Casey stared up at the flock of birds flying up above, observing their flight patterns. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind their movements, but her grey eyes followed them anyway, cataloging everything they did. After several moments, she reached a hand up towards them as if to grab one even though they were way too far for her to even touch them.

  "Casey, it's time to wake up," a voice suddenly said.

  In an instant, the foggy dark place she had been in was replaced by a familiar bedroom. She blinked a couple of times before lowering her raised hand and placing it next to her on the bed.

  That dream again. What does it mean?

  For the past month, she had been dreaming of that weird place filled with birds. While she was obsessed with birds—she wasn't blind to how much her love for birds could be off-putting to some people like her friends—she didn't think she would start dreaming about them nonstop.

  It had to be some kind of sign, but what?

  Unfortunately, she wasn't one of those fortune tellers who could decipher the meaning behind her dreams.

  She reluctantly sat up and scanned her room. Her eyes swept over the furniture and decorations until they landed on the slightly opened door that her mother must have left after checking up on her. Temporarily pushing all thoughts about her dream to the side, she quickly got dressed and hurried downstairs to find her parents peacefully eating breakfast. Neither of them glanced up as she sat down and grabbed a piece of bread to slather in butter and sugar.

  Casey was nibbling on her bread when her mother finally glanced up and asked, "Dear, did you have that dream again?"

  She nodded.

  When she first dreamt about it, she hadn't thought much about it. She had simply thought she had been reading too many bird books before going to bed, but after dreaming about it for over a week, she had finally spilled to her parents about it, hoping they had answers. Regrettably, neither of her parents had any answers for her. They were just regular office workers, not psychics.

  Her mother frowned. "Maybe we should consult a doctor or someone with more experience."

  "It's fine," Casey said before her mother could go any further. "It's just a dream. A dream never hurt anyone."

  "Are you sure you're okay?" her father asked. "We're here for you. If it's really bothering you, we'll find someone to help."

  "No, it's nothing. It's just birds flying. It's not like they're attacking me or something."

  Despite how creepy her surroundings had been in the dream, nothing really happened. The birds never flew towards her or showed any sign they knew she was there despite what she did. Honestly, it was quite peaceful compared to some of the dreams she heard her friends had. One of them mentioned being eaten by an alien blob.

  Getting up from her seat, Casey said, "I should get going. I don't want to be late for school."

  Casey gave both her parents a kiss, which they returned, before grabbing her backpack and rushing out the door. As she made her way to the bus stop, she glanced up at the sky, careful to avoid looking directly at the sun.

  The sky was clear with only a few white clouds passing by.

  She didn't see any birds, much to her disappointment, and looked toward the bus stop where several other kids were waiting. One of the kids noticed her and waved her over.

  Once she was close enough, the kid said, "Good morning, bird boy."

  "Heya, bad breath," she said in return.

  "Not today. I made sure to brush my teeth."

  "That's a shock. Is the world ending or something?"

  "No, my parents threatened to ground me if I'm not careful about my teeth. I just went to the dentist last week to get a filling."

  "Oh, I forgot about that."

  "I'm not surprised, birdbrain. All you think about is birds."

  "Not true."

  "So you didn't try looking for birds this morning?"

  "...Shut up."

  The arrival of the bus stopped further conversation as the kids boarded the bus. The duo managed to snag a seat close to the front and settled down. Once all the kids were seated, the bus rolled down the street to pick up the next batch of kids. The two continued to chat about random things until someone walked up to their seat.

  "Casey, Tanner, you got the front row seats. Can I join?" the newcomer asked.

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  "Ira, sure," Casey said as she scooted closer to the window.

  As soon as all three were seated comfortably in the seat, Ira whispered conspiratorially, "Guess what?"

  "What?"

  "I heard a new kid is coming to our school."

  "Where did you hear that?" Tanner asked.

  Ira simply smirked. "I have my ways."

  Casey rolled her eyes. "Just tell us about the new kid already. What are they like?"

  "Don't know."

  Tanner and Casey stared before the former asked, "What do you mean you don't know?"

  "I don't know."

  "Didn't you just say you had your ways of knowing stuff?" Casey asked dryly.

  "Hey, it was really last minute. Apparently, their first day is today. I couldn't get any more details."

  "Do you think they'll be joining our class?" Tanner asked.

  "Maybe. Who knows?"

  The conversation quickly shifted to another topic, but the knowledge of a new student showing up tickled at the back of Casey's mind.

  A new student was a pretty big deal. Given the size of the town, it couldn't be anyone from around town. They had to be an outsider; however, no one had mentioned anything about anyone moving to the town. News like that would have spread already. Perhaps it was a distant relative of someone in town deciding to finish their schooling here.

  She grimaced.

  While she liked her school, she knew it wasn't exactly the first place people thought about transferring to. There was nothing special about it, so it wasn't like people were foaming at the mouth to go there.

  Well, it's not like it has anything to do with me. It's not certain they would be in the classroom with us anyway.

