The Human Luna

Chapter 4 - Mariah

*Edited*

"Mariah!" I jumped slightly at the shout of my name before twirling around to see who had called me.

Yvonne, Annabelle and Bryli were all coming down the hall towards me. I smiled but shuffled in my spot as they came up.

"Hey! We came to say bye!" Annabelle told me. I was pretty surprised by their actions and the words that agreed came tumbling out,

"Aww that was sweet! Thank you again for letting me sit with you today, I was a bit worried about that with the new school and all,"

"Thank you for accepting! It was nice to meet you though, see you later!" Yvonne told me before the three of them walked off together. I smiled slightly while walking towards Sophie's car.

I got there just as the two girls did. None of us saying anything as we all got in the same seats as this morning. The two sisters talked about a few topics on the drive home but it was mostly quiet other than the radio humming.

Arriving home was fairly normal, I dragged myself up the stairs, mentally and physically exhausted from the day at school. Heaving myself towards my bed, I collapsed ontop of the white quilt. Sighing contently and letting my eyes slip closed.

*****

"No, no, no, no" I mumbled to myself as I awoke and saw the time. It had been four days since I started this new school and I was already going to be late! The bright white screen of my phone glowed "Seven Fourty" twenty minutes before we had to leave.

Groaning, I jumped out of bed and quickly rushed to the bathroom. Brushing my teeth and washing my face became an Olympic sport as I dashed back to my room to throw on clothes.

Thankfully I showered the night before and my curls were still sitting nicely in place. As I spun and weaved around my room, a soft knock sounded.

"Yes?" I called, slightly out of breath. Sophio poked her head through a crack in the door and spoke,

"We're leaving in a couple minutes. Usually you're down by now so try and hurry," I apologized before she smiled slightly and left. My backpack managed to thack onto my back as I swung it on and jogged down the stairs of the house.

I made it just in time to slip my shoes on in time with Sara and Sophie. I followed them out to the car and hopped in the back. The music went as Sophie pulled out of the driveway and we made out way to school.

Sitting in the car left me to my thoughts. I reflected back on how these last couple days had been. Yvonne, Bryli and Annabelle had made me feel so welcome. Showing me around and sticking close.

Their boyfriends, Christian, Damien and Nathan were fairly friendly also. Though they all kept mentioning their friend Ryder. And although the group was very welcoming towards me, I couldn't brush off the feeling that something was...off.

The group had a habit of staring at me when they spaced out before snapping themselves out of it. They would whisper when they walked away. And it wasn't just them.

People seemed to take notice of who I was hanging out with. I had figured that my new friends were some of the more popular kids if the other students were that interested. But it always seemed strange.

I finished up my mental overview just in time to pull into the parking lot. I thanked Sophie for the ride before walking a bit ahead. The sisters seemed to try and avoid the questions about me. And I would too if it brought up the messy family history, so we just walked a bit apart.

I made it through the doors before starting to walk towards my locker. Grabbed anything I needed from there, I headed towards my English room, though not before almost running into someone.

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed in surprise. The other person, a boy who was quite a bit taller than me, just chuckled it off. I went to brush past him but his hand grabbed my shoulder lightly.

"Hey wait! You're new right? I'm Daniel," He introduced himself, grey eyes lighting up slightly.

"Mariah, nice to meet you," I told him. His lip pulled back slightly and a sharp fang poked through his lip.

"My pleasure, can I walk you to class?" I swallowed, wishing my blush away slightly and nodded. We walked together in silence for a bit before he spoke up.

"Where are you from Mariah?"

"Oh, my family just came from farther west." I didn't really want to get into the details of my home history with Daniel, so I thought my answer was suffice. Although the man stopped dead in his tracks and stared me down.

His grey eyes darkened for a split second before he said, "That's not where you're from. I meant before that."

The pang of my heart jumped one too many times as he ground that out. What was he getting at? How did he know that I had moved before? What was he implying about my past?

I wanted to think that he was just making a racist joke about how I didn't look like I was from here, but the way he said it struck something else in me.

"What are you talking about..?" I asked while lifting my voice slightly, trying to make myself sound unknowing. Daniel's stormy eyes darkened before clearing. The lines in his face disappeared and his smile reformed.

"Ahhh sorry, people sometimes say I come off a little strong," He spoke this while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. I let a sympathetic smile cover my lips before continuing the walk to my class.

Daniel pursued me to walk at my side. Thankfully, we made it to the English room without anymore words being shared. "Well, thanks for walking me," I told him.

Daniel opened his mouth like he was going to respond before a tall figure stepped in front of me. His back covered my field of view but I recognized his silhouette.

Nathan said nothing to my companion, but Daniel sighed before wishing me goodbye. The tall, brunette walked back in the class but not before giving me a once over.

"Umm okay," I whispered under my breath. The warning bell rang while students rushed past me in the doorway to sit down. I went to my usual seat in the back of the class with Annabelle and Nathan before focusing as class started.

The earlier interaction slipping my mind as the teacher spoke.