CARRIE, ROBERT, AND their two kids left shortly after the entire truck was unloaded, which took longer than they first thought, considering Marie barely helped, she just sat on the porch steps drinking a bottle of alcohol she had stashed in her car for 'emergencies'. Despite her protests on staying, Carrie begrudgingly loaded her bunch in their truck after a prolonged goodbye. Robert had persuaded her that it was time to leave, saying Miranda had a ballet recital the next morning.

Hallie's new room was located on the second story at the end of the long hallway. She had a view of the backyard which was fenced in by an old rickety, falling apart fence. The grass was untrimmed and there was a single tree in the far corner. The walls were white with beige carpet to match, much more boring than her room back home.

Already a week went by and Hallie didn't even bother to start unpacking, the only things she did were her clothes. Her mother had registered her and Samuel into the local school and had forced Liam to look for a job.

Samuel lay on Hallie's bed while the latter sat in the old rocking chair that had been her father's. "Apparently Manuel has good academics and teachers, but the graduation rate is low. There are also apparently a lot of fights."

"Have you seen the neighborhood we're in?" Hallie inquired, gesturing out her open window. "I'd be surprised if there were no fights."

"Hallie!" Samuel scolded, glaring up from his phone where he was on the review website for their new school. "Did Dad teach you nothing about judging people?"

Hallie's head hung low and she muttered, "You're right. I'm sorry."

Samuel sat up, crossing his legs Indian style."I'm sure it won't be so bad," he commented, running a hand through his tousled hair. 

Hallie wasn't as confident as her brother, anxiety gripping her like a vice. Back home things weren't so bad, she knew people, had friends, she was part of a group. Here, everything was brand new, she knew no one, had no friends. Hallie would be totally alone.

"Don't worry, Hal, things won't be as bad as you think," Samuel said, as if reading his sister's mind. "I'll be there, right beside you the whole time."

Hallie was glad to have Samuel as a brother. Being only minutes apart in age, Hallie and Samuel were as thick as thieves, two peas in a pod. While Samuel could never have the connection their father had with Hallie, he had the "twin bond" as the three of them called it. Donovan understood the bond between his youngest children, for he had the same one with Carrie.

"Thanks Sammy," Hallie beamed, pushing her blonde locks from her face. It was late and their first day of school started the following, but Hallie found it difficult to sleep, her mind wandering off, so she had called Samuel into her room, where they started their research on their new school.

Hallie stood up and crawled onto her bed next to her brother, curling up beside him. Samuel flopped backwards, allowing his sister to rest her head on his shoulder. It was silent between the two of them, her dim table lamp illuminating the room in a soft, golden glow. Samuel and Hallie never needed words to express how they felt, they just knew without the other having to tell them.

"It's going to be okay Hallie," Samuel whispered softly, staring up at Hallie's blank ceiling. Back home, his sister used to have glow in the dark star shaped stickers above her bed. He wondered if she kept them and if she was going to put them back up. Liam use to tease her about them being childish but Samuel loved it, thought it represented who Hallie was.

All he got in reply was a simple nod, but that was good enough for him. He let her cuddle into his side like he use to when she came crawling into his bed at night after a nightmare. He held his little sister close and whispered that everything would be okay, over and over again until Hallie's breathing evened out and he was sure she was fast asleep.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered one more time for safe measures.

When Samuel and Hallie walked to the bus stop the next morning, which was just down the road from their new house, there were already multiple kids waiting, bantering like old friends. They probably are old friends, Hallie thought bitterly to herself, standing close to her nearly six foot tall brother. The two of them got some attention from a few of the students who assessed them from head to toe.

A tall, dark skinned girl with bright red hair approached the two siblings. She was pretty, Hallie had to admit, but she was intimidating and made the smaller blonde cower behind her brother. Beside her was a tan skinned boy with midnight black hair, tattoos littered is arms like a second skin, a disinterested look on his face.

The dark skinned girl smiled, showing off perfectly straight white teeth. "Hi, I'm Alyssa. I'm guessing you guys are the newbies that moved into the old house?"

"That's us," Samuel started with a nod. "Samuel Perez, and this is my sister, Hallie Perez."

"Perez? The two of you don't look Mexican," the guy behind Alyssa muttered, eyeing the siblings up and down.

