Kina Grove sat in the passenger seat of her father's black government-issued SUV, looking out the window as the scenery passed by in a blur. 

She pulled the strings on her gray hoodie tighter around her face, not a single piece of auburn hair breaking out. Her jade green eyes didn't pull away from the window even when her father was speaking.

Gunner Grove glanced at his daughter with his brown eyes, his brown hair gently tousled by the wind coming through the rolled-down window. "Kina," His voice soft as he spoke.

Kina pulled her eyes away from the window and looked up at her father with doe eyes. "Hmm?" She hummed, not feeling the energy to muster up any words.

Gunner pursed his lips, momentarily forgetting what he was going to say. It quickly popped back up in his head, reminding him. "I know you don't like going to school - you need to be around other kids - it isn't healthy for you to stay in your room all day looking at a computer, even if you're doing school -" He stopped every so often trying to find the right words.

"It's inevitable." Kina mumbled, her voice raspy as she spoke. 'No matter how much I hate attending school and being around people I can't hide from the world forever.' She thought, letting out a small sigh.

Gunner sighed inwardly, turning off the main road onto a side road towards the school. "How about we make a deal?" He asked, gaining the attention of his daughter. "If this school day goes well, can we talk about attending the rest of the school year?"

Kina thought it sounded grueling and daunting attending school with actual human beings. "I suppose," She replied shortly, resting her head on the window. 

"I know being a banshee isn't easy and if your mother was here she could help you figure it out," Gunner said, feeling a ache in his heart at the mention of his late wife. "You can't hide from the world in fear, especially at your age."

Kina picked at the lace on her handkerchief skirt. "I ended up at the school during class covered in blood the second day at school. That was hard to forget." She mumbled under her breath. 

Gunner took one hand off the steering wheel and scratched it behind his ear. "But in the end, you helped us find the crime scene where a young man was left for dead after a bloody hit and run. We wouldn't have known otherwise or even had found him if it wasn't for you."

Kina closes her eyes as the mangled and gruesome bloodied body screaming in agony flashed through her mind causing her eyes to flash open. "I still have nightmares about that," She gripped the handle on the door tightly, her knuckles turning white. "And every other dead body I've come across."

Gunner reached his hand over and placed it on her shoulder.  "That was the . . . first crime scene like that you had come across." He reminded her, being careful with his words.

Kina looked up at her father with soft doe eyes. "The first active crime scene. Dad, I've been to other crime scenes, just ones that happened in the past, and I can feel, hear and see the things that happened." She shuddered at the memory of it all.

Gunner turned into the school parking lot and behind some cars who were dropping their kids off. "It will get better. I promise. Give me more time to figure out how to help you and we can prevent this from happening, okay?" He asked, never giving up in his search.

Kina searched her dad's face, knowing fully well his words were true. "I know. I love you, Dad." She leaned over and pressed a kiss on his cheek.

Gunner grinned at the small action his daughter had done. "Good. Now, I've asked your cousin to keep watch over you during the school day, I hope you don't mind." He replied, lifting his foot off the brake and moving a few inches after the car left.

"I don't." Kina slightly smiles, reaching and grabbing her backpack from the floor. "Really, I don't," Setting it on her lap she unbuckled her seat belt as her father parked the car.

Gunner watched her climb out of the car and gave her one last smile. "I'll pick you up after school and if I'm not able to I'll have Rosiano take you home." He told her, glancing at his watch for a brief moment.

Kina nodded her head as she closed the door and sheepishly walked up the steps, blending in with the bodies of the students. 

She took a deep breath and held it as she stepped through the doors. 'Don't let anyone notice me. Don't let anyone notice me. Don't let anyone notice me.' She thought in a mantra, scurrying to her locker and keeping her head down.

A voice popped up from behind Kina. "Heyo, Cousin," Rosiano De Luca's cheery voice startled her, making Kina flinch. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She explained, giving a sheepish smile as she brushed some ash brown hair from her face.

Kina turned around and looked up at her cousin with a deep frown. "Rosi doesn't do that. You know how much I hate being sneaked up on." She whispered, turning the dial and putting in the combination to her locker.

Rosiano put her hands up in front of her as her chunky bracelets rattled against each other. "Oh, sorry, I just wanted to surprise you. It's been a while since you've been here and I was lonely by myself." She grinned, loving her hands to her hips.

Kina looked up at her cousin, furrowing her eyebrows and tilting her head to the side she frowned. "I thought you hung out with Carla?"

Rosiano scoffed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Carla?" She asked, the name rolling off her tongue like venom. "When have I ever hung out with that obnoxious troublemaker? Goodness. I can't stand the girl. She's infuriating." She asked, tapping her foot on the floor. 

Kina pulled out the books she needed and put them in her backpack, while the others were in her locker. "I thought you two were friendly with each other?" She asked, coming to the realization she might've misjudged their interactions.

