[Original] Phase (WARNING: Vamps/Witches/Wolves a plenty)

I opened my eyes only to find myself lying on the ground. Where am I? When did I get here? I don't remember walking into a forest. There are no animals, no movement, and no sound. The sky was orange, but I couldn't tell where the sun was. A twig cracked under my foot after I got up and I jumped.

"Hello." I whirled around. Not again.

"Julian," I breathed, stunned.

"It's been a long time. What are you doing here," he asked.

"I-I don't know." He smiled gently. It was the same warm smile I saw the first time I met him. "You haven't changed. At all."

"You have. You're all grown up now."

"This is all a dream isn't it," I said.

"Why do you say that," he asked leaning on a tree.

"For one, it's been eight years since we met and you look exactly the same." I sat down on the root of a big tree and took deep breaths. He chuckled."I don't look exactly the same. I got a haircut. Can't you tell?" He ran his fingers through his fair.

"That isn't funny," I snapped. His smile wavered, "You shouldn't be here. This isn't a safe place for you."

"But where am I?" Julian smiled apologetically and walked away. I went to grab his arm, but he was already out of my reach. I ran to him, but he vanished into thick gray mist.​

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I jumped out of bed and turned off the alarm. I took a deep breath and fell back onto my bed. It was just another dream. I pulled out my dream journal from under my pillow. I marked another day with my blue glitter pen. Today was the sixteenth day I had that dream.

"Kaylan, are you up?" my mom asked outside my door.

"Yeah, mom. I'm up."

"Hurry up and get ready. You don't want to be late for school."

I waited until I heard her go downstairs before heading to the bathroom. I grabbed my towel and opened the door. A water balloon hit me square in the face. A low chuckling from the stairs told me it was my immature older brother.

"Brandon!" I grabbed my paddle brush and chucked it at his head, "Grow up!" He ducked and it hit my mom's flower vase. Not wanting to wait there and face the wrath of my mother, I ran, picked up my brush and locked the bathroom door. I had the last laugh when my mom yelled at Brandon for breaking the vase.

After a quick shower, I brushed my teeth and went back to my bedroom. Today was the first day of my junior year. It was supposed to be a really big day according to my friends. They came over last night to help me pick out my outfit which was now hanging on the outside of my closet door.

A black, American Eagle drawstring dress with matching black cutout flats. It wasn't my normal style, but I liked it. This year I want my clothes to be cute. My cell phone started ringing. I checked the name and it was my best friend, Lindsay.

"Hello?"

"Kaylan! I was just making sure you were up," she answered.

"I'm about to straighten my hair and get dressed," I told her.

"Me too, want a ride to school?"

"Sure. Honk when you get here and I'll run out."

"Okay, see you at 7." She hung up before I could say bye. Lindsay always "jumped the gun". This past summer she got her driver's license and during back-to-school shopping, her parents bought her a car. It was a red Volkswagen "bug". A very girly car, if you ask me, perfect for Lindsay.

I spent the next hour straightening my hair. It took an unusually long time for me to do my hair compared to most girls. After I finished, I put on my dress and slipped on my flats. I figured I'd get a little cold in the morning so I added a white skinny cardigan to my outfit. Hopefully Lindsay won't chew me out for it.

HONK HONK!

"Lindsay's here," my mom called. I heard the front door open and close, then footsteps on the stairs.

"You look so cute! And the cardigan was a nice touch," Lindsay commented as she came in my room.

"Thanks." I was pretty satisfied with my outfit after that.

"Now let's go. I want to see all the new kids." She pushed me out the door. I barely had time to grab my bag on the way out. We jumped into her car and sped off to school.

Lindsay loved meeting new students. She called it "recon", which was code for scoping out the hot transfer students. It gave me anxiety to be around a lot of people I didn't know, but I went with her anyway. We pulled into the school parking lot and stopped next to the science building. She rushed us over to the group of veteran students watching the new students get in line. New students always received their schedules separately. Most of them were freshmen, but there was a particularly large group of new upperclassmen as well.

"Oh, he's cute," Lindsay squealed.

"Who," I asked.

"Him over there," she said pointing to the front of the new Juniors' line, "The one with messy hair." I looked, but I could only see the back of his head.

"I wonder what his name is," she said.

"His name is Julian Callum," a voice said from behind us.

We whirled around and saw that it was Carol. Lindsay made a disgusted face. I had to stifle a laugh.

"How do you know?" Lindsay asked with an attitude and a head roll.

"I've already introduced myself," she said smugly, "He just moved into town recently." I rolled my eyes and Carol left.

