----
I tapped my pencil against my desk, bored straight out of my mind.
Some of the guys looked at me with furrowed brows and sour smirks.
I politely smiled back, snarling to myself. What the heck were other people doing on this planet? They didn't belong here. I made no movements as the school bell rang. One of the boys walked to my desk. "H-Hey... Nathan... I was wondering if, um, do you want to go to the shop after school with me and m-my other friends? W-we thought since you only hang around the Mall Outlets alone... that... uh, I'm awfully sorry for asking! This was rude of me to say, i'm so sorry! Why would you want to hang around with me? We're not popular like you are..." He ducked his head for a second and nervously smiled.
"I should be apologizing, actually. Maybe I should stay away from the Outlets more often. I do appreciate your comments." I smiled.
"O-oh, thanks!" He quickly ran away.
I frowned to myself. Idiots. What could possible make the think I had the slightest interest in wasting any of my time with them?
"Nathan looks so hot in denim jackets... he should so wear them more often." I looked to the voice. A duo of frivolous-minded teenage girls in my class. I glanced at what I was wearing. A red plaid shirt, blue jeans, and a denim jacket. Seriously? What kind of moron would actually take the time to talk about another's clothing?
I threw my bag to my sister and walked to the Outlets.
-----
I went to the café like I often did and went to the counter.
I knew the girl there rather well from all the times I had went there.
Her skin turned a lighter shade of red as I walked up.
"My usual, Jen."
She gave me my coffee and I sat down.
I froze as Autumn Betë walked in. She looked at me and came to sit down.
"Hey, Nate! BTW, why're you here every day? Got a thing for Jennie Winters?"
I sighed. "I don't have a thing for anyone, Autumn."
"Put you face to good use or I'll beat it off! You're the most gorgeous freshman! Use it to your advantage."
I sipped my coffee. "I'll pass. It's not in my interest to do anything whatsoever like that."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot you're a total heartless socio."
I smiled.
"Nathan Hawk smilin'? No way, got to post this on instagram..." Autumn joked, with a mock dramatic look on her face.
"Hey, Autumn... who is that?"
She turned to where I was looking. "Whoa, dude... He's hot. But..." She looked from me to the kid. "He looks like you."
I examined him. His hair was the same chocolate brown, but the back of his head was silver, and he had bright green eyes, exact shape of mine, complete with long eyelashes. His were just lightly tinted in gray. His tone was absolutely perfect, and completely flawless, and he was slim and muscular. Aside from the silver hair thing and the gray tints in his eyes, he looked exactly like me. Gold-rimmed flight goggles were propped on his head, and he wore a sleeveless blue muscle shirt, a gray denim vest, knee-high combat boots, and denim shorts that were a little too... short for boys.
He was smiling contently and sipping hot cocoa.
"Tch..." I frowned. "Who the heck's he?"
Autumn wasn't listening to me. "Shit... He's gorgeous! Omigod, he's almost as hot as you."
I rolled my eyes. "Moron."
Autumn was pretty, I can't deny that. Long, golden hair, super blue eyes, a sun-kissed tan, and a pretty laugh. But still, she was one of those teeny girls I secretly hated.
"Autumn, gimme a sec."
"Whatever, i'll sit here."
I walked over to the kid and sat down. He glanced up and smiled. Process of elimination: he wasn't American. I wasn't either, I was completely Swedish with a Brit's accent, but I was still raised in America.
"Who are you?"
He looked up again, but this time scowled. "Who are you, and why d'ya ask?"
"I'm Nathan. I'm curious."
"I'm Arian. Hey, listen... what's your last name, and where were you born?"
"Nathan Hawk, Sweden, move to London, move to America." Why was I telling him this?
"I'm Arian Hawk. Born in Sweden, moved to London and was separated from my younger brother so he was sent to an orphanage in America due to the fact he was a sociopath. Mm, good cocoa!" The dude smiled and for just a split second, I could've sworn his eyes glowed full-on silver.
I wasn't shocked, not in the slightest. I never was shocked. "Cornelius Hawk... that was father."
"Cornelius Hawk? That's m'jerk dad."
"That's my dad, also."
Arian looked at me with a sly, painful look. "Nate. Nice to see you again. Ain't it been, what, a few years?"
"Six years, two months, a day, two hours, seventeen minutes, thirty-seven seconds, I've been counting, trust me on that. I remember it like yesterday, but I honestly don't give a crap about you or my family."
Arian slightly snarled, masking it with a laugh. "That's my brother, the sociopath he is."
I didn't respond to his comment. "Anyway, what have you been doing?"
"I went to some special school..."
"School. How impossibly vague."
"It was for special kids with certain... powers. You wanna go?"
"Why not?"
"Let's go now."
"Today?"
"NOW, now." He put two fingers on my forehead and his eyes glowed silver.
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