Chapter One

Actel's POV:

Gentle summer breeze of April kissed my white cheeks. The song of swinging leaves and trees along with chirping birds blended with the scent of cinnamon. I lifted my head towards the sky. When I opened my eyes, the glittering sunlight that escaped through the dancing leaves greeted me.

Everything seemed peaceful and in place just like how things were back at my world, Wraindel. I was sitting under my favorite tree, memorizing every bit of detail of the peaceful and warm ambiance that I have long forgotten.

Across me, sweating and laughing boys were playing basketball. The faint sound of their screeching shoes against the gym floor reminded me of those days when I used to have fun and play until my heart's content.

The bell rang, it was my cue to get up and go back to my classroom. I still had fifteen minutes left before my class would start. Our gym was 40 meters from the administration building and two academic buildings that faced each other.

While I was walking, a small, furry body circled around my left leg. When I looked down, it was that furry, masculine black cat I ran into this early morning.

/Earlier in the morning/

As I headed to school, I saw a cat surrounded by four, mean little boys who were ganging up on it. They aggressively held the poor creature as they attempted to cover both of its eyes with a plaster. The cat meowed frantically seemingly begging them to stop the torment.

I am normally oblivious of my surroundings, however, Its loud meowing succesfully caught my attention. I cursed and drove the naughty kids away and cursed them for their awful behavior . After the little bullies ran off, I slowly approached the distressed cat and gently took off the two plasters that covered each of its eyes.

As soon as I took them off, its blue-ish green eyes stared directly back to my slate grey ones just like how it was staring at me now, as if it was looking straight into my soul in attempt to figure me out.

/Back to a few minutes before class/

Its gaze brought little shivers down my spine and made me avert my eyes looking anywhere but it. However, I didn't want to be rude, so to acknowledge its presence I looked back at the cat, bent over and patted its head before I left for class.

As I entered the room, the same faces and noises greeted me. Some of my classmates were throwing crumpled papers at each other; one guy was strumming the guitar and singing; and the others were laughing slamming the table for undoubtedly a ridiculous reason. There were even a few running and chasing each other as if they were still in kindergarten.

I ignored the my classmates and their annoying noises. I just walked straight to my seat, then dropped my bag on the floor beside me.

Just on time, our slim, longhaired blonde professor Miss Cadren, walked in the classroom and placed her things on the demonstration table, located in front of the class. She was wearing a leather dress that clung tightly to her curves. It was perfectly fit to the extent that it looked like her second skin. The sight of her made my impish classmates ran immediately back to their seats.

"Good morning students!" she greeted the class sweetly.

What a typical teacher and greeting, I thought to myself.

She could have said, "It's nice seeing you all again today" or maybe, "Worked up for our new lesson in Calculus?". But no, she chose the century old greeting. I hate how everything is always generally mundane in this school, and in my life.

"Good morning Ms. Cadren." the class greeted back.

It was followed by faint whistles from the jerks at the back of the class.

I wonder if Ms. Cadren heard them .

Enough of the greetings.

Everything in this world is messy, loud and boring. I hate how the city is filled with vehicle noises 24 hours a day; and with people doing their own business. Some even fight late at night. There was never a single night peaceful night where the streets were quiet and empty.

Everyday was the same. I did the same routine- wake up early, eat meals at a scheduled time, attend classes, walk back home, finish my assignments and climb straight to bed. Nothing was one bit exciting and fun, except the lessons.

"13/50, Ms. Actel Fahlgren you have failed the long exam again. If you have trouble with our lessons you could always come to me. It's already the third quarter and your performance haven't gotten any better." Ms. Cadren brought me back to reality as she snaked my paper on my desk and then looked straight at me.

I just rolled my eyes to give her a hint that I could not care any less and I'd appreciate it if she would move on to the next student.

"That's an interesting way of saying thank you Ms. Fahlgren. Remind me to do that next time." she commented sarcastically with her irritating high - pitched voice and winked at me before moving to the next student and gave him his paper.

It was not that I'm bad at Calculus. I could've at least score 40/50 if I answered it properly. But what's the point of getting high scores and exceptional grades when it doesn't even put a smile on my face. My grades were good enough, I didn't need the high marks at all.

Ms. Cadren was blabbering about integration by parts when I felt a finger poke the right side of my shoulder from behind. From the looks of it, Damien Sobel, a classmate of mine was the one who poked me.

There were five sections for senior year at my senior high school. So Damien and I only became classmates this year; since I enrolled to this school two years ago. I actually haven't spoken to him ever since.

He and I were not friends so I ignored him and stared at our professor. He poked me again for the nth time but I just ignored him, yet again. Later on, a piece of folded paper landed on my notebook.

Do you have an extra pen? Mine is running out of ink. Or perhaps a pencil? It would do.

-D. S.

The letters in his note were written with broken inks. Some of the words were nearly hard to decipher.

I knew he would never stop bothering me until I lend him something to use and write with. So I opened my pencil case and grabbed a random pen and turned to him.

"Here's what you want. Now stop bothering people and bugger off." I told him as I hit his head softly with the pen before I left it on his desk and turned around to face our professor. Damien just chuckled behind me in response.

Finally, class has ended and it was time for me to go home. I opened my locker to get my stuff and placed them on my back pack. When I closed my locker, a perfectly heart shaped face, with dark chocolate eyes appeared.

"Thanks for the pen, uhhh what do you call yourself?" Damien handed me my pen and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Actel Fahlgren, you can call me Actel. We've been classmates for almost a year now. I can't believe you don't even know my name."I answered him in disbelief before I turned to walked away.

"Hmm, that's an odd name. Well I shouldn't be surprised. You just lent me a weird pen earlier. Seriously, a pen with panty designs all over it? That's the last thing you should've lent a guy. Why do you even keep one?" he chuckled as he walked, shorting the distance between us and catching up to me.

Geez, couldn't this guy just shut up for a second ? I mean I'm a girl after all so it shouldn't matter that I have that kind of pen. Besides, the pen was a free item that came with the undergarments I purchased months ago so I really didn't have much choice but to accept it.

I stopped and faced him. "I don't care. Now why don't you buy yourself a pen with panty designs if you're so happy and can't bloody get over it." I snapped at his amused face and turned my heel to walk away.

"By the way, stop talking to me. The last time I checked, we weren't friends." I added before leaving him dumbfounded.

I lived alone. I've been staying in this awful human word for almost four years now since I was banished from Wraindel. It was hard for me to fake my identity. I literally had nothing when I was sent here. I was just thirteen then. I had to sleep outdoors- specifically in a street corner with only a carton mat to sleep on. I had to eat whatever trash I could find for four months; before I found a job at a small eatery as a kitchen aid and got myself a small place to live in.

I did not intend to attend school, but it was the quickest way to make my life easier. So I enrolled to a senior high school two years after.

All I had to do was get a scholarship and maintain good grades for me to gain enough money in order for me to survive. On top of that, I got to learn stuff my world didn't teach.

Don't get me wrong, we do go to school back in Wraindel, it's just that all we ever learned there were how to fight and defend ourselves, how to use our magic efficiently, and when to fight and when to flee.