​     Nexus day, minus one year:​

     In school, Axel Clemons was both the smallest and smartest boy in the senior class.

​     Which is to say, he always got bullied. 

​     The night of the last school dance of the year, it all kind of came to a head. 

     He almost felt he had to sneak in. That's how bad the bullying had gotten for him. He paid at the entrance, then stuck to the sides of the auditorium where the aluminum chairs were set up. Usually, he'd never go near a school dance. He went to this dance for one single reason. 

​     Her name was Anna. Anna Wrede. 

​     They sat next to each other in German class. She was the mousy type, small and frail and wearing eyeglasses that made her eyes look huge and round. At first, they whispered to each other only about what the teacher said, helping each other understand the lessons. Then, as the semester passed, the conversation became more about each other. They found they had the same sense of humor. They weren't the kind of people who laughed out loud very often. They were more the low, ironic chuckle types. Downside: she had a "boyfriend". and not just any boyfriend, but a two hundred pound bruiser named Rory Jarrett. 

     Asshole. 

     Everyone said so. 

​     Everyone but Anna. 

​     And she didn't dare. 

     She showed up at school with a black eye once. Another time, she seemed to find it hard to raise her arm in class because of some ache in her shoulder. The teachers whispered to each other about Rory and Anna, but nothing was ever really done.                                                                                                                         On that day, just as they were leaving class, Anna muttered, "By the way, I'm going to the dance tonight. You?"

​     Axel shrugged. In fact, until that moment, he'd had no intention of going. He hated to dance. He didn't have an ounce of rhythm, and he didn't have a clue how someone might fake that. Also, talk about places where bullies showed up en masse, drunk and high and full of themselves and with very little supervision around. But, if Anna was going to go...no, wait a second.

     "You going with Rory?" he asked.  

     "Well, no, not really. He doesn't like going to dances. He says they're only for idiots and snobs. To be honest, I'm not even sure I'm going to tell him that..."

     "You're not going to tell him?"

     "Well, I'm not going to lie. He just doesn't have to know is all. He's usually with his hoodlum friends on Saturday night, anyway. I'm usually just in the way. I mean, I am a senior. I want to go to at least one dance before I graduate."

​CONTINUE