ZOE 

— 

I was awakened by the sound of my alarm blaring. Whoever created alarms should be hanged, drawn and quartered.  

Five more minutes, I muttered to myself.  

I'm counting on at least five minutes before my dad comes into my room and makes me go and take a shower.  This is why I hate the beginning of school. 

After a measly three months of summer, I have to get used to my new sleep schedule.  My cat was meowing at the door, scratching his claws on the wood, demanding entry. 

I slowly sat up, a wave of dizziness nearly buckling my knees. My dad barged into the room, a bottle of cold water in his hands.  

"Good you're up."  

He seemed satisfied, as he went around the room opening the curtains, allowing light to stream in. 

Did I mention I wasn’t a morning person? 

You probably noticed that already though.  

"You really should try knocking," I advised, groggily stumbling into the bathroom. He mumbled a quiet, "This generation and..."  

Nope.  I'm really not in the mood for one of his long, boring lectures. I quickly stepped into the steaming shower, sighing as the warm water glided over my tense muscles. 

After the soothing shower, I stepped out, toweling myself dry. As I lotioned I felt an eerie feeling — as if someone had been watching me all along. 

I spun around — I swear there was a dark shadow at my window a second ago, but it was gone. 

I couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that developed at the pit of my stomach. I didn't seem to be the only one feeling this way. 

My cat Milo was tense — as if he'd noticed something was off. 

I carried him downstairs where my dad was cooking up a storm. 

By the way, Dad is a really good cook. Like Hell's Kitchen type of cook.  

“Good morning honey.”  

Much to my surprise, my twin brother Asher — or Ash as he liked to be called — and my best friend Ava were already down, devouring waffles which they'd drowned in syrup. 

Since when did they both start to get up early? 

He flipped a pancake expertly on the griddle. 

“Chocolate chip, just the way you like it.” 

I smiled at him, even that simple gesture taking all of my strength. 

Like I said — after three months of summer, waking up early wasn’t really my thing. 

“Thanks Dad.” 

Shuddering at the amount of sugar Ava and Ash had put on their pancakes, I grabbed a waffle and quickly ate it, humming in satisfaction. 

Ava leaned in towards me, eying me up and down.  "You look like straight-up shit," she whispered — careful that my dad didn't hear her language. 

Meet my best friend.  

A fierce, loyal person who kept me on my toes. As you probably noticed, she wasn’t afraid to tell me the truth, even if it was brutal.  

“Sheesh, wow, thanks.” I responded, used to her outright behavior. 

"Blame it all on the nightmare I had last night." 

As I shared the details of my dream last night, her eyes became wider and wider, reflecting my unease. "That's really weird," she finally said. 

After downing a glass of orange juice, I stood up and grabbed my purse.  Ava stood up with me, tugging on Ash's elbow restlessly. "You can't skip school again!" I heard her say to him furiously. 

I smiled. 

As well as being annoying, my best friend was a total nerd. 

No joke. If she wasn't talking to me or anyone else, she had a book under her nose. 

All she did was read, read, read.  I always made fun of her for it. I headed towards the door, calling out a quick good-bye to my dad. 

"Bye kids!" he shouted back. "Ava — take care!" Ava smiled. "I will, Mr. Livingstorm! Thanks for the pancakes!" We headed towards my car. 

Ava's eighteen so she's legally allowed to drive my car.  As always, my twin called shotgun, clambering on my Honda Civic. Rolling my eyes, I climbed in the back, my AirPod Pro's fully in place as I opened Spotify. 

Music was my comfort zone. 

Humming along to the tune I held my breath as Ava zoomed past a yellow light.  Ava is a really fast driver — race car driver fast — but the crazy thing is that she’s never been in an accident before or got a ticket. 

Really crazy considering the fact that she’s driving at 90mph and that’s the slowest she’s even been. I smiled as Ava expertly parked in the familiar landscape. 

The school that I’d been at all my life, since Kindergarten up to now. 

Greenway Academy. 

I heard Ash talking on the phone, which he quickly hung up when we reached the high school.  Climbing out of the Civic, I grabbed my bookbag and headed towards the doors, excited for the new year. 

“Come on guys!”  Geez, they were taking forever. Ash rolled his eyes at my impatience, annoying as ever.  Annoying brother, annoying best-friend.  

What next? 

I skipped towards the main entrance, checking out with the office lady, Ms. Hailey. She flashed me a smile. “Ready for the school year, hun?” I grinned. “Yup.” 

She handed the three of us our yearly planners with the annual schedule at the back.  I scanned the schedule, beaming. We're all in the same classes except for one! 

But my smile faded as I glanced at our first class. 

