Nightfall ✓

Chapter 2

"Um, yes." I walked in, looking down at my shoes because I didn't want to look anywhere else.

"What eez your name?"

"Um, it's Hazel." A long time ago I had developed this annoying habit of saying 'um' before every sentence whenever I talked to a stranger. Justification: A habit is a habit.

She made me sit on the last seat. I almost tripped over my sneakers again while I walked. There was this freckled guy who sat on my right, staring at me as I put my bag down and rested my head in my hands to relax. I smiled at him, hoping to look friendly, but he just smirked and looked away.

∞

The other classes were not as painful somehow. When finally the lunch bell rang, I collected my brown paper bag containing my lunch from my locker, and walked towards the lunchroom—knowing where to go because everyone was going there. I opened the double doors and stood quietly in a corner, scanning the room for my Indian friends, but they were nowhere to be seen. And there was no empty seat. At last I spotted a table on which just one guy sat, chewing a hot-dog. Reluctantly I walked towards him.

"Um," I said, which was my typical way of getting someone's attention. He pushed away a lock of his hair which managed to look both brown and blond, and looked up curiously. "Can I sit here? I won't, like, disturb you or anything."

He laughed, revealing shiny braces on his teeth. "Sure. I don't mind some company. Oh wait, are you one of those scholarship winners?"

"Yeah," I answered as I sat down, staring at my lunch bag. "Were you told about us?"

"Nah, just heard a rumor that five new people are coming here. I'm Liam, by the way, thanks for asking."

I laughed. "I'm Hazel."

After that his phone pinged and he took it out. I looked up to take a tiny but good peek at him. His half-sleeved t-shirt bared a black dragon tattoo on his right bicep. He had a nice face. His grey eyes shone from the light from his phone.

He pocketed his phone just as a dark-haired guy dropped into a chair next to Liam and said to no one in particular, "I'm gonna sue this school one day. They never have anything edible." Then he turned to him. "Who's sitting with us?"

"Hazel," Liam replied.

"And who's Hazel?"

"The girl who's sitting with us."

"But who is she?"

"Hazel."

Having realized that he wasn't going to get a straight answer from Liam, the dark-haired guy then turned to me. "I don't wanna sound rude, but who are you?"

I said, "Hazel."

Liam laughed. "Told you so."

"Well," the dark-haired guy said. "You should've been named Reddie. It would've matched your hair. Or your hair should've been hazel."

"Then your name should've been Blackie," I said, a little hesitantly.

"Speaking of black hair, I like to call myself a blackhead." Then both of them laughed so hard that it made me smile too. "But 'Zack' also suits me just fine," he said and turned back to Liam. "Luke and Jessica broke up."

"Not surprising. Who would want to stay with that asshole, anyway? Tell me something about Abigail."

Zack kept on looking at Liam (probably thinking something) long enough to make me wonder if he was gay, and then, with a mischievous smile spread across his face, Zack looked at me and said, "Abigail is Liam's crush."