• Prologue: The Dream
    Chapter 1
    Ch.2 Part 1
    Chapter II: Part 2


    AS WE approached the door to Physics my stomach began to churn again, but this time not as intensely. Apparently my face had pain written all of it because Julie patted me softly on the back. “You sure you don't want to go to the nurse?”

    “Julie, I'm fine. I promise! Seriously stop worrying about me!” I laughed at the end realizing that my tone of voice was harsher than I'd initially intended. She smiled and walked cheerfully through the door. Then, right as I was about to step inside, something hard hit my shoulder and knocked me into the threshold.

    “Ouch! What the—” I started to shout, but my body froze in place when I looked over and saw Vincent Balentein standing next to me. His face looked completely annoyed.

    I instinctively jumped away from him, hitting my head on the side of the door and immediately feeling like an idiot because of the look he was now giving me. Once again I felt the urge to smack myself in the face.

    What is wrong with you, Kida?
    I followed the students into the class and took my seat at the normal table in the back, next to Jeff and Julie's table. I noticed Vincent handing a slip of paper to Mr. Height.

    I watched as Vincent answered a few of Mr. Height's questions. He still had that I-don't-care look on his face as he nodded and shook his head at the teacher. I don't think he opened his mouth once to answer a question, nor did he smile. One time I saw him take his hand out of his pocket and swipe a loose hair out of his face. Not sure why I noticed that.

    Right after the bell sounded, Mr. Height waved at the class to get our attention. “Alright...settle down now. Class has started. I'm sure a few of you already know by now, but we have a new student from Chicago. His name is Vincent Balentein.” A few students exchanged words of greeting, but most just turned to his or her neighbor and whispered, probably something scandalous. I noticed a few girls giggle to one another, and I rolled my eyes.

    “Let's see...where should we seat you?” Mr. Height started scanning the classroom for open tables. That's when I realized that my table was open, and I began to get that nervous feeling again. “Ah...there's an open seat right next to Kida in the back. She doesn't bite, I promise.”

    I looked up casually and thought I saw the corner of his mouth curl up slightly. Everyone watched him as he walked over to the table, but I did my absolute best to look undisturbed. As he sat down at the desk, I smiled politely at him, barely meeting his gaze. “Hi.”

    No answer.
    He just slouched down in his seat and stared at the front of the class with a vacant look in his eyes. I felt my eyebrows pull together in confusion.

    “I'm Kida,” I whispered.
    For a split second I thought I saw some emotion in his eyes, but he only let out a sharp exasperated breath as if he were annoyed and looked over at me with an irritated expression. “Yeah.” The way he elongated such a short word really pissed me off.

    I clicked my tongue angrily and rested my head on my right hand so he couldn't see my face. “Jerk,” I said under my breath.
    “What was that?” he asked casually.

    I turned around once more. “I said, ‘Jerk.”
    He turned his head slowly toward me, and our eyes met. I could see the intensity in his deep blue eyes, and it sent cold chills down my spine. I quickly averted my gaze back up to the front of the class.

    Who is this guy?
    One thing for sure was...
    Vincent Balentein was an a**.



    TO BE honest, I couldn't even pay much attention at all during class. Every chance I got, I sneaked a peek over at Vincent. It was strange how intrigued I was by him. I barely even knew the guy, yet he already annoyed me to no end. Maybe There was just something off about him.

    Mr. Height asked everyone to look over at one of his “toys” that he takes out of his closet, which I've always believed is some kind of portal that leads to another dimension. That or there's a secret trap door that leads to an underground lair where he does all of his top-secret government assignments.

    I took this as an opportunity to glance over at Vincent. It wasn't until he was seated next to me that I realized how physically attractive he was. His black ruffled hair hung slightly above his shoulders, and his skin was incredibly pale...like fine porcelain. Did this guy get no sun? And his facial features were perfect! Strong chin, high cheek bones, glass-like eyes. I suddenly remembered that weak feeling I got when he looked over at me after I'd called him a jerk, and I inhaled deeply through my nose.

