Making our way down the hall to the meeting room, a set of footsteps caught me off guard. I then looked up to see a football flying through the air, right at me while Aiden chased after it.

“Aiden, you’re going to break something!” I cried out, both of us falling to the ground as he caught the ball and rammed right into me. “Or, you know, you could break me!”

Aiden rolled himself off me without even letting go of the football. At least he helped me up, though Dex was right there to help me as well.

“Aiden,” Nay snapped at the leader of my team. “What the heck made you think you could play football in the hallway?”

Aiden jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “It was Hank’s idea.”

We looked up to see our very sheepish male mentor waving at us from down the hall. Nay’s eyes narrowed. “Hank, I would really appreciate it if you didn’t support this kind of behavior. Violet could have gotten hurt a lot worse.”

“It would have healed in like five minutes,” Aiden murmured, but Nay chose to ignore him.

“Sorry, Violet,” Hank apologized, that sheepish grin still on his face. “We didn’t know anyone was going to come down the hallway for a while. We thought everyone was in their rooms and you were being questioned by Nay.”

“She was,” our female mentor said now, taking a step toward the meeting room and placing her palm on the scanner. “But we’ve finished. And now we have to get the rest of the team inside so we can inform them of their next mission.”

“Mission?” Aiden nearly dropped the football as he reacted like a dog to a ball that was about to be thrown. “We’re going to go on a mission?”

Nay rolled her eyes and stepped inside the meeting room once the door opened. Aiden, Dex, and I followed her while Hank left to go get Anthony and Kristie.

“It’s been weeks,” Aiden sighed, plopping down in a seat and throwing the football up in the air before catching it again. “I’ve been waiting to go on another mission forever. Training is so boring.”

I made a face at him. “Training is a necessity that helps us so we don’t get killed on our missions.”

“Training is a necessity that helps us we don’t get killed on our missions,” Aiden mocked, his voice high pitched as he tried to copy me. My scowl only deepened. Did I really sound like that? “I don’t care. It’s still boring.”

There was no way you could ever win with him, so there was no point in even trying. Even I didn’t like training, but I knew that we had to do it or else we’d never get to go out on missions and then Aiden would have just been even sourer.

The door now slid open again to reveal our second mentor and two other teammates. Aiden’s eyes lit up when he saw the redhead. I rolled my eyes.

I wasn’t the kind of person that liked seeing couples together, even though Aiden and Kristie weren’t exactly a couple. But anyone could tell that Aiden wanted to be with her more than anything else.

Kristie still wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but it wasn’t as annoying as it used to be. I had gotten used to her not really understanding what was going on. She wouldn’t have been Kristie if she wasn’t airheaded.

“We have a new mission for you,” she said, standing up from the computer while a picture of a school flashed on the large screen. “This is it. The five of you will be attending Westwood High School.”

I just stared at her, completely shocked. The rest of my teammates seemed surprised by this as well. This was the last thing we ever expected for them to tell us.

“High school?” I blinked, my eyes going wide. “We’re going to go to… high school?”

Nay nodded. “Yes. You’re going to high school.”

“Why are we going to school?” Dex questioned, not seeming very happy about this. “Aren’t we here so we can protect the planet? What does high school have to do with any of that? What kind of experience would that give us?”

“We’re not sending you there just because we want you to have the experience,” Hank told us now, and I was actually kind of afraid to find out what was about to come next. “We’re also sending you here because it appears that Malicius and Lynx are already there and they have been since the school year began.”

“But they’re both out of high school,” Aiden reminded them, in case they somehow forgot or just didn’t know. “Lynx is nineteen and Malicius is thirty-something. Why would they be at a high school?”

“Lynx is enrolled as a senior while Malicius is a teacher,” Nay explained, and this information did not make me want to go to school any more than I already did. Malicius as a teacher? That sounded… terrifying. “You all will be enrolled as juniors, since you are the age for that grade.”

I didn’t really know exactly what that meant, but I wasn’t about to ask and look like an idiot. It seemed like something I was supposed to know, so I stayed silent and continued to listen to Nay.

“It’s only three weeks into the new school year,” Nay told us now. “You haven’t missed out on much, so you won’t be very far behind on schoolwork in any of your classes. Honestly, the academics will be the least of your worries.”

I stole a glance at Kristie. I wondered how she would do in class. She wasn’t exactly the brightest, so how would she do with schoolwork? It really sucked that she couldn’t remember anything before waking up in the hospital, because I really wanted to know what her grades had been beforehand.

