DEVON
I was awoken by my very annoying alarm clock.....again. Yup, that's always how my day begins. I let out a tired groan and switched off the alarm. My gaze rested on the mask lying on my pillow. I grabbed it, the memory of the previous night's event coming back to me.
I realized that it had not been a dream. My partner had transformed right in front of me. Brown curls turning to waist length black and blue hair. Startling green eyes turning golden. I hadn't exactly gotten a full glimpse of his face. I was right.
He was actually my mystery guy. He was the one who'd sent me the pendant. I could remember the pair of golden eyes I'd seen in the garden when I was ten.
He was the one all along.
I closed my eyes, wishing he would stop hiding himself from me. He was definitely not human and I was certainly curious at this point. "Devon?! What the hell are you still doing upstairs?" I heard my mom yell. What was I still doing?
Oh, I was practicing yoga. Mum does not relent. She would always rant about how much I was never 'punctual' to school. I just woke up! Maybe, I had taken some time to think about my mystery guy, but still-
"Young lady, don't make me come upstairs!"
I froze for a teeny weeny second and hurried into the bathroom. I hurriedly got ready for school and half an hour later, I was hurrying down the stairs to have breakfast.
"Morning, mum," I said.
"Morning, sweetie," she responded, giving me a smile. It was almost like she hadn't been yelling at me a while ago.
I dug into my blueberry muffins, savouring the taste.
When I was done with my breakfast, I gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you later, mum."
"Alright, sweetie. Have a great day and stay out of trouble," she said and I grinned. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. I hurried to the door and opened it. Karla was standing there with a huge smile on her face.
"Leaving without me? I don't think so," she drawled.
"Hello, Mrs Bradley," she said to my mum who beamed at her. "Karla, you're just in time. Now, you girls should get going"
We left the house and got into my car.
"How was your night, Dev?" Karla said as I hit the gas and drove off.
"Fine? My pillow was very comfy and my bedsheets-" I droned.
"You know what I mean, sweetheart."
I rolled my eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about. If you haven't noticed, I do not have the power of telepathy."
Karla gasped dramatically, placing a hand on her chest.
"You wound me," she uttered with a false hurt expression on her face.
I laughed.
"Well, deal with it."
"Come on, Dev. There's no need to be sassy and sarcastic this morning. I saw you run after your partner last night. What happened? Did you guys have a steamy make up session?"
I scoffed. As if.
"Unfortunately, we didn't," I told her.
"What? Why?"
"He ran away before we could actually kiss"
"Eesh, that's total cowardice! Who's he?"
"Honestly, I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Karla asked as I parked the car in my favorite spot. We got out of the car and headed towards the school entrance.
"Dev, you're keeping me waiting," Karla sang, impatiently.
"Look, I can't discuss it right now. How about after school?"
"Okay then. Let's move our asses to class. The first bell has just been rung," she said.
As I hurried to my first class, I bumped into the school's nerd, Kayden Morrison. I didn't know how much he actually weighed, because the collision knocked him right off his feet. He landed on his butt. 'Ooph, that looks like it hurt' I thought.
"I'm so sorry," I said, helping him to his feet. He avoided my gaze as he adjusted his glasses. There was something oddly familiar about him. It felt weird.
"I'm really sorry," I said joining him to pick up his books. He was trembling slightly. I felt hurt when I realized why. He was scared of me.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I said. He didn't say anything, he still was not looking me in the eye.
"Stop acting like a wimp," I said. His grip on his books tightened and he slowly looked up. I gasped. His eyes were the exact same shade of green of mystery guy's eyes. I couldn't help but notice how long his eyelashes were.
"Satisfied n-now? Just leave me alone, okay?" He said and walked away, his fists clenched. I blinked.
What the hell just happened now? Can Kayden be the mystery guy?
Nope.
Not possible.
How on Earth did I even think of that?
Kayden was quite skinny. He didn't have the leanly muscled build of mystery guy. He had dark brown hair and long bangs. Kayden wears glasses and boring clothes.
The more I thought about it, the more confused I became.
Mystery guy was definitely messing with my head without even trying.
"Miss Bradley, why are you five minutes late to class?" Mr Thompson, my grouchy history teacher said to me, glaring daggers at me.
