Chapter 4

The Five (the name was now officially a label) met me at my locker and a repeat of yesterday began, except for the classes. The weatherman this morning called for wind and snow and they filled every break with details of snowstorms' past.

Today I had State History with the Freshman; it was a little embarrassing to be the oldest one in the room, but it was the only other half-year course besides geography. I figured I'd get to learn something interesting in this class and Mr. Marris was very enthusiastic about his subject.

Next was Trigonometry, a class I kinda enjoyed, at least compared to Algebra. Mrs. Leeds had me work on a packet of problems to figure out exactly where I was, due next class. It was only a few pages thick, so I wasn't too worried.

The snow was quickly turning everything white as I was escorted to the cafeteria, and the wind echoed eerily through the complex. It wasn't until we'd crowded in at the end of a full table, looking around for the cause since we had breathing room yesterday, that I saw them.

There were five of them sitting at one end of the table across the room and no one else within ten seats on either side. Nobody looked afraid; in fact, there were no eyes peering over at them that I could see, no signs of tension, no obvious cause for the space.

"Who are they?" I whispered to Allison, nodding in the strange group's general direction, never taking my eyes away. There was something about them that fascinated me, even though they just sat there, staring out the windows and picking at their food.

"Those are the Hawkins kids, the ones we were talking about yesterday," Allison quietly responded. "I guess the were just a day late getting back from their trip." Shrugging, she looked back down at her lunch. "Mr. Hawkins is some kind of doctor and Mrs. Hawkins is really into wildlife preservation, so they're always going somewhere."

My eyes stayed glued on them as she spoke, absorbing all the little details. They looked almost similar but different, which I guess would be expected in an adopted family. There were two girls and three boys and they looked like they belonged in college.

One girl was small, almost pixie-like in her sharp features, her hair dark as night in a French braid. She wore earth tones and had very little make-up on, giving the appearance of being very simple and uncomplicated.

The other girl set my teeth on edge. She was the epitome of perfection, her hair golden, her features aristocratic, her body packed into her designer jeans and probably a snob right down to her manicured toes.

People like that don't like me and I return the favor. The blonde was absolutely beautiful, stunning; it made me, and probably every other girl here, feel like a hag. Nobody would look at us twice with her around.

The three boys were just as different from each other as the girls.

One was built like a bear- ... large. Even sitting, he was taller than everyone else by at least a head and bigger than any wrestler I'd ever seen; none of it looked like fat. His hair was buzzed to a fuzzy half-inch of bright red that glistened with melting snow.

The pixie girl sat between the other two boys, facing my way, so I got a better look at them.

The one on her left sat there, his back straight as a board, his expression blank and unfocused, swaying a little, like he was listening to music. Where the big one was rough-hewn and very masculine, he was almost androgynous; lightly built, his face composed of slightly protruding cheekbones, a small nose, pale little lips and wispy, fly-away eyebrows the color of pale sunlight, almost non-existent, his slightly curly hair barely seen in the light from outside. He was too pretty for my tastes, but I could appreciate him.

My breath caught as my gaze settled on the boy to her right. He was more to my liking, falling somewhere between the two extremes of his brothers. He sat hunched over his tray, long dark hair pulled back in a low tail with a few escaping tendrils shadowing his face. His clothes were loose and comfortable looking, making it hard to judge his size, maybe something like the pale one? His left ear was pierced all the way up with tiny silver hoops and I could just barely make out the shiny metal of a chain around his neck.

"The big one is Davis," Tracy told me, leaning in front of Allison and following my gaze. "Halibell, the blonde sitting next to him is his girlfriend." She sounded shocked. "Isn't that weird?"

"Just because they're legally siblings doesn't mean they're related," Cody piped in. "They don't even have the same last name." He leaned towards me. "Only the boys have the last name Hawkins; both Halibell and Morgan," he pointed to the pixie girl, "have different names than the rest: Rankin and Tanner."

"Anyway," Marie growled, taking over the conversation, "those two were an item even before they came here. The pale one is Chadwick and he has an incredible European accent." She sighed dreamily. "I love foreign accents."

"No one is really sure whether or not him and Morgan are an item," Aaron, I was certain that was his name, told me, leaving aside Marie and her fantasies. "Some say they are but they are rarely seen committing PDA," Public Displays of Affection, "here at school, aside from occasional touches." He shrugged.

"Who's the one with the long hair?" I asked no one in particular, returning my gaze to the one in question.

"Connor," Tracy sighed.

"He's very-" I blushed, trying to find a good descriptive phrase.

"He's gorgeous!" Marie exclaimed, a little louder than I liked. "He's so mysterious and looks like a bad boy!" I felt like I'd suddenly been thrust back into junior high the way she described him; like she'd never had boyfriend before. Then again, she probably hasn't.