It wasn't that much of a change from my hometown. The buildings were a bit taller than the ones from where I am from. The atmosphere seemed the same though. It was all about work. Almost all the people you would see walking down the street were either students or business men. In this city, drugs and gangs exist and seem to only cause havoc amongst themselves. Most people here tend not to see violence, or so I have heard. All everyone does is focus on their jobs and the only people that see violence are the police and the gangs. Most people haven't seen death. I am unlike most people. I have seen death. I am Namine Manzano, age 17, and I witnessed my parent's death.

I was only five at the time so I only remember bits and pieces. Every so often, I have a dream and a flashback. Slowly, I am piecing together the cause of their death. Because of their death, I was placed in foster home after foster home until I was finally adopted when I was thirteen. My adoptive parents are nice people, but they tend to ignore me. I am faced with the challenge of caring for myself.

There are five islands that make up the area that I live on. I live in the middle most island, Colony Island, the center of entertainment and business. The other islands contain the airport, small neighborhoods, and of course schools. Northwood Heights is a small island north of mine. It is filled with crime, nightclubs, and strip clubs.

"Namine," I was called to attention from the backseat of large car I was in. We were turning off of Columbus St, and onto Ruby, where we lived.

"Yes?" My soprano voice rang in the car. My hands were folded neatly onto my lap as I looked at them. I tried to place life into my eyes, but I always held the same empty expression on my face.

"You may pick your own room in the house, but just letting you know there is a room with an art studio connected to it." My adoptive mother, Jean, told me. I knew it was just a reason for them to keep me occupied so they wouldn't be bothered with me.

"Your new school uniform should be arriving tomorrow." My adoptive father, Sam, added. I nodded silently, gazing out the window. The house we were moving into was two stories high, but very wide and long. It was made of red brick and the garden was in very good health. The driveway was long and rounded as we pulled up to the front door. We were living in one of the most successful neighborhoods in this area.

I walked into the house, holding the only box I brought with me. The movers would be bringing the rest of my stuff for me. The stairs in the house were a dark red wood as I walked up them. The bright windows allowed the sun to pour in, lighting the house. There were many rooms that I could have chosen from, but as Jean and Sam suspected, I chose the room with the art studio connected to it. I gently slid off my shoes and walked to the door that connected the art room to the bedroom. Jiggling the handle, it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked." I said quietly to myself. Looking at the handle, it required some type of old fashioned key to open it. Sighing, I walked over to the window and placed the box there, opening it and scanning its contents. Inside was a sketchbook and some professional pencils. The paints were in the boxes in the movers' truck.

"You like the room?" Jean said to me, leaning on the doorframe. She had waist length brown hair that was held back in a loose ponytail. Her bangs fell loosely on her forehead. If she was going to work, all her hair would be held back in a tight bun. Her brown eyes held a certain mystery to them.

"I do, but the art room is locked." I informed her, gesturing to the door. She raised an eyebrow and glided over to the door and shook the handle a few times.

"I will just have to ask our agent about that." She mused before walking to the door. "Oh, Namine? There won't be much to do until the movers get here. Why don't you take a stroll around Middle Park or something until I call you?"

"I guess." I said, and I watched her retreat out of my new room. I gazed around the room one more time before I walked out, closing the door softly behind me. I held my small shoes with my fingers as I slid quietly down the stairs, being mindful not to make it creak. That was a pet peeve to my adoptive parents. I opened the door, allowing the wind to breeze past me. I had on a short red, frilly skirt with a lace white tank top and a thin tan cardigan held together with a thin brown belt. I slid on the small brown heels and lifted my small purse over my shoulder before I made my way down the street.

The park was filled with birds of all different kinds. The pond had different types of ducks and swans that I had never seen before. I crouched down in the grass and held out my hand to a duck that attempted to eat some grass out of my very pale palm. I smiled to myself before allowing myself to collapse fully onto the grass.

It was peaceful here.

"It's pretty isn't it?" A voice sounded from behind me. I turned my head and looked up to see a girl around my age smiling down at me. She had on a black mini dress with a thick gray hoodie that was falling off her shoulders. Her auburn hair came down to about shoulder length, and her bangs fell softly over her bright sky blue eyes.

"Ah—yes. It's gorgeous. I have never seen so many animals in one place like this in a city of all places." I returned my gaze out to the pond.

"It's rare to see them all gathered like this," She crouched down. "Usually they fly away once people start arriving." She held out a small hand to me. "I'm Kairi Trenton." She said with a smile on her face.

