What you need to know: Set in Chicago, at a make-believe high school. Ray and Neela are both juniors, Neela just moved to Chicago, because her father's blooming restaurant chain needs him in the US. For the rest…read and thy shall discover.
Chapter 1
January, 2002
It was a cold day, but still, outside the winter wonderland that was New Hallow High School one girl sat lonely. She was completely immersed in her book, bundled up in layers upon layers of clothing, a forgotten sandwich next to her in the snow. Suddenly a voice startled her.
"This is our spot."
Nearly dropping her book in the snow, she turned her head, only to see two boys glaring at her. She recognized them from around the school, she thought. But it was only her first day at New Hallow and this was a big school. A big school full of people she had never met. It made her feel rather lonely. But she'd never been the type of person to be intimidated into leaving anywhere, so she held her ground.
"It's warmer inside." She told them, looking them straight in the eyes.
"Yes," said the biggest of the boys, "why don't you go enjoy that warmth and get off our spot?"
She smiled – tried not to though – happy for a conversation of any kind. "Well, I could say because it's full of the biggest bunch of snobs I've ever seen. But that would be a lie."
The other boy let out a rather girly giggle. The one who seemed to think he was the boss smirked.
"You trying to pretend there's bigger snobs out there?" He said, disbelief clearly written all over his face.
"Oh yeah, it's full of 'em back home." Which was true, her school back home really was full of snobs. There was a silence and she understood the boys were still waiting for her to leave. She smiled her sweetest smile instead and invited them to sit down. "Plenty of room for three people."
The bigger boy glared at her some more, arms crossed across his chest, but the other boy didn't hesitate to sit down. He gave her a sort of half smile and looked at his friend expectantly. He didn't move.
"Don't be an ass, Kyle." The smaller boy said, finally opening his mouth.
The bigger boy, apparently named Kyle, gave his friend the finger but sat down anyway.
"I'm Ray," says the other boy, "that's Kyle. And, yes, he's always like that."
"I'm Neela. I'm new here."
"Obviously." When Neela looked at him confused, Ray elaborated, "People know this is our spot. And people are pretty scared of us so…"
Neela scoffed, "Scared? You don't look very scary to me."
Ray smirked. "Well, he's a big crazy lunatic and I have big mouth and a bunch of friends just like him."
"Definitely got a big mouth…" Kyle grumbled. Neela studied them carefully; Kyle was indeed a big guy, sandy blonde hair cut short, making his ears look rather big, he was intimidating in more ways than one. Ray on the other hand was a scrawny guy, not too tall either, his brown hair shaggy and in his face. Not particularly threatening, maybe a bit arrogant. They were a rather odd pair.
"Well, I can't say I'm too scared yet, maybe you should show me some of those friends."
Ray was about to say something, when the bell rang in the distance. He smirked instead – he did that a lot, Neela had noticed.
She closed her book and stuffed it with her uneaten sandwich in her bag. She eyed the boys one more time, deciding that maybe she liked them (she could use some friends, after all) and smiled.
"See you guys around." Neela said. Ray smiled back and nodded. Kyle just grunted.
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New Hallow really was freaking big. Big, intimidating, crowded. Day two really wasn't any less scary than day one for Neela. She found herself still being dutifully ignored by everyone including her teacher during her first class of the day. The history of the US was (in her honest, unbiased opinion) sleep inducing, and her teacher really was less than helpful.
A feeling of pure relief washed over her when she arrived in her second class. Biology, something she actually liked, surely would help her get through the day. Her teacher seemed nice enough, but placed her next to a girl that seemed questionable. It started off too perky for Neela's taste.
"Hi! I'm Regina, nice to meet you!" Regina smiled a big, white smile and quickly made place for Neela.
"Uh, hi." Neela said, highly uncomfortable with the girl's spirit. "I'm Neela."
Regina's blue eyes widened and her smile got even bigger than it already was. "You're British? That is so cool! I went to London last summer, it was awesome. The underground was so much better than what we have and I met this guy with –"
"Miss Leon, why don't you tell this story after class?"
Regina looked properly chastised and Neela was glad for the interruption. After class though, the perky brunette followed Neela into the hallway, ready to continue her story. It seemed Neela was stuck with her. And even though part of her was annoyed by the non-stop one way conversation, a different, bigger part was glad to have someone notice her.
Especially since she hadn't seen Ray and Kyle yet. If they even remembered who she was.
