Catherina stood before her old classmates as her teacher reintroduced her to them. Knowing of their prior relationship as old classmates, the teacher gave them a few minutes to get reacquainted.
Helen stood up from her seat and bolted to the front of the classroom. "Cathy!!" she screamed as she jumped towards Catherina. "Helen!" shouted back as she caught her best friend and twirled around with her. The teacher smiled at the joyous scene before her.
After a few minutes, the teacher clapped her hands for attention and informed them that they could continue catching up during recess. Helen dragged Catherina to an empty seat prepared for her as the teacher resumed the class.
They went through a few classes until it was time for recess. All the students in the class crowded Catherina and bombarded her with questions. Why she left; where she went to; what she was doing there; these were majority of the questions she was pelted with. Noticing that her best friend was being overwhelmed, Helen stepped in and shooed all her classmates away. She then held on to Catherina's arm and led her to the cafeteria.
...….
Sitting in his classroom in the High school a few blocks away, Samuel was experiencing the direct opposite of Catherina's reception. To start with, he had no prior relationship with anyone in the classroom and the amount of hostility directed to him by the boys of the class due to his extremely handsome face that made all the girls in the class swoon.
He walked by himself through the hallways, heading towards the courtyard cafeteria. He gave a sudden smile that caused the girls in the hallway staring at him to shriek in ecstasy. Samuel bought a simple meat sandwich from the cafeteria counter and finished it in a few bites. He threw the packaging into the trash and left the courtyard, walking across the school's lawn towards the artificial plantation of trees behind the school.
When he got to a large tree in the center of the plantation, he quickly jumped onto a higher branch and waited. A few seconds later, a girl who was quite the looker entered the plantation as well.
She waked on until she reached the center of the plantation. She took a look around but didn't see the individual she was tracking. "I know you're here Samuel, you already know that I can sense you so just show yourself", she announced.
A snicker echoed through the branches of the trees as a shadow fell from the top branch and stopped just a meter of the ground.
"Hello Elizabeth. I never imagined that this is how we'll get to see each other again", Samuel said with a smile as he gazed at the familiar face of his first love.
Elizabeth smiled as she gazed at the upside-down figure of her first love. "I also never imagined that this will be how we met once again. It's been a few years; I'm really happy to see you again", she replied.
"I see you still like hanging upside down from trees. I guess somethings never change, although, I never thought I'd get to see you with complete human appearance", she added as Samuel released himself from the branch and flipped himself upright, landing beside her.
"I learned it during my training after we parted ways. I can do even more things now; I'll show you later", Samuel said as he stood before her.
Without any hesitation, she jumped into his arms and hugged him; tears of joy streaming down her face. Samuel held on to her, allowing her to let everything out. After she had calmed down enough, he helped her sit on the grass as they began catching up.
Samuel told her of all his adventures with his friends from Cape Metro City and Elizabeth expressed interest on joining him whenever he went on another one. She, in turn, told him of everything she had been through, also informing him about the attempted kidnappings and what happened after.
Samuel briefed her on everything that they had discovered so far about the world. He related the discovery to the influence his blood was having on her body. He told her about Drogo and the effects his blood had on him and his pack. "I'll contact my guardian and have him examine you. There is a lot to discover about the influence my blood has on regular humans", Samuel informed her.
"I think that would be good. I've had several bouts of severe violent tendencies, so much so that even my friends were terrified of me. I was made to go to therapy and pick up mixed martial arts to focus the feeling but it barely helped. I'm positive that the only way I escaped my kidnappers was because I did something but I can't remember", Elizabeth recalled. They then heard the siren signaling for the end of recess.
"I'll invite you to meet him when the time is right. There is an incredible AI system called Lisia that can run any program. Say 'Hi' Lisia", he said as he held up his wrist watch. "HELLO MISS SMITH. IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU", Lisia greeted. "Amazing!" Elizabeth said as Samuel placed his hand back down.
From now on, I'll be by your side so, if anything else happens, I'll resolve it", Samuel said as helped Elizabeth up and walked back to the classrooms with her.
He escorted her to her classroom next door to his amidst gossip by girls and boys alike. Of course, this was expected. Samuel was one, if not the most handsome guy in the entire school. Even though it was basically the first day of High School for them as freshers, he already had a committed fan club that had members from all the year groups.
Likewise, Elizabeth had a similar situation. She was among the prettiest girls in the school and already had a similar fan club made of boys from all the year groups. Seeing both of them together was a topic of great interest for the whole school.
After seeing her to her class, he returned to his and took his seat before the teacher arrived.
After the last class was over, Samuel met Elizabeth in front of her classroom and walked out of the building with her, heading towards the courtyard cafeteria. After buying a few drinks, they sat alone at one of the tables on the large and slightly crowded courtyard. The crowd was made up of mostly first year students like them. Since they were yet to choose their after-school clubs, they had time to spare before they had to leave for their homes.
The entire crowd couldn't help but gaze intensely at the two extremely good-looking individuals sitting by themselves and having a conversation. They appeared to be in leagues of their own and they all understood that fact.
Samuel and Elizabeth laughed as they had an interesting conversation, recalling their time together during her vacation trip to the mountains as well as all their adventures in the forest, sky and mountain ranges. They further discussed their futures together in the school as well as what comes after.