Rediscovered

1. Julian

If being ugly was a crime, Julian would be the most law abiding citizen in the universe. At least, that's what he told himself. Brushing his tan hair out of his face, he quickly put on his red plaid shirt, and rushed out the door, grabbing only a chocolate granola bar for breakfast.

"Bye, Lana!" he called, the latter replying with her playful bark. Lana was a golden retriever and one of the sweetest beings that Julian has ever met. Her  golden tail wagging back and forth after hearing her name. Smiling to himself, he pulled out his red compact mirror that he always had, and checked to make sure that everything was absolutely perfect. And it always was. Having put on the tiniest bit of coral lip tint on his lips, which was stolen from his mothers vanity stand, Julian's lips looked plumped and moisturized.

It was picture day at his school and Julian, being the beauty boy he was, was fully prepared to blow his classmates away. Having put on his ripped black jeans, black t-shirt, red plaid button up, and brand new sneakers, he was a complete picture. Strutting down the  old sidewalk to his school, Gletson University. Seeing the cracks in the sidewalk reminded him of that time when he went ice skating with his friends and accidentally cracked the ice after falling too hard. Laughing to himself, Julian practiced posing at the camera, tilting his head at the perfect angle, making sure that the light gently hit his face, and most importantly impressing his crush, Emily Greyson.

She was, by far, the most perfect girl Julian had ever seen. Flawless hair, milky skin, a perfect structure, and great personality. No wonder she could make every boy she made eye contact with, go head over heels for her. Or was it head over sneakers? Maybe just head over shoes. 

Finally unconsciously arriving at his school, Julian fixed his expression, flipped his hair, and waltzed on in.

"Julian!" a familiar voice cried. "Hey man, you got here early. Nice get up!" Nico was waiting by the lockers for him to come. He was Julians best friend ever since 4th grade. He had flashy red hair and big blue eyes that caught the attention of most. Julian grinned as he dodged his way around some 6th graders to get to Nico. Not even realizing that one of them was trying to aim a spoonful of whipped cream at him.

"Hey Nico. When does shooting start?" Julian asked with his iconic green eyed wink. He was known school wide for that wink.

"Around 9. Hey, by the way, have you noticed anything weird lately?" Nico questioned with one arched eyebrow up, "I mean, look at the decorations! Don't you sense something fishy?"

Finally gaining his full attention away from the picture shooting and Emily, Julian finally started to examine the school. Its white brick halls, wooden doors, and marble floors were covered in Halloween decorations. Everywhere. What? That's not right.. we're in the middle of may, he thought. Something was off about the place. Light fog was clouding up to his ankles. The kids all wore the same expression on their faces. Fear and confusion. Is this just a prank?

"Nico, hey man, let's get out of here. Maybe like get to the library. or something. Somethings wrong I can fee- Nico?" He stuttered. Nico was wearing the same expression on his face just like the other kids, fear and confusion. Eyes widened and mouth ajar. A picture of pure fear etched across his face. What was going on? Julian thought. Only one explanation came to his mind. Something was making them all turn zombie-like. But why wasn't he affected by the thing? Why was he different?

Questions looped in Julians mind like a tangle of strings, pushing each other back, only to bring new ones up. However, his thoughts were stopped by a high pitched giggle down the hallway. He spun his head so fast that he almost cracked his neck.

"Oh my.. are you not affected by my spell? I figure not.. seeing as you portray an image of Firenzian." Emily scoffed with. her honey-like voice. Her hair was tied into a high ponytail with braids at the side. Pale pink shirt flowing over her upper form and light blue denim jeans hugging her legs. Everything about her was perfect, usually Julian would be enchanted by her gaze and beauty, but this time, he was absolutely terrified. He knew something wasn't right about her.