Prologue

High school. It can be the birth, or bane, of many. It can be a place to make friends, or enemies. High school is what shapes many into the people that they are today. But just as it makes many, it also breaks many. There is always that one person in the school; the outcast, the freak. In each school it is a different type of person. In some, it is the goth or the ganster. In others it is the quiet kid, or the ugly kid, but more often than not, it is the smart kid. Or the "geek" as they're often called.

There is always at least one "geek" in a school. The nerdy kid who wears glasses, does all of his homework, and as friends in a range of zero to five (five being if they're involved in the chess club). These people, these outcasts, are usually selected at an early age, elementary school is the most common place. They are selected because they stand out in some form or another. Most people will not tolerate anyone who is different from them, because they fear what they cannot control or understand.

At Fields of Glory high school there is a person who matches this description. He is an outcast by any definition. His name is Jake Evans. Everyday at lunch he sits alone, reading a book. Jake is an outcast because he is smart. He is what one might call a genius. Even though he is a genius, as smart as he is, he has exhausted his mind attempting to find out why everybody hates him.

In middle school he finally found out just why everybody hated him so much. The teachers told him it was because they were jealous. He saw how they looked at him every time the teacher would call on him to answer a question. They would scowl and whisper to each other. After a while he gave up trying to be friends and just accepted his fate. He was an outcast and he would remain that way forever. He could not even become friends with the other outcasts.

Although the other outcasts were geeks as well, they were a different kind. They weren't as smart as he was, so they shunned him also. Now it was his first year of high school. The first day, in fact and he had not yet made a friend in his first four classes of the day. He hadn't tried, really, because he knew what would happen. Even though they were all new people, each coming together from different schools into this one, they would soon find out that he wasn't like the rest of the people, and he would just feel his hope die as it always did.

But something was different this year. As he sat reading his book at lunch, he failed to realize that there were a pair of eyes watching him intently. A pair of eyes that belonged to a certain person that could help him, if they would let him.

Chapter One

Kei Braden walked quickly to class, pushing her way through the crowd of students that filled the hallway. She cursed under her breath because of how late she was running. She had exactly two minutes to get to her English class before the bell rang. That would not usually be a problem, however, this classroom was located at the opposite end of the school than she was.

Finally, she burst from the mass of students and began to jog down the hallway. As she reached the corridor that her class was located in the final bell rang.

"Shit," she whispered. Quickly, she ducked into the classroom, closing the door quietly behind her. She was just walking to the back of the class room when a loud voice rang out.

"Ah, and you must be miss Kayla Braden."

Kei turned hesitantly towards the sound of the voice. "I'm so sorry," she began. "I-"

"Save it," the teacher said. "Just hurry up and sit down, we're about to begin class."

Kei did as he bid and sat down quickly in the only available seat. She looked up from the back of the classroom and searched the faces around her, none of which she recognized.

"Okay," the teacher began. "We won't be starting a lesson today-" He was interrupted by a few of the students cheering. The teacher held his hands up to silence them.

"I know that you're all excited, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. First of all, my name is Mr. Adler. Let me explain the reason for you not having an assignment. Since it is your first day in high school, this is going to be a free period of sorts. You are to simply go around and meet new people. I know that it can be difficult meeting new people, but I am certain that you are all capable of mastering this difficult feat," he said, his voice full of humor.

After that comment he simply stood there, looking at them. The students shifted nervously under his gaze, wondering why he had just stopped and if one of them were in trouble.

"Well?" the teacher asked, raising his eyebrows. "What? You're waiting for further instruction? Well that's a new one. That's all I have to say, now go on and talk! This may be the only chance you get this year!" He cried, his eyes twinkling with mirth. Kei smiled as she decided that she liked this teacher. As soon as Mr. Adler sat down the whole class began to talk loudly, laughing at one another's jokes and sitting next to their friends.

Kei sat there and watched from her spot in the back. 'Great,' she thought. 'I'm the only one here who doesn't know anybody else.' She sighed at her predicament. Her mother had forced her to move to this state so that she could open her own business. Through this simple act, she had uprooted Kei from everything she knew. What was so great about moving to New Mexico anyway? There was nothing here. That is, nothing except for dirt. There weren't even any woods around that she could go hiking in.