Rosiano moved her arms over her chest, crossing them. "Yeah, friendly only in the competition! We are always challenging each other to stupid competitions. I hate losing to her! She just has to be good at everything! I mean she's always been that way, especially in grade school, that cocky little attitude made me want to punch her." She growled, her eyes searching to see if Carla was around.

Kina reached her hand out and placed it on Rosiano's arm. "Rosi, do you ever get the feeling of a dark presence around her?" She asked, knowing Rosiano was intune with the supernatural world like her father was.

Rosiano crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the locker beside her cousin. "Uh, not more than her usual moody, sarcastic, bully personality, why?" She asked skeptically. 

Kina opened her mouth to speak, hesitating on her choice of words. "I don't know. She rubs me the wrong way, and so does Coach Goldman." She explained, sensing something inhuman was shrouding them.

Rosiano raised her eyebrows and smirked a little. "Coach Goldman? I mean, yeah he can be a little insensitive to the lacrosse team, but isn't that most coaches?" 

Kina sighed heavily. "No, it's like, it's like he's Janus or something, you know? It's just a feeling I have when I'm around him." She tried to reason with her cousin. 

Rosiano wracked her brain for the name she was talking about. "That Roman God dude who has two faces? Do you mean a two-faced Lucy? Kina, you're being paranoid. Coach Goldman is just your average middle-age school coach who couldn't become a college coach and had to settle for pubescent teens."

Kina closed her locker and took a deep breath. "It just bugs me that I can't read him. I'm good at reading everyone else but he is like a blank page that someone wrote with invisible ink but no one knows that and can't figure out why the paper is blank!" She exclaimed, her breathing growing rapidly as she spoke.

Rosiano looped her arm with her cousins and grinned. "This is why you have no friends, besides being anti-social," She exclaimed, placing her free hand on her forehead. "Look, I'll walk you to your first class and then we part ways until the second period, okay?"

Kina simply nodded, looking down at the floor as she began to walk, arms linked with her cousin's, down the hallway. 

Rosiano's face lit up as if she had a lightbulb over her head flick on. "Oh, when we get to your English class you can borrow my The Great Gatsby since that's what Mr. Fujisaki is teaching." She recalled she had failed to mention that to Mr. Grove the night prior. 

Kina sighed softly, recalling the book all too well. It was a favorite of her mother and even had watched the '74 movie of the same name. "Out of all the books he had to pick that one?" She mumbled under her breath, looking down at the floor.

"I would have loved to do anything but that book, but it's what Mr. Fujisaki said since he loves the writing, mostly about how Fitzgerald speaks through Nick about Gatsby. I don't understand why, it's boring." Rosiano shrugged her shoulders casually.

Kina looked up at her cousin for a brief moment as she listened to her go on and on about how much she hated the book. 

Rosiano stopped at the classroom and pulled the book from her backpack, holding it out. "Here. I'll see you at lunch, okay?" She inquired, inwardly praying that school would go well for Kina. 

Kina took the book and smiled softly at her cousin. "Thanks. I'll, I'll see you at lunch." She replied in a small voice, scurrying into the room.

She located an empty seat by the window in the back of the classroom which she walked over too. She slipped into the chair and set her backpack beside her, placing the book on her desk.

She folded her arms on the table, resting her head on them with her eyes closed. Her eyes shot open a few moments later as she heard the voice of a female. "Well, well, well, look who showed up," 

Kina froze in her spot, seeing Carla sit on her chair, facing her. Her breathing hitched as she slouched in her chair, trying to ignore all the eyes now on her.

Carla snorted when she saw how Kina was trying to ignore her. "Oh come on, everyone is so glad that you're back in school. You've been missed, Kina." Her voice feigned sweetness just as fake as her smile. 

Kina tried to ignore her. She closed her eyes and hoped that she'd take a hint, turn around and wait for the teacher to start the class.

Carla did not take the hint and a Machiavellian grin grew across her lips. "Aww, am I making you uncomfortable? I'm sorry," She pouted, folding her arms on Kina's desk and resting her chin on them. "I'm just trying to be friendly since it seems you're SO uncomfortable being here."

Kina closed her eyes, trying her best to ignore her. 'Why can't she take a hint and leave me alone! Why does she do this too me? I wish Rosiano was here to handle her.' She thought to herself.

"Well, at least you're not covered in blood this time." Carla mentioned, knowing how queasy Kina got about the mention of blood.

Devon scowled, his eyes moving over to the troublesome teen. "Carla, leave her alone. Don't try and get a rise out of her, just turn around." He sharply told her, speaking up for the poor girl who was cowering in her seat. "This is her first day back, don't cause any trouble." 

Carla frowned, turning her attention over to the ex-emo kid. "Trouble? Devon, what trouble would I ever cause?" She asked, knowing it was more rhetorical than anything. "You don't even know her that well, it's not like you're friends."