"Of course, I should have known she'd try to be the first to talk to any new cute upperclassmen," Lindsay complained. I was barely listening. I heard her say something about beating her at her own game before I got lost in my own thoughts.

Was it really him? I told myself that it couldn't be him and that I only wanted it to be him. I mean he was a teenager when I first met him. He can't be in high school now.

"Kay." Lindsay was shaking my arm.

"Huh?"

"Let's go to homeroom."

"Okay," I agreed. Before we left, I checked the "New Students" lines just to be sure. I couldn't find him.

Homerooms are sorted by last name. We had to separate, but Lindsay made sure to tell me exactly where to meet her afterward to compare schedules. I walked into my homeroom and Julian was sitting in the front row. He was staring at me. I rushed to the back of the room and sat there quietly. I ran out of homeroom as soon as it was over.

Lindsay was already waiting for me in front of the school office. I handed her my schedule and she studied them quietly. She took a deep sigh and slid onto the concrete bench.

"We have no classes together this year," she cried.

"That sucks," I said, trying to sound sad. I was trying not to think about Julian.

"Let's go talk to the counselor! She knows we always want to be in the same classes."

"I don't think that's a good idea. She's probably busy," I said.

"You're probably right," she sighed.

RING.

"We should go," I said. She stood up and handed me my class schedule.

"Meet me by the gym for nutrition," she yelled as she ran to class.

"Okay!" I called after her. My first class was AP U.S. History with Mr. Montecure. On my way to the 400 building, I saw Carol sweet talking a freshman into carrying her books. She's so manipulative.

There was no one in the classroom when I got there. Everyone was hanging around outside until the two minute warning bell rang. I took the back seat in the middle row. That way I could get a good look at the students that came in-just in case a friend was in the same class.

The two minute warning bell rang and the other students piled in. I didn't know any of them well enough to move my seat. Mr. Montecure entered the room with boxes and a briefcase. He was really tall, about six-foot something. He had what I called, a "Santa belly" and a gray mustache. He had a shiny, bald head. He probably shaved his head for all I know.

"Alright, when I call your row, come up and pick a spiral notebook from the box. This is what all your assignments will go into. This includes classwork and homework. When you get back to your seat I want you to number the pages on the bottom corner. I'll show you how to separate sections after every one has received a notebook," Mr. Montecure instructed. He began pointing out rows and sat at his desk.

When it was time for my row I reached in last and pulled out a purple notebook. There was a soft rap at the door. Mr. Montecure asked me to open it. I pulled it open and dropped my notebook. It was Julian, again. My Julian. He bent down to pick up my notebook and handed it to me.

"You dropped this," he murmured. I took the notebook and stepped back to let him in.

"Sorry I'm late. I got lost," he told Mr. Montecure. I took my seat holding my notebook to my chest.

How could that possibly be him? Get a hold of yourself. You're letting your mind play tricks on you.

"Take the last seat in the back." I heard Mr. Montecure say. I looked to my right and there was an empty seat. The palms of my hands were sweaty and my heart was pounding. "Hi." I looked up and his hazel eyes made my heart melt. What's wrong with me?!

"Hey," I said with a small wave. Mr. Montecure called more rows up to get their notebooks.

"Have we met before?" I asked him as he sat down. He gazed at me for a long moment. He had the same hazel eyes, messy brown hair and smooth, pale complexion. I finally got a good look at his face. This was definitely Julian!

"No, I don't think we have," he said finally. I nodded and twiddled my thumbs trying not to look skeptical.

"Sorry, you just look familiar," I apologized.

"I get that a lot." He laughed to himself. I could barely focus on what Mr. Montecure was saying. He separated us into groups that we would be in for the rest of the year. In my group was me, Julian, Lisa Delacroix, and Nick Jacobs. We had to ask each other questions and fill out a worksheet.

"So who wants to go first?" Lisa asked. Everyone looked around, but didn't say anything. Lisa had an annoyed look on her face.

"Ugh, fine. I'll go first. Let's see...which one of you have a dog?" she said reading the worksheet. Nick raised his hand and said, "I do. Her name is Bella. She's a Shih Tzu." We all wrote down his name in the blank for that question. "Alright Sarah, your turn."

"But I don't want to go next."

"Too bad," she snapped. I picked up my sheet and looked through the questions. "Who went on vacation out of the country this past summer?"

"That would be me," Lisa said, "I went to France this summer." It went on like this until the end of class. Before I knew it, he gave us our homework and the bell rang. Lindsay was waiting in front of the gym for me. I grabbed my things and made my way down the hall. There was a tap on my arm.

"Hey," Julian said.

