1: The strangers

JANESVILLE

                       IN THE PRESENT DAY

I walked towards the cafeteria with Alessa and Karina, feeling a bit nervous all morning since it was our first day of our last year in school. We wanted to make the most out of every day because once we graduated, we'd miss all of this. Maybe even ourselves. The cafeteria was already a bit crowded, but we managed to spot an empty table in the back. The perfect spot.

"Let's get lunch," Karina said.

We nodded at Karina, who was petite and dark-haired, the quiet one of the group. Luckily, there was no line since everyone had already gone through. We picked up our respective lunches and headed to the table.

"Well, I heard that the guys from the team are single, that gives us an advantage," Alessa, with her long black hair and envy-inducing crystal blue eyes, sat across from me. And yes, she was the flirt.

Karina sat beside me.

"A table was empty in the center," Karina complained, pouting a bit.

"We're fine here, aren't we?" I said, taking a sip of my juice.

"Coralee, that table was right next to the team's table. How did we not see that before?" Alessa replied.

I shrugged; I honestly didn't care about going to the dance alone; it would be fun. I think. Suddenly, Alessa's eyes widened as she looked towards the entrance, her mouth opening in surprise.

"What's going on?" Karina and I asked simultaneously, also noticing her reaction.

"Look at that," she told us.

We turned our heads, as did everyone in the cafeteria, towards the entrance. Three guys were coming in, serious and expressionless. They wore black, their hair was disheveled, and they walked carelessly, no nerves at all. I had never seen them around here, so I assumed they were new. But my gaze was drawn to the boy in the middle; I squinted because he looked familiar, but I couldn't place from where.

He was dark, that was clear. The cafeteria fell silent; everyone couldn't take their eyes off those three strange guys. They reached the empty table, the one Karina had mentioned, and sat down. There was a blond guy and another redhead. The one who seemed like the leader had black hair; his face was so clean and... refined that I couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated and intrigued.

"Who are they?" Alessa whispered.

"They must be new," Karina replied. "I think I heard the principal talking about it this morning."

The one with black hair strolled casually through the cafeteria until his gaze met mine. His eyes... his eyes were dark and piercing. I noticed how his expression relaxed; apparently, his two friends noticed his gaze, followed it, and landed on our table. On us. On me.

I immediately averted my gaze, looking back at Alessa, who seemed to have observed the scene.

"They're looking at us," she murmured very quietly.

"It's strange," Karina chimed in.

I clumsily nodded in agreement, then took another sip of my juice. I couldn't shake off the accusatory and empty stare of that boy from my mind. Deep down, I knew they wouldn't bring anything good.

"They stopped looking at us and started talking among themselves," Alessa announced, quickly glancing at them.

That was fine; I mean, I didn't like feeling watched by three hot guys... I can't believe what I just said! I shook my head to clear those weird thoughts and finally started eating.

The rest of lunch and the day were strange because after a while in the cafeteria, the three boys disappeared. After that, we didn't see them again. And here I was, in the last hour of class, receiving the only class I didn't have with my friends: history.

Five minutes were left before the class ended and we could leave. I couldn't count the seconds and minutes passing fast enough. I wasn't paying much attention to the class; the teacher was discussing something a classmate had mentioned, something about why he didn't talk about demonology and those things, as they were also stories. The teacher replied that this was a class about the country's history, not about Catholicism and such.

"But, sir, fallen angels exist, right?" he asked. I raised my gaze since that question, for some reason, caught my interest.

"Obviously, Mark, they are demons now," the somewhat exasperated teacher replied.

"But are they on Earth in human form or are they spirits?"

"Spirits."

"How can you be so sure?" the boy insisted.

"It's in the Bible, Mark, I recommend you read it; you'll find many of your questions there."

"I've always thought fallen angels are like you and me, the fallen ones, of course, because the angels of light, I believe, are spirits. If the fallen ones are on Earth, why wouldn't they be human like us? Obviously, they have some powers."

"You know what, Mark? That's okay, it's just as you say," the teacher cut him off from speaking further, although Mark seemed about to say something else, but then the bell rang.

I breathed a sigh of relief. However, as I packed my things into my bag, I kept pondering the same question Mark had asked. Are those demons like us? Thinking about it, I felt my skin crawl. So, I dismissed the thought.

As I walked out into the hallway, I bumped into Alessa and Karina coming towards me.

"I need you at the Journalism Committee room, don't be late," Karina told me before hurrying off into the crowd of students.

"And now, why would she need me?" I wondered.

I glanced at Alessa with boredom.

"She's very manipulative," she joked, "and here I was coming to tell you to hang out at the café across the street. I hate you, Karina," she glanced in the direction Karina had gone.

"Maybe we'll go later; I don't think I'll be delayed with Karina," I told her.

"Send me a message then," she said, walking towards the exit. I just nodded, pursing my lips into a thin line. As I turned around, I collided with a flat, hard abdomen.

"Sorry," I apologized, raising my gaze, only to confirm it was them, the strangers. I had bumped into the black-haired boy with the piercing gaze, who was looking at me attentively, and a smile appeared on his lips.

"No problem," he replied. "Well..." he paused, waiting for me to tell him my name.

"Coralee."

"Coralee, it's good to finally strike up a conversation with someone other than ourselves. I think we scare the others. What do you think?"

I was blank.

"I... I only talked to you because I bumped into you," I murmured very softly. The two boys beside him chuckled, and he just raised an amused eyebrow.

"Really?" he crossed his arms. I felt small in front of these three boys.

I nodded, not very sure, trying to tell my legs to move, until they finally did.

"I have to go," I said, passing by them.

"See you later, Coralee, maybe not so later," he whispered. I gave him a questioning look, but they just turned around and walked away.

"Maybe not so later?" What was that supposed to mean? Summoning all my willpower, I headed to the classroom Karina had mentioned; upon arrival, she was sitting, typing on the computer.

"Finally," she said.

And that's how we spent over two hours planning the newspaper for the next week. She was in charge, and in some cases, like today, I helped her. Alessa wasn't cut out for this, and Karina knew it, so she didn't say anything. Until it was finally time to leave. Karina said goodbye to me, got into her car, and drove off. I was in the parking lot, and it was nighttime, around eight. Only my car was there.

I walked slowly but hurriedly, taking my keys out of my bag. A cold gust made my skin prickle, making me walk faster. When I reached the car, I inserted the key, but it wouldn't budge. It didn't open. I don't know why, but I felt like I was being watched, and that scared me. I looked around for something or someone, then raised my gaze to the sky, clear, showing the stars and the huge full moon, illuminating me.

I lowered my gaze to continue struggling with the key and my car, but then, I felt something pass over my head. I let out a muffled scream and looked in all directions. Could it have been a bat? But it would have to be huge, right? Because whatever flew over me didn't feel small.

Maybe it's just an owl. A big one.

My heart was pounding a mile a minute. After that, the key worked. I entered my car as fast as I could and drove away from there.