I.1 - The First Full Moon

ROGER WILLIS

A failing marriage. That’s basically the reason my family and I moved to the small town of Viridian Falls. I learned that my father had been sleeping with his secretary, and I thought that was quite a typical situation with most men working in the white-collar class. My mother was a relentless and inquisitive type of woman. She was constantly confronting and asking my father with the very same question that she asked a few days prior. Unfortunately, just like everyone else, my father was caught in his own web of lies and ever since then, my life has become difficult.

My mom and dad are under the impression that I don’t know what’s up with them. They were acting as if they’re on good terms and that we only moved here because life in the major city of Birmington is only for the rich.

To be honest, they aren’t good at acting. If they thought I have zero idea about dad’s infidelity, they are absolutely wrong. The walls aren’t as thick as they thought it was. I heard the constant exchange of screaming and the throwing of stuff over each other. I even know mom made dad choose between moving in this small town to start a brand new life or the mentally stressful and quite costly consequences of a divorce. I guess dad doesn’t want to be mentally exhausted while drinking a beer alone in a cheap motel.

“Good luck on your first day at school!” My mom uttered handing me my lunch with a bright smile on her face.

“Thanks, mom.” I took the box from her before quickly walking away.

“Be sure to make a lot of friends.” She added as I continued walking ignoring her presence behind.

This must be my mother’s dream, a simple life at a simple house in a simple small town with his supposedly changed husband and whatever crap she’s dreaming about. I’m still mad that we had to move here when I’m already in my junior year and now I have to start all over again. I don’t even want to be here in this crappy small town with nothing fun to do. I wanted to speak up and yet I’m fully aware that my voice doesn’t have a say in this matter.

It’s been two days since we got here and I spent most of my time helping with the stuff around the house. My mom and dad were hopeful to restore their relationship and I’ve got to be hopeful that dad would uphold his promise. I haven’t gone out of the house yet and I’m already missing all of my friends back in Birmington. I’m missing hanging out with them, having fun parties every Fridays and just basically living my teenage life.

I must have to admit that I have mixed feelings about this day noting the underlying fact that I’m the new kid on the block and while this is my first time moving to an entirely new place, I’m clearly aware that’s being the new kid isn’t always fun.

I’m inherently trapped in between the fidgety borders of utter excitement and fear. I’m obviously excited to meet new people but at the very same time, I’m also afraid of not knowing what to expect.

Am I going to fit in? That’s one question that I had in mind during our trip here. It’s just a quick thought but still, it’s something that slit through my head. While I know I’ve always that type of person who fit in no matter what the situation is, I still felt anxious about it.

Am I going to become the new kid who’s going to eat alone in the corner? This was the thought that I’m most afraid of. I certainly don’t want to be that kid.

With the brighter side of things, I had lots of thoughts as well.

Am I going to make new friends today? Are there any pretty girls around the school that might catch my attention? Do they love drinking and partying? I know I love to have fun and that was sort of my life back in Birmington, probably one of the reasons why I didn’t want to move here in the first place. I don’t have any high expectations about this place but I might be wrong.

“Hey there, neighbor!” I heard a voice calling for my attention. I looked to my side to see a slim guy wearing glasses approaching my way.

Great, so much for a cliché but my neighbor is the nerd guy who loves to wear loose t-shirts and doesn’t have a good sense of hairstyle.

“Hey,” I replied faking a smile.

“Finally, there’s a new guy in town.” He uttered finally catching up to me. “This town’s becoming pretty boring. It’s always the same person year after year. I couldn’t wait to graduate high school and leave this boring town.” He went on essentially telling me that there’s nothing fun to do in this town. I was just thinking it and I don’t want to believe it but now, this guy came and basically told me this town’s boring as fuck.

“Yeah, me too.”

Who doesn’t, right? At least, most of the people that I know are all excited to get out of high school. I, for one, am very excited about the idea of college and living alone.

“I’m Norman, Norman Clarke.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Roger Willis.”

“Nice to meet you too, Roger. Where’d you came from by the way?” Norman asked.

“Birmington.”

“Man, I was damn right. You’re a city boy. I mean, I saw you move in but I was too shy to come and introduce myself.”

“Yeah, I’m quite surprised too that no one came to say hi to us.” I added. “Have you ever been to Birmington?”

