"Love is in the air!" An overacting girl yelled into the camera. Her performance was being live cast to all of first-hour. How she wasn't embarrassed out of her mind was beyond me. If it were me I'd of shit my pants by now.

She continued, "Join us in the cafeteria and send a crush to any student of your choice. Purple for friends, orange for crush's, and red for love! Send your soda anonymously or add a special note for your special someone."

I sighed to myself. They continued with the rest of the news after that. Why they were announcing Valentine's day now was beyond me. It was only the fourth of December, so there was a way to go. I crossed my arms and leaned back against my desk, trying to calm myself down. It's wasn't like I have anyone to send a soda too. Maybe my sister, but she's a royal pain in the rear and probably already has guys lining up to buy her a secret soda. I could at least be confident that I would not receive a soda - orange, red, or purple. 

At least they were sodas and not flowers, I grinned at the thought. The entire school would stink.

I brought my attention back when the teacher shut off the board. "Okay," She clapped her hands together with forced enthusiasm. It was pretty obvious she was just as done talking about geometry as I was learning it. She cleared her throat. "We have a new student joining us today. Donovan West."

A guy, probably about six feet tall, waved from his seat in the back row, far right. Normally during these new student things, the new cast member was always a little nervous. Not Donovan. If anything, he looked happier to be there than the state was making attend school. "Hello." That smile of his just pissed me off. I felt this compelling urge to smack it right off his smug face.

"So, tells us where you're from." The teacher yawned, leaning against the large desk.

"Chicago." He beamed. Like Chicago was anything to be proud of. The traffic sucked, the people were rude, and there was always a 40% chance your shit would get stolen. Chicago's only redeeming quality were the museums. "Well, I was born in Muskego, raised in Oconomowoc, lived in Tampa for five years, then moved to Chicago for a little while, and I'm in Milwaukee." 

The class clapped, for some reason. As if taken under his spell, they were loving him. He was exactly the type of person I hated. The cool, suave, charismatic type who was sure to become everyone's friend. 

"Tampa, Florida?" The teacher asked just to clarify. She seemed to be the only one just as bored as I.

He nodded, that smile never failing. "Yup! Only for a few years before Chicago. I also lived in Dublin for about six months."

I frowned. Is he going to talk about every single place he'd ever been?

"Dublin? As in, Ireland?"

"Yup!" He was practically out of his seat at this point. Additionally with the rest of the class hanging at the edge of their seats. Admittedly he was the first really interesting person we'd gotten in a while. "And Tokyo, Seoul, Kazan, Reims, Valencia, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Alice Springs, and a few others." Donovan seemed to light up even more as he soaked up all the attention he was getting like a sponge. 

Adding, "My father and mother are both authors so we usually go to different places depending on the research they're making for their books. Right now I'm living with my sister and her husband. But it'd be fun to take up permanent residency."

Everyone awed. "Who are your parents?" 

"J. K. Carious and Maude C Kate."

Everyone's jaws, including my own, dropped. They were famous names. Co-Writers for a very popular series that was being adapted into a tv show which focused on time travel and mysteries set in a dystopian future. Even if you didn't like their work, you at least knew the names.

I knew the names far too well. And they're his parents.

Not to anyones surprise, he quickly became the class favorite. There were a few avid fans of his parent's series already trying to get spoilers for the next book. He seemed to be marketing himself very well around that one selling point. I have to give credit where credit is due, though; he was a very good looking young man. So much so that a lot of the girls were already trying to figure out which flavor of Crush he preferred.

I leaned over on my desk trying to calm my nerves again. I knew they would be extra loud. Considering it was a Monday and we got a new student. But the noise was suffocating. Guess it was just my luck he had to be the kid of two famous writers. Now there definitely wouldn't be any peace and quiet for the next three months. And that was if I was lucky and the class lost interest in him.

"Oh, hi, I'm Donovan." I glanced up at him leaning backward in his chair, holding onto my desk for support. He still had that stupid smile plastered on his face like a mask. "I haven't met you, yet." He extended his hand out to me. I just stared at his hand. Then I put my head down. "Um... Okay?" He sounded offended, which at the time I didn't mind.