"Namine Manzano." I said. "I just moved here."

"Did you? It's the middle of the school year." She helped me stand up from my spot on the grass.

"I know, but my—my parents said that my marks were high enough for me to transfer so late, I guess." I shrugged. She nodded intently.

"So why are you sitting here all alone?"

Holding my hands behind my back, I turned back to the water. "I don't know anyone, so there isn't much I could do. I decided to take a walk, but I got side tracked."

"Well, how long can you be gone?" She asked me, tilting her head a bit.

"Until my parents call me, I believe."

"Come with me! You can make some friends before school even starts!" She giggled, pushing me in the direction of the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked Kairi as she pulled me down endless confusing roads.

"Memory Lanes. We are going bowling." She replied. I tried to keep track of how to get back, but there we so many twists and turns in the area that I couldn't remember anything. I couldn't differentiate what street was what. They all looked the same.

Finally we came to Memory Lanes. It was a small building off the boardwalk. Inside, there weren't many people besides the groups of teenagers in the corner that I assumed were Kairi's friends.

"Why are you so late, Kai? That's usually Sora's job!" A brunette girl laughed.

"I made a new friend!"

"Who?" A blond boy asked. He had his fingers interlocked with the brunettes'.

"Her name is Namine Manzano!" I blushed and waved slightly.

"Hello."

A brunette boy with wild hair came forward a bit. His eyes were just like Kairi's and he had a wild grin on his face. "I'm Sora!" He proclaimed loudly. "This is Hayner, Olette, and Riku." I followed his finger as he pointed to everyone.

"You up for a game?" Hayner said, handing me a lightweight pink ball.

"A quick one. I need to get back and unpack my stuff." I answered as I eyed the ball.

"I'll add in her name! Let's play!" Kairi said, skipping down to the computer. I placed my ball in the conveyer belt and sat down in a chair. Watching the others, I learned that everyone besides Sora was really good at bowling. Sora tended to get many gutter balls. I wasn't as bad as Sora, but I could barely hit any pins. I never had time to play bowling before I moved here.

"Another gutter, Sora? You are only at eight points!" Riku laughed, making fun off the poor boy.

"Shut the hell up! I'm doing fine." He pouted, sitting next to me. My phone started to vibrate in my purse and I took it out, answering it.

"Hello?" I said softly.

"Namine, the truck is finally here. Come back and help unpack." Sam said into the receiver. I nodded, though he couldn't see me.

"I'll be back soon enough." I pressed end and stood from my spot. "Um—I have to go."

"Already?" Kairi asked me, pouting.

"Yeah—I have to unpack." She sighed.

"We will see you at school!" Olette waved, along with everyone else. I had to allow everyone to place their numbers in my phone before I was allowed to leave. Kairi insisted on it. As I left the bowling alley, I walked down to the street corner to find the name of the street. I was on Union Drive West. Inputting that into my iPhone, I found a way back home. I had to walk fast if I wanted to make it back in decent time.

I had begun to unpack the last box in my room. To my delight, everything was still intact and everything would fit. I had a queen sized bed that had white and black sheets. Everything was silk. There was an armchair to the left of my bed and a bookshelf for my reading and then a desk to my right for homework. The lamps were near the far end of my room, near the balcony. It was shaded with thin white curtains.

I set the box of art supplies near the corner of the room. I wanted to set them up so badly, but until we found the key, there would be no opening it. I would only be able to sketch.

"Namine?" Jean came into my room as I was sitting on my bed, flipping through an old yearbook.

"Hm," I said, looking up at her.

"The agent said that there was no key turned in with the house for that room." I sighed. There go my chances of an art studio.

"That's fine. I can always paint outside." I smiled as she closed the door, but it slowly fell from my face. Walking over to the door, I pressed my face against it. I could barely see into the room. Slowly backing from the door, I turned to the balcony. It was getting dark, and I knew I had school to attend to in the morning, but I walked out and sat on the edge anyway.

I gazed up at the stars.

"I bet you both are up there and happy, aren't you?" I said to myself. "I hope you are, mom, dad." I said, tucking my blond hair behind my ear. Hopping down from the edge, I got into my bed and curled under the covers until I blacked out from sleepiness.

As I walked to the shuttle bus to get to school, I irritatingly pulled at the uniform. The black skirt was way too short for my liking. It had a basic white dress shirt underneath with a red bow as a tie. Then a basic black blazer to cover it up. There were black thigh highs and black shoes to go with it.