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For Ray Barnett New Hallow High was the earthly equivalent of hell. He had his friends, sure, but his friends were mostly unreliable stoners. It was a good school, of course, his mom wouldn't have it differently, but school wasn't his priority. He was infamous here, fine, but infamy at a preppy high school in Chicago wasn't his dream, per se.
He spent most of his days either avoiding class or sleeping through them. He was planning to do the former to his English Lit class that Tuesday, but while turning the corner that led away from the classroom he noticed something. This something, specifically, was Neela ('that British chick' as Kyle so charmingly called her) being followed around by a babbling brunette and heading into his class.
Damn. Now he had to go.
Mr. Mallard seemed surprised to see him, which amused Ray to no end. Neela however did not seem to notice him at all. She was nodding absent mindedly to whatever Regina (oh, he knew who she was alright) was talking about.
Ray put on his best nonchalant face and sat in the seat next to her. Not seconds after he'd sat down Neela turned to face him, nearly jumping out of her chair. She wasn't expecting someone to sit next to her.
"Neela, right?" All charm and smiles. Neela was cute, and he knew how to play this game. Even if she didn't seem to be getting it, because she was looking at him like a deer into headlights.
"You're Ray, from the…I'm Neela. Yeah." Neela struggled to get the words out. She really wasn't expecting to see him today (or ever again, really).
Behind Neela Regina let out some fake coughs. She seemed a little put out at being interrupted from her story.
"Leave her alone, Ray." Regina said, suddenly a lot less perky.
Ray rolled his eyes. "Nice to see you too, Reggie. How're the folks?"
Regina gave him an angry look. "Why are you here?"
"I'm in this class."
"You haven't been in this class since…you've never been in this class."
They glared at each other for a while until Neela broke the silence.
"Mr. Mallard is staring at us." The teacher was indeed staring at them. Regina quickly turned to face him, but Ray grabbed his bag, stood up and left the classroom. He shouted a quick "Bathroom!" on the way out.
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It wasn't until after school that Neela saw Ray again. She'd already missed her bus and nobody was answering the phone at home. It was a long walk to her house, and she was hoping a different bus would come soon.
Instead a black, beaten up car stopped in front of her. Ray's smile greeted her when she looked to see who was in it. She could make out Kyle in the passenger seat.
"Need a ride?" Ray asked, smirking. She'd noticed he never stopped smirking.
"Really?" In the back of her mind Neela vaguely remembered her mother (and every other adult she'd ever met) telling not to get into cars with strange boys. But…she really needed a ride. And Ray's car looked safe enough.
Ray nodded. "Got plenty of room. Get in the back."
Neela quickly got into the car (before she could change her mind). Ray started driving, Kyle stared at her. Neela smiled nervously.
"Hi, Kyle." Kyle said nothing back. "How are you?" No reply. "O…kay."
Ray laughed. "He's not gonna say anything. He's still waking up from the nap he took during Economics. Where do you live, by the way?"
Neela told him her address and Ray grimaced. "Then we are not going in the right direction."
He made a sharp turn and Neela tumbled over. Her common sense took over and she grabbed for a seat belt, finding none.
"Um, Ray? Your car has no seatbelts."
Ray looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "It's a '64 Chevy Impala, Neela. It's a classic. It's not supposed to have seatbelts. I'm restoring it."
Neela looked around, scared. "Your car is not finished?"
"Don't look so terrified." He said, trying to calm her down. "It's perfectly safe."
Neela gave him a look. "Tell me that again after we crash and this thing falls apart."
Ray was slightly offended by this. "Don't insult my car."
"Alright, alright." Neela said, not wanting to be kicked out of the car. "Don't get you knickers in a twist."
After a few minutes they arrived at Neela's house. As the car stopped Neela let out a sigh of relief. Ray saw this and rolled his eyes.
"Thanks for the ride." Neela said.
"Anytime." Ray answered. He looked over to her and caught a glimpse of Neela's house. "Wow, nice house." Ray said admiringly. It really was a nice house; statuesque and a startling white.
"Thanks. I haven't really gotten used to it yet. I got lost last night on the way to my room."
Ray snickered. "Want me to help you navigate your way to the porch?"
Neela shook her head. "Ha. No. If one of my sisters sees you I will never hear the end of it. And if my mom sees you she'll lure you into the house and make you taste every dish she can make."
"I like food!"
"Not that much, you don't." Neela replied before getting out of the car. "See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Ray said, "see you tomorrow."
She started walking to the house, but turned to watch Ray drive away. She was really looking forward to tomorrow.