"Okay, okay, all of you, stand together, let me see," Abigail says, making Emma David and I stand in front of the wall, first day outfits on. Emma and David have relayed to me that this was a tradition that they did often, usually when the pair would be shipped off to college, or a new work place. 

"Anything else?" Emma asks. 

"Yeah. Make sure to control yourselves." Abigail says, smiling a little. 

"Will do." David says. 

"You know it." Emma smiles. 

"Canada?" 

"Okay." I just simply nod. 

"Okay, have fun." Abigail says, bringing us in for one final group hug. 

We all leave the house, and stare out into the darkness. Darkness to mortals, perfect for us. 

"Race?" David offers. We all exchange smirks. 

"Don't mess up my hair." Emma smirks. 

"Don't get in my way." I say. 

We quickly learned in my first few days with them that I'm the fastest one in the whole family. I was just as surprised as they were. 

"3... 2... 1... Go!" David shouts. I take off, seeing nothing but blurred trees. I look over my shoulder to see Emma trailing behind, David behind her. I smile a little, but spot a car in the distance.

"Car!" I say. I know they can hear me. Accelerated senses. We all halt at the road, Emma behind me, and David behind her. "I win." I smirk. It feels good to be happy. It feels good to smile, even just a little. 

"I didn't lose." Emma responds. 

"Shut it you two." David says. We all take a moment to fix our hair, clothes, everything else. 

"Let's go." Emma says. We all walk the rest of the way to the school. The small school where it feels like every car is a truck. Everyone hugs each other. Some girls scream. Some people share pictures of their summer love, or their amazing vacation to some national park. 

We just walk to the front office, get our schedules, and map of the school. 

"Hey, I really like your hair." Emma says to a girl in passing. 

"Oh! Thank you! I like yours, too! You must be new here." 

"I am." Emma nods. 

"Oh, here, I'll show you around." The girl says. 

"Hey, can I get a tour, too?" David asks. 

"Of course." The girl smiles. "Do you need a tour, too?" The girl asks me. 

"No, thank you." I say. 

"Your sure, Cana-"

"I am, thank you, Emma." I say. 

I don't want this girl to know my name. I don't want anyone to know me. I don't want any connections. I want to the be the person that no one notices is here, and no one notices is gone. I just became a vampire, I don't want to have my second life end, already. I suddenly remember Gayle. I gave him my name. He gave me his, and a jacket. I shake it out of my head. But, I'll never, ever, see Gayle again. 

"Canada?" Never mind, I will.

"Hi, Gayle." I say, quickly looking back down at my schedule, hoping he'd get the message I didn't want to talk. 

"Had no clue we were going to the same school." 

"Me neither." I say. 

"Can I show you to all of your classes." 

"No, I'll be fine." I reply. 

"You sure?" 

"Yeah, thank you. I've been pretty good at finding things." I say. 

"Okay, well, I'll see you when I see you." 

"Same to you." I say.

 I walk out of the office, and look down at my schedule. Creative Writing, Room 208. I close my eyes. Room 208. 208. 208. My body pushes me through the halls. I open my eyes, and let my instincts carry me there. I keep following it, until I find the classroom. 208. Works like a charm, every time. My favorite ability.

"Hello! Welcome!" The teacher smiles at me, welcoming me into his classroom. "Pick a seat, any seat." He says. I nod, and sit down in a seat in the back corner of the class. I like paying attention, but I don't like being given attention. The class is full, and the bell rings. "Welcome, everyone, to your first day of school. I know we're all anxious, but, this is all going to be fine. Now, let's talk about me, and maybe do some icebreakers. Yeah?..."

The classes were interesting. AP Calculus, art, anatomy, normal senior year classes. 

But it's finally, lunch, my safe haven. I find a table in the back corner. It was older than the rest, which meant that people were less likely to look at me, or sit with me. I crack out my lunch, and my thermos. Since having blood on a sandwich is too obvious, we have to drink watered down blood out of a thermos, just in case. 

"Hey! Canada!" Yet again, Gayle is interrupting my solitude. 

"Hm?" I ask, looking up, and taking a sip out of my water bottle and swishing it around to make sure that there isn't any blood on my teeth. 

"You can sit with my friends and I at our table, if you'd like." Gayle offers. 

