The New Girl
I remember the first time I saw Moonridge High.
The building looked older than I expected. Tall windows. Gray walls. Trees moving slowly in the morning wind like they were whispering to each other. Everything looked normal… but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Not wrong in a loud way.
Wrong in a quiet way.
The kind of wrong you feel, not see.
I stood in front of the school gate for a few seconds longer than I should have, holding the strap of my bag a little too tight. Students were walking past me, talking, laughing, complaining about homework like normal teenagers in a normal town.
I told myself to move.
It's just a school, Lina. Stop acting like you're walking into a horror movie.
I took a deep breath and walked inside.
The hallway was loud, full of noise and movement. Lockers slamming. Shoes squeaking on the floor. Someone laughing too loudly. Someone running and a teacher shouting, "Don't run in the hallway!"
Normal.
Everything was normal.
So why did I feel like everyone knew something I didn't?
I held my books against my chest and walked into my classroom. The teacher was already there, writing something on the board. When I walked in, she stopped talking and everyone turned to look at me.
I hate that moment.
The new girl moment.
"Class," the teacher said, smiling in that polite teacher way, "this is Lina Carter. She just moved here. Please make her feel welcome."
Some students smiled. Some didn't. Some just looked at me like I was something new on Netflix.
I nodded slightly and walked to the empty seat near the window. I always choose the seat near the window. I like being able to look outside when I want to stop thinking.
I sat down, put my bag on the floor, opened my notebook, took a pen…
And that's when I felt it.
That feeling.
Like someone was looking at me.
Not just looking.
Watching.
I tried to ignore it at first. I kept my eyes on my notebook, pretending to listen to the teacher, but the feeling didn't go away. It became stronger, heavier, like a weight on the side of my face.
So I slowly turned my head.
There was a boy sitting in the back of the class.
Dark hair. Pale skin. And eyes that were already looking at me.
Not in a normal way.
Not like oh, the new girl.
He was looking at me like he recognized me.
Like he was trying to remember something.
Our eyes met for a second, and I felt something strange in my chest. Not pain. Not fear. Just… something tight, like my body didn't like this moment.
So I looked away quickly and pretended to write something in my notebook.
But I couldn't focus.
I could still feel his eyes on me.
I told myself: Don't look again.
So of course, I looked again.
He was still looking at me.
He didn't smile.
He didn't look away.
He just watched me like I was a puzzle and he was trying to solve it.
Why is he staring at me like that? I thought.
For the rest of the class, I didn't hear a single word the teacher said. Every few minutes, I looked up, and every time, his eyes were already on me.
By the time the bell rang, I was the first one to start putting my books in my bag. I just wanted to leave the classroom, get some air, and stop feeling like I was being studied like a science experiment.
I was almost out when I heard a voice behind me.
"Hi."
I froze.
Just for a second.
Then I turned around slowly.
It was him.
Up close, he looked a little older than the other students. Or maybe just more serious. His eyes were light, but cold in a way I couldn't explain. Not mean. Not rude. Just… cold.
"Hi," he said again. "You're new."
His voice was calm, soft, controlled. Like he was the kind of person who never raised his voice.
"Yes," I said. "I just moved here."
"I'm Adrian," he said.
"Lina," I replied.
"I know," he said quietly.
I frowned a little. "How do you know?"
For a moment, he just looked at me. Not at my eyes. Not at my face. At me. Like he was checking if I was real.
Then he smiled a little. A very small smile.
"Small town," he said. "Everyone knows everything."
I smiled a little too. "That's a little scary."
"Moonridge is a little scary," he said.
I laughed, but he didn't.
He was still looking at me with that same strange look, like he knew something and wasn't sure if he should tell me.
We walked out into the hallway together. Students were everywhere, talking, moving, living normal lives.
"So," he said, "do you like Moonridge?"
"I just arrived," I said. "So I don't know yet. But it looks like a quiet town."
Adrian looked at me for a few seconds before saying, "It's quiet… but not safe."
I looked at him. "Not safe? What do you mean?"
He didn't answer immediately. He just looked around the hallway, like he was making sure no one was listening.
Then he looked back at me and said quietly:
"You should be careful at night."
"Why?" I asked.
He stopped walking.
I stopped too.
He looked straight into my eyes, and for the first time, I felt something close to fear.
"Because," he said slowly,"not everyone in this town is human."
I stared at him for a few seconds.
Then I laughed a little, but it sounded nervous even to me. "That's not funny."
"I'm not joking," Adrian said.
And the way he said it… didn't sound like a joke at all.
Before I could ask anything else, he turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd of students like the conversation never happened.
I stood there for a few seconds, not moving.
"Okay," I whispered to myself. "He is definitely strange."
That night, I was sitting on my bed with my notebook.
Writing always helped me think. When my thoughts were too loud, I wrote them down so they could be quiet on paper instead of loud in my head.
I opened my notebook and started writing.
Dear Diary,Today was my first day at Moonridge High School.Everything looks normal. The school, the students, the teachers. Everything is normal.So why do I feel like something is wrong?
I stopped writing for a moment, then continued.
There is a boy named Adrian. He says this town is not safe and that not everyone here is human.He was probably joking.But the way he looked at me… it felt like he knew me.And I know that's impossible.
I stared at the page for a long time before writing the last sentence.
I feel like something is about to happen.Something that will change my life.
I closed the notebook, turned off the light, and lay down in bed.
A few minutes later, I fell asleep.
I didn't know that I wasn't the only one awake that night.
Outside, the street was dark and empty. The wind moved the trees slowly, making shadows dance on the walls of the houses.
On the roof of my house, there was someone standing there.
Watching my window.
He looked down at the glass, at the room where I was sleeping, his eyes cold and focused.
"So," he whispered, "she's back."
He smiled a little.
"And she really does look like her."
He jumped down from the roof silently and walked toward my window, stopping just in front of it. He looked inside for a few seconds, watching me sleep like I was something important.
Something valuable.
Something dangerous.
"This is going to be interesting," he said quietly.
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
And I kept sleeping, not knowing that my new life in Moonridge had already begun.