"Just turn around and shut up." Devon chided, turning his attention back to the front of the class as Mr. Fujisaki rushed into class.

Clara huffed and turned around, flipping her hair from her face. She flopped open the book in front of her and tapped her foot on the floor. 'Just wait until lunch, Kina, just wait until lunch.' She thought, smirking. 

Kina glanced over at Devon and mouthed a thank you, to which he gave her a curt nod. 

Ren Fujisaki ran his hands through his disheveled salt and pepper hair, pushing up his glasses and magnifying the dark circles under his gray eyes. "Forgive me for being late. I hope you behaved yourself." He hurriedly said, rushing around and getting everything in order.

He opened his teacher's book and flipped through the pages, skimming through to see where he had left off the previous day. "Ah, so, we were talking about F. Scott Fitzgerald's book: The Great Gatsby," He opened his desk drawer and pulled out the book, flipping the pages to the sticky note he had placed where they left off.

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The clock ticked on and the class was coming to an end, Ren was ranting about the book and finally brought it to a close. 

"So, for your assignment, I want you to pick something - it can be anything - from the book and read way too far into it. Make what you picked sound well grounded even though it was never meant to seem that way. You could pick out the green light, for instance, say how the green symbolizes whatever when that wasn't originally meant."

He paused and itched behind his ear. "Uh, what I mean is, like most English teachers we tend to read too many things and make it mean something it never was meant to mean. This exercise will help you understand that sometimes we look for things that aren't there. We come up with answers for things that never needed to be answered. I think you will find it very informative. I want them by Friday so you have a few days to figure out what you will be writing about and I will need at least 500 words, 1,000 would be ideal and 2,000 would mean instant A plus - if it isn't wordy." He explained as the bell started to ring. "Class dismissed."

Once the bell rang, Kina scurried to gather up her books. She hadn't paid much attention to the class other than the latter when Mr. Fujisaki gave them their assignment. 

She looked over at Devon who was standing up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. She swallowed the lump in her throat as one by one the kids - including Carla - left the classroom. 

"Um, excuse me," Her voice was soft as she looked at Devon. "Uh, Devon?" She asked her voice a little louder than before. "Devon?"

When that didn't get his attention she reached out and poked his shoulder with her finger. "Um, excuse me, Devon?" She asked, her hands gripping the straps of her backpack so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

Devon turned his attention to Kina, raising his eyebrows. "Oh, Kina, yeah?" He replied in a questioning tone. "What is it?"

Kina took a deep breath and swallowed harshly. "I-I want t-to uh know w-why y-you stood u-up f-for me-me when you um d-don't know-know me?" She stammered, stumbling over her words, the blood rushing to her head.

Devon pursed his lips and nodded his head slowly. "You're welcome. I thought she was going too far and you didn't deserve that, especially with this being your first day back." He replied, stuffing his hands in his black jean pockets. "Heaven knows what she could have done if I didn't step in."

Kina couldn't help that her heart fluttered a little. "Well, um, thank you. It means a lot." She mustered up a smile to give Devon for his kind actions.

Devon shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, glancing down at his shoes. "You're welcome, again. Just try and get through the rest of the day, and Armani told me that your cousin is trying to get some classes with you so since we have a majority of the classes together, I'm going to switch places with her." He explained with a smile.

Kina's eyes widened and her jaw went slack a little bit. "Uh, what? Why, why would you do that?" She stammered, fidgeting with the sleeves on her hoodie.

"Honestly? I don't know. I just feel it would be the best thing. Your cousin can handle Carla much better than I can." Devon replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

Kina furrowed her brows. "Rosiano can handle Carla?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "But Rosiano is a wimpy noodle, she can't even lift a ten pound dumbbell."

Devon's lips formed an 'O' as he realized she had no clue what he was saying. "She never told you? I'd thought she would have," He shook his head and continued. "There have been multiple times that Rosiano got into a fight with Carla, both girls have landed in the principal's office over it."

"Fight? What caused her to fight? Rosiano has never fought with anyone! I know she challenges Carla to competition -" Kina explained, running a hand through her hair.

Devon shrugged his shoulders. "You should ask her. It'd be hearsay if I told you." He replied, walking towards the doorway. He paused for a moment in the doorway and turned back around to face Kina. "Don't listen to Carla. She's just lashing out for whatever reason, don't take it to heart." He said and then left the classroom.

Kina mulled over his words and sighed softly and walked towards the door. 

She stepped into the hallway and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long and exhausting school day, lunch couldn't come soon enough.

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A/N: 
So, this chapter was a little troublesome but in the end I finished it. You get introduced to three new characters (not including Mr. Fujisaki) who will be playing a huge part into the story. 

Chapter Talk: 
Kina is interesting to write. I didn't have much planned out for her, heck I had no clue what I was planning on doing with her. 
Yet, here I am, weaving her into the story along with her father and her cousin, Rosiano, who is a new character. 

Thanks for reading!