"Oh, no thanks." 

"No one should have to eat lunch alone, Canada." Gayle says. 

"I like being alone." I say. 

"Can you just eat lunch with us? Just the first day? For my sanity? Please?" He asks. 

"Fine." I say. 

"Then, right this way." He leads me to one of the regular tables where two seats sat open next to each other. "Everyone, this is Canada." 

"Like the country?" One girl asks. 

"Yeah," I nod. 

"Come on, sit down." He says. I sit next to Gayle, and resume eating my lunch. "So, what do you think of Roosevelt High School?"

"I like it." I say. 

"Circle time, give your name and preferred pronouns." Gayle says. 

"Hi, I'm Leah, I use she/her pronouns." 

"Hi, I'm Henry and I use He/Him/His pronouns." 

"Hello, my name's Jordan, and I use they/them pronouns." 

"Hi." I say, waving a little bit. I'm interacting with people. This is more people that could suspect something. 

"They do Save the Planet with me." Gayle says. 

"Oh, cool." 

"So, are you guys ready to start the game?" Gayle asks. 

"Game? What game?" I ask. 

"We do a trivia game about climate change. It helps us stay alert and aware." He says. 

"Oh. Can I just watch?" I ask. 

"Of course! Only what you're comfortable with!" Shawn says. 

"Okay, so, first question, we'll start easy because we didn't do this all summer. How much hotter is the world getting?" 

"Oh! I know this one!" 

"Cassidy, go ahead," 

"That is two degrees Fahrenheit, one degree Celsius." Cassidy says. 

"Exactly." Gayle says. "How much have the water levels risen?"

"19 Centimeters, in the last century." Hunter says. 

"Good, next one is... when will polar bears go extinct?" Gayle asks. 

"End of the century." I say. Even I'm surprised that I said anything. Gayle looks at me with small pride, and everyone else looks at my with enthusiastic confusion. "End of the century, right?" 

"That is correct." Gayle says. "Great job." 

"Thanks." I say. 

The lunch bell rings, and I walk to my next class. When I reach the room, I eye the seating chart, and take my seat, right next to where Gayle is already sitting. 

"Canada, it's been so long since I've seen you!" Gayle spreads his arms wide, and raises his voice pitch just enough that I can tell he's being completely, and utterly sarcastic. 

"You too." I put my bag down underneath the lab table. 

"I didn't know you were in this class." 

"Uh... yeah, senior year, you get to chose your science class, right?" 

"Yep!" Gayle grins. 

"Alright, alright, everyone. Welcome to your first day back. For those of you who don't know, my name is Ms. Febuary, and I will be your Earth Sciences teacher, make sure that I'm the one that's on your schedules. I hope you like who you're sitting next to, as they will be your lab partners for the remainder of the year, should none of you quit my class. Now, I am going to be passing around a syllabus, kindly turn to page..." 

School lets out, finally, and I find Emma and David waiting outside of the school. 

"What'd you think?" Emma asks. 

"I liked it. Teachers seem nice." 

"Whoa! A whole sentence this time! Must've had a really nice day." David says as we begin walking back to the woods. 

"Shut it." I mutter. "What about for you guys?" 

"Well, that girl that gave us a tour is really sweet. Her name's Charlotte, and she welcomed me into her friend group. Choir seems fun, too." Emma says. 

"Pretty uneventful. The Captain of Baseball seemed pretty chill." David says. "Finally, the forest." 

"We're running, right?" Emma asks. 

"Is there anyone around?" I ask. 

"None." David responds. 

"We have to go, now, then. There'll be people here, soon." I say. We all take off running. I watch the blurred trees again, and feel all of my heavy textbooks and notebooks lurching against my back with every step. Finally, I see the house, and stop, and David and Emma follow suit. 

"I forgot how much it sucked to run with these things." David says, pressing his hand up against his back. We walk to the house, where Matthias and Abigail aren't in, yet. 

They're at work, or something. I walk over to the kitchen, fill up a glass of blood, and grab a piece of toast. I walk upstairs, and just stare out of the window. I look at all of the trees, and critters that roam about. I think this is the best view I've had yet. I cast my eyes down to the ground, where a brown little piece of wood sits. Almost like a little door, which is what it is. I open it, to find a screen, and hear the sounds of nature. The wind and the birds. The trees and deer moving. I hear everything in these woods. 

