When we arrived at school, Jared parked his car and we walked together toward the entrance. I saw his group of friends standing around. Tyler spotted us first, he was surprised to see us there. The rest of them turned around to see what had caught Tyler's attention. They all looked surprised as Jared walked toward them tugging me along.

"Are you sure you should be here?" Tyler asked me as soon as we joined the group.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I told him. From what I had gathered in the past few days, Tyler seemed to be second in charge. He looked toward Jared for reassurance. Jared just shrugged his shoulders and said, "She says she's fine."

"You look good," Neve said. The last time they'd seen me I'd been writhing in agony on the comforter in the clearing—it didn't take much to look better than that.

"I'm glad you're okay." It was Felicity. It was one of the few times she looked at me without giving me a dirty look. She looked genuinely interested in my welfare and I was taken aback.

"Thanks," I said, unsure of how to act around this new version of her. Maybe with everything, she'd gotten over her jealousy. I was glad. It made things easier.

I scanned the front entrance for my friends. Kennedy and Stacy were waiting for me.

"I need to go and say hi to my friends," I said to Jared. I let go of his hand and gave him a quick kiss of the lips.

"See you later," I said as I let go of him and walked toward Kennedy and Stacy.

"Where have you been?" Stacy was the first one to start questioning.

"I was sick." Technically it was correct.

"I tried to call you but you didn't answer or return any of my calls." Kennedy sounded upset.

"Sorry, I was really out of it," I tried to explain. I knew it was a weak excuse.

"Okay, but next time at least text us," Kennedy said as she hooked her arm through mine. "We were worried."

"I will."

"Come on, girls, we need to get our books," Stacy reminded as we walked together back into school.

It was nice to be back at school with my friends. The past couple of weeks had been so hectic. My normal had changed. My normal would never be the same. I was different now. And that was okay.

I turned back to sneak a peek back at Jared. My boyfriend. There he stood among his friends. They were laughing about something. Just looking at them, they looked like normal teenagers. Nobody watching them would think they weren't ordinary humans. If they could handle the constant threat from the Hue, I could handle being different.

Jared looked up and caught me sneaking a peek. He smiled and winked. I still couldn't believe this beautiful, complicated guy was mine. I was happy. I winked back and turned around and walked into the school with my friends.

I had tons of work to catch up on from the days I'd been off school and I wasn't looking forward to it. The anxious feeling and the feeling of missing something remained when I wasn't with Jared. But as soon as the lunchtime bell went and I saw him waiting outside the cafeteria for me, I was relieved. A quick touch brought me peace and sense of belonging. I could definitely get used to that feeling.

Jared and his group of friends joined my friends and me at lunchtime. We didn't have enough seats for everyone at one table so we pushed two tables together and we all sat down and ate our lunch together.

Stacy and Kennedy were initially taken by surprise and were a little shy to start off with but after a little while they warmed up to everyone. It wasn't long before Stacy was yapping their ears off. She could talk. Most girls could talk a lot, but Stacy talked so much that she was in a league of her own.

Andrew also joined us. He and Tyler were having a heated discussion about football. Even Felicity and Neve were taking part in the conversation. All these people meant something to me in one way or another and it was nice that they were getting along.

I sat between Danny and Jared at the table. My eyes held Jared's and we sat there, looking at each other. We were enjoying the fact that everything was going to work out okay. Everything up to this point had been unsure and stressful. The stress of whether I was going to survive the altering, the stress of whether I would be turned into a Hue... We could finally relax. Everything was going to be okay.

His eyes flickered to my lips and then back to my eyes. I smiled and leaned forward and kissed him. I was so happy right then. Everything was going right for a change. While everyone around us continued to talk and eat their lunch, Jared and I held hands and watched everyone around us interact together.

"Your friend, Stacy, talks a lot," Danny said to me as everyone was finishing his or her lunches.

"Yeah, I know. You'll get used to it," I told him. I knew from experience. He gave me a doubtful look.

"Thanks for coming to sit with us," I said to him. He looked at me and smiled.

"You don't have to thank me. You're one of us now and we look after our own," he replied. His words made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"Thanks." I'd never felt I'd belonged anywhere, but among my friends and the Archaic, I knew I belonged.

The bell for the end of lunch rang. Jared walked me out of the cafeteria and toward my next class. The rest of the day flew by and the next time I looked, my school day was nearly finished. As the bell for the end of school rang, I got my school bag and walked out of my last class for the day. I could get used to boring days like this.

I went into the girl's bathroom on my way to my locker. I did what I needed and then washed my hands.

I was about to pick up my school bag and walk out of the bathroom when I felt a surge of energy inside. It was so powerful that I lost my balance and fell onto my side.

Ouch! That was definitely going to leave a bruise. I sat up and rubbed my now aching side.

What had happened?

I'd never experienced something like that before. Maybe this was a side effect of changing into an Archaic. The emotionless episodes had just been a Hue side effect, so it made sense that the Archaic change would have a side effect of its own. Still rubbing my side, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this side effect at all.

I stood up. I felt a tingle in my hand. What the hell? I opened my hand and stared at my palm.

I blinked.

Was I seeing things? It wasn't possible, was it? No matter how much I blinked or tried to explain it away, I continued to see it in the palm of my hand. Right there in front of me, in the palm of my hand, was a blue spark of energy.

Blue?

The Archaic and Hue's energy was white. Why was mine blue?