Justin Green’S POV:

The back seat of this car has never felt so stifling before today. I have been raised in the church of my city from the day I was born, my mother and father lived and breathed the word of God and Jesus Christ. The school I have attended up until this point was through the church and has a very specific mission statement. On top of learning all the disciplines and subjects that public schools require, we are taught the ways of Christianity. There are a select few students selected to go into a special program for elite students, the requirements are a bit much to get into at the current moment.

Getting back to where I am currently… the back of Dad’s sleek black sedan with extra dark tint on the windows looking out at the small-town Christian Academy a branch of our own Christian Academy back in the city. Our Dean was tipped off to some odd happenings in this small town that may or may not be demon related, and a special girl is supposedly here as well. My father is here to investigate both.

“Are you sure you are ready for this mission?” Dad asked solemnly. He usually had an adult male to go with him on these errands, so this was a bit awkward for him as well. I “get” to go into a new school posing as a new student. Technically speaking this won’t be a lie. I am going to help him assess this young girl and see her natural affinity for divinity. IF she does indeed possess the level of divinity that the assistant dean says, then there will be a larger problem to investigate within this branch. Then, if there are true signs of a demon being present on such holy grounds as this town then a team will have to be called more than likely to deal with it.

“Not really like I have a choice at this point,” I laughed, “Why are you just sitting here?” I asked, he generally has a purpose for everything he does.

“I wanted to see this girl before parking,” he said as he scanned the students, his eyes paused on a girl with a black hoodie on that we couldn’t quite see her face yet. Out of the crowd, she definitely was the darkest dressed. The dark boots, dark hoodie, dark curly brown hair showing sticking out of the sides of the hood as her face came into view. My breath caught in my throat as I saw her face clearly for just a second before a big guy walking beside her talking to her blocked my view. Dad started the engine and pulled over to the staff parking. “What do you think?” He turned, to me. “Worth investigating now?” He grinned mischievously.

“Dad… are you suggesting that I thought she was physically pretty? That is a worldly thought in which I should not have….” I shrugged my shoulders and turned my eyes away, “but yes, now I do think that it is worth investigating if that’s who I will be talking with. She is definitely not one of this school’s typical students from what information my research provided.”

“She was also orphaned and dropped on the doorsteps of Saint Mary’s Home for Children when she was an infant. Supposedly, they left a letter with her and a necklace. The nun still has the letter, refused to let her read it until after I do, and a special cross pendant with a family crest on it. The nun gave the child her last name, but the letter contains more information for me. So, I am actually dropping you off today and I will be going to meet Sister Agatha. From what little information she was comfortable passing to me, this is going to be a pretty big deal. Jameson is already on his way to the parsonage with Luke. They will be on standby as of this evening, and patrolling around the boarders of the academy as of tomorrow morning.” He waited for my response. I always make sure my responses are calculated, cool and calm. So, I let the information settle in and asked him a question.

“Why did you wait until now to tell me all of this exactly?” I pressed my lips together and felt my eyebrows scrunch.

“Gotta keep you on your toes. Now get to class. A professor’s kid being late is disgraceful,” he chuckled as I got out of the car shaking my head. He had actually parked up front to let me out there, but decided to debrief me since the circumstances were more serious than we had originally thought apparently. “I will be back to pick you up as soon as I get done with her. Your excuse today is a tour of the school. You need to talk to her as soon as you can, use the tour as an excuse. Her name is Sarah.” With that, he left me in the parking lot. I ran my hand down my face. This is going to be a very, very long day.

I turned towards the front door to see the Dean (Dad had made sure to show me his photo before coming here today), and a blonde girl with too much make up and looking way too eager looking at me. I walked towards the front door and directed my attention solely on the man.

“May I ask if you can direct me to the front office please?” He glanced over at the girl who had immediately poked out her chest and smiled seductively… I think that is what she was going for anyways. I didn’t take my eyes off of the man and he replied to my question.

“Enter these doors and head immediately to your left. It will be the second door on the left-hand side of the hall,” he kept eye contact with me as I thanked him and walked in the building avoiding the blonde as I did. I went in, introduced myself to the secretary who gave me my schedule. She smiled at me, she had been sent the week before us to replace the previous secretary that had been in an “accident” and was still in the hospital. That was when the nun from the orphanage had stated her concerns to dad. Our dean pulled some strings and sent someone that we could trust to ensure that I could be as close to the girl in question as possible not only to investigate, but to protect her if necessary.

“Here is your locker number and the combination,” the secretary smiled. “I think she’s promising… oh no,” she started whispering, “look out for that one.” The door jingled behind me signaling that someone else has entered the room. I turned around to leave with the map in my hand when I saw exactly who it was.