Honors Biology. The dreaded class. 

The teacher there, Mr. Smith, was the definition of mean and he didn't even care if he got fired.  He would make sure to make my life a living hell before he did. 

We slow-walked towards his class, taking as much time as possible to delay going in the class. The bell rang and I scampered in just in time. 

Sighing, I sat down next to Ava, dropping my backpack to the ground. I tried to pay attention as he droned on and on and on, stopping occasionally to pick on a person. "Livingstorm," he snapped suddenly. 

"Who made the first X-ray of DNA?" 

My mind scrambled for an answer. Rose? Rosa? "Dr. Rosalind Franklin," answered Ava, smoothly covering for me. I shot her a grateful look.  

"I asked Miss Livingstorm," he said, scowling at her sternly.  "Apparently, she doesn't have an answer. Is my lesson boring to you, Miss Livingstorm?" he asked. 

"Uhh...no?" I said in a very convincing tone of voice. [Note the sarcasm.] 

He glowered at me.  "You may step out into the hallway if you aren't going to pay attention." I shook my head. "No, sir," I said quickly. "That won't be necessary." 

Rolling his eyes, he returned to the lesson after mumbling a quiet, "I don't even know why you're in Honors Biology." I was immediately riled up but I let out a long breath.  

Phew. 

Can't be getting in trouble on the first day of school. But the teacher just pissed me off. No way I would let him treat me like that. As soon as the bell rang, I stormed out of the class in anger. 

"He's the only teacher that has a problem with me," I frowned, my nose flaring. "Why does he hate me so much?” Ava shook her head. 

"I dunno. I really don't like the way that he always targets you." 

I crossed my arms in frustration. "Bruh, literally." As we headed towards our lockers, I noticed that the hallways were strangely empty.  

The hairs on the back of my head stood up. I had this feeling that something bad was going to happen. I looked at Ava in confusion. 

“Why are the hallways so empty? They’re never like this.” She shrugged, unlocking her locker. 

I felt a prickling feeling in my gut — just like I'd felt this morning. 

OK — I have a serious stalker. 

I caught a glint of black at the corner before it completely disappeared. 

Swallowing nervously I headed in that direction and peeked — but no one was there. Ava looked at me strangely. "What are you doing?" 

I shrugged. Maybe I was being paranoid about all of this. 

"Let's go to class," I said, headed in that direction. She followed me, a small frown set on her face.  We had a substitute — thankfully a person I was actually cool with. 

Mrs. Park. 

She smiled at me from underneath her rose gold glasses.  “Good morning Zoe.” I smiled warmly. “Hey Mrs. Park.” 

She cleared her throat, signaling for the teenagers in the class to stop misbehaving. “Jayden—” she peered at him sternly. 

“Place your phone on the box. That’s enough of your phone for today.” 

She turned her attention to Lucia and Xavier — the scariest duo in all of high school. Oh yeah — I forgot to tell you about them?  

Very surprising, considering the fact that ever since third grade, they’d made sure to make my life miserable. 

I can’t count how many times I’ve gotten admitted to the hospital because of one of their stupid pranks.  

They’re the school’s main bullies and half of the school loathes them for it. 

The bad thing is — the other half of the school actually admires them for it.  

They get away with anything because their parents are rich and they bribe the school board with tons of money every year.

That’s illegal — right?

Not in the eyes of the school. All they care about is the money.  

OK— so let me tell you about the Miserable Duo [that’s what I nicknamed them.] 

Lucia is a gorgeous girl with dark hair and sapphire eyes. Because of her good looks, she gets all the guys.  

She has complete control over all the guys because they all like her and want to date her. If she asks them to do anything, they scamper off and do it like lost puppies. 

To trash a girl she doesn’t like, Lucia finds out who their crush is — always Xavier — and brainwashes the girl into dating him. 

A few weeks later Xavier breaks up with the poor girl in full public, causing rumors to start all around the school. 

It's a constant cycle. 

In the past year, Xavier has supposedly "broken up" with — let me see — like fifteen girls. Lucia's system is simple, but effective. 

The girls in her friend circle are all pretty, with perfectly straightened blonde hair, face coated with makeup, and long manicured nails. 

She doesn’t tolerate anything or anyone less than her standard of perfection. The girls are all afraid of her, and follow her. 

It all disgusts me. 

Especially because she used to be my best friend — Xavier too. 

They were nothing like this. They used to be so sweet and nice and caring, but like my dad always says “good things don’t last forever.” 

Why — I even remember a time Xavier cried because his pet toad died! But now, he would be the person killing the toad. 

The mysterious change in their personalities was actually frightening. 

I have Ava as a best friend now, so I don’t regret the day when Lucia informed me that she couldn’t be friends with me anymore. 

