Chapter One

Another tiring Monday, pacing through the long, old hallways and trying to reach my math class in time. A loud ring echoes through the school. Uh oh… That was the second bell. I started running, taking a sharp left turn and slamming the classroom door open. Everyone in my math class stared at me for one long moment before turning back to Ms. Krate. She simply raised her eyebrows at me, though I could see the irritation in her eyes.

Ms. Krate clearly dislikes me, but I have no clue why. She's always coming up with a reason to get me in trouble.

I gasped an apology, slowly walked to my seat, and sat down, flipping my math notebook open to the next empty page and quickly struggling to catch up on the notes she'd written on the board. Ms. Krate pointed to a formula, stating the same facts and information over and over again. I couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh.

I get that she's talking about high school math, but she knew I'd learned that three years ago! Couldn't Ms. Krate have given me something else to do other than listen to her blabber on and on?

At last, the bell rang and we were dismissed. I could feel my mood brighten up quickly. Time for ELA! It wasn't my favorite, but at least it was better than math.

As the students in the class part for their second period, a hand lands on my shoulder. I freeze, tensing up.

"So, Cindy, have you done my homework yet?" It's Sophia, the most popular girl in the school. She was gorgeous, but her personality stung worse than venom. I turn around to see her smirking face, groaning silently. Sophia always did this.

"Uhm…" I begin, tightly grasping my books. "You did tell me to, but I never agreed to it."

"I told you to do my homework! Do you even know who I am?" she hisses, slamming me against my locker. "I don't need to get a stupid peasant's permission to have them do what I want!"

"Woah, woah, woah! Calm down, buddy." I felt sarcasm in my voice. "Yes, I forgot to do your work, but don't you have the brain cells to do five problems on your own?" I slightly regretted my words but built up the guts to continue. "Do you still need your mommy to clean your diaper for you? Or can you learn not to be a failure and figure out how to solve for x? How'd you get into the gifted kids' school, with your room-temperature IQ?"

Sophia fumes with anger, digging her nails into my skin. As her gang approaches me, I break away from her grasp and dash down the hallway, taking hard turns into other hallways. The high school was humongous, giving me the advantage of losing Sophia and her minions in the wacky maze. 

Unfortunately, students were filing into their next classes already and I would quickly be out in the open for her gang to catch me. After disappearing from sight for a few more minutes, I circle back to my locker, 

Heading toward my class in a rush, slightly disappointed that I was late for class because of Sophia and her gang, I spotted a girl walking down the entrance hallway. I was running in her direction – so fast that I couldn't stop before crashing into her.

"Watch out!" I yell.

Luckily, the girl heard me and immediately slid to the left. I skidded to a stop a few feet past her and turned around to see the girl once more. She had multi-colored eyes; one was a dark hazel and the other was blue, matching the highlights in her blue-black hair.

"Sorry," I say with a small smile. "I ran into a little trouble." I turned around, ready for another dash, before realizing that this girl was also late for class.

Turning back, I also realized that I'd never seen her before. "Now that I think about it," I say, studying her from head to toe. "Are you new? Welcome to Tokyo Gifted High School! I'm Cindy!" 

The girl pauses for a few moments before nodding toward my question and replying, "I'm Dakoda. It's nice to meet you as well." Her voice was quiet and croaky like she hadn't spoken in a long time.

"Yay, FINALLY – a new student! Can I see your schedule? Do you think we're in the same classes? Why do you have blue hair? Are you lost? What's your favorite color? You seem young, are you thirteen like me? Have you skipped grades, too?!" I exploded with excitement. The morning had been way too boring; I just couldn't hold my tongue.

The girl looks completely overwhelmed by all my questions. 

"Oops… sorry… I'm really talkative, especially since you're a new student! I haven't seen a new student around in decades!" I continued, taking a deep breath right after. "So… Do you wanna be friends?! I can show you around the school, too!"

She doesn't answer.

"I'll take that as a yes!" I say. "C'mon, I'll show you where your second period is… if you show me your schedule, that is!"