Chapter 1 - Paige
"Serefina Johnston from KELK 67, reporting to you live from the Elkridge City Center, where a massive meteor shower has been predicted, you folks will be able to see it tonight, likely from ten p.m to well past midnight! It seems we have a pattern here, as our cozy little town has been seeing the same storm occur once every hundred years! Anyways, back to you Eddy-" The tv noise was cut off by Paige's mom, kissing her forehead and ushering her out the door urgently. Her keys jingling obnoxiously as she patted Paige out of the house.
"Hurry sweetheart! You don't want to be late again! Take my keys- be careful!" Paige had tuned out what she was saying as she ran out the door, slipping on the gravel. Late, again. Great, she knew exactly what the ladies in the office would say when they saw her. "Oh, Paige-late again are we? We'll have to mark that on your record" and yada yada, She could hardly stand the staff at Elkridge Public High School, they were all uppity and snooty- well except for Mr.Goldrun, the science and health teacher. He was cool, if not a bit creepy. As she stopped for coffee, she thought about how her life had ended up this way. As a sixteen-year-old girl in high school, she was already regretting basically every decision she made in the past few weeks of school. Now some people actually wanted to TALK to her. Yuck.
Perhaps the worst thing that had ever happened to Paige Horihiko, was attending a public high school. As a self-proclaimed "alternative punk", she didn't think it should be necessary to explain her fashion choice to anyone but her mother. Yet apparently this wasn't the case in high school. Peaches Newblood, the blonde-tall-tan classmate of Paige, constantly pestered her about her dull clothes and hooded jackets (which constantly covered her face) and don't even get her started on Paige's hair, long black and streaked with yellow and orange. Yes, perhaps Paige was strange compared to the other kids at school, but the most strange, the most out of place character she had to deal with, was Vinn.
Vinn Waters was likely the most annoying, insufferable human being to ever grace themselves in her presence. His southern drawl, those sparkling red eyes- yes red eyes- and that adorable- that disgusting braid in his hair. It all pushed Paige's buttons the wrong way. He was everything she was not. He was popular, and while she was well-known, she was not well-liked. Vinn studied and got good grades, whilst Paige liked to slack off. Indeed, Paige was intelligent, beyond intelligent really, but she didn't do a good job of showing it.
In the hallways between classes, Paige would always steal unfortunate glances of Vinn, walking beside his friends. Yet she always felt as though something was off about him. Like he was too perfect, too involved. It was around the start of school, right after he moved to Elkridge, that she realized she knew nothing about him whatsoever. To say that it made her curious was an understatement. Because if Paige knew one thing, it was that no-one came to Elkridge, and no-one ever left. But, she decided, that if he wouldn't tell her (not that she would even ask) that she would have to do some digging.
Paige trudged downstairs, into the school's basement to Mr. Goldrun's classroom. She had first-period chemistry, a class which she wasn't thrilled to be in. Each table in the dimly lit classroom had two chairs at it. Obviously, each student would ideally have a partner. Lucky Paige, she had been assigned Vinn. As she walked into class and sat down, she noticed that, of course, Vinn was already at their desk. He had his head down and was reading something. Paige dropped her bag at the floor and took out a journal, which she began to write in. She felt the table shift as Vinn looked up at her quickly, evidently startled by her appearance.
"Oh Paige- did you need the notes for yesterday? I figured you would need them so I copied them down for you since you were gone." A rustling sound abused her ears as the paper was slid towards her, filled with neat, grammatical writing. His perfectness made her dislike him even more.
"Thanks, Vinn..." She trailed off, very unsure of how to act around him still, even though it had been a few weeks since he moved here she was still figuring him out. Suddenly, her train of thought vanished as the door flew open, causing it to slam into the shelf behind and knock a few test tubes over. Luckily they didn't crack or break, Mr. Goldrun looked up sharply from his laptop, his gaze slowly went to the door, as did Paiges, and undoubtedly everyone else in the class. A tall, admittedly handsome, boy with dark hair and... no way. Purple? Green? Either color of eyes, she really couldn't tell despite the fact that they were staring straight at her. She gasped quietly, unsure of why she was so unnerved by this guy.
"Who exactly are you young man?" Mr. Goldrun asked with a smile that sent shivers down Paige's spine. The boy grinned stupidly, finally taking that horrific gaze off of her. She didn't want to know his name, didn't want to know anything about him, his presence seemed wrong and yet so dreadfully familiar.
The boy walked over to Mr. Goldrun's desk and sat a paper on it. "Derek Jameson. A new student." Paige gasped quietly, Jameson.. she recognized that last name. It was important and yet... she couldn't place it. She glared at Derek, immediately distrusting him. To her surprise, when she looked over to Vinn, his gaze was narrowed and his grip on his pencil was unusually tight. Paige could already tel