"Hi."

"I was wondering if my sister and I could spend nutrition with you. We don't know anyone and you seem nice."

"Your sister?" I asked. He pointed behind him and I leaned over to see where he was pointing. A young girl was a behind him. Her short black hair rested on her shoulders and her skin was pale like Julian's, but her eyes were green.

"Hi, I'm Haley," she said with a quick wave. She had a cute little girl voice. I waved back.

"Yeah, you guys can hang out with us," I told him.

"Us?" she asked.

"Yeah, Lindsay. She's my best friend. She's waiting by the gym," I said. They exchanged glances and nodded, then followed me silently as we walked towards the gym.

"Kay!" Lindsay called. Her eyes grew wide when she caught sight of who was walking behind me.

"This is Julian and Haley," I introduced.

"It's nice to meet you," they said in unison.

"Hi," she responded. Lindsay eyed me and said, "Can I talk to you for a minute? Excuse us." She pulled me by the elbow around the corner of the gym.

"What?" I asked.

"I didn't know you knew him. He's so cute," Lindsay exclaimed. She ranted on like that for a few more minutes.

"I just met him today. He's in my AP U.S. History class. They needed some nice people to hang out with," I said when she finally stopped.

"So, he's fair game?" Lindsay asked with a wink.

"Well, I mean...I guess so...I don't know," I stammered, feeling myself turn red.

"Great!" she squealed in excitement. She ran back to Julian and Haley as I tailed behind her. The grin on her face was hard not to laugh at.

"So, how are you liking Fairview?" she asked.

"It's okay so far. We've met a lot of nice people. The teachers seem great too," Haley answered. Lindsay nodded, but she was grinning at Julian.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked, batting her eyelashes. I felt my stomach turn and my heart sink to the floor. He smiled and looked at me from the corner of his eyes.

"No," he said. I saw Lindsay's eyes light up.

"Oh, well in that case, would want to maybe go out some time?"

"I'm waiting for someone," he told her, "I've been in love with the same girl my entire life". She pursed her lips and stayed quiet. I could tell she was thinking of ways to get Julian to go out with her. Haley giggled next to him. She looked at me like there was some joke I wasn't getting.

"Is anyone thirsty? I'm going to the soda machine," I said to break the silence.

"No, thanks," Lindsay grunted. Julian just shook his head and sat down on the bench.

"I'll go with you," Haley offered.

We walked together to the vending machines by the student store. I wasn't really thirsty I just wanted to get away. Hopefully Haley didn't figure that out.

"What are you getting?" Haley asked.

"Snapple Apple. What about you?"

"Just some water," she shrugged. After she got her water we started back for the gym.

"My brother said you thought you'd met him before?" she questioned.

"Oh, I was just mistaken."

"Who does he remind you of?" I looked sideways at her and she was looking back intently.

"A boy I met when I was eight, but it couldn't be him," I said, blushing.

"Why not," she asked.

"Because the boy I met was already a teenager. Julian's only seventeen, right?" Haley bit her lip and stared at the ground.

"What?"

"Nothing," she answered. When we got back to the gym Lindsay was gone and Julian was on the bench reading. He smiled as we got closer.

"Where's Lindsay?" I asked.

"I don't know. She said something about her locker. I wasn't really listening." He had a smirk on his face. That wasn't like Lindsay. She never left without saying bye to me first. I looked around just to make sure, but I couldn't spot her anywhere. Haley let out a huge sigh and sat down next to her brother. I stood in front of them awkwardly.

The two minute bell rang. I had a free period next.

"So which way are you guys going?"

"I have P.E. next. I'll see you after at lunch," Haley said before running into the girls' locker room.

"I have a free period," Julian said.

"So do I," I murmured, "Do you want to go to the library or something?" What am I saying? The library? Seriously? It looked like he was considering the idea.

"Sure, why not." My heart started pounding again. I didn't know what I was getting excited for. He was just the new kid and I was just being nice. Right? I lead the way to the library. Mrs. Combs the librarian had a permanent scowl on her face from yelling at students for being too loud in the library for twenty years.

"Class schedules," she demanded. We handed her ours and she took a few minutes to read them over three or four times. After she couldn't find any mistakes, she directed us to a table in the center of the room.

"No talking, no cell phones, no eating, and no drinking," she told us. Mrs. Combs has always been really strict. We sat down at our table and waited for her to stop staring at us to say anything.

"She seems, nice," Julian chuckled under his breath.

"You get used to her. So, did your family move here recently," I asked thinking of what Carol had said earlier that morning.

"We moved here last week. We move around a lot."