“Hi there! I didn’t get the chance to say hello out there with you greeting my father, but I’m Joy!” The blonde from outside stood in my way and bounced up and down in front of me. “I would like to offer my services to you today and give you the ‘Joy-ful’ tour of our lovely campus.” I couldn’t help myself as I sighed and took a deep breath.

“No thank you, I can manage on my own. I don’t want to make you late to class.” I’m sure she needs all the time in the classroom she can get if she’s this boy crazy. I started to walk around her, and she grabbed my arm. Sometimes you get a little static shock from people but this girl’s hand touching me burned every part of my skin that she touched. I jerked my arm back and pulled my sleeve down over my arm. I will have to see exactly what damage is there later, if any.

“Well,” she angrily smiled at me, “If you change your mind do let me know and I would love to show you around.” She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. I glanced back at the secretary.

“Told you,” she said. “There’s something off about that girl. Watch your back.” She kind of joked, but seemed kind of serious. I nodded and headed out, following the map to my locker, which conveniently is right next to my new friend Sarah’s. When I got to the hall with my locker on it, she was still there placing a couple new notebooks inside as well as a pack of computer paper and a clip board.

“Excuse me,” I interrupted her conversation with the good-looking guy from earlier, “would locker number 773 happen to be on the other side of you?” I smiled at her and glanced over at the guy. He raised a single eye brow, as if asking ‘seriously?’

She looked over at me and looked into my eyes to respond. I did not expect the pretty green eyes that greeted me. “Yep, I’m all done so it’s all yours,” she smiled at me. A beautiful white smile behind those rosy lips. I cleared my throat.

“Thank you,” I walked over to my empty locker and emptied all supplies except one binder, and four folders to put information from my four classes in. “Um… I hate to bother you, but do you think you can look my schedule over and see if you can give me a general idea of where I am going today? They kind of just threw me in to sink or swim today if you know what I mean. I frowned slightly, “It was this or let the scary blonde show me around…” when I said this she flinched, her lips pursed together, and she looked at me sympathetically.

“She tried to invite you on her tour, didn’t she?” the guy chimed in chuckling. He smirked, “She does that to every new face, I’m surprised she let you out of her grasp.”

“I just barely escaped,” I joked back, we shared a smile. Sarah put her hand out.

“What’s your first class?” She took my schedule from me, her eye brows pulled together and then she raised an eyebrow as she continued to read through my four classes. “That’s weird… or should I say that this is an odd coincidence.” She looked up at me and pulled out her own schedule and placed them side-by-side. “Yep, our schedules are exactly the same, right down to lunch block and study hall.” She looked back up into my eyes and handed my schedule back to me brushing fingertips in the process. “Well, someone just made our day a little easier.” She smiled; my breath caught in my chest again… what on earth is this foreign feeling of warmth and comfort when our eyes meet. “Stick with me and I will show you around. Right now,” she glanced at the watch on the guy’s wrist, “We have about fifteen minutes to get to homeroom, then head on to first period. My name is Sarah and this is Nick.” She introduced them to me.

“While I hate to part ways, I have to go the opposite direction to get to my home room, don’t get overwhelmed by the atmosphere here. Sometimes it can be pretty stifling in this building for some reason. Sarah always makes me feel better when that happens. So, you’re in good hands.” Nick patted me on the shoulder, already feeling like I have known him forever. I looked over at Sarah who was just smiling at us.

“We will see you at lunch?” she asked.

“Yup.” He side-arm hugged her and walked away, waving over his shoulder.

“Shall we,” she gestured in the direction in which we would start walking.

“We shall,” I laughed, enjoying her sense of humor already. “So, is homeroom essentially like the main campus where they just show the ‘school news’ and then send us on our merry way?”

“Yep, it’s every morning just a daily weather, and weekly news thing.” She kept putting a bit of distance between us as we walked, glancing over in my direction to make sure she hadn’t left me behind in the crowded hall.

“What’s up?” I asked as we approached the classroom door. She frowned.

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. People just kind of avoid me so they don’t make the welcoming committee that you met earlier angry. She can’t stand me. So, in order to avoid you starting off on a bad foot we should probably go in at different times.” She swallowed hard, her eyes pleading for me to understand that she didn’t want to hurt my feelings or anger me.

“Who cares, I will gladly be cast out from her graces to hang out with both you and Nick. Let’s go in,” I grabbed her arm, and put it over mine like I was escorting her in placing her hand in mine. A warm sensation resonated through my hand. I looked over to see her staring at our hands.

“What is going on…?” She asked, looking up into my eyes.