I groaned as I felt Jase’s wake up call in the form of a slap.

“Argh, what did I miss?”

“Oh nothing much, Connor, teacher’s just calling,” said Jase with a yawn. It was a boring lecture about the !Kung Bushmen and I was sorely tempted to toss my shoe at the teacher and start jeering. Yup that’s me, Mr Mature.

“Mr Dalton, I hope I haven’t bored you to sleep with this wonderful discussion about the fearsome !Kung bushmen.

Crap! He realised! “No sir!”

“So I expect you should perform magnificently on next week’s test then. Nothing short of an A?”

“A-xactly!”

I couldn’t resist. As I lowered my head, I could practically feel him trying to bore a hole in my head just by staring. And of course, that’s when she came. Halfway through the word, I could hear a giggle. Ain’t I just lucky today? Anyway, this stunningly gorgeous babe stood there at the door, failing miserably to cover her laughter. It wasn’t anything in particular, but her features just came together so... how would I put it? Perfectly, that’s it. Doe eyes with fair rosy cheeks, her body tall and slim, slightly muscled like a gymnast, you could probably guess what all of them red blooded males in my class were doing. Their gawking was so obvious that even Mr Raswell was shaking his head. I, on the other hand, sank onto my desk in utterly misery at the prospect of getting coerced to ace another test. I could almost swear that my mum put Mr Raswell up to it as a ploy to have me achieve straight A's.

Anyway, I digress. Then, she started to ask, “Excuse me sir, but is this advanced history?”

“Of course, this would hardly be the science lab would it?”

Well that’s a shock, Mr Raswell getting snarky. “Hey Jase, what was her name again?”

“Dude, you have got to stop staying up late. Connor, besides, I didn’t catch it either,” Jason replied, grinning. I shook my head as I laid back onto my chair, willing the class to end.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the new girl kept following me around. History, Physics, Chemistry... well you get the idea. And let me get this straight, I didn’t insinuate anything akin to remote interest in any of our interactions. In fact, we didn’t even communicate. So there I was sitting in Advanced Calculus, and as I was slumping forward, I felt my neck bristling. Lo and behold, there she was when I turned to glance around. Who is this girl? Better yet, what game is she playing? Halfway through class, after wondering what was happening, I finally snapped.

“Please excuse my insolence and sorry for prying miss, but whom might you be?”

“You don’t know?”

“Well now, I would hardly ask if I had already knew would I? Things took a turn for the worst when she started smirking, a mischievous glint in her eyes lighting up as she casually leaned back against her chair.

“Well, I guess you’ll find out sometime.”

Finally, an answer. “Too bad it’s not going to be now.”

What did she mean? Why is she acting so familiar? Man! Why do weird things happen to me? I sighed in exasperation at her response and settled into an uneasy silence as I tried (but failed) to process the lesson.

If you think that was as awkward as it got, think again. My world got a heck of a lot worst and it pretty much went downhill. But then again, it happens to me all the time so there isn’t much diff... never mind. Anyway, back to the story. In boxing, one of the few rare moments when I can relax (I think it’s the adrenalin and the fact that I’m beating up some poor dude). There she was, sitting in plain sight, smirking ever so faintly. Needless to say, I pretty much pounded my opponent in frustration.

After a couple of matches (and a few yelling matches with the coach), I left the gym after a fitfully freezing cold shower. Then as I marched up to the streetlight, guess who standing there already waiting? Her. Grumbling, I sighed in exasperation as I gave up and headed her way.

“Hi.”

“Hello.”

We stood there in awkward silence as we waited for the light to blink green. I tapped my fingers nervously, as I stood there, hoping to high heavens for this excruciating moment to end. As the light flickered to green, I heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly made my way across. “At last, some down time,” I thought, when all at once guilt threatened to overwhelm me. What have I done? Ditching a girl by the side of the road, what kind of guy am I?

Turning back to check on the girl, I felt hair bristling against my left, accompanied by a husky voice whispering into my ear. “Looking for me I presume? I must say, awfully touched. I think I feel my eyes tearing up.” I turned to see her face swathed by her hair, a sarcastically emotional expression plastered upon her face.

“Yes, as a point of fact I was. Would you give me the honour of walking you home?” As the words left my mouth, I willed myself to behave as my agitation dissipated.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. Such a display of gallantry deserves a round of applause.” As she clapped mockingly, my clenched fist relaxed in exasperation. “So that’s a no then?”

