By the time the first day of senior year arrived, Laila Davies was a wreck. Her skin was pale and her hair was frizzy, she had dark circles around her red, puffy eyes from where she would cry in fear endlessly throughout the night until she passed out from exhaustion. When her parents had heard about the murder, they had barely allowed their children to leave the house, in fear that they may be the next targets.

Laila, however, knew better. Somehow, in some way, she was connected to the murder. She had dreamed it happening, as though she were the murderer themselves. Even if she hadn't been the one to actually murder the man, she had been an unknowing witness. How could she explain to the police that she had been in the murderer's place in her dreams? They would simply call her crazy and send her away.

So, she would keep silent. At least for now.

"Hey, Lai!" Turning, the raven haired girl found her best-friend, Aisha Johnson, waving at her like a mad-man. Then again, Laila often thought the caramel skinned female was insane at times.

"What's up, Aisha?" Laila asked as her friend skipped closer, excitement clear of her features. "What's got you all excited?"

"Haven't you heard?" Aisha seemed genuinely shocked that her best friend wasn't intuned with the latest gossip. Knowing Aisha, the gossip happened late last night and she was one of the first to know about it.

Pursing her lips, Laila shook her head, earning an exasperated sigh from Aisha. "A bunch of foreign exchange students moved in with the Jennings. And, my sources say, they're all H-O-T! Hot! I caught a glimpse of one of them, and they were so right!"

"Let me guess," Laila started, amusement in her tone, "your source was Tammie? The Jennings' granddaughter?"

Aisha smiled sheepishly. "She was there when they got to the house. She was leaving and they were arriving. I was the first person she told, which isn't saying much considering nearly everyone knows now, other than you."

"I just don't care much for mindless gossip." Laila shrugged.

"But mindless gossip is the best gossip!"

Laila furrowed her brows, shaking her head. "I believe no gossip is the best gossip."

Aisha rolled her eyes, "You're just a gossip prude."

"Whatever, Aisha."

By the time the first period bell rang, Laila was already situated at her desk, ready to listen to Mr. Vaughn's syllabus. She'd had him the previous year for English, so she already knew his rules and expectations. Aisha, like the troublemaker she deemed herself, was prancing around the room, greeting friends she'd had seen since before summer began and some that she had seen just yesterday.

"Alright, settle down everyone.... Miss Johnson, calm down...Miss Johnson, take your seat. Aisha, sit down or I'll send you to your Dean's office." Mr. Vaughn sighed. He was glad she was a senior. Another year with Aisha Johnson and he would have to retire early.

Aisha threw herself down in the seat in front of Laila, looking bored, as though she expected the teacher to let her move about the room as she pleased. In the front of the room with Mr. Vaughn were two teenagers, one boy and one girl. Laila guessed these were just a couple of the foreign exchange students Aisha had been talking about, and by the excited look on the aforementioned girl's face, her guess was correct.

The first of the two, the girl, was much taller than Laila. Then again, it might have had something to do with the three inches heels she wore, or the fact that her skirt showed of her long, creamy legs. She was strikingly beautiful and she stood tall and proud, she looked almost impenetrable. She looked like a businesswoman almost, her red hair pulled up into a high ponytail at the top of her head.

The other one of the two, the boy, was taller than the girl, even without heels on his feet. He was handsome in the classical sense, almost too much to even be considered real. He looked much more relaxed than his female counterpart, shoulder slumped forward slightly, his black hair messy. There was a small, almost unseeable smirk present on his features.

"We have two new students this year, class. I know we haven't had new students in quite some time, let alone foreign exchange students. I would like to introduce Noah and Clara Olympia."

Aisha turned around in her seat, eyebrows raised. 'Olympia?' she mouthed. Laila shrugged in response. She had to admit, she had never heard of the surname before.

"Johnson, turn around in your seat and leave Miss Davies alone," Mr. Vaughn ordered. Aisha rolled her eyes, but obeyed the instructions given to her. "Now, speaking of Miss Davies, Mr and Miss Olympia, there are two open seats next to Miss Davies. Davies, raise your hand."