"This is so annoying." I muttered to myself as I stepped onto the shuttle bus. To get to the school I was attending, you had to take the shuttle bus over the Humboldt River to the other island. I stared out the window of the bus to look at the water moving below us. It was a mesmerizing sight. I had one hand placed against the window and the other holding my bag.

"Cool, huh?" I jumped up and looked directly into sea blue eyes. The boy's uniform was un-tucked and messy, as was his hair.

"Uh—yeah." I replied. He was unbelievably cute.

"You go to Huntington Prep too?" I nodded meekly.

"I just transferred."

"That explains it." I titled my head at the statement.

"Explains what?" He laughed.

"Well—if you were a usual student here, you would have gotten me confused with my brother, and then wouldn't have talked to me or something. But, never mind that. I'm Ventus. Ventus Hewes." He held out a hand.

"Ah—I'm Namine Manzano." He shook my hand. "What did you mean by 'confusing you with your brother'?" I had to ask. I wanted to make sure I actually knew some information on people before I made friends with someone.

"Oh, I have a twin brother, Roxas. Most people confuse me with him." He didn't mention anything about the not talking to him part so I decided to leave it alone. He didn't mention it for a reason.

We finally got over the river and the shuttle port was about a block from Huntington Prep. This island was far different that mine. It was more suburban and homey.

"Namine!" I heard Kairi shout in my direction. She skipped down some steps and came to meet me. "Oh, you know Ventus?" I completely forgot he was there for a moment.

"I just met him on the shuttle a little while ago." I clarified.

"Hey, Kairi." He said. "I'll see you later, Namine." He jogged off in the direction of the front doors, but not before high fiving Sora on the way in.

"So, Namine, what is your first class?" She asked me as we walked into the building.

"Uh—Lit." I said after checking my schedule. "With Mr. Nakamura."

"Sweet! You have it with me." She took my arm and led me to the classroom. She shoved me near the teacher and introduced me to him and I received a copy of the book that the class is currently reading; Romeo and Juliet. It was such a classic tale of forbidden love.

Taking a seat when the bell rang, I unhooked my bag clasp and pulled out a pencil and a notebook when I heard the teacher being to talk.

"Is there anything good to eat?" I asked as I pulled out my wallet to get something to eat at the lunch cafeteria. The lunch room itself was big. The tables were round and seated at least eight to a table. There were big windows that let in light so you could see the garden that held students who chose to eat outside with the cherry blossoms.

"Not really. I was just going to walk down to my family's restaurant. Want to come?" She asked me, heading towards the back door of the cafeteria.

"Are we allowed to leave?" But I followed regardless.

"Sure. We have an hour, right? I go all the time since there isn't any good food here. Sora usually comes with but he is stuck doing a test right now." She said as we exited the building. We were going to leave from the back so we had to round the side of the school to get to the parking lot. "You might want to hold your breath."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to do that?" She pointed her head in the direction we were heading. There were some kids, all of them going to my school, hanging on the side wall. There was a small stereo playing some music by a band I never heard. Their uniforms were unkempt and dirty. Some had smirks on their faces and laughing with each other. The others were content not talking to anyone.

"They are smoking some drugs. Pot, I think. It smells horrible." Kairi said, tucking a hair behind her ear as she held her breath. She briskly walked by the group of kids with any trouble. But me, on the other hand, I was a bit hesitant. I accidently smelled some of the smoke and it smelled horrible. I tried not to make any eye contact with any of them as my hand went to my nose and I tried to keep my eyes focused on the ugly black shoes that adorned my feet. My blond bangs fell into my eyes as I walked at a quick pace to get out of there. I happened to lift my head, thinking I was almost out of there, and I looked to my left. Sitting there on a black skateboard, leaning against a wall, was a boy. At first glance, I thought it was Ventus, but taking a closer look, this boy had a hard look in his eyes. His eyes were as beautiful as Ventus's though. My eyes locked with his for a second as I walked out of there and I felt a gasp escape from my mouth. I don't know why I gasped, but as soon as I did, I started coughing.

I swear I saw a smirk on his face when I coughed.

"I told you not to breathe, didn't I?" Kairi said, concerned as soon as I reached her.

"I know." I said, letting out the last of my cough. She took out some perfume and sprayed it all over us before we continued to her family's restaurant. "That boy…"

"What?" Kairi turned to look at me. "Who?"

"He looked like Ventus. Was that his brother?" Kairi made a noise of understanding when I asked the question.

"Yeah—that's Roxas alright. Not someone you should hang out with, if you couldn't tell." I nodded, lifting a finger to my mouth.

