“Curiosity is only vanity. We usually only want to know something so that we can talk about it.”

― Blaise Pascal, Pensées

The clouds circled overhead creating a dark sheet underneath the usual vibrant blue that covered the small Midwest town of Clementine, Kansas. Cars honked in the background of the rundown town that had a population of two thousand where stores were scarce, and strangers knew the darkest secrets of their neighbors. Amongst the clutter of historical buildings that dated back to the nineteen-hundreds was a school that had an average of two hundred high school students. Each class held twenty kids, yet on a rare note it sometimes climbed into the thirties.

Among the students was a seventeen-year-old boy named Ethan Morgan. He hid in the shadows as he made his way to his locker. His high-top sneakers slapping away on the masonry floor while his backpack jangled with all the loose items that he quickly inside. As he approached his locker, he fumbled with the combination lock cursing to himself for not keeping the paper that had his numbers on it. He sighed when the lock clicked and he opened his locker to be blessed with pictures of his friend Sarah, who quite strangely shared the same last name as him.

In her pictures she posed with a smile that radiated a thousand suns. In one she was celebrating her eighteenth birthday with a party hat on as she drank a root beer float, the other was with her friend Anna as they pretended to be vampires at a Halloween party Caleb threw, but there was one that caught his eye making his heart flutter with longing. Ethan sat with his best friends Tanner and Caleb at his birthday party. A giant Galactic Wars cake was placed in front of him, and Sarah’s arms were wrapped around his neck. Her lips placed against his cheek.

He loved seeing that picture. It was the only time Sarah ever came into close proximity to his face. Ethan stared at the picture for a while before grabbing his chemistry book. A throat cleared turning his attention to his friend Tanner standing next to him. Ethan smiled as Tanner leaned against the neighbored lockers waving two tickets in the air. His eyes widened and he grabbed the tickets from him. “No way!” Ethan exclaimed.

“Yup! Embrace it! I was able to secure two sold out tickets to the Galactic Wars Meet and Greet Festival this Saturday where you can meet the creators of your favorite comic book series. Please tell me that I’m the most amazing friend you’ve ever had!” Tanner said flashing his winning smile. Ethan was giddy inside. He hoped that he could get one of the writers to look at his Galactic Wars idea and turn it into a graphic novel or even a movie. He knew there was a once in a million chance that it could happen, but he hoped and dreamed which is all he needed.

Tanner watched him through half-lidded eyes. He always watched him. His gaze never leaving whether he was far away or across the room. Ethan could count on turning around and seeing Tanner staring at him. At first, Ethan found it strange, but then he realized that Tanner was kind of like a protective older brother. He made sure that bullies didn’t come near him often, that he wasn’t in any danger, or getting into the wrong crowd.

Tanner was also the quarterback of the football team. He was taller than Ethan with lean muscle that made him look strong, but not ridiculous. He had curly dirty blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes that made all the girls swoon. His smile was addicting and warm making even Ethan’s heart flutter. It was a well-known topic around school that Tanner was attached to him. Due to this, Ethan didn’t have as much trouble as he did in middle school.

Still, Ethan wanted to hide underneath his gaze or at least try to distract Tanner from zoning out on him. Ethan, unfortunately, realized something causing a groan to escape from his mouth. Tanner furrowed his brows as he blinked and realized that Ethan was now preparing to slam his head against the locker doors. “Ugh, I just forgot that I have to babysit my cousin on that day.” Ethan said shaking his head. He couldn’t believe that on the most important day of his life he would be stuck inside watching the most annoying child to ever live.

“Really? Can’t she stay by herself? She’s almost thirteen years old.” Tanner said with a frown. Ethan shook his head again.

“Not after last time.” Ethan said as he slammed his locker door shut. He handed Tanner back the tickets. “She almost burned the house down with her cooking. I don’t even know how it was possible to catch chocolate cookies on fire, but she did, and the fire department was called.” Tanner chuckled.

“Well, I don’t want to go to the Galactic Wars meetup alone.” Tanner muttered. He perked up and put his arm around Ethan’s shoulders as they walked down the hallway. “Hey, why don’t I help you babysit? At least we can spend time together and you can rant about your little geek ideas.” Ethan glared, but the smile that broke out on his face betrayed his ability to look intimidating. Heels clacked loudly turning their attention to their friends Sarah and Anna hurrying to them.

Sarah’s brown hair was tied into a bun with twisted strands cupping her face. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt with the word Sunflower plastered across the front with an embroidered sunflower stitched above it. She wore a pleated white and grey skirt with white stockings underneath her Louboutin heels that matched Anna’s.

Sarah smiled as she bounded up to Ethan. Her doe brown eyes were swimming with different emotions. She looked at Anna and they giggled. “Did you hear?” Anna said as she walked up to Tanner. She took him all in. Her teeth grazing against her bottom lip as she caught sight of his muscles peeking out from his baseball tee. “Hear what?” Ethan said, but Anna ignored him as she looked up at Tanner who was more interested in the ceiling than Anna.

“There’s a new student.” Sarah said.

“And he’s a little sexy.” Anna said. She bit her lip and twirled her hair. Ethan’s heart skipped a beat as he realized that a new student, especially if they were considered attractive, was new competition for Sarah’s heart. He already had enough competition with Tanner and Caleb. Those two were the embodiment of picture perfect. They went to parties, lost their virginities to older women, and dated cheerleaders.

