Chapter 1 - First Encounters

A simple twist of fate, that was just what it was. But you could read it along an entirely different line if your mind was so bent. Because sometimes in life things happen at a point when you least expect them, some things that rattle you to your very core, things that make you wonder if the purpose of your whole life before then was to simply lead up to that very point. Things that make you glad you made the choices you made, and for all the things you had to go through. And when that happens, all you can do is surrender yourself and allow it to consume you, hoping it will last a lifetime. Praying desperately and clinging on to something divine. It makes you feel almost above human, because such things rarely happen to people.

Matthew was hardly enthusiastic when the new school year started. He was seventeen, and the least thing of interest on his mind was having to go through the whole process of settling into a new environment, making new friends, and the like that inadvertently came with moving to a new place, not that he had ever had much 'friends' to begin with. He hated it. But he had no complaints whatsoever about the move itself because it meant the family could finally be together. His father had been transferred the previous year and it had literally split the family then, but his parents had thought it best to let him finish the school year before moving. So he and his mother had stayed behind in Old Burrow while his father moved to Distantville.

But now they were together. Matthew smiled happily. At last . . .

He was lying on his back on the bed, staring up at the pale yellow ceiling. The hardest thing--in fact, the 'only' thing that had caused him some pain--had been saying goodbye to Janice. It had been so hard that he had even considered not telling her and quietly slipping away. But he did manage to face her at last and convey the bitter news.

He could remember it vividly. As vivid as the black dot(which was actually a group of ants dragging a dead insect) that had just entered his line of sight and was making its way across the vast pale yellow canvas.

Or like the sudden thunderous pace his heart had just adopted.

She had looked stricken at first, but kept her calm.

"It's okay, Matt," she said, forcing a trembling smile. "I know how much this means to you, so I'm happy for you."

"You know I love you . . ." said Matt, almost desperately.

"Yeah, I know . . . I love you too."

They were sitting on their favourite bench in the park, overlooking an eerily still lake. A sudden gust of wind showered them with crisp brown autumn leaves. One of them landed on Jan's auburn hair and Matt gently lifted it. He wanted to say something but words betrayed him.

"We'll keep in touch though . . ." said Jan after an awfully long period of silence. It was more of a query than a statement.

"Uh . . . yeah, of course," said Matt, straightening up.

Jan looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression on her face. Even after two years of being together, there was something about Matt she just couldn't understand. Given Matt was unlike anyone she had ever known. But still . . .

When she first saw him, he was sitting all by himself by the edge of the lake they were now at. Lost in a world of his own. She had watched him a good fifteen minutes and he didn't move an inch the whole while. She came back the next day, and the next, for a whole week. Nothing changed. He always sat at that same spot and stared out at the still water. Something about him fascinated her. She wanted to know more about him.

Then she saw him one day, albeit at a different place, and one that completely took her by surprise. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw that same boy sitting all by himself at the back of her class. He seemed so at peace, staring calmly at something on his desk. She was looking at him so attentively that she even noticed a small twitch in his lower lip once.

Susan nudged her back to reality.

"We gotta go, Jan!"

"Uh . . . right . . ." She hurriedly gathered her books and left.

She watched him closely. It was almost like stalking, but she just couldn't help it. That mysterious boy, who was he? The only thing she knew was his name: Matthew Newson. Even his name seemed to her to resonate with some mysterious aura. As far as she had seen, he had no friends whatsoever, never engaged in any sort of communication--verbal or otherwise--with anyone, and kept to himself all the time.

Two weeks later, she finally scribbled a note and passed it to him. Susan, to whom the task had been assigned, stared at her as though something unearthly had suddenly started growing on her face.

"Just do it!" she hissed, and the girl zombied her way to the back of the class and then quietly back to her seat.

"What was that all about?" demanded Susan in an angry whisper, wiping sweat from her brow.

Janice shrugged. Susan gave her the stare again.