De Ja Vu

In the quiet classroom, I sat in the back corner and flipped through the pages of a book as I waited for class to start. Every day, I would come in early to avoid the crowds of students and to read before the din of voices filled the room. My classmates learned early on that if I had a book on my desk, I was not to be disturbed.

Only today, that rule was violated. I had just finished chapter 16 when a hand tapped my shoulder.

"Hello," said a female voice I swore I recognized, but it belonged to a face I did not.

Trying not to glare at the girl staring down at me with amethyst eyes, I said shortly, "Hi." Then I attempted to revert my attention back to the book.

Of course, she would not have this. "What are you reading?" she asked before sliding gracefully into the desk beside me, flipping a strand of long platinum hair over her shoulder.

I sighed, "It's nothing," and marked my page with a bookmark, finally resigned to talking with this new girl. She held a permanent smile on her face as she watched me place my book carefully in my bag and return my attention to her.

"Um...okay." She looked like she had more to say but kept her mouth shut, biting her lip until the words finally burst from her. "I'm Amara Phalen. I'm new here." She thrust a hand towards me.

I shook it slowly. "Danyka Sword," I told her.

Amara shook my hand with enthusiasm. "Nice to meet you Danyka! I'm sure we're going to be good friends." Her smile widened.

I found myself smiling easily with her. With that attitude, how could I not? Soon after this, however, the rest of the class began to file in, and Amara let me return to my book while she introduced herself to more people. I quickly became immersed in the story again as the noise around me increased. It wasn't until it quieted again that I put the book back in my bag to replace it with a notebook as Mr. Johnson, the math teacher, had finally arrived to start class.

The final morning bell rang as he wrote the day's date on the board, and not ten seconds later, another new student burst through the door, slightly out of breath, but looking like he didn't really care that he was late.

"You must be..." Mr. Johnson began, glancing at his class list, "Blaze Karsh, yes?"

The boy flashed a grin. "Yes, Sir."

"Well, Mr. Karsh, since you're already standing, why don't you introduce yourself to the class, and I'll forget to mark you tardy."

Blaze turned to address the class with an arrogant smirk. "Hey," he said, saluting with his right hand. "I'm Blaze." He then went to find a seat as the class laughed at his abrupt introduction and at the blank expression from our teacher.

Blaze's eyes met mine briefly when he sat in the empty desk in front of me. I froze. They were emerald green. I recognized the color, but the memory was fuzzy. I spend the rest of the class considering where I'd seen it before--and why it bothered me that I couldn't remember.

When the bell tolled the end of class, in a hurry to get out, Blaze and Amara collided, their books spilling onto the floor.

"Look what you did!" Amara exclaimed.

"Look what I did?" Blaze said. "You knocked it over!"

My own books fell from my grasp. The two looked at me in confusion as the feeling of de ja vu intensified at their words.