• chapter 3
    thank god it was fourth hour. fourth hour meant that school was half over and that lunch was soon. but one downside to today was that anne couldn't concentrate. she usually could make it to lunch without losing focus. today she hadn't made it through fourth hour.
    it was that new kid's fault. james. him and those green eyes that had seemed to stare through her, into her soul.
    stop it. you have to focus now. worry about him at lunch. anne thought to herself. it was the same thing she had been trying to focus herself all day. it hadn't worked yet.
    she had art next and was struggling with herself the whole way there. neither side was winning until she walked through the door to the art room. then the side that wanted to think about james won. because he was sitting at her table, in the seat that was next to hers. and he was looking right at her.
    oh this is going to be fun. anne thought sarcastically. she held her head up high and walked to her seat, ignoring james the whole time. or trying to ignore him. it wasn't going well. his eyes never left her.
    when he finally did was when lucas walked in the room with a couple of his friends from the basketball team. lucas may not look like it because of his size but he was a very good basketball player. he seperated from them and walked to anne's table. he walked to the chair across from her, smiling. anne could've sworn james moved slightly closer to her as lucas sat down.
    "hey anne." lucas looked from her to james, with what seemed to be a forced smile. "who's the new kid?"
    "i'm james." there was something in james' voice that anne couldn't make out. it seemed like he had growled under his breath when he had talked. james was also forcing a smile and it seemed to be taking more out of him than lucas's smile was taking out of lucas.
    "oh yeah, you're in my gym class. i'm lucas by the way. and you've already met annebelle it seems." lucas seemed to be holding something back or suppressing some emotion.
    anne kicked lucas under the table for calling her annebelle again. he should've learned this by now. out of the corner of her eye, james seemed to be smiling without force and appeared to be holding back laughter.
    lucas was wincing slightly and didn't seem to notice. "has she told you that we've been friends for a very long time?" james's smile faded.
    "no she didn't."
    at that the bell rang, starting class and ending the conversation. the hour continued the way it always did. except that anne was having problems focusing and james kept looking at her from the corner of his eye, with lucas clearing his throat everytime he did.
    when the hour finally ended, james was one of the first people out the door. lucas caught anne as she left the room.
    "i want you to be careful around james."
    anne stared at him in surprise. what the hell was he talking about? "why?"
    "there's something off about him. when i walked in the room and he looked at me, it was like there was something under the surface. something that could've killed me and the rest of the class without blinking an eye."
    anne was staring at him still. and then she voiced her thoughts: "you're crazy and i'm hungry. i'll be at lunch if you want to come warn me about how mrs. jones wants to rule the world or something like that."
    she walked away leaving lucas staring at her. and ten minutes later anne was outside in the shade of her favorite tree, eating the lunch she packed for herself. but she wasn't hungry. too many confusing thoughts and events. she shut her eyes and leaned back against the tree, attempting to calm her mind. so she didn't immediatly notice the person standing next to her.
    "mind if i sit with you?" there was a note of nerves in his voice. anne sat up and looked at him, stiffening in surprise. his eyes were sparkling in the sun.
    james.