“Never. I’m pretty much stuck here for seventeen years.”

“I guess I’m going to be stuck here with you for another year.” I responded and for a while, I thought I sounded sarcastic.

Norman and I continued taking the road towards Viridian Falls High School and at first, I thought we would arrive in a matter of ten minutes but I slowly realized that’s not the case at all. I didn’t even notice we’ve been walking for twenty-five minutes because Norman kept on asking me questions after questions about Birmington and generally the city life.

“Why are we still on the road?” I asked after realizing that walking to the school was too far. If I hadn’t met Norman, I’d probably be lost wandering around looking for the public high school.

“We’re almost there.” He replied. It seemed that he’s used to walking this type of distance to school and if this was me, I’m going to be hella pissed. The only reason why I decided to walk today was my dad forgot the bicycle that he promised me.

“Are you really walking to school every single day?” I asked.

“Not really. I used to have my own bicycle but Benjie broke it last week and my parents don’t have enough money to pay for another one.”

“Who’s Benjie?”

“Benjamin Arlington, he’s a tall and really muscular guy. He’s the team captain of the school’s baseball team. No one fucks with him because not only that he’s friends with Reggie, the son of the richest man in town, his girlfriend Ysabella is the daughter of the mayor.”

“Wow, so he’s the top dog then.”

“Nah, he’s just a plain school bully but other than having important connections, he’s just nothing. I mean, you’re physically fit too, you can probably beat him in a fist fight but you’re not going to win the war against him.” Norman revealed and I was at most, informed as early.

I haven’t even arrived at the school yet and I already have some information from the people that I should at least, don’t want to fuck with. I guess I was a bit lucky to meet Norman.

As we marched down the road, I quickly noticed how beautiful the town of Viridian Falls is on its own rights. Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. I sniffed, gathering a deep breath of the clean air filtered greenly through the leaves. This must be one of the few positive things that I’m going to be getting here in this town.

We eventually passed by a long bridge right next to the most serene waterfall that I’ve ever seen in person. The sound of the water crashing down was just soothing to the ears and I was mesmerized by the scenic view. The bright morning sun was slowly yet surely climbing its way to the horizon giving us a nice view of the clear sky. I don’t see this type of natural view every single day back in Birmington and now it appears that I’m going to be passing by this landmark every day.

When we finally set afoot at the public high school which was just off the road, I started to feel a little bit anxious and somehow conscious of myself. There are surprisingly a lot of students flooding from every direction, some of them are jumping out of their bicycle, most of them are coming in groups and by twos and they all looked as if they knew each other ever since. I find it relatively dreadful to be showing up way too early and it’s for a fact that everybody would notice the new face that’s me. This was just a small town and I’m pretty sure everyone knew each other.

It is beyond my conscious state that I combed my wavy hair using my fingers fixing it to one side. I haven’t felt this conscious of how I look and I wished I would’ve gotten a nice haircut right before coming here, a nice faded cut would make me feel confident at the very least. I also readjusted my denim jacket to feel a little bit comfortable of the surroundings.

A loud hip-hop music can be heard blasting a distance from behind and suddenly, a revving red pick-up truck showed up and pulled over beside Norman and I. My face lit up when I saw my kind of people and when I say my kind of people, I meant fun and laid back people. They were all wearing a black and yellow varsity jacket as they were vibing with this hip-hop song by the rapper Eminem.

“I’m not afraid, (I’m not afraid) to take a stand, (to take a stand)….” Judging from the booming of the beat, it must’ve been coming from a stereo installed inside the truck.

“Here comes the popular kids.” Norman whispered stricken with fear as he began to walk away at such a faster pace.

I stood in my place for quite a moment. In my head, I was debating whether should I follow Norman or should I stay and introduce myself to the cool kids. I was actually leaning towards the latter, knowing that I was once a part of the popular kids back in Birmington. Staying was increasingly tempting but I didn’t know what came over me as I took a giant leap following Norman’s footsteps. I guess I was thinking he’s the only person that I know.

“Why are you so afraid of the popular kids?” I asked keeping my voice low enough as I trailed behind him.

“You’re kidding, right?” Norman paused and gave me a confused expression. Perhaps, I don’t know the answer or perhaps I’ve missed something.