Ethan was the opposite. Ethan was on the miserably short side reaching a heigh of five-two and three quarters. He had curly mop brown hair and brown eyes too big for his face. He had genetic dark circles underneath them which consequentially have made him the target of abuse rumors. His brown skin burned easily, and his nose was tragically hooked adding to his insecurities.

Ethan was inconceivably unattractive. He wasn’t stunning like Tanner or muscular like Caleb. He was frankly below average to the point that his first kiss was a poster of Jessica Alba from the Fantastic Fours movie, though Caleb argues that it didn’t count.

Ethan wondered if his friends only hung out with him because he made them look remarkably attractive. He didn’t want to believe that about Tanner. He had known him since elementary school where he was the small lanky kid with a head too big for his body, and clothes that fit awkwardly.

He had always that thought Tanner would remain in that awkward faze for as long as Ethan did, but when they had returned back from summer break and entered high school Ethan was shocked to see that Tanner had a miraculous transformation that made Ethan burn with envy. “What’s his name?” Tanner said stealing Ethan from his thoughts. Anna shrugged as she thought for a moment.

“Well, he’s dressed in black with tattoos all over his arms, and piercings on his lips.” Anna mumbled. “I’m thinking Shade!” Tanner snorted and Sarah rolled her eyes.

“A stereotypical name for an arbiter bad boy.” Tanner spoke amusedly. “Or it could be Damien? That would be even more fitting.” Sarah gaze Ethan a look to which he shrugged his shoulder and listened to their bickering.

“His name’s Ashley.” Sarah said. The three of them gave her a bewildered look. “I heard him say it when I was in the office. He came from Las Vegas and is living with his cousin until he graduates. He told me that something was calling him to our town, and he wanted to investigate.” Tanner snorted.

“Kansas…something was calling him from the popular and soul sucking City of Sin all the way to the small down of Clementine, Kansas where, if you don’t watch out, you can step in a pile of cow dung.” Tanner mocked.

“He seems unordinary.” Anna pondered. Tanner watched her incredulously. She waved her hands around and twirled. “Someone who doesn’t care about mainstream ideas and places. Someone who wants to settle down in a small quaint town.” Here we go again, Ethan thought. “I need to speak with him and introduce myself.” Anna flipped her strawberry blonde hair and waggled her fingers at them. “Toot aloo.” She then walked off with her hips swaying.

“Toot aloo?” Ethan trailed off. He glimpsed at Tanner. “What does that mean?”

“I have no idea, but when are we ever going to understand Anna?” Tanner replied. A loud ring blasted their ears. Tanner flipped his English book. “Well, that’s the bell. You better hurry to class…Mrs. Kettle isn’t in the best mood today.” He murmured.

“What did you do to her?” Sarah said as the two started walking off.

“Nothing! It was Caleb—” Their voices trailed off as Ethan hurried to his AP Chemistry class. He maneuvered through the frantic crowd until someone had been pushed into him. He fell forward slamming into a hard chest. His chemistry book dropped, and he winced from the pain in his nose.

“I—I’m sorry.” He stuttered. He reached down to grab his book, but it was already in someone’s hands staring at him. Ethan looked up to see the infamous Ashley staring at him with bizarre phoenix shaped grey eyes that looked haunting against his black skin. His black hair was coiled in a loose afro style, and his black crew-neck tee barely contained his protruding muscles. Ethan was shaken to his core. Ethan didn’t doubt that if vampires were real, he would one hundred percent believe that Ashley was one.

“Umm, I’m sorry.” Ethan trembled out. He sheepishly took his book from Ashley without looking into his eyes. “I—someone pushed me.”

“I know. I saw.” His voice came out frighteningly deep which wasn’t normal for someone his age.  “You’re in chemistry.” He stated. Ethan nodded. “So, am I.”

“Fantastic.” Ethan said dryly. Silence washed over them. Neither of them moved, and Ethan could feel Ashley’s gaze on him.

“Shall we head to class?” Ashley bemused. The two walked to chemistry. Ashley’s strides were long and slow, yet still impossible to keep up. They arrived two minutes before the bell rang and Ethan slid into the chair closest to the door. Unfortunately, Ashley decided to take the chair next to him. Ethan snuck peeks at him. He was fully inked with snakes and diamond cars which, horrifically, reminded Ethan too much of Harley Quinn.

As class went in full swing Ethan distracted himself by taking notes, asking simple questions, and conversing with the other students. Ashley didn’t participate. He didn’t bother to open his book. He merely tapped his hands against the table while spinning his pen in between his fingers. He would occasionally glimpse at Ethan which understandably overwhelmed him to the point that he prayed that class would be over soon. The bell rang and Ethan jumped out of his chair and headed out the door. It didn’t stop Ashley from catching up to him. Ethan sighed. He stopped and faced the man before putting his hand out. Ashley took his hand and shook it.

“My name’s Ashley.” He smiled bashfully causing Ethan to give his own smile. “I’m from Las Vegas, Nevada.”

“I heard.” Ethan said. Ashley looked down at his feet giving slight kicks to the ground. I guess you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Ethan thought. “Ah, lunch will be starting soon…do you want to maybe join me?” Ashley looked up. Ethan swallowed as the man stared into his eyes, and his heart skipped when a devilish smile broke out on his face.

“I would love too.”