Because I wasn’t on her standard of perfection. 

Well — she was right. I had messy blonde hair that I tried to tame down every morning.  My eyes were bold and pretty but I rarely used makeup to accent my features. 

I used to care about what they thought — but not anymore.  

Ava gradually showed me that I was more than what Lucia and Xavier said about me. It brought along a boost of confidence. 

Mrs. Park glanced at Xavier. “Stop wrestling Ethan,” she commanded, “We’re in Math class, not P.E.”  They ignored her, continuing in their wrestling match. 

I feel really bad for her. 

Trying to control these kids was like trying to tame a bunch of rabid dogs. Nothing would ever work in her favor. 

She pursed her lips. “Stop wrestling—” her voice was loud.  The boys grinned mischievously at each other. 

I bet they wanted to see how far the substitute would go. Well — Mrs. Park wasn’t messing around.

She picked up her phone and started dialing the principal. “I’ll be there,” I heard him mutter. 

A few minutes later he stepped in the classroom — and was immediately doused by a gallon of ice cold water. To be honest, I wasn’t even surprised in the least. 

The students let out an audible gasp, eyes flickering between Xavier, Ethan, and the principal.  I grumbled, wiping away droplets of water that had splashed in my face. 

“In my office!” The principal’s voice shook with barely controlled rage. “NOW!” 

The boys pretended to scurry off but I could see them silently shaking with laughter. What an amazing start to our math class. 

Mrs. Park let out a shaky breath as soon as the boys left the classroom. 

“Class— turn to page 113 in your textbooks.” She glanced at her teacher's textbook.  “We’ll be reviewing the Pythagorean Theorem.”  

The class let out a loud groan as they took out their textbooks. 

Ava and I exchanged amused looks. 

The Pythagorean Theorem was fairly easy. 

a2 +b2 = c2.  

I’d learned it in 8th grade and it was simple even back then. Mrs. Park glanced at the class sharply.

“Work on problems 5-15 then 15-18 odds.” 

Another influx of grumbling echoed around the room. Shrugging, I raised my hand. “Can we work with partners?” 

Mrs. Park smiled at me warmly. 

“Of course.”  I immediately made my way over to Ava. 

As usual, my twin Ash wasn’t in class yet. Was he late, or was he skipping class again? “Hey,” I said, sitting in an empty seat next to her. 

She grinned at me. "No talking until we finish our work." She waved her hand at the textbook. “Now — let's get this over with, shall we?”  

I groaned. “Ugh — whatever. You do all the work anyway.” 

She laughed. 

ZOE

 — 

I unlocked my apartment door and stepped in. For some reason, my brother Ash was nowhere to be found. 

I shrugged. He'll show up when he wants to. 

Milo purred, rubbing his head against my hand. "Hey Milo," I say, stroking behind his ear. 

"Today's just been a long day," I sigh, gazing into his yellow eyes. He seems to be understanding what I went through, meowing sorrowfully. 

I smile at him. "Thanks Milo. You always make me feel better."  

All of a sudden my stomach growled rebelliously. I glanced in the fridge, eying the grilled cheese sandwich lying there alone. 

I'm sure Dad wouldn't miss it. 

I placed it in the microwave, watching the cheese melt. Mmm. It looked so delicious.  

I slowly ate it, savoring the salty flavor.  

Then came the knock on my door. My heart pounding, I tried to think this through.  

Can't be dad — he doesn't come home until midnight.  

Could Ash be back already? 

I headed to open the door when a deep voice stopped me.  

"Don't open the door." I whirled around to find a gorgeous stranger behind me. 

I did the only thing I could think of — scream. He moved fast, clamping a hand over my mouth. "Be quiet," he hissed. 

I pushed against him. I knew I was being stalked! 

The pounding on my door intensified. The stranger looked around, restraining me quite easily. 

"We need to leave right now." His velvety voice was tinged with worry. I pulled his hand away from my mouth, glaring at him. 

"Who the hell are you?" 

"No time to explain—" he muttered. 

I admired his profile. As alluring as he was, he was invading my state of privacy. 

His guarded dark eyes were changing into a light hazel yellow in light of the sun.  He was wearing a dark leather jacket over his broad shoulders with combat boots and ripped jeans — giving him a mysterious aura.  

He seemed to be around nineteen. 

"We need to leave," he repeated. 

The door was bowing at the edges where the person at the door was pounding on it. "Good idea." 

I didn't trust the man yet, but there was no choice. The person at the door seemed to be intent on harming me. 

"Where's my cat?" I asked, looking around for Milo. 

He tugged on my arm. "There's no time for that!" 