“I’m just asking.” I finally caught up to where he paused.

“Do you know who owns that pick-up?”

I shook my head. I obviously don’t have any idea, I just got here and I don’t know anybody except for him.

“It’s Reggie Durst and he’s obviously with Benjie and the rest of their entitled friends.”

I looked behind me just to check who’s inside the pick-up truck. I saw a dark-skinned guy with a buzz cut at the driver’s seat. Jumping from the back was a tall and really muscular guy wearing a varsity jacket and I immediately thought that’s probably the guy named Benjie. He does really look intimidating at first, the height was towering enough to be a basketball star.

I followed Norman practically asking him to show me around the school premises. We resumed talking but nothing of it was that much important, it’s basically just small talk. He showed me around the different buildings of Viridian Falls Public High School and unlike my old high school, this place had their buildings located far from each other. There’s so much space that playing hide and seek within the school is going to be pretty hard. You must walk several steps before reaching the next building.

Before the bell rang, I had to say goodbye to Norman and then go to the Student Affairs office just as I was instructed to. I met the silver haired middle-aged Mrs. Goldman, the head of the student affairs who gave me the list of my schedule along with a key to a locker designated for me.

When I got to my first period, I was relatively nervous until I saw Norman at the front row waving at me. I felt a quick rush of relief knowing that I, at least knew one person within my first class. Everybody was looking at me with such inquisitive eyes I almost felt like I’m a live specimen at a certain museum. I had already expected that people would be looking at me like this, obviously I’m the new kid in the small town. I heard whispered around and I tried my best to ignore every pair of eyes that are glued towards me as I my eyes brushed throughout the room to look for an empty seat. Just as I expected, the only empty seat was at the very back row. I had to walk all the way to the back passing every single pair of wondering eye.

“Good Morning class,”

Just when I got to my seat, our English teacher entered the room. Great, I don’t have to sit down here for quite a longer moment and wait for the class to start. The whispering is getting intense, not that I can hear them but I can see their mouths blabbering some stuff that I can’t quite decipher.

“Good morning Mrs. Farrow.” Everyone greeted in unison.

“Let me check the attendance first,” Mrs. Farrow sat down in front and began reading names from the roster.

“Arlow,”

“Present…”

“Bolton…..Boyle…..Cargill…..Clarke…..Doran…Raddix”

Mrs. Farrow went on and it seemed that everyone was present as they all answered as their last name was called.

I was waiting for Mrs. Farrow to say Willis right after mentioning Williams but she stopped and that seemed to be the end of the roster.

“Is that everyone?” She asked looking at the whole class over her thick glasses. I was about to raise my hand to let her know about my existence when she suddenly remembered it. “Oh, I almost forgot. I was informed that we have a new kid around.”

“That would be me.” I raised my hand in the air as a quick reaction. Everyone turned around to look at me.

“Ah yes, you’re the new kid. You might be Roger Willis?”

“Yes, ma’am!!”

“I’m Divine Farrow and welcome to Viridian Falls High.” Mrs. Farrow stood up and went to door before eventually closing it. “We haven’t had any new students in a very long while. Would you mind coming in front and introduce yourself for the rest of the class.”

I swallowed hard when I heard her say those words. I just said my name and I don’t even need to go in front but I was being instructed to. I propped myself up and slowly inched my way in front. Usually, I would be fine talking in front of the class, it’s not a regular fear of fine but this moment felt different. I’m the new kid on the block and I’m sort of thinking that I need to leave at least a polite impression towards everyone.

“Uhm, hi everyone.” I began pausing for a moment. I noticed my voice was a bit shy and soft and I know I’m not a shy type of person. “My name’s Roger Willis and I came from the city of Birmington. I…I used to play Forward-center in basketball. I also love to play video games.” I went on trying hard to be confident with what I’m saying and in my head, I was just thinking of any other things to say. I know I lied when I said I played Forward-center when I’m usually on the bench playing as substitute because I’m not really good at playing basketball—or any other sports other than video games. I guess I was just trying to impress my peers and I might’ve succeeded when I saw some of them react in absolute awe.

“That’s fantastic, we’ve got someone who loves to play sports.” Mrs. Farrow followed up, she was still standing right next to the door. “So what made you move here?” Mrs. Farrow added.

