Chapter One

I sit on my front steps waiting for my sister, Maggie, to pick me up for school. She has to pick me up because she stayed at a friend's house finishing off a school project. I am so cold that my hands start to feel numb. I dig around in my backpack until I find my black school gloves and quickly pull them on. I'm just pulling out my copy of the giver to read before my afternoon English class, when Maggie shows up and beeps her horn. Grabbing my backpack I run to the car and climb in as I place my backpack in the backseat. Once my door is closed, she heads off down the road and I quickly fasten my seat belt.

Ten minutes later we pull into the school parking lot. I grab my backpack and climb out.

"I'll see you this afternoon," I tell her before racing off.

When I enter the school halls, I slow down and head to my locker. I quickly open it and grab out my maths, biology and physics books. Just as I shut my locker, I hear the bell ring and realize that I am going to be late to class. I set off running down the halls. I round the corner to the science rooms and run into someone, knocking the books out of my hands. I quickly stoop down to pick them up. When I go to grab them I see a pair of tanned, rough and calloused hands grab them.

"I'm sorry," I say as I stand.

I look at the person who has helped me as I grab my books and see a pair of mahogany brown eyes. I feel dazed for a couple of seconds before I come to my senses.

"I'm sorry, I'm late," I say and race past him.

As I go into the physics lab, I look back and see him staring at me. I head into the lab and quickly find my seat at the front of the room.

"Thank you for joining us, Miss Summers," my teacher Mr. Thompson says before turning back to his lecture.

I open my notebook to copy the notes off the board and end up daydreaming about mahogany brown eyes.
By the time Physics is over, I have forgotten everything that I just learned.

I slowly make my way to the Biology classroom and see that the lab benches are setup for an experiment. I take my seat at the bench I've been assigned and wait. The rest of the class slowly trickle in, take their seats and chat while waiting for class to start. Just as class is about to start I hear a deep voice talking to Mr. Frazier, I look up just as he turns around and see the same pair of mahogany eyes from earlier. This time I notice the rest of him. He has light brown hair, a medium muscular build, an angular jaw, and is fairly tall. I drop my head quickly, thinking that he'll pick someone else to work with, so I am genuinely surprised when I hear the chair next to mine being pulled out.

"Hi, I'm Nick," I hear the voice come from beside me. "What's your name?"

"O-Oasis," I manage to stammer out just as Mr. Frazier calls the class to order.

After a couple of moments the class settles down.

"Okay, class, today we will be doing a dissection," he says pressing a button on a small control hidden in his hand.

I look at the image projected on the white board and instantly feel sick to my stomach. I lay my head down on the bench and try to settle my stomach. After a minute or two I realize that I'm not going to be able to do the dissection. When Mr. Frazier finishes giving his instructions, he tells us to get started. I hear Nick shift in his chair.

"Oasis, are you okay?" I hear Nick say as I feel a hand touch my back.

"I don't think I can do the dissection," I tell him truthfully.

He goes silent. After a couple of seconds, I look up to see his hand in the air and lay my head back down on the bench.

"Sir, Oasis isn't feeling well and she doesn't think she'll be able to do the dissection," Nick says after another minute or two and I lift my head to see Mr. Frazier standing there. "So I was wondering if I could take her outside to sit while everyone else does the experiment?"

"Yes, but under the willow tree just outside that window," Mr Frazier says, pointing at the tree he means through window.

"Yes, Sir, we will," Nick says standing up and grabbing his backpack.

I quickly follow his lead and sling my backpack over my shoulder. I go to grab my books, but Nick grabs them before I can.

"I've got these," he says and leads me out the backdoor of the room, not giving me a chance to respond.

We quietly make our way along the garden path to where the tree is. We sit and I pull my copy of the giver out of my bag.

"The Giver," Nick says as a smile spreads across his face. "I love that book."
"Me too," I say turning to face him.

We start talking about the book and eventually we end up talking about classes and teachers until the bell rings, alerting us that class have ended.