Dark feathery lashes fluttered open against the darkness. The girl got up silently, fluidly slipping out of the covers and yawning daintily. She was beautiful. She tied up her long inky hair that cascaded down her back. From far away if looked like some kind of inky waterfall. She stated to get ready for her day. Like everyone else she followed the same human patters. She showered, brushed, got dressed, scarfed down a quick breakfast. But something about her was off; she had an odd, almost inhuman demeanor. There had to be something beyond her striking beauty.

***

Devi sighed again to herself as she checked the calendar. This would be her 6^th week of normal school and she still hadn’t found any reason why she was needed. Sighing one more time for effect,  she grabbed her apartment keys and headed out. The sun was just rising above the horizon and lighting up the world around her. This was her favorite part of the day. Before, she never got to admire the world at dawn; but now it seemed like she had all the time in the world. She stood entranced as the sunlight enclosed her in warmth. She figured there will probably nothing as good as this feeling.  A flash of movement to her right broke her out of her daze. Jepp Blackman, her current ward. In his shorts and t-shirt he really didn’t strike Devi as a very important person;  at least not important enough to require a personal guard from the government’s secret ACE military division. But what she thought really didn’t matter did it?

                Devi continued to watch him as her started his run. Every day, the boy would wake up at dawn and run around the school track. In a way it was Jepp that introduced her to the dawn, so in a way Devi was thankful to this boy. She silently watched him as her ran. The girls at her school had always described Jepp as perfect, which Devi could understand why. To any human, Jepp was incredibly attractive; she glanced at him, analyzing analyzing this concept of attractiveness. He was tall, nearly 6’5”, and well sculpted (though Devi, could agree that she had seem many such figures, even some better in her line of work). Her eyes moved up his strong neck to rest on his face. His eyes were a dark brown, nothing compared to her own gold flecked emerald eyes, but somehow they gave him a deep mysterious look. He had full, soft lips that gave him a sort of exotic look ,which was accentuated by his black shaggy hair and tanned skin. He was…handsome.

                In was now 7:30, from her perch on the school’s roof, Devi watched Jepp slow down into a walk and head to the showers. At exactly 7:45 he came out again, dressed in his school uniform. This was one of the most peculiar things Devi noticed about Jepp. He followed the same routine everyday. The was never more than a couple minutes off. It was as though the boy lived his life in perpetual repeat. Devi sighed…well, so did she.

***

At 8o’clock school stated. As arranged by ACE, Devi shared every class she had with Jepp. School life seemed very mundane to her. At first she had approached everything with stealthy calculated caution. Every rustle of paper, every whisper she heard, everything was analyzed for a threat. From her experiences with all her past guard missions, anything could be death. On her first day, she left an impression on those who would become her class mates. Her lithe 5’8” body wasn’t common in human high schoolers. Neither were her mesmeric eyes, or her long black waterfall of hair. To them, as to any human, she was gorgeous. But somehow they knew she was different. They somehow understood that she was dangerous. She had introduced herself elegantly in an inhumanly melodic voice, and silently took her place new to Jepp in the classroom. Since then 6 weeks had passed, both she and the class had let their guard down. The class accepted her; though she never made any bonds with anyone they all treated her with a soft sort of respect. Devi even grew somewhat fond of them, especially Jepp.  Jepp with his gummy smile was summer. He was everyone’s friend, everyone’s hero. He had a unique charisma; he was a human that could attract others. But Devi couldn’t help notice that there was something more to him. He was wearing a mask; hiding himself away by pretending to open himself up to others. Like her, Jepp had witnessed pain, loss, he was alone, and he hid it all with his smile.

***

                Today, Jepp wasn’t his usually self. Devi noticed all the extra effort he was putting into holding up his mask. Every single day, after club activities, Jepp would always go straight home right at 8 PM. Today he broke his routine. Instead he caught a bus to the cemetery. Devi watched him as her wandered through the rows of graves until he finally stopped between two. June and Knight Blackman. His parents. For the first time Jepp let his mask crumble. He knelt down, his knees hit the grass, he threw his fists at the ground beneath him. Tears broke free, spilling down his face, as he choked back sobs. Jepp, the boy Devi grew to regard as summer sun was crying. Then she did something stupid, uncharacteristically unprofessional.  

                She stepped out from her place in the dark, her spot where she knew her would never see her. She gently took him in her arms, and embraced him. Her slender arms wrapped around his shaking frame. She knew in her mind that she had done something forbidden. But even deeper inside of her called her to comfort him. In his trembling figure, she was her old self. The young orphaned girl she was before ACE..back when she was…human.

                Jepp froze in her arms, and then slowly relaxed into her embrace. Never looking up to her face, he buried his tear streaked face in her neck and hugged her to his still shaking body. They sat like that for awhile, neither talking, neither moving.   Devi knew this was wrong, she knew that from this point on everything would probably end. He was not supposed to know she was there. She would have to leave, and so would he. With these thoughts, she started to get up, untangling herself from his embrace. It’s over she thought, only to have him shatter everything. He grabbed her wrist, “Stay,” his voice was low and husky, still hoarse from the tears. “Please,” it was nothing more than a whisper, but somehow Devi forgot everything else.

                In the end she ended up walking him back to his apartment. He never let go of her hand, not even allowing her to go home. Jepp needed her.

                The next morning they both woke up instinctively at dawn. Jepp was still clasping her had in his while he lay on his bed. She looked down at him from where she sat with her back leaned up against the headboard. He seemed beautiful, almost radiant in the dark glow of dawn. His chest rose and fell in rythem, his wild hair was strewn over his eyes. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to look him in the eye. To see if they still hid his past from her. To see if anything would change.  She tentatively reached out, brushing his bangs out of him eyes. She gasped. Warmth. For the first time, his eyes were startlingly clear deep. His eyes were like the dawn sun. He grabbed her had with his free one, and gently brought it down to his lip. “Thank you.”

                Everything changed.