He pulled a window open and jumped out. I hesitated — long enough that the person broke through the door. 

It wasn't Ash. He was way too tall and thin. A dark hood covered his head, but I could make out his red eyes. 

Shoot.  

He held a dagger in his hand. He seemed to be moving with an unnatural speed.  

I backed away from him.  

He pulled down his hood revealing a peeling  and veiny white face. His red eyes glinted with malice as he stepped towards me slowly.  

Who — or what — was he? 

"Zoe!" I heard Victor call out. 

I jumped out the window, no regrets until the hard landing. 

Victor caught me as I stumbled. We ran to an unfamiliar location, but the creature  was fast at our heels. 

Victor looked at me. "Zoe."  

His voice was firm, leaving no room for questions. "I'm going to distract him. Run as far as you can away from here."  

My eyebrows scrunched together. "Why are you doing this? You barely even know me."  

He gave me a ghost of a smile. "You'd be surprised. Now go!" 

I jogged a few feet before turning back to look at him. Victor flicked his wrist-watch and a sword took shape in his hand. 

He lunged at the creature, but his sword just passed right through him. 

Hmm — so swords don't work on him. 

I've made up my mind — stranger or no stranger, I'm not leaving Victor behind. 

I'm not that selfish. 

I glanced at them helplessly — jolting in shock as my feet started moving out of their own accord.   

I jogged next to Victor, crouching in a battle stance. It all came naturally to me for some reason.  

Victor looked at me, his eyes furious. "Zoe, no! Don't!" 

His voice was so far away I could ignore it. 

A bow and arrows materialized in my hand. I glanced at it in shock before analyzing the creature's weak points. 

Maybe his eyes? 

I shouted at the creature, trying to get his attention away from Victor. It should be a sure way to get his attention. 

It worked.  

The creature turned his head towards me and bounded in my direction.  

I nocked an arrow — honestly not sure how I did it — and aimed with all the precision and focus I could put into it.  

The arrow impaled his eye. Dead center.  

The creature stumbled into a stop — vanishing into a dark plume of smoke. 

Trembling with adrenaline, I looked at Victor. 

He looked at me, astonished, but it was quickly replaced with anger. “You don’t ever listen, do you?”  

He broke the silence, glowering at me.  

“You could’ve been killed!”  

I glared right back, full of fury.  “First of all, no. I don’t even know you. I'm not gonna let a random stranger sacrifice themselves for me. What kind of slow person do you mistake me for?" 

He looked at me — a little abashed. "I was trained to protect you all these years." His voice was softer now. "I was trained to sacrifice myself if necessary to save your life. Don't you think I was prepared to face this scenario?" 

I scowled at him. "I don't need anyone to protect me! I can handle myself!" The idea was absurd.  

But his words broke through my anger. 

Could he have handled this better than me?  

Probably.  

Do I care?  

No.  

He glanced at me, unwavering. "You'd honestly be surprised." I looked at him weirdly. "You talk as if you know me," I scoffed. "You keep saying things like that."

"That's because —" A loud screech announced Ava's presence. Perfect timing as usual. "Oh my gosh!" She pulled me into a warm embrace, checking for injuries. 

"Are you okay?"  I looked at her, confused. "How do you—" But she'd turned to Victor, assesing him. That's when I noticed that blood was dripping from his shirt. 

"You're hurt!" I gasped. Victor shrugged as if it was nothing. Ava waved it away. "I'm so sorry. I came as soon as I heard—" I held up a hand to stop her tirade. 

"I'm so lost— do you too know each other?" I glanced at both of them. "Uh— yeah. He's my brother..." I raised a brow. "Oh really — you never told me." 

I was a little hurt. 

She glanced at me guiltily. "That's because he was spending half his time with you." My eyebrows scrunched together. "Huh? I'm not following." 

My jaw dropped as Victor morphed into a familiar Persian cat. 

“Y-You’re Milo?” 

He stretched lazily before turning back into his human form. 

Oh my goshh… he knows all my embarrassing stories. This is what I get for talking to my cat like it was a person. 

He smirked slyly. “All your secrets are safe with me.” I hid my face in my hands.  

“Ugh.”  

His dagger eyes shone with amusement. “I promise.” He shuddered.  Just not the time when—” I shrieked. “Victor!” 

His full lips curved into a half-grin. I looked at both of them — seriously now. “I’m still confused about all of this magic stuff. You—” I waved at Victor, “can turn into a cat and I just had a bow and arrow appear in my hands out of thin air.” 

I paused.

“What’s going on?” 

Ava and Victor looked at each other. “It’s a long story,” they both said simultaneously.  

I raised a brow. “Enlighten me.”