“Oh, but how could I ever refuse such honour?” I groaned at the utter irony. “And just when I thought I was rid of you...” I replied teasingly. Finally, I followed her as we made our way to her home.

Playful bantering and sarcasm aside, she was kind of nice. I mean besides the insults, and the faces, and the... okay never mind. So, for half an hour, we walked along routes seeming vaguely similar. That was when it hit me, the girl and I were walking along the path leading to my house. As I puzzled through this mystery, a thought occurred to me.

“Um... are you my neighbour or something? You are, aren’t you?”

“Now what d’ya know, he’s brain dead. What in tarnation could have caused such a thought?”

“So, I take it that you ain’t,” I asked, deeply puzzled.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she replied slyly. Mind boggled, I tried futilely to unravel this intricate mystery, but alas to no avail. Then, I dug myself deeper.

“So, you’re like not my neighbour then?”

“Well duh!” The girl glanced at me incredulously. “Wow, if this is the best the male species has to offer, there ain’t much hope for you guys.”

“Tell that to Einstein and Edison and.. and some other famous dude like ah... Galileo.” As I rambled on, she started giggling as I tried to defend the honor of all male kind. Looks like it failed huh? As I tried to salvage what was left of my dignity, turning around the corner was my house. And this was when everything became interesting.

“Ah, finally we’re here. It’s kind of late so would you be a gentleman and open the door for a lady my good sir,” the girl asked, a grin evidently showing.

“But...but ..but,” I stammered, at a complete lost for words.

“No more buts mister. Sheesh, and here I thought you were chivalrous.”

Stunned in shock at this new revelation, I stared at her dumbly as I fumbled with my keys. No surprise that it took me at least three tries to get the door open. Have you ever felt like the world went nuts? I certainly felt like it. Entering my house, the pathway from the front led into a warm, cosy house with furniture neatly arranged in impeccable order and as I turned on the lights, soft, warm lights covered the house. “What’s wrong with the main switch?” the girl asked as she flipped on the rest of the lights. Tearing in agony as the lights blinded me, I quickly flicked my wrist on the switch, ridding myself of the excruciating ache that left me wincing in agony.

“Please don’t. These lights are bright enough to light up a carnival in an abyss and I would rather not enjoy the splitting pain it left in my brain.”

“Huh?”

“I’m more of a night time type of guy and lighting a room with such blinding glare isn’t much fun. Normally my folks just turn on these ones ‘cause it’s bright enough.”

“Vampire are you? she questioned.

“Ha ha, very funny,” I replied, “I just prefer sleeping and the lack of intense brightness that comes with it.”

Nodding her head at my statement, she commented. “I would think so too. Either way those lights could blind somebody.” Just as I was about to agree, I was interrupted.

“Connor! Connor, is that you? We thought we saw your shoes outside. Who’s pair is next to yours?” Startled, I tried in vain to come up with some plausible explanation for.... “Lily? Is that you? How nice to see you,” said my dad, as he turned round the corner. Lily, her name is Lily? Wait, and how did dad know her? Who is she? Various thoughts and connections spun through my mind as I tried to decipher what was going on. What was going on?

So we went through the mundane process of greeting, maintaining our behaviour, being cordial and polite, etc. It was rather unfortunate for me as I rambled through the procedures, hastily trying to make sense of this “familiarity” that ensued. Alien? Nah. Shapeshifter? Maybe. Alternate reality? Almost positive. Is the gravity going to pull me upward now? As my thought clouded my mind, a voice started to appear in the background, and by the time I realized who was talking, I missed the introduction. Ah well, all in a day’s work.

“So Lily is going to be staying with us for a while and we hope you’ll get along nicely.” Ok... weird. “Oh and son, she’s your betrothed. Your marriage is in 10 days.” I stood there in a daze as I absorbed this, wondering to myself. Maybe I can still get my debit card and go somewhere else. The Alps maybe?

“Pardon me, dad, but could I trouble you to repeat those words. “She’s your god sister, and she’s staying here for 10 days. Ok.... going into total denial in 3...2...1. I’m pretty sure my face was flushed, and probably blushing. Uh heck, it was. What a splendid 10 days this is gonna be...