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[Riven Wight]

The moment the final bell rung, chaos erupted through the halls from kids eager to begin summer break. But Isadora Caldwell, known as Izzy to, well, everyone, sat at the back of the now empty classroom with her head in her arms, listening. Waiting for the halls to clear.
To the students shouting jubilantly in the hall, the bell’s obnoxious song was a promise of long days at the pool, of good times with friends at summer camps. It was a declaration of freedom. But for Izzy, it meant trying to avoid thinking. With not so much as a book assignment due after the summer, it meant long days spent alone, and even longer nights lying awake, with only the shadows to talk to. It marked the beginning of three months of trying to avoid people, especially her younger brothers and one Lucas Hall, who had recently begun to try reconnecting with her and had a job lined up at the local post office. But she always brushed him off, or slipped away. The only thing friends had ever brought her here was heartache and pain.
Indeed, the only promise the bell held for her was that of a long, boring, worthless summer. Though, perhaps not entirely worthless if she could find a paying job opening. She had overheard more of her classmates talking about leaving town for the summer, the lucky dogs, so maybe she would actually have a chance this year. The more she could save, the sooner she could leave after graduation. And at least there were always the wooded areas around the place. They, at least, granted some comfort, a sense of peace so long as she remained in their embrace.
Finally, the sounds died away as the other kids and many of the faculty left. She lifted her head and, to add just a bit more time to be sure she had waited long enough, put the lengthy back half of her straight, chestnut brown hair up in its usual ponytail with a scrunchy she had around her wrist, the front part caressing her face to just above her chin. Satisfied, she grabbed the folder she had with her, and entered the deserted system of hallways.
Gathering her backpack from her locker and ignoring the glares the janitors waiting to start their jobs gave her, she made her way down a set of stairs. With the front doors in sight, her pace quickened, her shoes ready for the taste of earth beneath them, her soul hungry for the solitude that flowed between the trees. Or, at the very least, the openness and freshness of the air beyond the school building.
She paused as she stepped outside, letting the early evening sunlight wash over her face. Only a couple empty cars still sat around the road and gravel-covered school parking lot, making the place look all but abandoned.
With nothing but arguments with her brothers to look forward to at home, Izzy glanced around the grounds and began her usual after-school walk, this time letting her feet carry her wherever they wanted to take her. Though she had her drivers license and a bike at home in the garage, nothing beat the satisfaction of traveling on her own two legs. Even if she would have had her own car.
She headed down the sidewalk, the road beside her riddled with ugly, brown puddles leftover from a rain the previous night. The water sparkled beneath the slowly sinking sun just before one of the dark clouds hanging in the sky blew over it.
Izzy turned her attention to the length of sidewalk awaiting her, wishing she had brought her walking stick with her. Ahead, a boy from her grade walked toward her. She recognized him as Trevor Hansen, a boy with a reputation as classy as his dark hair, white shirt, and khakis. He even wore his pair of glasses in a way that somehow made them look like they might be the next fashion style. Though Izzy never followed the gossip and rumors, in a school as small as hers, it was hard to not know who he was, even though she had never had any classes with him: top of their grade each year, popular... nearly everything Izzy was not.
She moved to the edge of the sidewalk so they could pass eachother, his attention fixated on his cellphone, as a lone car drove by.
Its wheels sliced through a large puddle, sending a deluge onto the sidewalk that drenched him, leaving him standing there with a stunned look on his face.
Izzy could not help but stop and stare as his shock turned to disgust. His once pristine shirt was now a muddied, translucent mess. It clung to his body, accentuating his muscular form beneath and making his chest of dark hairs stand out. She tried to suppress a laugh at the sudden change from looking sophisticated to uncouth, placing her palm on her chin so her fingers would hide the smile pulling at her lips.
Only when he gave a reserved laugh did she realize exactly how long she had been staring at him, and how close they stood to each other. Even so, she could not look away from the sight even as he wiped his glasses off on the only remaining dry portion of his pants and looked to her with his handsome steely blue gaze. Izzy cocked her head slightly, trying to remember if his eyes had always been that shade, but could not recall.
“I, uh... guess I’m all wet.”
The awkwardness of the statement made the laugh lurking at the back of Izzy’s throat burst free in a snigger.
“Yeah, I’d definitely guess that, too,” she said, her lips quirked up in amusement. She glanced to the sidewalk, the darkness of the concrete where the water had hit showing exactly how close she had been to being equally as soaked. “Have fun washing that!” she added as lightly as she could with a nod to his shirt as she began to slowly walk around him, her head turning to take in the comical sight of him for just a moment longer.

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[Riven Wight]

Izzy, her back already to Trevor, gave a quiet sigh as he continued talking to her. So much for enjoying an uninterrupted walk.
Without missing a beat, she put on a friendly expression and turned back around to face him, hoping he would not see through the façade. She regarded him a moment, his appearance now making it difficult to take him seriously.
“Yeah.” Not that I planned on going home just yet, she added to herself. “I like the exercise.” She gave him a small smile. Deciding it best to be polite and realizing they had never really properly been introduced, she offered him her hand to shake. “I’m Izzy. But you probably already know that.”

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[Riven Wight]

”Small world.”
Small town, Izzy corrected bitterly. “Pleasure,” she said instead as they shook hands. She instinctively turned and glanced down the road when Trevor gestured to it. She bit back a sarcastic retort to his question.
She looked back to him and slipped her thumbs beneath the straps of her backpack, which had a similar camouflage pattern on it to her faded jacket, the sleeve on her right arm rolled up. Even the color of her nails matched it today.
She shrugged at his last statement. “It happens. I think I’ve seen you around there, though. Just never thought to stop.”