“My mom and dad wants to move out of the stressful city life.” I quickly replied without any hesitations. I don’t even want to overthink my response to that question and I know I’m not obliged to tell the truth that my family moved here to start a brand new life because my dad was a total arsehole.

Mrs. Farrow asked a lot of questions that are all pure inconsequential yet I was able to answer them and just when I thought she would let me go back to my seat, she handed me a stack of paperwork. I’ve been standing in front for quite a while and I’m getting conscious about how I look that I kept on combing my hair to the side. She then made me distribute the paper to everyone and that’s when I first set my sight to the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life.

I’m surprised that I did not notice her presence right from the start when she was the only one with natural red hair, almost copper. They were long and wavy and it extends all the way to her lower back. She has a clear porcelain skin and her lips looked lusciously pink. She has some slightly bushy eyebrows that perfectly complements her overall beauty. Unlike most, I noticed she wasn’t wearing any make-up which made me appreciate her even more.

When I got back to my seat, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I must get to know her.

After first period, the very same thing happened when I got to my second and third period. I instantly became used to the constant attention that I was getting being the new kid in very long while so as they keep on mentioning. Everyone acted as if they have never seen a city boy in a long while and to be quite honest, I am loving the attention. I had to go in front every single time and introduce myself to the whole class and I’m pretty sure I’m going to do the very same thing until my last class.

Things became smooth as more and more people are starting to approach me on their own accord and introducing themselves to eventually asking a few other questions about me. Some asked how was party life in the city and I had so much fun telling them how many times I was wasted. Some of them asked about my love life to which I refused to answer because I don’t want them knowing that I’m sort of a playboy. I’ve dated a few girls before and I must have to admit that I don’t really have a particular type. As long as you’re into me, I’m going to be into you; that was sort of my rule.

When lunch came, Norman came to find me. I was at my locker when he sneaked up behind me.

“So, how was your day going?” Norman asked purely checking on how am I holding up on my first day.

“Good. I’m starting to recognize a lot of faces.”

“That’s great.”

“Hey,” I began thinking of the red head girl that I met in our English class. “Do you know any red head girl?” I asked innocently. I’m sure he knows every red haired woman here because he’s been here his whole life.

“Yeah, we have three. Soraya, Carmine and Elizabeth. Which one?”

“Uhm, the one in our English class.”

“Oh, that’s Carmine Reid.”

“Carmine Reid, huh.” The name sounded pretty.

“Wait, do you like her?” Norman teased and I had to refrain from smiling so he wouldn’t notice that the answer to his question was a yes.

“Nah, I’m just trying to memorize people’s names.” I lied shaking the thought just I won’t blush. Sure, I really do like Carmine even though I only saw her once this morning. She’s probably the prettiest girl that I’ve seen from here. I’ve seen a lot of pretty girls back in Birmington but they were all painted with stuff and I haven’t seen someone so naturally pretty.

“Good luck having conversations with her. She’s very shy and only speak when spoken to. I guess that’s why she doesn’t have many friends from here.”

Norman and I then walked towards the cafeteria where I suddenly remembered this is where a lot of things happen. This is where I would see who’s friends with who. Everyone had their own circle and while I know I’m with Norman now, I’m not sure if I’d be hanging out with him for the rest of the term.

I saw the school’s goths who always looked mad pissed as if the world’s against them. I saw the group of emos right next to the goths. And then there was the cool kids huddled in the longest table of the cafeteria.

“Those are the cool and popular kids,” Norman whispered to me as if I wasn’t already thinking about it.

“I know.”

“Don’t look at them just walk straight.” Norman ordered and I could sense fear from his tone.

Just like earlier, I was debating if I should stop right here and introduce myself to the cool kids. I know I wanted to hang out with them and yet, I ended up following Norman’s order. We walked straight until we reached the farthest table.

As we were about to have our packed lunch, I noticed someone from the cool kids’ table was about to throw something at Norman. I was able to quickly catch it and it felt really heavy. It was a crumpled paper with something hard wrapped inside it. If I hadn’t caught it in time, it would’ve hit Norman’s back and it’s not going to be pretty for him.

“Yow, did you see that bruh?”

“I did, that was sick.”