  The rest of the bus ride continued as normal, and they reached the school right on schedule. As she was about to step off the bus, an eerie feeling crept up her spine, and she instinctively glanced back. Through the bus's windows, she saw a kid's figure standing on the sidewalk opposite them.

  They were too far for her to see clearly, but she swore they were wearing the same clothes as her.

  "Hey, don't block the way," a kid yelled.

  Casey's gaze flickered towards the speaker before looking back out the window only to see that the kid was gone. Confused and slightly disturbed, she reluctantly got down and circled around the bus. Her eyes scanned the other side, but there wasn't a single trace of the kid she had seen earlier.

  Had she been seeing things?

  "Casey, what's the holdup?" Ira called out several feet away. "Let's go."

  Tearing her gaze away, she called back, "I'm coming."

  The moment she rejoined them, Tanner asked, "What was that all about, bird boy? You got all weird there."

  "It's nothing."

  The two boys shared a glance before Tanner said, "Now I really don't believe you. You never say it's nothing."

  "I have."

  "Okay, name one instance."

  She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her forehead wrinkled as she struggled to come up with a single moment where she had voiced those words, only to draw a blank.

  Finally, she mumbled, "I have."

  "I rest my case," Tanner said.

  Suddenly, someone crashed into her side, causing her to stumble.

  "Casey, you're here," the girl squealed. "It's so good to see you."

  "Oh no," Tanner groaned. "It's the fangirl."

  "What did you say?" the girl snapped, glaring at him.

  "Why do you always show up? Don't you have anything better to do?"

  "How could I miss out on the chance to greet Casey?"

  "Ugh. You girls are so weird." Then, as if sensing a gaze on him, Tanner glanced up and noticed Casey's blank look. "I mean not you. You don't count. You're a girl, but not really."

  "Thanks," Casey said dryly.

  "Alright, alright, enough of that. Let's just get to class before the teacher gets there," Ira said, pushing Tanner forward.

  The group walked to their classroom to find it already filled with kids. Several had formed groups to chat, while others sat quietly at their seats, with even one sprawled over their desk sleeping. As the group settled into their seats, the bell rang and the teacher stood up from his seat.

  "Class, I have a special announcement to make," he said, his voice silencing everyone.

  The classroom erupted into chatter, curious about what the special announcement was. Casey immediately glanced at Ira out of the corner of her eye with a pretty good idea about what the teacher was talking about.

  "Settle down, everyone." Once it quieted down, he continued, "We will be having a new student today. Please make sure he feels welcomed."

  So it's a boy. I wonder what he's like.

  The classroom door opened, and all eyes turned to stare at the new student. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as the new student walked towards the front of the classroom with slow, measured steps. Then he turned to fully face the classroom, giving everyone a perfect view of his face, which happened to look exactly like hers.

  Casey was pretty sure she wasn't the only one dumbfounded. If she looked behind her, she bet everyone else looked just as surprised as she was. If that wasn't the case, she would eat her pencil box. Even the teacher seemed caught off guard, given the look on his face.

  Why does he look exactly like me? Mom and Dad never mentioned that I had a twin. Is it just a coincidence, but what are the chances some random stranger looks exactly like me?

  "Hello," the new student said robotically.

  After several moments of awkward silence, the teacher cleared his throat and said, "Please introduce yourself."

  "My name is Ellis Dawson."

  He didn't elaborate any further, leaving the students to whisper amongst themselves.

  It took her a moment to realize that he was the kid she had seen earlier when getting off the bus. Now that she got a better look at him, her confusion shifted into discomfort the longer she looked at him. It wasn't just his face that looked like hers. His clothes were even identical to hers—a red hooded jacket and a pair of jeans. It was like looking into a mirror.

  "Please take a seat in the back," the teacher said as he pointed to an empty seat.

  Without a single change in his expression, Ellis walked to his assigned seat. As he passed Casey, for a brief moment, it felt like his gaze was on her, but his eyes never once looked away from the empty seat. Her eyes followed him to his seat, and she looked away right as he turned to face the front.

  The teacher cleared his throat again before saying, "Now that's settled, we will be having a pop quiz."

  Groans immediately filled the room as a few kids complained, but the teacher ignored the complaints to pass out the quiz. She accepted the sheet of paper before glancing back at Ellis. Their eyes met, and she instinctively stiffened, lowering her head to avoid his gaze. Casey picked up her pencil and started working on the problems, trying to ignore him.

  Something about him unnerved her. It wasn't just his looks, which played a huge part in it, but there was something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on that was telling her to stay as far away from him as possible.

  When the teacher was distracted on the other side of the classroom, Ira leaned toward her and whispered, "Hey, how come you never told me you had a twin?"

  "I don't," she whispered back.

  "I don't believe it, bird boy," Tanner hissed. "He looks exactly like you."

  "I mean it. He's not my twin."

  "I guess we're not really friends if you won't admit it."

  She narrowed her eyes. "I swear—"

  Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her.