Eric's morning continues as it always does. Class after class, lunch break, class, and then to end the day a study hall he spends in the school parking lot. He has special privilege, which means he can leave early. But since he has no way to get home, he just waits until his brother and Ben are finished with their classes.
"We don't normally give out these privileges to students your age, but we'll make an exception provided you maintain a 4.0 average." The principal said to Eric all those weeks ago. It was part of a deal that Eric wouldn't spend his study halls badgering teachers about extra credit work, and additional material he would be studying. They assumed the kid was doing what he was doing because he had nothing better to do. He was exceptionally bright, and in reality could have skipped more than just two grades. But his parents felt he should be around kids his own age, so they only allowed him to move up to his brother's class.
The Moon Lake teachers weren't accustomed to such an overachieving student. They'd never had anyone like Eric in their classrooms before. Moon Lake was a small community, and on the surface there was nothing exceptional about the town. People didn't move here from big cities. Until the Anderson family that is.
So Eric sat there on the curb, listening to music and reading the assigned English book. A few other students were in the parking lot too, mostly seniors. Occasionally Eric would look up and watch them interact with each other. Eric felt like an alien, being so outside the "normal" spectrum. He knew he was weird, and off-putting. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make himself not be those things.
The sudden appearance of a large Jeep shook Eric out of his thoughts. He jumps up when the Jeep pulls into the parking lot. It's entirely black, and pretty beat up too. Like it was recently dragged through the woods and down a cliff. The other students outside take notice of the Jeep too. No one seems to recognize it. They all stare as the driver exits.
A man with short, dirty blonde hair and a pair of sunglasses departs the car. The light colored shirt he has on reveals a tattoo sleeve, and a pair of dog tags. The overall image could be described as dangerous, and to a female, quite attractive. A few of the girls even release sighs of disappointment when they see the man is wearing a wedding band. Even more disappointed when a girl who is clearly his daughter exits from the passenger side of the car.
Though her features are softer, and her hair is jet black, she and her father share the same face shape and eyes. But where her father is built more evenly, she is leaner, more like a runner or soccer player. Her almond shaped eyes are a rich brown, evident even though she has a pair of glasses over them. Eric catches her eye very briefly. She smiles weakly at him, and Eric, for whatever reason, waves back.
The girl, looks surprised at first, them very amused. She and her father enter the school after that. And everyone outside starts talking. More specifically, the girls start talking.
"Who was that?"
"No idea, but oh my god was he HOT!"
"Easy on the eyes, hard on the heart."
"But he's got a KID."
"We don't know that. Maybe she was his sister."
"He was wearing a wedding ring."
"Damn. Well a girl can dream right?" The group of girls closest to Eric laughs. He edges away from them. He looks into the office window on the building wall adjacent to his current position. He can see the two talking to the secretary. Not able to read their lips, he can only guess she's a new student.
"I wonder if she's a were," He thinks. Eric makes a note to ask Nate or Ben later if she is.
The bell rings soon after the arrival of the father and daughter. Students flood the parking lots as they make for their cars and buses. Eric remains on the curb waiting for Nate or Ben to appear. He finally catches Alex and Nate coming out of the school. He slips through the crowd to meet them.
"Hey Eric, what's all the fuss about? There's some rumor going around the school that Matt Bomer pulled into the parking lot with a model?" Nate asks.
"You don't actually believe that do you?" Eric asked, worried he brother took one too many hits soccer balls to the head during practice.
"Of course not. Why the hell would Matt Bomer be in Moon Lake?"
"Actually I think that that girl said was that the guy looked like Bomer." Alex corrects his friend.
"Whatever, is it true though? I mean that there's some hot guy roaming the halls, making every girl faint at the sight of him." Nate asked after giving Alex a condescending look.
"I guess. They pulled in with that Jeep," Eric points out the vehicle, which has a growing crowd around it, "and went into the office."
"They?" Alex asked.
"A father and daughter if I had to guess." Eric said indifferent. Then Ben rushes out of the school, and makes a beeline for his friends.
"Hey, did you hear that Matthew McConaughey just drove into Moon Lake in a black Ferrari?" Ben said, out of breath and a bit red in the face. Even Eric has to laugh at that remark. The three double over at a poor confused Ben, who looks as though the trio have just spit in his face.