It was that time again. Every Monday morning, I dreaded that first class of the day with a passion so great that it took all of my strength to walk down the hallway toward that dark little classroom.

It didn’t help at all that the nightmares were back in full effect these last few weeks. I had barely slept last night and felt like I could collapse at any moment.

Ever since I was little, I’d had these incredibly real nightmares. Some of them were rather plain and could be considered dreams, but most were so scary that even my shrink had flinched when I retold them.

I had no idea what triggered them, but they started as early as when I was three years old. Maybe they had been haunting me sooner, but I couldn’t recall.

The nightmares were always the same seven dreams on rotation. The pool with the kid, the graveyard, the classroom, my old bedroom, the trailer park, the abandoned alleyway, and the warehouse. Over time, I’d developed the ability to lucid dream so that I could control a big chunk of the outcome in each of those dreams—at least to some degree. I was always fully aware I was dreaming. Yet, I could never seem to fix the ending.

Never.

And I’d tried more times than I could count.

The fun dreams always took place in the same three scenarios: the beach, the mall, and the amusement park. I knew every nook and cranny of each of those ten locations, and I could even sketch them out perfectly.

I had even Google-searched for them but never found any of the dream sites. Still, a part of me vividly believed I had been there before. Nobody, of course, believed me, so I stopped talking about them. Just something I had to deal with regularly on my own, I guess.

There was always the same boy in all of them, though. The same dark-haired boy with deep chocolate eyes who had grown up with me in those nightmares and dreams. He had been there with me as a kid and was still there now, even as I was eighteen.

Another constant was present in the nightmares as well: someone I had never seen without his black hood. He had never aged throughout the years and was always my murderer. Ethan and I had called him the Dark Stalker.

It was during that first hour of the school week that I had a class with the Rainers. My favorite non-people. When they literally fell from the sky nineteen years ago, the world went mad. Not only did all the theories about aliens turn out to be true, but they also looked just like us—except they weren’t us.

The word ‘alien’ soon vanished completely, and they were called Rainers for God knows what reason. The world became divided, with most believing they were some kind of threat, here to annihilate humans. Until their leaders, the Trifecta, offered us peace. They brought new sustainable energies that would save the Earth for about a million years more than was foreseen in their oracle’s premonitions. In return, they wanted a safe atmosphere for their kids to grow up in. They found Earth, with all its wars and famine, to be the most stable place to live in all the galaxies.

Go figure.

So Earth and the Rainers came to an understanding. A treaty. They arrived with about one million Rainers. They settled mostly across North and South America and Europe. Most of them weren’t permanent residents and often traveled back to Caros, the green planet where they came from.

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I understood from my former best friend, Jax Skylar, that they were a few years more advanced than Earth but nothing too spectacular. Their world was quite similar to ours… except for, you know, magic and all that jazz.

That was the general gist of it. Now our schools gave us something called ‘Rainer Study’ every Monday morning.

In general, the two species didn’t really interact much. Rainers had a more distinguished sense of smell than humans and often told us how unflattering we smelled. Relationships, weddings, and affairs between Rainers and humans happened, but it remained a small percentage of the population. After living with them for nearly nineteen years, you’d think it would be more accepted. Yet, the mystery of why they really came to Earth still lingered.

My dad was one of the conspiracy theorists. He believed they were biding their time for something bigger. Like they were a Trojan Horse in our midst. Hence the name of his anti-Rainer society: The Trojans.

So I always stayed vigilant around my dad, not around the Rainers. Why should I? The only Rainer family in our small Midwestern town of Bridgeview lived next door, and I happened to have formed an immediate bond with them. Despite my dad’s efforts, I became best friends with Jax Skylar, the oldest of three brothers. He had light blue eyes, like a spring sky, and a mane of unruly blond hair. He had always been the broody, rebellious type with not many friends. I felt privileged to be one of the only humans he could stand.

Then one afternoon, four years ago, while playing Pokémon on our Gameboys, Jax kissed me. It was my first kiss, and his too. Puberty had hit, and I’d known my feelings for him had changed for a while. That kiss was... amazing. But the next morning, when I sprinted to him, ready to continue where we left off, he shut me down. Dead expression in his eyes, he said,

"We can’t do this anymore, Lux. I just don’t feel the same way."

It was devastating.

I tried again the next day, hoping it was a joke, but no. And then I heard Miro, his younger brother, telling someone that Jax felt like he was kissing a garbage bag. That was the nail in the coffin. I had never been so heartbroken.

It took me two years to recover. Two years before I could even attempt to open up to new people. I finally made a friend, Malin, who was open and funny—exactly what I needed.

Now, I was headed to that same Monday class I dreaded. I hadn’t seen my neighbors all summer, so this year, I had decided to up the ante a little. New wardrobe, some gym time, and highlights in my auburn hair, which now fell in long curls down my back. I felt good. I could face another year with Jax.

I spotted him in his usual seat in the back. His blond mane was still unruly, and he looked like a young Kurt Cobain. His eyes flashed toward me for a second, something flickered in them, but then he looked down at his iPhone. Asshole.

I sat in my usual seat, just in front of him.

Miss Neomi walked in, unusually excited. I rolled my eyes. Then, a tall, dark stranger walked into the room. He was nearly six foot five, with deep blue eyes and almost-black hair. He looked straight at me, as if he was looking into my soul.

"This is Kai Welkin, a new student and our sixth Rainer of Bridgeview," Miss Neomi squealed. She pointed at me. "Please sit next to Lux, she’ll be your guide for the day."

Great. Just what I needed.

Kai walked over with a confident strut and sat down next to me. He leaned in and whispered, "Well... hello there."

"Hi," I said coldly, not looking at him.

"Not used to Rainers, huh?" he mumbled.

"I’m used to them," I snapped. Loudly.

Behind me, I heard a sharp intake of breath. Jax.

Kai smirked. "Sounds interesting..."

I shot him a glare. "Let’s just not talk, okay?"

"Whatever you say, baby," he said with that sarcastic edge.

Before I could correct him, Jax’s voice rang out, laced with menace. "Her name is Lux."

Kai turned slowly. "Ah, I see. A Rainer boyfriend. Baby, you’ve been holding out on me?"

I shook my head. "He’s nothing to me." I spat the words with enough venom to make Jax feel it. Kai just watched me, assessing. His eyes flicked to my lips, then back to the teacher. He didn’t say another word.

After class, I spotted Jax and Lenn standing over Kai, intimidating him at his locker. As I walked over, they sprinted off like their pants were on fire.

"What was that about?" I slammed my locker shut, already annoyed.

Kai just smiled crookedly. "Baby, you really don’t know, do you?"

"Tell me," I demanded.

He laughed. I won’t tell you. "That’s not up to me." And with that, he walked away.