She was drawn from her reverie as something shifted beside her. Kei looked up, searching for the disturbance that had drawn her from her thoughts. Her eyes slowly fell upon the form of a boy. He had brown hair, and actually looked quite handsome. He was reading a book and didn't notice her scrutiny. Kei smiled inside. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who didn't know anybody else.

She wondered if she should talk to him. After all, he did sit right next to her, so she should probably get to know him, right? Drawing up her courage, Kei turned around in her desk to face him, then frowned slightly when he didn't even look up from his book.

'Must be a good book,' she thought. 'For him to get so lost in it.' Kei cleared her throat and the boy glanced up at her, questioning in his eyes. Kei froze. His eyes. There was something inside of them. It was a look that she couldn't discern. They seemed to hold something, something that she could never understand. She snapped out of it when he cleared his throat.

"Is there something that you wanted?" he asked, sounding slightly less than charming.

Kei put a smile on her face. "Oh, I just wanted to say hello," she said cheerfully.

"Hello," he said, turning back to his book. She was shocked by the way that he was acting, but didn't allow it to faze her. She tilted her head a little to look at the book and nearly fell over in her chair.

"Wha……….." she began.

"It's in Japanese," he said nonchalantly.

"Ja- Japanese?" she asked in awe. "How can you read it?" she asked.

"Easy, I know how to read Japanese," he said, his voice carrying a twinge of annoyance. Kei noticed this and decided to change the subject.

"My name is Kayla," she said, reaching out her hand for him to shake it. "But I go by Kei." The boy looked at her hand as though she were trying to poison him with it. Kei wondered at the suspicion in his eyes, but waited calmly for him to take her hand.

Cautiously, he took it and shook it gently. "I'm Jake Evans," he said, looking at her as though he was searching inside of her for something. She nodded and let go of his hand.

"So, Jake, why aren't you out there talking to everybody else?" she asked, attempting to make conversation. He face seemed to darken for a moment, but it passed and he looked at her with a blank expression.

"Why aren't YOU out there talking to everybody else?" he countered. Kei just leaned back in her chair slightly and looked up at the ceiling as though she were contemplating some deep, dark secret.

"I just moved here and I don't know anybody," she said, shrugging. Kei turned her head to him and was once again disturbed by his eyes. They searched her own as though he could find the secrets of life within them.

"What is it?" she asked nervously. "Is there something on my face?" she asked dramatically, acting like it would be the end of her life if there was. Jake didn't smile at her joke, however, and had just opened his mouth to say something when they were interrupted.

"Jake? Jake is in here?" a loud voice asked incredulously. Kei's head snapped up at the interruption. The teacher was standing up in the front of the classroom, his eyes searching the room. Kei turned and looked at Jake, her eyes filling with question at the expression on his face. He had shrunken down into his seat, his shoulders slouched, and his face turned downward, staring at his desk.

Before she had time to ask him what was wrong the teacher had rushed up to him. "I'm so happy that you're in my class," he cried. "To think, I'm going to be teaching a genius, I never thought," Kei blocked the rest of what the teacher was saying out as she turned to Jake, her eyes full of awe. He looked angry, very angry.

A genius? Jake was a genius? Well that would explain the weird depth to his eyes. She was startled as he shot up in his seat, sending the teacher jumping back. Jake picked up his things and stormed out of the classroom, his eyes blazing. Kei just stared after him as he stomped out of the classroom.

Everyone was silent for a moment, but then the whispering began. "That was Jake?" she heard on person whisper.

"Oh great, now we have the teacher's pet," she heard a boy groan.

"Now he's going to act all smart and make us look stupid,"

"Yeah, the teacher is always going to call on him,"

Kei blocked it out as the whispering went on. Her mind was reeling. She had talked to a genius? She must have sounded so stupid! She glanced back at where the boy had been sitting just moments before. Her eyes fell upon the book that he had been reading, the one in Japanese. Picking it up gingerly, she set it on her desk and looked up at the classroom.

