Chapter 1

I couldn't help but think my deskmate, Adeline Jenson, was a bit crazy.

When people picked on her or made fun of her, she just lowered her head, like she was born to be a target.

The guys would leer and snicker, calling her "Big Boobs." The girls would sneer and say she was a "closet freak." She'd just hunch over, curl up, and sneak off to cry somewhere no one could see.

But then one day, I was hiding out on the roof, having a smoke. That was when I saw her grab Ryan Carter, the school bully, by the head. Her face was completely blank when she lit his hair on fire.

*****

My name is Ethan Brooks. I was a new transfer student. I hadn't been there long.

I didn't expect much from the new place. Honestly, I just wanted to coast through until graduation without any drama.

But my deskmate, Adeline, made my plan to just lie low a little more exciting.

She seemed like she belonged in another era.

Her bangs were thick and covered half her face, and those black-framed glasses looked glued to her nose. She always wore a faded uniform that was always a size too big for her. It just swallowed her up. People couldn't even tell what her figure was like underneath.

She always carried a faint scent of soap. Clean, sure, but it felt out of place in a school as restless and shallow as ours.

She kept to herself and never talked to anyone. In class, she was always the most invisible person.

But being invisible just made her an easy target.

Ryan, the school bully, sat right behind her. His dad was on the school board, so Ryan was rich and influential. No one dared to cross him.

His favorite thing was poking Adeline in the back with his pen.

"Hey, Big Boobs, do my homework," he'd say.

Adeline would flinch, then quietly take his notebook and start working on it.

Ryan's girlfriend, Joanna Miller, the class beauty, would hang out with her crew, pointing at Adeline and laughing shrilly behind her back.

"Look at her hair. It's so greasy you could fry an egg on it," one of them would snicker.

"And the way she walks, all hunched over. So gross," another would add.

Sometimes, they'd "accidentally" spill water on Adeline's chair.

She'd have no choice but to stand through the whole class. Afterward, she'd quietly wipe it up with a tissue.

She never fought back or tattled.

Behind those thick glasses, her eyes were always downcast, lifeless, like dead water, never showing a hint of emotion.

Watching her got to me. More than once, I wanted to say something. But then I'd remember I just wanted to keep my head down and stay out of it, so I held back.

Less trouble was better.

*****

Everything shifted that afternoon, during the last P.E. class.

I didn't feel like moving, so I faked a stomachache and snuck up to the rooftop of a school building.

This was my secret spot. I could sneak a smoke there, look at the city skyline in the distance, and just zone out.

I'd just lit up and taken a drag when the rooftop door creaked open.

Without thinking, I hid the cigarette behind my back. I thought it was one of the deans.

But it was Adeline.

She didn't notice me and headed straight to the other side of the rooftop.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd just wait for her to leave, then light up again.

But a few seconds later, the door creaked open again.

This time, it was Ryan, along with his sidekick, Jake Turner.

"Run all you want," Ryan said mockingly, blocking Adeline's way. "Why don't you try running again, Big Boobs?"

Jake grinned more wickedly. "Look at her, Ryan. She's so scared that she can barely stand."

Adeline cowered in the corner, shaking like a leaf caught in the autumn wind.

"I... I don't have any money left," she whispered, her voice so soft, like a mosquito's buzz.

"No money?" Ryan stepped forward, grabbed her hair, and forced her to look up. "Don't tell me you can't figure something out. I gave you those limited-edition sneakers last week to sell. Where's the cash?"

All the color drained from her face.

"My... my mom washed them," she stammered.

"Fuck!" Ryan slapped her across the face, the sharp sound echoing across the empty rooftop.

Adeline's glasses flew off. A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.

She clutched her face, without shedding a single tear, just trembling.

I crushed my cigarette into the ground. Anger was boiling inside me. I was ready to step out.

Even if it meant getting myself into trouble, I couldn't stand there and watch a girl get treated like that.

But what happened next left me completely stunned.

Ryan was still fired up. He pulled out a lighter and started clicking it open and shut in front of Adeline's face.

"Hey, if I light up your greasy hair, you think it'll go up in flames?" he sneered.

Jake was bent over laughing beside him.

Just as Ryan brought the flame close to her bangs, Adeline, who'd been standing there like a statue this whole time, suddenly sprang to life.

She moved like a bolt of lightning.

One hand shot out and grabbed Ryan's wrist, the one holding the lighter. The other hand took the back of his head and slammed it down.

His face slammed into the concrete railing with a heavy thud. He let out a muffled groan.

The lighter was knocked from his hand and hit the ground.

Adeline picked it up and clicked it back on.

Her face stayed blank. Without her glasses, her eyes looked like two bottomless pits. No anger. No fear. Just an icy, deadly stillness.

She grabbed Ryan's hair and pulled his head up.

Blood trickled down his face from the gash on his forehead. He cried out in pain, his eyes filled with pure terror.

"You... you're fucking crazy!" he shouted.

Adeline ignored him. She brought the flame right up to his hair.

Jake stood there frozen, pointing at her. He could barely stammer out. "What... what are you doing?"

Then the acrid stench of burning hair hit my nose.

Ryan's hair caught fire instantly. Flames burst up with a loud whoosh.

"Aaaah!" Ryan's blood-curdling scream shattered the peace of the entire school.

He started slapping frantically at the flames on his head. Jake snapped out of it, ripped off his school jacket, and started beating at the fire like crazy.

But Adeline just let go and took a step back.

She looked at Ryan, rolling on the ground, coldly, like he was nothing more than a dying cockroach.

Then she bent down, picked up her glasses, and slipped them back on. She turned and walked toward the rooftop door.

She pushed it open and passed right by the water tank where I was hiding.

Not once did she make a sound. Not from start to finish.