The chilly air outside brought goosebumps to my bare arms and legs, making me regret not grabbing a sweater. It was that awkward time between autumn and winter when the leaves were trying to decide whether to shrivel up and die on their branch or fall to the ground. The ground crunched beneath my feet as I walked. The pathway was littered with trees that dropped leaves in my hair as I walked along the fence line. Cars drove past cautiously. A few other kids my age walked on the opposite side of the street, laughing, and carrying backpacks that looked much heavier than mine.

Hmm. I wonder if I remembered to bring my school books. 

Oh well. It wasn’t like I’d use them anyway.

I sighed and daydreamed about the day they’d invent teleportation.

At least the path to school wasn’t long. Maybe ten minutes. 

But when you’re bored the time seems to stretch on forever.

Eventually my school came into view. It looked much larger than it was because of the attached middle school that my sister went to. Dull gray bricks, white rooftops, and an obscene number of windows covered the sides. The buildings were surrounded by a dense red oak tree forest that stretched high above the rooftops, casting the school in perpetual shade. Sakura trees lined up like soldiers along the winding roadside that led to the school entrance.

We had maybe a hundred students per grade. From a distance I could see my future classmates gathering around the big white board outside that listed our classroom assignments. 

A traffic light blinked from yellow to red up ahead. I’d need to cross it to reach the school. No one else was in sight, so I walked up and pushed the crosswalk button, waiting for my turn to walk across.

I looked at my phone and scrolled through Ribbit forums as cars zipped past.

A quick breeze ruffled the ends of my hair and the scent of a light, pleasant cologne briefly washed over me. Before I knew what was happening, a tall figure out of the corner of my eye brushed past me.

Right into the busy street. 

My brain faltered, not immediately registering what had happened. 

“H—hey!” I stuttered and lunged forward, grabbing his black backpack, and yanking him toward me right as a car sped past, horn blaring angrily.

He fell back against me and I lost my balance, falling down on one knee under his weight. Out of reflex I stuck my arms out to catch him, cushioning his fall and preventing further damage to my own body.

I held him in an awkward pose, almost like I was a prince carrying a princess. Looking down at him I could feel my anger growing steadily. What kind of moron walks into a busy street? Did he hate school that badly? 

He stared up at me, looking somewhat surprised but not overly worried.

It was then that I got a good look at him. His looks were stunning enough to be on the cover of a magazine. Bright blue eyes, short wavy blonde hair, and a thoughtful, gentle looking face. He wore our school uniform—black pants with a white button-down shirt.

For some reason, I thought of Valentina then. He seemed to almost radiate otherworldliness. Just like her.

“Oh, uh,” he said, voice warm and cheerful. I could detect a hint of a strange accent I’d never heard before. Russian? Italian? 

He tilted his head, looking me in the eyes, and grinned. “Hello there.”

I suddenly had the overwhelming urge to strangle this man. 

“Are you… retarded?” I asked him, dead serious.

He blinked in surprise and then laughed. 

“Not that I know of,” he said with a smile.

I narrowed my eyes. Weird. I was expecting a rude response, but this guy just seemed oblivious.

I suddenly realized I was still holding this idiot and quickly dropped him, standing up, picking up my phone, and brushing myself off.

He stood up and took another step toward the crosswalk, making like he was going to go across again. I glanced at the red “stop” symbol and grabbed his backpack again.

“Hey! Is this some kind of prank?” I said angrily, wondering if I should just let the guy go. 

Natural selection and all that. 

“You have to wait for the sign to change into a person!”

He turned his head to look at me from over his shoulder. “They don’t just stop?” he asked.

“What?”

“The vehicles don’t stop for you?”

I ground my teeth together. “Are you even listening to me, airhead? No, the cars won’t stop unless the sign changes to a person.” 

I pointed toward the traffic sign across the street. He looked towards it right as it changed from a hand to a person. Perfect timing. Cars on either side of the street stopped at the red lights.

“Ohhh,” he said, eyes widening.  “How cool.”

“You must be from the countryside or something,” I mumbled, brushing past this lunatic to walk across.

He stayed in step beside me. 

“Yes,” he said, sounding oddly formal, “You could say I am not from here.” He looked toward the group of students gathering around the whiteboard outside and took a deep breath, as if preparing himself.

“Maybe you should get a chaperone or something.” I sped up my pace to get away from him, but he matched my stride easily.

“Are you offering?” He asked, a smile in his voice.

I snorted. “Not even if you paid me.” 

I had pretty much guessed his ‘type’ the second I saw him. He was a stereotypical pretty boy. Athletically built. A smooth talker. And not entirely bright. I’m sure with his looks he’d be popular at our shallow school and then I’d never have to deal with him again.

They melded with the throng of students quickly. If it wasn’t quite apparent how much this guy stood out before, it was obvious now. Female and male students alike glanced their way. Girls whispering to their groupies. Guys sizing up the competition. 

Man, high school was such a drag.

I squeezed my way through the pack of students to the whiteboard, losing the weirdo, and looked for my name. 

Found it. Class 3E. 

My friend’s names were under 3E as well. 

Guess it was my lucky day.