"I see. Why does he do all that stuff?"

"I'm not too sure. He used to be close with me, you know. A year ago, he changed crowds. I don't know what caused it, but I chose to stay away. He tends to go to Northwood Heights with all those other guys."

"He is nothing like his brother. Ventus was really kind. His eyes were full of laughter. Roxas's, from what I saw, his eyes were hard." I mumbled to myself.

I didn't understand the fear that coursed through me back there.

The Pine Star, Kairi's family restaurant, was a small fancy place. The décor was dark and red. It was a very beautiful place indeed. It sold a variety of food, but its main dishes were usually Chinese.

"Mama! Papa!" Kairi called, ringing the desk bell a lot. From the back of the restaurant came a man and a woman. The man was tall and lanky and had close chopped brown hair. He and Kairi shared the same blue eyes. The woman was around Kairi's height and held long, thick, brown hair and hazel eyes. Her smile held laugh lines around it.

"Here for lunch? Who is your friend?" Her mother asked. Kairi extended her hand towards me.

"This is Namine! She just moved here yesterday." I bowed slightly in respect.

"Nice to meet you." They both came forward and introduced themselves. I learned that they were Rika and Kenji Trenton. I thought it was ironic since they owned a Chinese restaurant that they had Japanese first names and an American sounding last name. Kairi and I talked over many subjects and she told me about many of her friends over lunch. I learned that Sora was a klutz and an airhead but she still thought he was cute. Hayner loved competition and would never back down from a fight. Olette was a tomboy and loved to run around with Hayner, but in the end made sure everyone did their homework. Riku was very quiet and stoic but could laugh and converse whenever Sora started a fight with him.

"You have interesting friends." I said as we made our way back to the school.

"I know. We had more—for example Ventus used to hang out with us a lot but he distanced himself. He still says hi and stuff." Kairi said, gazing off in front of us. As we stepped on school grounds, we had to take the back way again, but this time the group of kids were not there. The smell still lingered.

"How does that sound?" Sora said to Kairi and me as we sat on the desks in our classroom. Orange was pouring into the windows as it was nearing dinner time. The three of us were on cleaning duty tonight and we had just finished.

"I don't see why not. But when have you of all people arranged a study session?" Kairi laughed, taking our brooms and putting them away.

"I'm failing! I need to study otherwise I won't pass the end of this semester." Sora groaned, pulling on the ends of his shirt. I laughed quietly.

"What about your cousin, Ven? He's smart."

"Ventus says that he drives me home enough that he doesn't owe me a study session." Sora pouted.

"That's dumb." I accidently said aloud.

"I know!" It got quiet after that as we gathered our things. "You know what's weird?" Sora said after he finished gathering his things.

"What?" Kairi responded, throwing her blazer on.

"Roxas is actually getting a ride home with me and Ven today. It's odd since he usually goes home with all those other kids." Sora replied, rubbing his head.

"Odd." Kairi said, holding her chin. I jumped off my desk, tapping my shoes to get the dust off of them before I grabbed my bag.

"I have to run home before I miss dinner." I said with a smile as I held my bag behind my back. Sora and Kairi waved and I slid the door open before I ran down the hall of the school. I knew if I was late, Jean wouldn't be too happy with me. As I ran, I listened to the echo that my shoes made on the hard floor.

I rounded my last corner before I pushed the doors open I finally put my hands on my knees and took in some deep breaths.

"Running from someone?" A deep voice said and I jumped a bit before turning around. Ventus was standing there with a smirk on his face. "Did I scare you?"

"Just a bit." To his right stood Roxas, scanning through his phone quietly. One hand was shoved in his pocket as he chewed on his bottom lip.

"I don't think you met my brother. This is Roxas." I mumbled a hello as he looked up to meet my eyes.

"You're the girl from earlier." He said, closing his phone and getting a better look at me.

"You've seen her before?" Ventus asked, looking at his brother. He nodded.

"She was with Kairi." Roxas's voice was very empty. "Can we go? I'm tired."

"Maybe if you didn't smoke so much…" Ventus said to himself aloud. "Sorry for holding you up, Namine. You seemed to be in a rush." He rubbed the back of his head.

"It isn't a big deal. I'm in no rush to go home, I'm just hungry." I laughed slightly. "Well—I better go. Ah, nice meeting you Roxas." I said awkwardly. He didn't look up.

"Bye Namine." Ventus said to me as I turned around and broke into a sprint to the shuttle.

Edited December 2013.