Binded

Chapter One

       I woke to a bright light shining in my face. I squinted, then realized my window blinds were wide open, suspecting my mother did it so she wouldn't have to wake me up. I unsuccessfully rubbed the tired from my eyes, and got out of bed. I brushed my teeth, got dressed, and headed down stairs. Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I grabbed a granola bar and headed to the bus stop.
       It was a nice day out, the clouds were hiding the sun, and the breeze lifted red, orange, and yellow leaves off of the ground. Still yawning, I kicked the leaves out of my path. Damn, I thought, I hate this stupid new high school schedule. Unlike most of my friends, I was not a morning person. I always had dark circles under my eyes, and was too tired to put make up on over it.
       I turned the corner and stopped near where the group of people that made up my bus stop were standing. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pretended like I was looking at something really important, but I was really checking my horoscope for the day. Suddenly I sensed movement and looked up. The bus was here. I put my phone back and climbed in. I sat in my usual seat, third on the right side. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up.
       "Hey, I'm new. Mind if I sit here?" said the boy standing in front of me. I blushed. I had never been very smooth around guys, and if I was, they were nerds. I looked around to see if he was talking to someone else. He wasn't. I was sure.
       "Uh.... nope it's," my mouth suddenly felt very dry, "It's just me," I said. I smiled.
       He looked at me funny.
       " 'Kay.... so I can I sit?" He said, laughing. I kicked myself.
       "Oh, haha, yeah," I said, blushing redder. He sat down and pulled out his phone. I snuck a side glance at his face. He had jet black hair, and lots of freckles. His cheeks were very splotchy. I took out my earbuds and listened to music to avoid conversation. As I watched the trees blur until we stopped at another stop, I felt eyes on me.
       Behind the neighborhood sign, there was a man in his 40s, staring right into my window. I wasn't sure if he was looking at me or the boy, but he was really starting to creep me out. I tapped the boy.
       "Do you see that guy?" I said, pointing out the window. He was still staring at us, paying no attention to the kids getting on the bus. I turned to the boy, and was startled to see him turn very white. His mouth had formed a perfect O.
       "Hey, what's up? Do you know that guy?" I half whispered, not wanting to draw attention to him in front of everyone else, when he was obviously disturbed. He flushed and blinked.
        "Nah, but that's weird though," he said, but I suspected he was just trying to cover his reaction up. I started to put my earbuds back in, deep in thought.
       "Hey, I'm Alec, by the way," said Alec (apparently).
       "Cool. I'm Colette," I smiled as we shook hands. His hand was quite warm, as if he had been warming it by the fire. But his touch still chilled me to the bone.

                                      ••••

        We stopped in the bus ramp and the bus doors opened. Alec and I stood up and began walking forward. I walked down the stairs, heading to meet my friend Grace, when somebody grabbed my hand. It was Alec. He quickly dropped it.
       "Hey, I was wondering if I could see your schedule. It'd be nice to know if I had a familiar face in a couple of my classes," he said. I opened my mouth to answer, but was interrupted with another tap on the shoulder. It was Grace.
"Hey, I was waiting for you. Who's this?" She said, raising her eyebrows at me. I stuck my tongue out at her.
"This is Alec. He's new. We were comparing schedules, wanna look?" I held out my schedule up next to his, crumpled from my cramped backpack. Grace pulled at hers and we held them up next to each other.
"Ok, so we all have algebra 2 fourth period, culinary 5th, and you and Colette have have 2nd period journalism," Grace said, pointing at each class with her finger. Journalism, I thought, this kid has got good taste.
"Okay, well I'll see you in second," I waved at Alec and walked off with Grace. I could tell from the smirk on her face that she was dying to make fun of me for no reason about Alec, but she didn't. We stood in the courtyard and discussed our weekend. The bell rang.