“Hey, new kid!” The dark-skinned guy with a buzz cut that I saw drove that pick-up truck from earlier called for my attention. “That was sick. Would you mind throwing that back?” He asked and I just thought maybe not. I know they’re not aiming it towards me but throwing something at someone doesn’t look good at all.

“Sure.”

I held the crumpled ball of paper, felt whatever’s wrapped inside and with such force, I threw it back as hard as I can. The guy barely caught it, he had to jump out of his chair just to catch it.

“Yow, bro?!” He called for my attention again looking much rather impressed at how I threw the ball back. “You throw pretty hard. Would you like to come sit with us?”

I looked at Norman who was looking much rather defeated at the fact that one of the cool kids just invited me to sit with them. Deeper inside my head, I was excited and happy that the cool kids are noticing how cool I am on my own. And then I was also feeling bad for Norman. I hated the feeling of having to choose right at my first day here in this school.

“It’s okay, man. Go hang out with the cool kids.” Norman let out, his tone came out pretty depressing.

“But…” I was just deciding to stay with him but the guy just came over behind me.

“Come have lunch with us, just leave this emaciated Harry Potter wannabe alone.” He grabbed me by the shoulder and the next thing I know I was having lunch with the popular kids.

“My name’s Reginald Durst.” The dark-skinned guy uttered introducing himself towards me. “They call me Reggie.”

“Hi, I’m Ysabella Hendricks.” The blonde woman sitting right next to the tall guy who I was thinking to be Benjie mouthed. “And this is my boyfriend, Benjamin Arlington.” She pulled her boyfriend’s arm closer towards her. The guy truly had muscular arms and it seemed that he’s been staying at the gym for quite a long while.

“Nice to meet you, bro. I’m Roger Willis.” We both shook each other’s hand.

“You can call me Benjie.” He spat out. I was right, he was Benjie. The guy who Norman mentioned broke his bicycle. I wondered what made him do that, he doesn’t seem to be a bad guy to me.

“And this is my twin brother, Yoseff Hendricks.” Ysabella continued and this time, she pulled the arm of the guy on her other side.

“Hey,” Yoseff said acknowledging my presence.

I took a moment comparing Ysabella and Yoseff inside my head. They really do look like they came out from the very same womb. The have the same color of sandy blonde hair, same hazel eyes and same snub nose. Though, Yoseff looked a little bit taller than Ysabella.

“You’re the kid from Birmington, right?” Reggie asked.

“Yes, I am.”

“Do you like partying?” Ysabella asked.

“Sure, I’ve been to a lot of parties when I was still in Birmington.” I admitted. My life in Birmington was pretty much fun and that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to stay there. I had a lot of cool and popular kids and I’m always invited to parties and other stuff.

Now that I’m hanging out with the cool kids here, I’m starting to think, it’s not really that bad a tall. I’m sure they’re all as fun as my old friends.

“That’s great.” Ysabella giggled looking much rather excited at the fact that I’m also a party person. “It’s my boyfriend’s birthday and we are going to have a party later tonight. Would you like to come?” Ysabella asked. I was a bit blown away that she’s already inviting me to this party later.

“I don’t know. I just came her….”

“Nah, just come and party with us bro.” Benjie cut me off before I could even decline their invitation. “We’re all very friendly here, you don’t have to worry, we got you. Plus, we haven’t seen a new face in a long while.”

“Benjie’s right.” Yoseff butted in. “You’re welcome here. This small town isn’t as boring as you might think.”

“Damn right, we have all the fun stuff.” Reggie mouthed and winked as if he’s talking about something like cigarettes and booze or perhaps shrooms. I’m more than enthralled at the thought of being invited to a party at my first day.

“I guess yeah, sure.” I nodded in agreement.

“That’s our new man, right here!” Reggie cheered tapping my shoulder and his hand was pretty heavy.

“Also, I noticed how you caught Reggie’s pitch and I’d say you’re pretty agile.” Benjie continued.

“That’s just a small thing. I guess I got lucky that I caught it.” I replied trying to downplay it. I know I really got lucky with that catch.

“I’ll try and ask our coach if he’d make a room for one more.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“You haven’t played baseball yet?” Reggie asked.

“Nah, I’m sort of a basketball guy.”

