Page 2 of The Fallen

?She probably shouldn't question why things happen, especially not good things, but it scared her. She didn't know how it happened or why it hadn't happened sooner. All she knew was something had changed on the inside, as well as the outside; but there was no way to explain it.

?She ambled forward, counting the paces as she went to clear her mind. She was almost to the door when she bumped into someone.

?“I'm sorry,” she said instinctively, looking up into the face of a boy she didn't recognize. Her head pounded harder.

?“It's okay, it was probably my fault,” he said and his eyes lit up.

?He had to be new, considering that in this small town in Nebraska, with a population that barely passed a thousand, everyone knew everyone.

?He looked her age, was her height and had the whitest teeth she had ever seen on a boy. She looked him over and gasped when she saw he had the same mark on the left side of his temple like her.

?Her mom told her God blessed her with the mark that looked like a star because she was special and one of a kind. Obviously she was wrong. It was darker than hers on his slightly tanned skin, but exactly the same.

?“I'm Brenton Kane,” he said holding out his hand.

?Marie looked at his hand, knowing the polite thing to do was to shake it, but she just stared. He took his hand back and rubbed it on the side of his pants.

?“Well, I guess I'll see you later. I have to get to the front office and get my schedule. Nice to meet you, um...”

?“Marie. My name is Marie Mitchell.”

?“Nice to meet you Marie,” he said and turned to leave.

?What was her problem? That was not the best first impression. Her mind was frazzled and she hated it when she was spacey. The bell rang and it snapped her out of her daze and she ran to her class.

?Destiny Harris, Marie's best friend, was draped over Kenny, the class clown slash hottie, in stitches. She spotted Marie and left Kenny to meet her half way. She was the only girl in this school Marie could relate to. They understood and respected each other. She made her feel like she fit in somewhere.

?Destiny was into the grunge look and her style never wavered. Today she was wearing dark purple nail polish and lipstick. The crimson streaks in her choppy, coal-black hair, made her normally light brown eyes look almost red against her olive complexion. She wore a black pleated skirt and fishnet stockings, black army boots and a purple shirt that said, “Live or die trying”. Although her look intimated most people, she was a sweetheart to the bone.

?“Rie, you just missed the funniest joke. Kenny cracks me up,” Destiny said, oblivious to Marie's mood or how she looked, for that matter. “I love when a guy chooses not to conform to the ways of modern society, but finds his own path. Did you know his parents are making him go to college to be a doctor, but he wants to be a comedian? What do they think he is, a puppet? Such fascist. Hey, what's wrong with you? You look different,” she asked in between breaths.

?So she noticed it, too. Marie wasn't completely crazy. “Nothing, just not feeling it today.”

?“Oh, well have you seen the new guy yet? He is so hot. I wonder where he's from. Shelby said his family moved here because his dad is running from the law. What do you think? You think he'll like me? I love a bad boy,” she went on.

?Marie settled into her desk and leaned back. Once Destiny got started, there was no stopping her. Normally she didn't mind her constant rambling, but she wasn't in the mood for it; she just didn't want to be at school today. Thankfully they only had a couple of months left before the summer break. It wasn't coming soon enough.

?She closed her eyes, trying to tune her out and all she could see was stars behind her eyelids. The stars danced around then caught fire and blazed across her mind. She jumped as one hurdled toward her and she looked around. Destiny was startled.

?The attention was on her until the teacher, Mrs. Greer, spoke up to announce a new student would be joining their class. Brenton came in, spotted her out and walked toward her. Please don't sit down next to me, Marie thought but she had no such luck; he was coming straight for her with a huge grin on his face.

?His walk was so confident, it was almost cocky. Definitely Destiny's type. Everyone watched as he leaned down to whisper in John Davis' ear, who was sitting behind her. At first John had a look of disgust on his face, but after a moment, his face was smooth. John nodded and started picking up his things to move to a seat on the other side of the room. Brenton slid in the seat behind Marie.

?Destiny glanced at Marie and smirked. That was her “challenge accepted” look. She was just as bad as the guys around here.

?He leaned forward. “We need to talk after class,” he said to Marie.

?She made no effort to turn around, she just shook her head in compliance. His breath on her neck made a tingle go down her spine. His breath smelled sweet; too sweet if you asked her.

?After class, she quickly made her way out, trying to escape the impending conversation she was supposed to have with the new guy. She was getting nervous; anxious even. What could they possibly have to discuss?

?Before she could wonder any further or walk fast enough to get away, he was right there, strolling beside her.

?“You trying to get away from me?” he said.

?“Yeah, I kinda was,” she grinned and kept going.

?“You're honest. I like that.”

---