The sun is glistening in her eyes. She blinked twice and opened her eyes slowly. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked at her fully opened window, then sat up and stretched her limbs. She got up while running her fingers through her hair, which looked like a bird’s nest. She opened the door of her room and walked to her bathroom, where she took a quick shower and got ready for the day.

"Jay, mom said to be ready or else she will not drop you off at school," her brother Darby said with amusement. Jayla cursed and hurried to grab her backpack and all of the things that she needed for school. She rushed downstairs and ignored her father’s smirk.

Jayla grabbed an apple and her water bottle, then put her shoes on. She kissed her father on the cheek and left the house in a hurry. She struggled to put her backpack on her shoulder as she sprinted towards her mom’s car. She threw the car door open and sighed with relief.

"Finally, I was wondering where you were," her mother said with a calm smile. Her mom was wearing her work outfit.

"I was getting myself ready." Her mother, Karen, stared at her suspiciously and then shrugged. She supposed that Jayla must be in her rebellious teenage period. Jayla put her headphones on and listened to her music while contemplating the view outside the window.

They lived in the small city of Raven. Her father worked as an accountant while her mother was a nurse. They both didn't have time for their children, Jayla and Darby. Darby was a senior in college and majoring in finance. Jayla didn't know what to do. She was going to be a sophomore in high school. She had her mind set on being a detective, since she had a passion for solving mysteries.

They reached the school in fifteen minutes, but it felt like hours for Jayla. She couldn't wait to finish her day and go back home to watch Criminal Minds.

"Have a good day, honey," her mother said and pecked Jayla's cheek, leaving her red lipstick smeared on her cheek. Jayla cringed in disgust and wiped away her mom’s kiss.

"I'm not five anymore," she snapped and got out of the car. She tugged the strap of her backpack nervously and walked into her school. The school was small and fake. There were only 500 students, and all of them were fake bitches. The 'popular group' liked to bully the nerds and everyone else stayed as far away as possible. The rest of the students had their groups: the drama kids, artists, geeks, etc.

Just like cliché movies.

She sighed and shook her head. She showed her ID card to the guard and entered the school. She gulped anxiously and opened her locker. She picked out her books for her least favorite class, math. She closed the locker and let out a scream at the sight of an annoying face. She held her poor heart and breathed heavily.

"Hey Jayla, what are we doing today?" Her annoying classmate, not a friend, was talking to her. She glared at him.

"What are you doing here, Nolan?” she asked as she crossed her arms.

"I wanted to talk to you." He poked her arm with a grin, but she shrugged him off and glared at him.

"More like bugging me," she muttered.

"Excuse me, what?" Nolan asked and she shook her head.

"Nothing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have places to go," she said while licking her chapped lips, which was one of her ticks when she's anxious.

"Don't be cold Jay, we are friends." He grinned and linked his arms with Jayla, much to her displeasure. She rolled her eyes, but still complied.

Nolan Hayes was your typical hot soccer boy. He had brown hair and emerald eyes that girls envied. She didn't understand why he was hanging out with her. He belonged to the popular group while she was a nobody.

"I heard new students are coming to this school," Nolan squealed and Jayla furrowed her eyebrows.

New students? She wasn't aware of this new information. Raven was known for being a small city, so why were there new people here? She knew everyone, even the mayor.

"Why here?" she whispered, but Nolan heard.

"I have no idea," he said. They had reached their class together, and Nolan sat behind Jayla. She was beside the window while Nolan kept talking. She didn't care about him, and instead looked out the window. It was grey and cloudy—the usual weather here in Raven.

She noticed the teacher entering the classroom. Everyone was now quiet, and only shuffling noises and the wind could be heard.

"I hope you guys had a great weekend. Today we have three new students. Please make them feel welcome," he said and pointed to the door where two boys and a girl stood. The room grew tense. It was like the new students had powerful auras.

The girl was wearing a sundress and a cardigan. She had this big smile on her face and was gorgeous, with grey eyes and blond hair. The boy was wearing brown pants and a white shirt, and had hazel eyes and brown hair. He was also beautiful and had a big grin on his face just like the girl. Lastly, the more attractive boy was already getting a lot of attention from the female students. He was wearing dark clothes, had piercing blue eyes, and dark hair. He was dangerously handsome and had a mysterious darkness all around him.

"My name is Eleanor, and this is Cole," the girl said, pointing to the brown-haired guy who waved, "and this is Maxwell." She pointed to the mysterious blue-eyed boy to her right. He didn't wave or say anything. Instead, he looked away from them with a grunt.