“You could still try, though.” Benjie added. “We sort of need a guy who could catch a pitch like that. I mean, we haven’t seen you swing a bat yet but I’m pretty sure you can do it as easy.”

“I’m going to think about it.”

Right after lunch, I had the absolute pleasure to get to know them a bit more. Benjie was the team captain just as Norman told me. Him and Ysabella have been dating for over a year and they really do look cute together. Ysabella was a bit shorter and she’s really voluptuous. I learned that Yoseff and Ysabella are the son and daughter of the town’s mayor and then Reggie is the son of the richest man in town. Norman was right about them, not only that they are cool and popular, they all have powerful connections in this school that I certainly don’t want to mess with.

The bell rang denoting that the break’s over and we had to resume class. I went to my next class which was Biology and I was pretty excited when I saw Carmine Reid enter the same room that I was in. I was kind of disappointed that she was seated at the front row of the class while I was at the very back end.

I was already prepared for the same thing that’s going to happen. Introducing myself right in front of everybody, it’s sort of the theme of my day. When the teacher, a fit guy with a nice haircut entered, I noticed everyone’s expression and I was just as confused as everybody else.

“Hey,” I called for the attention of the girl right next to me. “What’s happening?”

“He’s probably a substitute teacher.” The girl replied.

“Good afternoon class.” The teacher greeted the moment he got to the center front. He had a very straight posture as if he had a lot of military training and I could hear a sense of authority in his voice. His chest seemed like they are about to pop off at any moment.

“Where’s Mr. Runos?” Someone from the front row asked.

“Yes. Mr. Runos is currently on leave.”

I heard a lot of whispers and chatters throughout the room and it seemed like no one cared about the guy standing right in front of them. If I wasn’t the new kid, I’d probably be joining in with the ruckus but I don’t know anything about Mr. Runos.

“Jesus, he looks really hot.” I heard the girl sitting right in front of me whisper.

“You’re so right. I would definitely go down in his pants.” The other one agreed and they both giggled.

‘Crack!!!’

The guy used a ruler to divert attention towards him. They all shut their mouth and stared in front wide-eyed. The teacher then grabbed a chalk and started writing his name.

“My name’s Idris Lykaios and I’ll be your substitute teacher from now on.” He went on talking in such a very authoritative and intimidating tone. He didn’t even acknowledge how rude the class was just a few seconds ago.

The whole class was pretty shocked and silent and so was I, the air just seemed to change when he began speaking. I have never seen a teacher with this kind of commanding air in my entire life.

Mr. Lykaios appeared to be in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties. He had a nice well-maintained stubble, his eyes were a deep forest green and his black wavy hair were perfectly slicked back giving me a clear view of his menacing face. He had a straight posture that seemingly matched the deep undertone of his voice. Overall, there’s a sense of mystery in him that I can’t quite fathom.

Mr. Lykaios continued with the class and everyone was overcome by his strong presence. He decided to do a recitation for his first time teaching and he used it as means to know everybody’s name. He walked towards the back of class which meant that he’s going to stand right behind me throughout the whole recitation. His presence was absolutely intimidating that I could feel his voice vibrating every time he spoke. He began calling names after names and by time I was called, I unconsciously stared at him in the eye and I felt something weird about him but I just don’t know how to explain it.

By the time the day was over, I was at my locker fixing my stuff when I heard a woman’s voice speak up from behind me. The voice was pretty soft that I didn’t quite catch what she had just said. When I turned around, I was creeped out to find Carmine Reid. She was staring at me like she’s about grab me by the neck.

“Oh, hey.” I muttered feeling my heart beating. The most beautiful girl that I’ve seen was standing right in front of me and I just don’t know what to feel right now.

“Are you going to the party?” She asked and to be honest, I was both shocked and disappointed that out of all the things she would ask, she asked that. I thought she’s going to ask for my name and things like that. Well, I guess she already know my name but still, I am disappointed.

“Uhm, yeah. Are you?” I asked wondering if she was invited to the party.

“I’m here to warn you, human. Don’t go to that party.” Carmine uttered and then turned around making me feel even more creeped out.

“Why?” I was pretty confused.

“They are hiding in sheep’s clothing.” Carmine spat one last time before eventually walking away.