But I was also worried about myself. I hadn’t been in an actual school since I was eleven. I had been homeschooled since then, doing all my work on my computer, but I still didn’t think I was ready for something like high school. It seemed like an absolutely terrifying experience and I did not want to go. But I knew I had no choice.

“I also need to warn you all about relationships with the kids at the school,” Nay started seriously. “Both platonic and romantic.”

I gulped. This felt like it was going to be a very awkward conversation.

“Platonic relationships are alright,” she continued on. “But of course, it’s best if you don’t get too close. Humans can never know that we exist. And if you get close to a human, they’ll have to find out eventually, so it’s best if you just don’t get close. You’ll end up having to break off the friendship.”

I wasn’t really sure if I had to worry about that or not. The only friends I had were not human, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get along with humans very well. How was I supposed to act around them? Normal, I guess, but I didn’t even know what normal was. I had always been rather odd.

“Romantic relationships then, obviously, are not allowed at all.” She looked over at Hank but then quickly looked back over at us. “They are even worse than friendships, because you’re obviously closer to someone when you’re in a romantic relationship with them. There have been people like us that have married humans, but it is very frowned upon. The ones that have married sometimes don’t event tell their spouse what they really are, and then that can be very difficult when you have children.”

“My dad married a human,” Aiden informed us. “My mom was fine with it when she found out. She thought it was cool.”

“That’s the same for my parents,” Anthony agreed. “My mom’s a human and she was fine when she found out that my dad wasn’t. She found out before they even got married.”

So relationships with humans could have worked. Two of our teammates had parents that were human and superhuman. So it could work, but it wasn’t recommended. I guess I understood why, but love was love, wasn’t it? Did it matter if someone was human or not?

Nay had also told me once how it was bad to be in a relationship with someone on your team. I looked at Dex only to see that he was looking right back at me, so I immediately looked away from him.

“Being in a relationship with anyone while you’re in the DAU is not a good idea,” Hank continued for Nay now. “It’s best to stay single until whenever you retire, though we understand if that’s difficult to do.”

Hank looked at Nay. Aiden looked at Kristie. Dex looked at me. I looked at the ground.

When the door suddenly slid open, we all turned in surprise to see who was entering the room. My eyes went wide when I saw that the person was actually Lena.

“How do you even get in here?” Anthony asked her, very curious about this. “Your palm print shouldn’t be in the database since you’re not in the DAU.”

Lena’s eyebrows furrowed as she glared at Anthony. She still didn’t like to be reminded that she hadn’t be recruited. “I have my ways,” she snapped, and Anthony backed away a little.

“Lena, what are you doing here?” her aunt asked with a roll of her eyes. “I told you to stay at home today, didn’t I?”

Lena only shrugged uncaringly. “Yeah, but I decided to come over anyway.”

I hadn’t seen Lena ever since she had snuck us all out to a roller skating rink. She looked the same, besides the fact that her hair was a little longer and her makeup was a little different. But other than that, she was still the same. Just as beautiful as ever.

“So guess what,” she smirked, looking around at the five of us.

Anthony looked unsure, but said, “What?”

“I’ll be going to the new school, too,” Lena informed us with a wide grin, her hands on her hips.

Dex raised an eyebrow at her. “Don’t you already go to school?”

She only rolled her eyes at him. “Like I want to go back to that place.”

I remembered how Lena had told me that she didn’t have any friends because of the way she acted. I remembered how she said I was her best friend. I wondered if she’d act any differently to people at this new school.

I felt kind of bad. I didn’t want Lena to have to act different to get people to like her. Deep down, she was actually a really good person. She just seemed very rude and had a really tough exterior. It just took some time to chip it away.

“You’ll all be starting on Monday.” Nay started off toward the door and Hank followed after her. “High school is the best years of your life, you guys. Hank and I didn’t get to enjoy them because we were here. Try to enjoy it, will you?”

And then they were gone, leaving the six teenagers in the room to stare at each other. None of us knew what we were supposed to say. We were going to go to high school. High school. That sounded absolutely terrifying.

Dex seemed to notice that something was wrong with me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and I jumped. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I don’t know how high school works,” I admitted timidly, staring down at the ground as I fidgeted slightly. “I’ve seen a few movies but I’m not sure if they really portray high school correctly.”

“High school sucks,” Anthony merely shrugged, walking right by me and toward the door. “But that’s only because of the kind of person I am. If you’re like Aiden, then you’re good.”

I made a face. I did not want to be like Aiden.

“Is that supposed to be an insult?” Aiden now called out from behind us, and this caused Anthony to roll his eyes. “Don’t make me punch you, Anthony.”

