." I waved a hand in the air, dismissing it.

He beamed and it brightened his tanned face. "Do you often move onto new topics of interest?" he wondered, placing his hands behind his back. The crisp grey suit sat stiffly on his body, the necktie holding his neck in a chokehold. I'd be lying if I didn't say the look suited him, but it made him seem more uptight than he intended.

"Sometimes," I admitted without knowing why. "I like finding things out for myself."

"Interesting," he said, taking a step closer and leaning in whilst the hallway became empty except for a few stragglers. "If you would like, I have a rudimentary understanding of the ancient mythos and legends. There are also some books that might interest you. One day, you might want to come to the library, and I can show you," he offered quietly.

I giggled shyly. "Maybe I can also pick your brain," I said, still feeling protective of the book in my hands.

His eyes widened momentarily before he flicked his gaze to the ground between us. It was nice to know that he felt just as awkward as me in this situation.

"Well, see you around," I rushed out, walking past him to my next lesson. At least, the hallway was empty now, but it did mean I was late.

"Yes, I suppose I shall," he called, and I couldn't help turning back and glancing at him. He returned my smile before I disappeared around a corner. I caught a glimpse of him straightening his grey, tweed blazer as I turned away and I kept that image with me for the rest of the day. 

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