    “Alright, so are we ready for the lab?” Mr. Height asked. A few of the students groaned, but for the most part, everyone enjoyed labs. Of course, just at that moment, everyone looked back up to the front, and Vincent noticed me staring at him. He shot me a confused glance: creepy is probably what he thought. I turned my head and cringed behind my hand. How many head bashes did I owe myself?

    “Luckily, we don't have to actually go over to the lab for this one. You guys can work them at your table.” I'd always been partners with Julie and Jeff since I didn't have a table partner.

    But now I did.
    “Eh...Kida, you can just partner up with Vincent now.” I wrinkled my nose and imagined myself slamming my head on the desk.



    COULD THIS have been any more awkward? How was I supposed to do these equations with Vincent crowding me? Every time I wrote down an answer he would sigh and shake his head. I gripped my pencil tightly, trying to ignore his little gibes. Not only that, but every now and then he'd chuckle to himself after I'd write down an equation. I slammed my pencil down on the desk and looked toward him. “What?” I asked with much frustration.

    He shook his head nonchalantly and leaned back in his seat, casually crossing his arms. “Nothing,” he smirked.
    Whatever hint of a smile I was wearing soon turned to a cold stare. “Nothing?”

    He leaned forward on the table and rested his head on his hand. “I was just wondering,” he said looking at the paper. “Do you enjoy getting bad grades?” He genuinely looked confused.

    My face burned with embarrassment. Bad grades? “No. Why would you ask?” I picked up my paper insecurely. Vincent shrugged and leaned back in his seat again. I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling and pretended to continue the lab, but really I was too self-conscious to keep going.

    Not seconds later, he quickly sat back up in his seat and sighed as if he was frustrated. “It's just...I can't help but notice that you've solved almost every question wrong.”

    Were my ears turning red? I was almost certain they were. Almost every question? I kept telling myself to ignore him. Just to continue the lab.
    Vincent must have thought I didn't hear him because he scooted his chair closer to mine. “Do you listen in class at all?” How could he ask a question like that so casually? He just practically insulted me and wasn't even bothered!

    “My answers are fine,” I said through my teeth.
    “Well according to Newton's law, you're wrong.”

    Sarcasm. Great. “No. According to Newton's law, I'm correct.” I pointed to the equation. “See. Solving for the radius. I just set the equation up proportionally to Earth's.” I shook my head and uttered a short, mocking laugh, basically brushing him off.

    “Hm. I guess you're right,” he said. I stopped writing and shot him a sketchy sideways glance. “We'll see when we get the paper back.” I pursed my lips and almost broke the pencil in half with my grip.

    Now I was paranoid. I rechecked my equations to make sure I hadn't made any mistakes. Physics was my favorite class, and normally I never had any problems with the labs. As much as I hated admitting that I might actually be wrong, there was no way I wanted to ask Vincent for help. “Yeah...I guess we will.”

    Once again my lack of acting skills got the best of me. “You know...I can show you an easy way to do these problems.” I looked over at him, shocked that he’d offered his help. The honesty was clear in his eyes. His dark, captivating blue eyes. My heart started beating a little faster.

    “Really?” I asked nervously.
    He scooted his chair closer. “Yeah. It's simple, really. Solving for the period—” I watched and listened as Vincent explained step-by-step how to solve the problem. I was completely amazed. He didn't even have to check the book for equations nor did he need the calculator. “And it's that easy,” he said coolly. My eyes were glued to him.

    “How did you know that?”
    He shrugged as if it were nothing. “I've done this before.”
    “But you didn't even need a calculator!” How could he be so casual about this? I was so amazed earlier that I hadn't even recognized until now his hand resting on the back of my seat. Blushing, I moved closer to the table so that we weren't touching.

    “I'm smarter than the average teenager. So what?”
    His sarcasm woke me up from my little stupor. Inside my head, I was screaming. Great...so Vincent not only was a master at looks and sarcasm, but he was also a genius.


    Part 3