Chapter One

          The cafeteria was buzzing with the noisy chatter of students. Ellie paid no attention to the gossip and rumors of who was dating who - it was pointless to her. She decided to tune them out as she picked at her turkey sandwich, grimacing as she removed the pickles from it. Beside her, Theo was playing with a lighter, flicking it on and off and watching the little flame come to life. Every now and then he'd gingerly poke at the flame, as if he'd never seen fire in his entire life. Ellie thought he looked pretty stupid.

          "Stop it," she snapped, reaching out a hand to bat the lighter away.

          "Why?" Theo asked, finally peeling his eyes away from the lighter.

      Because you look like a stupid caveman, because fire freaks me out, Ellie mused inwardly. But obviously she couldn't tell Theo that she was afraid of fire, even if it was just an itty bitty one. Finally, she answered, "Because I don't like it. And you look like an idiot."

          "It's just a little fire," Theo muttered, returning his attention to the lighter. "It's kind of pretty."

         The simple statement caught her off guard. For some reason, Ellie felt a chill run down her spine. Pulling in a deep breath, she studied Theo for a moment. Her gray eyes took in the scrawny figure hunched over a lighter. Theo's hair was black as night, and always slightly messy. Sometimes the too-long fringe would fall over his eyes, which were a shade of blue Ellie had never seen on anyone else's eyes. But then again, those eyes looked oddly familiar, as if she'd seen them sometime not too long ago ...

          Presently, those eyes were fixed in a too intense gaze on the flame. It was almost comical, the way he seemed to regard the flame with a kind of obsession. He had been playing with the stupid lighter since recess started, his food long forgotten on the table.

          "Teddy," Ellie said, knowing Theo disliked the nickname. "Your fries are getting cold."

          "Hm." Theo almost growled in response. "You can have them if you want."

          She took one look at the greasy fries. They were smothered in ketchup, and too much of it. She made a face. "I'll pass."

          "Huh." Still flicking the lighter on and off.

          Don't you ever get bored of that? Ellie thought. Noticing that the pointless chatter of the other students was starting to ebb away, she turned her attention to her surroundings. The other students were beginning to vacate the cafeteria. A quick glance at the wall clock confirmed that recess was almost over. And soon it would be Biology. Stupid old Biology. Sighing inwardly, Ellie decided that it was another day for skipping class.

          "Hey, Teddy?"

          "What?"

          "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

          Finally putting away the lighter, he took one good look at Ellie and recognized the expression on her face. "Uh-uh. No way. We are not ditching Bio."

          "Oh come on, Teddy," she drawled, overemphasizing his much despised nickname. "Life's too short to have half of it smothered by textbooks and stuff."

          "My mom's going to kill me."

          Ellie almost laughed at that. She knew Theo's mother, and she wouldn't hurt a fly. Emma Hanley was a pushover. Sometimes Ellie felt like slapping some sense into that woman. But then again, she was a little fragile, and Ellie hated to be the one to break her. Oh, well. Sliding out of her seat, Ellie turned to Theo. "So, are you coming or not?"

          He seemed to think about it. Finally, he said, "Just gimme a sec."

*

          Theodore Hanley hated the idea of skipping class. But one thing he hated more than that was being abandoned, which was why he followed Elliot Pierce around like a dog. After all, Ellie was his only friend. At least, that was what Theo thought, since she was the only one who didn't avoid him as if he were a disease. Even his own brother preferred the company of a bottle of Jack Daniels to him. But then again, Taran was an alcoholic by nature and was hardly ever sober.

          Even so, he shouldn't treat me like a leper, Theo griped inwardly as he followed Ellie. She was climbing up onto the roof, and he had trouble keeping up with her. She was pretty quick on her feet, which made sense as she was smaller and lighter than him. But there was still something about her that didn't quite make sense to Theo. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something ... otherworldly.

          "Teddy?" Again with the nickname.

          "Yeah?"

          "Stop thinking about me."

          "What makes you think I'm thinking about you?" Theo muttered indignantly. In fact, he was thinking about her, but how could she have known? He looked away, trying to hide the blush that was creeping into his face.

           "You're drooling," she joked, a smile turning the corners of her mouth upward.

           "Troll," he scoffed. "Why do you like coming up here anyway?"

          Both of them were already up on the rooftop; Theo tried not to wander too close to the edge, but Ellie was already sauntering over to the edge. She closed her eyes and pirouetted slowly, letting the wind play with her platinum locks. A sigh escaped her slightly parted lips, but it was one of relief rather than exasperation. Finally, she turned to Theo and said, "Don't you feel it? It's fifteen seconds of freedom."

          "Yeah." He tried to inject some enthusiasm into his voice, but failed miserably. The rooftop may have been Ellie's zen garden, but to Theo, the thought of being so high up unnerved him a little. He worried about falling off the edge. It was a ridiculous thought, seeing as he was far from the edge. But that didn't stop him from falling back a step.

          "Hey, if you don't like it here, we can always go somewhere else," Ellie muttered quickly, noticing his discomfort.

          Theo shook his head. "I'm okay." Hopefully.

      

        Ellie sauntered over to the edge, peering down as if there was something interesting to see. Theo had no doubts that nothing out of the ordinary would be going on down below. Just people walking by, maybe a few cars peeling out of the school parking lot. Nothing short of mundane. But that was before he heard Ellie swear.

      

      Ellie rarely cursed, so hearing her spit out the word as if it was poison was something new to Theo. As soon as the novelty of it wore off, he dared a step closer to Ellie. Just a step. He wasn't going all the way to where she stood. And then he called out to her, "What?"

      

      "Shh!" Ellie snapped. She waved a hand, motioning for him to stay back, as if Theo would even dare to take another step forward. Her gaze flicked back to whatever it was that had caught her attention. A few seconds passed before she turned back to Theo. She strode over to him, and in a harsh whisper, she said, "I think someone saw us up here."

      

      "Is it a teacher? Someone we know?"

      

      A flicker of what looked like fear crossed her features momentarily. But Ellie regained her composure quickly, and Theo wondered if it was just a trick of the light. After all, Ellie rarely lost her cool. A hurricane wouldn't faze her.

      

      "No," she sighed finally. "Probably not anyone we know."

      

      Theo released the breath he had been holding. "This is why we do not ditch Bio."

      

      Ellie raised a brow. "Touche."