"Um, I'm late.... I didn't realize that," I said, feigning ignorance.
"Find yourself a seat," he ordered. I plopped down beside Mel. "By the way, you're having detention with me after school," he said, handing me the dreaded detention slip.
"Oh come on!" I groaned in annoyance and Mel snickered at me, amusement written all over her face.
....
"I can't wait until after school, Dev. You have to tell me everything, right now. Besides, it can't be that bad, right?" Karla said to me during lunch break.
"Fine, I'll tell you," I groaned. It was at this point that Kayden walked into the cafeteria, he was limping.
"Since when did Kayden start limping?" I asked Karla who scoffed.
"Do not change the- Wait, since when are you concerned about the nerd?" Karla asked, raising a brow.
"I'm not concerned-"
"Don't tell me he's the one you're crushing on," she whispered, eyes wide.
"What? No! Gross. I don't like him," I frowned.
"Good, now tell me everything, right from the start."
"Remember that time I told you about my mystery friend who left me a pair of pink boots and a pendant?"
"Oh, yeah...."
"I met him last night"
"No way!" She squealed.
I started to watch Kayden again. He was heading towards the back with his tray. The three bad boys of Springfalls high were also watching. You know that feeling you get when you watch a movie and you can feel that something bad is about to happen, that's what I was feeling. Finn, the leader of their group stuck out his leg and tripped Kayden. Everyone in the cafeteria burst into laughter.
"That poor thing" Karla said. Kayden struggled to his feet. He looked really embarrassed. I felt remorse for how I'd spoken to him harshly. His glasses were broken and I suddenly felt the urge to lash out at those good for nothing boys.
So, I rose to my feet.
"Dev, what are you doing?"
"I'm just going to ask them to sign on their autographs. What do you think I'm doing?" I replied and left the table. I started to head towards Finn and his friends who were making fun of Kayden.
"Stop it, you morons!" I snapped and they laughed.
"Look, it's the hot cheerleader!"
"Stop bullying him, you idiots!" I hissed, my eyes narrowed.
They all stopped laughing.
"What's it to you anyway? He's nothing... he's just trash. Or he's probably your new boyfriend. That makes you trash number two," Finn said and I slapped him.
Everyone went silent, you would actually be able to hear a pin drop.
"Nobody deserves to be treated like trash, okay?! He's human like you!" I emphasized.
I walked up to Kayden who was still on his knees, trying to find his glasses. Then, I helped him to his feet and led him out of the cafeteria.
"I'm sorry," I apologized and he squinted at me.
"I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier," I added.
He smiled nervously.
"It's okay. It's not everyday the cheerleader actually comes to my aid. Thank you," he uttered, wiping his face with a tissue. "What happened to your leg?" I asked as he limped forward.
"That's another story for another day, I guess," he shrugged.
"Oh, right."
"See you later, Devon," he said, a smile playing on his lips. The sight of his dimples hit me hard, I felt like I couldn't breathe.
It can't be.
He's not my mystery guy.
It's not possible...
It's just a coincidence?
Right?
These were my thoughts. But, I had no proof that I was actually right. Again, I felt stupid.
....
At night,
I bolted upright in bed, eyes wide. I'd been awoken by a loud clap of thunder. From the looks of it, it was raining heavily. I cursed under my breath annoyed that the thunder had awoken me from my sleep. I'd dreamt that my mystery guy revealed himself to me and we got married, the next day. Weird, I know.
I got out of bed and walked towards my closed window. I took a deep breath and opened it. I was totally not expecting to see a dark figure standing outside, watching me intently. I gulped nervously.
He was wearing a black hoodie that hid his face from view.
What the hell was this guy doing?
'You tell me. He's probably going sight seeing,' the tiny voice in the back of my mind said and I rolled my eyes.
We stared at each other like we were transfixed but then, I noticed that he was shivering. My eyes widened and I poked my head out.
"You'll freeze to death if you stay there. Why don't you come in?" I said
He tilted his head and began to climb up the house steadily. He got to my window and I moved aside for him to come in.
Call me stupid, but at this point, I believed that I was dreaming.
He was standing right in front of me and all I could do was stare. He raised his head slightly. Then, I saw it.
Golden eyes.