My nerdy teammate now gestured back to our leader. “My point exactly,” he drawled.

Aiden pursed his lips as he glared at Anthony, and I said nothing as I just watched them. How were we supposed to watch out for each other when we could barely say two words without getting into some type of argument over something?

“What are you talking about?” I questioned now, wanting to know what he meant by what he was saying. “Why would I be okay if I’m like Aiden?”

Aiden also seemed interested in what Anthony had to say, and he moved closer. This prompted Kristie to move closer as well. Dex didn’t move because he obviously didn’t care about what Anthony had to say.

“Aiden, did you play football at your old school?” Anthony inquired with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Yeah,” Aiden nodded. “And basketball.”

Anthony did not seem surprised by this in the slightest, and he continued on anyway. “Aiden’s the stereotypical high school jock. They’re always popular because everyone loves them. He’ll fit in immediately.”

Aiden looked like he didn’t know whether or not he should have been insulted or flattered, so he said nothing back to what Anthony had said. Even I didn’t know if it was an insult or not.

“I’m going to be treated just like I was at my old school.” Anthony shrugged, and seemed as though he accepted this. It made me feel about for him. “I was bullied and ignored because I was a nerd. I tried to join track, but was bullied so bad by the other guys on the team that I quit. Even though I could run faster than all of those jerks.”

I frowned, feeling horrible for Anthony. I couldn’t ever remember being bullied. I could barely remember school at all. But if I had been bullied as much as Anthony was saying he was, I didn’t think I’d be able to keep going to school.

“That’s why I was really hoping that I’d be recruited into the DAU,” Anthony admitted quietly, and this only made me feel even worse. “If I got recruited, I wouldn’t have to go back to that place and see all those bullies ever again.”

Lena was frowning. “I know how you feel,” she told him, and he didn’t seem to believe that someone like Lena could have possibly known how he felt. “I wanted to be recruited because then I wouldn’t have had to go back to school and see all those jerks. That’s just part of the reason why I was mad when I didn’t get recruited.”

I didn’t ask her what other reasons there were. I was surprised that she was opening up this much, so I wasn’t going to push her.

“Well, people are going to be afraid of Dex,” Anthony continued, and Dex took a step forward, a look of annoyance and interest on his face. “He’s a tough guy. He’s intimidating. People are going to be afraid of him because he’s a big guy that could easily beat them up.”

Dex shrugged, obviously uncaring about the fact that people may be afraid of him. “It’s fine with me,” he drawled. “That’s how it was at my old school, and I was perfectly fine with that.”

“Kristie will be popular, too.” Anthony looked bored while Kristie looked completely overjoyed. “Because she’s pretty, guys are going to like her. Girls are going to want to be friends with her, even though they’ll really only be jealous of her because of her looks. But she’ll be popular. All good looking girls at my old school were popular.”

“Hey,” Lena snapped, her hands moving to her hips. “I wasn’t popular and I’m good looking.”

“But you’re a bitch, Lena,” Dex commented, finally speaking up. “That’s the difference between you and Kristie.”

Taking a step closer to Dex, they were now toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye. I bit the inside of my cheek.

“You want to say that again?”

“Not really. You should have been listening better the first time.”

Lena looked like she wanted to hit him. I continued to just stand there awkwardly along with the rest of my teammates. I felt the attraction between them. I felt my stomach drop. When Lena glanced over at me, she seemed to notice this and stepped away from him, and the attraction was gone.

Dex looked confused, but not bothered. I then really wished I was able to tell how people felt toward me, because it would have made everything so much easier. It would have helped when I was at school.

I wanted to know where I would stand in high school. Obviously I wouldn’t be popular like Aiden or Kristie, but what would I be? Would I be feared like Dex, or ignored and bullied like Anthony and Lena? I wanted to find out, but at the same time I didn’t.

I tried to remember sixth grade. I couldn’t. I didn’t know if I had been alone, or if I had friends. I didn’t know if I had been popular or bullied. And it really bothered me that I could barely remember anything about that time. And all because I had been locked in my room for five years.

High school. I was going to have to attend high school with hundreds of teenage humans.

I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel about this. I had no idea how high school was supposed to be. I hadn’t even gotten through all of sixth grade before I was pulled out. But something told me that high school was a lot different than middle school, and that was what really worried me.

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Yay, chapter two!

This is my favorite book of mine currently. I don't even know why. I don't know if it's because it's so different or if... I don't even know. I just like it. xD

Though I don't really like this chapter, but it had to be written to get all this information out of the way. Oh, well.

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :)