[h3][color=82ca9d]Eli Redgrave[/color][/h3]
The bike ride to school had been somewhat frenetic, through largely uneventful save for when Eli had almost ran over some other kid wearing a hooded sweatshirt who had unexpectedly stepped out in front of him. He hadn't got a good look at his face, but had heard what sounded like angry yells emitting in his wake. Westcliffe wasn't a large town, he probably knew who it was, and they probably knew him, they were probably in the same class. [i]Oops. I should probably try to not accidentally kill one of my classmates. Especially not this time of year... [/i] He set that grim thought aside, and pedalled harder. 

He rode along the 'quaint' tree lined main street of Westcliffe, past the handful of mom-and-pop stores that had been run by the same families for generation on generation, finally stopping in front of the old schoolhouse. He chained his bike to the gently rusting set of cast iron railings that lined the school's grounds and considered taking the time to sneak one last cigarette, before disregarding it, and heading inside.

Eli went to his locker first, he kept an emergency pack of breath mints in there for mornings just like this. As he fumbled with the lock, his eyes involuntarily drifted to the locker two doors down from his own. The name tag on it still hadn't been changed. Even after a whole year. Almost two now.

[i]Alex.[/i]

He couldn't remember how many times they had stood here, talking and joking as they prepared to head into class together. He missed his brother all the time, but in that moment it wasn't sadness that hit him, but rage. Rage with a sudden intensity he was totally unprepared for. Two years. Two years! How could he have gone and left him for two years with that fucking bastard?! He had relied on him. He had depended on him... they had depended on each other. 

[i]Unless.[/i] The thought slipped into his mind unbidden, like a serpent. [i]Unless, he didn't choose to leave, and someone took him away from me.[/i] He shook that vile secret from his head, took a deep breath, and headed into class - wearing a smile.

It had made it in time, class hadn't started yet. He walked in to see a knot of his fellow classmates gathered around Emily's seat, amongst them Ben Ruiz and Violet DeWinter herself, heiress to the 'noble' and 'venerable' DeWinter dynasty. Eli had a natural dislike of DeWinters, but amongst the clan he supposed he disliked Violet the least, despite her being somewhat stuck up in his opinion. He liked Emily, she was weird and more than a touch naive (despite being older than him), but she was nice and almost kinda... cool, he guessed? Ben was fun, if at times something of an idiot. He instantly recognised the hoodie that Ben was wearing. 

[color=82ca9d]"Goddam it señor Ruiz, if I knew it had been you, I wouldn't have swerved earlier, I would have run you straight down y'know?"[/color] He playfully slapped Ben on the arm with a wild grin. As soon as he finished he turned to Violet and offered her an overly dramatic and sardonic bow. [color=82ca9d]"Good morrow to you, Miss DeWinter, we are eternally grateful to be graced by your graceful presence. And Emily, my oh my, isn't someone popular today?"[/color]

Eli glanced around him after he had spoken. He hated himself for doing it, but his eyes went automatically to Alex's empty seat, the one near the back of the classroom by the wall. But this time, it wasn't empty. Eli was so surprised that for a moment he thought it was Alex, just sat there as if nothing had happened. But no, it wasn't Alex, of course it wasn't Alex. There was a girl sitting there, about their age, with long blonde hair. He didn't know who she was, which was weird, since Eli knew pretty much everyone in Westcliffe. 

[color=82ca9d]"Damn guys... I know I've been off for a few days, but what did I miss? Who's she?"[/color]

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