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[Riven Wight]

“Yeah, I suppose it does.” Izzy tried to return his grin, but the expression faltered at the odd, canine appearance his own expression gave him.
At his request, she hesitated, glancing the way she had been headed almost longingly as he worked to talk her into accompanying him back to the school. She could not help but smile a true, small smile as he finished. She turned her emerald eyes back to him, debating.
“Sure,” she said slowly, a hint of suspicion in her voice. Though she hated the idea of going back indoors, it was not like she had anywhere to be. Not really. Adjusting her pack, she started back toward the school, careful to keep at least a good foot between the two of them. “But only if it will spare you your pride.”

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[Riven Wight]

Perception is reality. Izzy snorted at the superficial truth she had seen time and again. She looked to one of the parked cars as they passed to see if there was anyone inside, but the rust-patched vehicle was empty. She glanced around at the area once more. All it was missing were a bunch of tall weeds and broken bricks on the school, and the place would make a perfect set for a zombie apocalypse movie. Izzy smirked at the thought.
“You know,” she turned her attention ahead of them as Trevor paused, “you are a guy. You could take your shirt off and no one would really think twice about it. Bet it’d be more comfortable than walking around wet. Or mud-crusted, if it starts to dry before you get home.”
She looked to Trevor when he turned toward her. She sighed at the reminder of the summer months looming ahead.
“No, not really. Just try to find work.” She placed her fingers in the pockets of her jeans. “You?”

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[Riven Wight]

Izzy stared at Trevor for a moment, almost impressed with his way of thinking and the sincerity in his voice about it. Regardless, she shrugged. “I have two little brothers. Trust me. It wouldn’t phase me. But thanks, all the same.” Her nose and mouth rose in a grateful smile.
“Don’t I know it,” she said irritably at making one’s own fun. She looked to the sidewalk at her feet. “This place drives me crazy.”
Despite herself, she looked back to him at the mischievous tone that entered his voice. She raised her eyebrows slightly as his eyes echoed his tone. “The latest... no. I don’t usually follow that stuff. It gets old, fast. But okay, I'll bite. Now what’ve they come up with? I swear, if it’s another sasquatch story...”

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[Riven Wight]

Izzy crossed her arms and gave Trevor a wry look. She suddenly felt like she was at a sleepover where they decided to tell cheesy horror stories. When he said the rumor, Izzy let out a quick, disbelieving, “Ha!”
With a closed-lip grin and a shake of her head, she nodded her thanks to Trevor for holding the door open. The lemony smell of cleaner saturated the air, telling her that at least one of the janitors had started their job, and the roar of a vacuum echoed through the entry rotunda.
“Definitely,” she answered his question with a chortle. “Someone needs to lay off the vampire novels for a while!” She turned and looked at him skeptically as he followed her inside. “Right,” she drew out the word. “Who, a twelve-year-old? Sounds like something someone that age would spread.”
Izzy shrugged at Trevor’s comment. “I’m not. So, where did you leave your key?” She turned to face him, to let him lead the way.

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[Riven Wight]

Izzy returned Trevor’s grin. “Yeah, meeting a vampire would spice up the summer.” Izzy followed slightly behind Trevor as he headed toward his locker. “As long as they don’t sparkle.” She smirked. “I’ll take no shadow over that any day.”
“I guess I can see that,” she said thoughtfully at his reason for knowing the rumors. She gave a snorted laugh at his last question. "I don't hang out with people," she said, brushing the thought off with a nonchalant shrug as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. "So, no. I don't buy into them. Most of the time, it's just false accusations, anyway."
Amber loved hearing them, though, a cruel voice piped up from the back of her mind. Izzy frowned at the floor, an uneasy look flashing through her eyes as she shoved the thought back into its dark recess.
“Any idea where the whole rumor started this time ‘round?” she asked, her tone light as she looked back to Trevor.

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[Riven Wight]

Izzy shifted her weight awkwardly when Trevor stopped entering his locker code and turned instead to her.
“More like, I don’t have any friends here.” She crossed her arms and leaned against a locker near his. “So, I suppose by extension and definition, no, I don’t go out much. Unless you want to count a daily hike.”
Izzy laughed at Trevor’s last comment, the sound echoing through the otherwise eerily quiet halls of this part of the school. “Isn’t that the truth!” She paused, a sly grin on her face and amusement in her voice as she continued. “But, being such a gentleman, I trust you don’t know that from experience?” She raised her eyebrows.

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[Riven Wight]

“Sure,” Izzy drew out the word, and watched Trevor quickly retrieve his forgotten keys. “I’m only joking, you know!” she said, misunderstanding the troubled glimmer in his eyes. “I’m not going to go around telling people you sneak into the girl’s locker room or anything.”
With their mission accomplished, she walked beside him toward the front, eager to get back outside. The call of the outdoors was so great, she hardly noticed Trevor’s silence.
Her attention snapped to him when he spoke, and she blinked, momentarily forgetting he walked beside her. She gave a small smile at the compliment of being likable, then realized what had actually bothered him.
"Don't worry. I’m neither of those. You're perfectly safe. The only thing I’ve ever killed are mosquitoes. But no one cares about them," she added, trying to keep the mood light. "I’ve lived here my entire life; it's just a personal choice.”