Samuel opened his mouth to say something, but Hallie beat him to it, stepping out from behind him. "That's awfully racist of you to say," she snapped hotly, eyes narrowed.

The boy lifted a single eyebrow, "All I said was that you don't lo-"

"I'm Latina, our dad's from Venezuela," Hallie snapped. She had to admit, her and Samuel looked nothing like their Latin father who possessed dark hair and dark eyes to match the stereotype many people associated him with, instead the twins had been blessed - or cursed, however you looked at it - with their mother's blonde hair, Samuel's being a more golden blonde while Hallie's was like bleach. Samuel, however, had inherited their father's warm brown eyes while Hallie received their mother's cool blue ones.

The boy held up his hands in surrender, not saying anymore. Alyssa cackled, punching the boy in the arm, who immediately dropped his hands to rub the sore spot just below his shoulder. "Ignore Elijah," Alyssa laughed, pointing at the dark haired boy - Elijah - just as he threw his arm over her shoulder. "He's a bit of a jackass, but it's about time someone's put it back in place."

"Shut up," Elijah growled, pinching the side of her neck and causing her to drawl back and shove him away.

"Are you guys... a couple?" Sam inquired, watching their playful banter.

Alyssa pretended to gag, opening her mouth and shoving her finger a little way's down her throat. "As if, we're more like interracial siblings. Eli is like an overbearing, immature, pretends-like-he's-six-damn-year-old brother." She rushed out as the bus pulled up to the stop.

Elijah chucked and bent down, scooping Alyssa up and throwing her over his shoulder. She shrieked as he carried her to the bus and up the steps. Slowly, Hallie and Sam followed. 

The bus was crowded, there were more kids than Hallie original thought there would be, much more crowded than the bus they use to take to their old school. Samuel sat down in an empty seat and motioned for his sister to join him, but before she could, a tall skinny redhead slipped into the seat before her. Hallie's eyes widened in horror, unsure of where to sit before something caught her eye. Alyssa was waving her over. Hesitantly, Hallie moved to the seat behind Samuel and sat in the seat with Alyssa, across from where Elijah sat alone.

"Listen girl, don't look so tense," Alyssa joked, placing a gentle hand on Hallie's shoulder. "It'll be okay. Can I see your schedule?"

Hallie pulled out her way-out-of-date phone and handed it to Alyssa; it looked miniature compared to Alyssa's slightly newer phone.

"Hey, we have English, Anatomy, and Spanish together."

"You take Spanish?" Elijah asked. Hallie turned to look at him sprawled across his seat. "Don't Latinas usually already know Spanish?"

"You know its really rude to assu-"

"Right, 'that's awfully racist of you'. Just answer the question," Elijah dismissed with  roll of his eyes that instantly pissed Hallie off.

"Yes, I know how to speak Spanish, okay," Hallie rolled her eyes, "it just makes for an easy grade."

"Good thinking," Alyssa praised with a cackle.

"If you're from Venezuela, why is your name Hallie? Doesn't sound much like a Latin name to me," the guy in front of Elijah questioned. "Sorry, I was kinda listening in at the stop."

"Ignore Calum, you don't have to answer him."

Hallie sighed, "I said my dad was from Venezuela, my mom is from the states."

"So you're mom named you?"

"No," Hallie grumbled. "I was named after Halley's comet."

"Who's what?" Elijah looked confused, eyebrow drawn up.

"Halley's comet," Hallie said with a wave of her hand, "It's one of the most famous comets, like ever. It was named after an astronomer named Edmond Halley, spelled H-A-L-L-E-Y, not like my name which has an -ie. Anyways, Halley examined three different reports that were made about three different comets, but he deemed it to be the same comet, a 'periodic' comet that only comes within Earth's vicinity every 75 years and was last seen in 1986."

Hallie stopped her mini rant, breathless, eyes wide and excited. They all - Sammy, Alyssa, Elijah, and Calum - were looking at Hallie as though she were insane, minus Samuel who just looked amused. He already knew the story behind Hallie's name, his father had told them many nights. Samuel and Liam had less inspiring stories behind their names, but it never bothered him that his twin's name was the fascination of his father's life.

"Cute story," Elijah said, bored expression returning to his face as he leaned against the window of the bus.

Alyssa rolled her eyes and threw her arm over Hallie's shoulders, "I think we're gonna get along just fine!"