Jayla narrowed her eyes on the dark-haired boy. She was analyzing him but couldn’t figure him out. The only thing she knew was that he was dangerous for her and the population in Raven.

***

It was time for lunch. Jayla sat at the lonely tables in the cafeteria. She ripped open her lunch bag and ate the lunch that her mom had prepared. Instead of socializing with people, she liked sitting alone and observing people. She grinned as she listened to a podcast about funny stories while she ate. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She took off her earphones and looked behind her to see Eleanor, Cole, and the mysterious boy, Maxwell.

"Hey, can we sit here?" Eleanor asked. Jayla nodded quietly as she put her stuff back in her bag. She didn't like trouble. As she was getting ready to leave the table, someone grabbed her. She glanced at the person, and saw that Maxwell was holding her.

"She said can we sit here, not can you leave," he said in a deep voice. Jayla gulped nervously and nodded silently, not making a fuss. She sat back down, and Eleanor sat next to her while Cole sat across from her with Maxwell beside him.

"What's your name?" Eleanor asked after a moment of silence. Jayla rubbed her arms uncomfortably. She didn't like to interact with people, except for Nolan, who she had known since kindergarten.

"My name is Jayla," she whispered.

"Speak up," Max said coldly, which made Jayla shiver and clear her throat.

"My name is Jayla," she repeated a little louder. The girl beside her smiled while Cole nodded, and Max grumbled incoherent words.

"Jayla is an uncommon name," Cole said, which made Jayla shrug. She looked away from them, and out the window. She felt someone glaring at her, but she didn't want to see or watch him.

"Well, this is awkward," Eleanor whispered, and Jayla agreed. It was awkward because Max was glaring at her. She wanted to tell him but was scared that the young man would do something to her.

"Hey, guys!" Nolan said and sat next to Jayla who looked surprised. She smiled at him for coming to rescue her. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. Max was watching them.

"Hi, and who are you?" Cole asked Nolan, who smiled his cheerful smile, which calmed Jayla.

"I'm Nolan. Nice to meet you guys," he said and smiled at Max who looked furious.

"Don't mind him. He has anger issues," Eleanor said, and Max snarled like a wolf. A WOLF, Jayla thought to herself and shook her head. She was probably imagining weird things.

"Oh alright, well, welcome to Raven. It's a small city, so you should get used to it fast," he chuckled.

"We already know that," Max muttered with narrowed eyes. He glared at the innocent boy.

"So, what kind of things do you guys like to do?" Cole asked quickly. He knew that his friend was mad.

"I'm a soccer player and love to party," Nolan replied with a grin on his face. He pretended that Max wasn’t angry just for the sake of Jayla, who always hated when people chose violence over communication.

"Me too. I'm usually the defender, but Max is a good attacker." Cole chuckled as he pushed the grumpy man playfully. Max growled in response and rolled his eyes. He looked at Jayla, who was frightened by his stare. He smirked and crossed his arms, still watching her.

"Oh, you should sign up for the team. I'm sure Max would be a great captain," Nolan suggested with a grin. Jayla smiled when she saw Nolan smile, but that just made Max even more furious.

"Exactly. We should do this," Cole replied with a big smile. Max gave a slight nod to Eleanor and stood up to leave with Cole beside him.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye?" Nolan furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't hear their response and left their table without Eleanor. Max glanced back at Jayla, who was staring at him, and without hesitation, he winked at her. Then he left the cafeteria with several boys she hadn’t noticed, along with Cole.

"Who are those guys?” she asked Eleanor without tearing her eyes from the five boys’ backs.

"The gold hair is Marco, red hair is Peyton, and the man with the white bag is Huxley, aka my boyfriend," Eleanor said with dreamy eyes. Jayla was confused about why her boyfriend didn't sit with her.

"Why didn’t your boyfriend come sit with you?" Nolan asked, knowing Jayla’s question after seeing her face confused. He could totally read her like a book.

"Because he had work and didn't have time to meet us. Next time I’ll introduce him to you guys," she said and drank her water.

"It's time to go to class. Jayla, can you show me where room C190?" the girl asked kindly to Jayla, who gave her a tight nod.

"Well, see you later Nolan," the girls said to Nolan, who waved as they left. As they were walking out of the cafeteria to their class, Eleanor asked Jayla, "Do you think Max is hot?"