You're the one ruining the quiet. - Quiet I desperately needed in order to think.

"That's Peter." A girl, I think her name was Kathy, spoke as she plopped down into the vacant seat beside me. "He doesn't like to talk much."

"That's an understatement." Some guy added, pretty sure his name was Henry. "He never talks."

I ignored them and just closed my eyes. I'd decided that getting involved with him would probably not be good. 

Donovan put his chair upright, dropping the hind legs down to the floor. "Oh. Okay."

"So do you speak any foreign languages?" Kathy continued. A few other girls leaned in for the anticipating answer.

To that, he chuckled. "No, I wasn't ever there long enough to learn and I did online school for that time."

"But you're in public now." One girl pointed out.

"Yup. My parents are finishing up the latest book. Then they're going to take a break before the next one, so they wanted me to live with my sister for a while."

I sat up, thinking about a question of my own. It was a pressing question. I was just curious to know why he was here of all places. With parents as rich and famous as them, I'd expected him to go to New York or LA. Not Wisconsin. 

"What's up, man?" Donovan asked, staring into my eyes.

That suddenly look filled me with anxiety. A feeling I was familiar with, but I didn't want to deal with any added stress on January 4th. I got up with heist from my chair, yanked the strap of my backpack into my grasp, and headed for the door. Once I got there and swung it open I heard one of the girls speak extra loud, so I could hear her annoyed, "He's really rude, isn't he?" A statement that most, even people only eavesdropping on the conversation, agreed with.

Donovan sat still.

Whatever. 

I'd do anything to make the feeling in the pit of my stomach go away.

At once the sound of the classroom faded out, leaving me in a silent hallway. A lot had happened after two years, yet nothing at all. And when these feelings of loneliness came to me my thoughts centered around one event in my life, leaving me with unanswered questions.

How different things would be had I noticed the signs earlier? Where exactly would we be right now had I listened? Would he have done it if I let him explain everything at that moment?

I slid down on the hallway wall. I'm an idiot, I decided. A long time ago, but I would often reaffirm my feelings.

"Pete?" I looked up. Aunt Loren smiled down at me. "What are you doing on the floor, Peter? Why aren't you in class?"

I turned away from her and shrugged. "I had enough of class."

If it were anyone but her, I'd be called dramatic or annoying. It wasn't like I didn't know why my classmates thought of me the way they did. To them, I was weird and most of the time people tended to avoid things that made them uncomfortable. She reached her hand out, squeezing my shoulder. "You're depressed because you're alone and you never talk about your feelings."

I frowned as she pulled me up. "I'm not going to spill my heart out to you like a little girl if that's what you're trying to get from me."

She let out a sigh. "Pete, talking about your feelings isn't a girly thing to do. Human beings confide in others for emotional stability. Which is clearly something you do not have."

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"How you're feeling? What you're thinking? Tell me how to help you." She paused. "I'm the school counselor, after all."

"Invent me a time machine." I blurted out with a nervous laugh, then quickly shook my head. "Forget it."

I turned from her in an effort to end this horrible feeling inside me, but she reached for me. "I'm not joking when I tell you, you need to talk to other people. At this rate, you're going to become depressed and end up doing the same thing Lucas did."

Something in me just snapped. My neck snapped back. My eyes glaring as I forced my hand back to my side. I nearly fell over from the dramatic change in weight distribution. "Don't talk like that," I warned her. She flinched and I had to say, even I was shocked at how affirmative my tone got.

With eyes wide, she broke the silence frozen between us. "Like what?"

"Like you know what's going on with me."

She rolled her head back. "Peter!" Very rarely did Loren become furious. She was always laid back, calm, and reserved. "Goddamnit, Peter. Of course, I don't know what's going on with you. You never talk about it."

I opened my mouth to speak but close it again. I'm not an idiot, I am fully aware that she's made perfect sense. But I also didn't want to deal with that at the moment.

"I'll go to class," The glittery chimes of the bell brought both of us back to reality. Before Loren could get another word in, I was already losing myself in the sea of students.