Everyone had resumed what they were doing, not even paying any heed to what had just occurred. The teacher had gone and sat back down, a contemplative look on his face. Kei opened the book, staring down at the strange marks that were Japanese writing. She ran her fingers over the page, flipping it and going to the next. She noticed a part in the pages that were spread apart, like something was stuck in between them.

Carefully opening to that section, she pulled out a folded piece of paper. Should she read it? Probably not, it was his after all, that would be an invasion of his privacy. She shoved it back inside the book and closed it, looking longingly at the book throughout the rest of the class, wishing that she could just read it.

Finally the bell rang after what seemed like an eternity to her. She got up, tucked the book under her arm, and walked out of the classroom, heading across the school to her final class of the day.

'Ah, study time,' Kei thought disdainfully. It seemed that this particular school believed in having a whole hour of the day devoted to independent study. She sat down and looked again at the book that Jake had read, wondering what it was about. 'A genius,' she marveled.

Kei fidgeted with her pen as she thought about how she should treat the boy. 'Should I talk to him again?' She answered that question without hesitation.

'Of course I should. Why wouldn't I? He's probably treated so differently by everybody. He doesn't seem to like that from his reaction to the teacher.' She continued to twirl the pen on the tips of her fingers, completely lost in thought. So lost in thought was she, that she didn't notice when the bell rang. A loud clap pulled her painfully from her thoughts as she jumped in surprise at the sudden noise.

Looking up, her eyes fell upon the teacher, a young looking woman who was short and plump. "Okay, I know that you're all eager to get out of here since it's sixth period and all, but I do hope that you try to study. I won't force you to, but I must ask that you don't burn anything down. You may move around the classroom if you wish, but do try to remain seated unless you are doing something, and you may talk amongst yourselves."

The teacher sat down after that, pulling out a book and beginning to read. Kei guessed that she should probably do the same, but wasn't quite sure about which book that she should read since she had brought several. Finally deciding on one, she pulled it out of her backpack and opened it, quickly starting up where she had previously left off.

Kei, as all her friends had told her, was going to get into trouble someday with how deeply she was able to get lost in thought, or reading material as it would be. Many times before she had nearly fallen into holes while walking home from school. Once she had even wandered aimlessly around town until she reached a pasture in the countryside.

This time, she simply failed to realize that someone was standing directly in front of her. The sound of someone clearing their throat caused her to jump in her seat, her book flying out of her hands. The book flew up and hit the person in the face. Kei, being startled, had immediately covered her face with her hands and shut her eyes tightly.

Slowly, she peaked through her fingers and immediately wished that she hadn't. The person standing before her, the one that she had just hit with a book, was Jake. He stood in front of her, the book that had hit him resting in his hands, an emotionless expression on his face. Kei lowered her hands and cleared her throat, hoping that the blush she knew was present on her face would go away.

Jake reached out his hand, offering her book to her. She took it silently and looked down at her desk as thought it were the most interesting thing in the world. Her attention was brought back to him when he cleared his throat yet again. She looked up and motioned for him to sit down next to her. He did so and looked up at her expectantly.

"What?" she asked nervously.

"My book?"

"Your book?" she repeated, confused. "Oh yeah! Your book!" she cried, turning and pulling it out of her backpack. She tentatively handed it back to him and he got up to leave.

"No, wait," she said, holding her hand p as though to stop him.

"What is it?"

"You can sit here you know. I'm not going to bite you."

Jake looked hesitant but sat back down. "What's that about?" she asked, pointing at his book.

"It's about a teacher at a dojo in Japan who is betrayed by his student and slaughtered for his daughter's hand in marriage," he stated nonchalantly. Kei raised her eyebrows and nodded slowly.

"Okay…….." She had just opened her mouth to say something else when he interrupted her, his eyes full of anger.

"Listen, you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to. I know that I'm weird and I don't need your pity!" he nearly yelled, standing up. Kei reached out to grab his hand but he turned away from her and sat down in a seat across the room from her. She sighed loudly and slouched down into her chair.

Well, so much for that.