I could just lay here for hours, which I do. Just listening to everything. Nothing more. Just when it falls silent, it picks back up again. 

"Hey, Canada." David says, walking into my room. 

"What?" I ask, turning my head a little. 

"Dinner's ready." David says. 

"Right." I say. I walk down the stairs, and into the kitchen, where the table is already set. "Sorry I didn't help." 

"It's okay. You're usually the first one to enter and the last one to leave, so it's fine. " Matthias says. 

"How was school?" Abigail asks as we start passing around the bread and soup. 

"Good." David says, no paying more attention to the food than anything else. 

"I got into a friend group. They're nice." Emma says. 

"Great to hear that the social butterfly is still fluttering." Abigail replies.

"What about you, David?" 

"Oh, well, I learned the basics about the school. The captain of the baseball team seems nice." 

"Is that the sport, this year?" Matthias asks. 

"I think so." David nods. 

"What about you, Canada?" 

"Oh, I like it. Found another use for my instincts. Found it it can work in buildings." I say. 

"That's great." Matthias says. "Any new friends?" 

"There was Gayle from yesterday. Sat at his table." 

"Really?" Abigail raises a brow, eyes suddenly filled with joy again. 

"Yeah. I was invited, though, and it took some time, so I wouldn't get your hopes up too high." I say. 

"Canada, maybe you should try to make friends this time around, it might be healthier." Abigail suggests. 

"I don't know." I say. 

"They wasn't an instant no. I'd say we're getting closer and closer." Matthias says, a small smile on his face. 

"Maybe." I respond back. We finish the meal with light discussions. I was only asked yes or no questions. They knew that was probably the most they would get out of me all the meal. I stayed back and did the dishes. It was only fair because I didn't cook the meal, I told them. They went into the living room to watch TV. I finished off, and dried the last plate. 

I finally walked into the library. I look in awe at all of the books on the shelf. 

"So, you like it?" Matthias asks. 

"Yeah." I say. 

"Looking for anything in particular?" 

"Nah. I think I'll just look." I say. I look through the stacks and stacks of book, grabbing one to start me on the journey of hopefully reading this whole library. I keep on grazing through, though. I stumble upon the nonfiction part. My hand touches the spine of Climate Change: How the World Could End. I pick it off the shelf, and look over the front and back cover. 

"Climate change? I didn't know you were interested in that." Matthias says. The way he says it, though, shows me no malice whatsoever. Just sheer wonder. 

"The people I sat at lunch with are into that kind of stuff." I say. 

"So, does this mean that you'll be sitting with them more?" 

"I don't know. Maybe."

"I'm glad you're getting out of your shell. I'm also glad your willing to work to make friends, too." 

"What if it's just me trying to work to be more knowing?" I ask. 

"It would appear that it works both ways in this scenario." He says. "Happy reading," He says when I begin to walk out. 

"Thanks." I say. 

It's always been easier for me to talk to Matthias. Even though I'm supposed to have a connection with Abigail, because she's the one that bit me. Matthias, on the other hand, was the first on to visit me when I woke up. He smiled at me a little bit, and told me what I was. He offered to leave, and did when I asked. When he came back in - just at the right moment- he explained to me all of the powers, and dangers that came with it. Once he was done, he smiled again, handed me a book, and left the room. 

I now walk back upstairs, books closed tight to my chest. Why am I reading these books? I've studied climate change before, sure, but I've never been this interested in this stuff. Am I really working for a friendship? I place my hand on the handle of my room, but I don't turn it. Instead, my body turns around, and walk to the other end of the hall. The door that led to Emma's room. It was wide open, and Emma sat at her desk, drawing something new. 

"Emma." I say, trying to get her attention. 

"Hey, Canada. What can I do for you?" 

"I need your help, please." I say. 

"Are you okay?" She asks. 

"I'm fine." I say. 

"I call lies." She crosses her arms, a half smile on her lips.

"Fine. I'm a little not fine. Just... I'm awkward on this topic." I say. 

"Much better." Emma's dawning a full smile, now. "So, what's your question?" 

"What's the best way to join a friend group?" I ask. 

Her eyes light up like a kid and a candy store. "I knew you'd come around."