Slowly, Laila raised her hand from her spot in the back row, closest to the door. Indeed, there were two empty seats to the right of her, the only other person sitting in the back being Ethan Graham, a kid Laila hadn't spoken to since they were assigned seat partners back in the second grade.

Both of the new students slowly made their way to the back of the room. The boy threw himself down into the seat next to Laila and the girl sat next to him. Throughout class, she refused to look in their general direction, keeping all her focus on the front of the room and the back of Aisha's head. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the girl - Clara - using some sort of hand symbol to Noah. 'They're silently communicating with one another,' Laila thought to herself, impressed. She would need to work something like that out with Aisha so they didn't get into as much trouble for gossiping during class.

The bell rang in the middle of Mr. Vaughn's sentence. He stopped and sighed, waving his hand to dismiss the class. Aisha was out of the classroom in a flash, not even bothering to wait while Laila gathered her things to head to her next class.

"Hey, you're Davie right?"

She looked up to find Noah standing in front of her desk in her second period Spanish class. "Uh, Laila, actually. Davies is my last name."

"Right. I'm Noah Oly-"

"I know who you are," Laila shut him down immediately. "We have first period together. Mr. Vaughn likes to announce whenever we have new kids."

"He does it often, huh?" Noah questioned.

Laila shook her head, "Nope, we rarely get new kids. Pretty sure you, your sister, and whatever other are in your little brood are the first ones in like...two years, maybe?"

"Clara isn't my sister," Noah responded, sliding into the seat next to Laila. At her confused expression, he elaborated, "We're more like distant cousins, all of us are, except for the actual siblings like Clara and her brother, or the twins."

"Twins?"

"Charlotte and Bellamy," Noah nodded. "I'm sure you'll meet them eventually."

Laila didn't bother responding, just nodded her head. It was silent between the two of them, both of them watching students silently fill the classroom.

"Let me ask you something Laila," Noah turned to her, face much more serious than it had been in the previous class they had together. "Does anything weird happen here? Anything at all?"

"Weird? You're in Brookville, Olympia. There's tons of weird here, just ask the resident psyche girl." Tobias Hummer practically threw himself into the seat in front of Noah and Laila.

"Resident Psyche Girl? Where can I find her?"

"You've been talking to her this whole time," Tobias gave Laila, who was shifting uncomfortably in her seat, a pointed look. "Legend has it, Laila can see things before it even happens."

"It's not a legend, dipshit," Casey Hummer, Tobias' twin sister, smacked him on the back of the head. "A legend is a story that is considered historical, Laila's only seventeen. That's not historical enough, especially since she's living."

Tobias and Casey were Laila's other two best friends. They had a tendency to argue over even the smallest of things. Aisha found them annoying, but Laila genuinely liked the twins. They made her laugh often.

Tobias rolled his eyes. Turning back to Laila, he asked, "Did you see the murder happen?"

"That's not just something you ask a girl, Toby!"

"Shut up, Case. I'm just curious!"

Amidst the bickering of the two Hummer siblings, Noah turned to Laila. "You see things? Before they happen?" He inquired curiously.

Laila shrugged her shoulders, not meeting his gaze. "Guess so."

"Like what?"

"Small things," Laila sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Football game wins."

"Haha, very funny," Tobias huffed sarcastically. With wide eyes, he faced Noah. "Summer before eighth grade year, we all went to summer camp together. Laila pulled one of the counselors aside and said that Kendra Evans was gonna fall into the lake and drown. No one believed her."

Casey pushed her brother to the side, leaning against the back of her own chair towards Laila and Noah. "But guess who ended up slipping off the dock right before swimtime? That whole summer, everyone was convinced Laila was cursed or something."

"But everyone eventually forgot about it when we all hit high school. Laila became invisible. That's when I decided to befriend her!" Tobias declared.

"You mean I decided to befriend her," Casey interjected.

"I think you both mean Aisha," Laila laughed.

Before either of them could protest, Mrs. Simmons clapped her hands together to get the attention of the classroom. Both Casey and Tobias turned around in their seats reluctantly.

"So it's true then?" Noah asked her, looking at Laila from the corner of his eyes. "You do see things? Things that other people usually don't see?"

Laila was silent for a heavy moment. "Yeah," she whispered after a moment. "Yeah, I do."