Second.

She stared at her name in horror, fluctuating between devastation and denial. Her name, Lisanna Strauss, next to a number "2," times new roman font, black and white. Second.

That was the place Lissana came in her class's mock biology exam, with a ninety-nine, one point off for spelling endoplasmic reticulum with an "h." She could have smacked herself. Science words were always insanely complicated, but to have added an extra letter was just plain ridiculous. Even so, one point away from flawless would have been fine, had no one else got a perfect score.

Barely anyone got a perfect score in Biology. It just wasn't done.

First.

That as the place Bixlow came in, and where her denial turned to confusion. Bixlow with a last name she couldn't pronounce. It was something foreign, and long, but it was his father who had immigrated. Of course, she had heard of him. Lissana was a social girl by nature, and Bixlow was a bit of an anomaly in the grade. He stood out, whether he was trying to or not. She couldn't really tell with him. But his rankings were usually below the top ten. Lisanna would know. She was very aware of whom were in the top ten.

She was number one, of course. That was just how it was.

Until today.

She couldn't tell if she was frustrated at having her spot stolen or if the situation itself was somehow making her act irrational. She was sure she wouldn't have been this furious if Lucy was the one who stole her spot. Her close friend was number two in all the classes Lisanna was number one in, and top in English and Math. If Lucy had stolen her spot, Lisanna would have congratulated her a job well done, and studied harder the next time. Perhaps borrow her notes.

But it wasn't Lucy, or even Erza, who studied in the library after school every day. Bixlow was an unknown, and that just made it worse. Perhaps he studied at home, despite his attitude at school. Or his parents had come down hard on him about hi grades. It could, as unlikely as it was, be a fluke. But she wanted to check

Lisanna psyched herself out for the confrontation all throughout science, staring at him from across the classroom. He didn't raise his hand once, his class participation grade must have been horrendous, she found herself thinking. She flinched when he whispered and cringed when he didn't pay attention, doodling all over his notebook. She was sure that he hadn't copied a single thing off of the board. Lissana scowled. She deserved that first place. And if she wanted to be a vet, she needed it.

By the end of class her normally sweet, if impish, temper was running short, and her notes were considerably messier than usual. The ink had smeared where her pen had wandered, and there were a few holes in her paper where she had dotted her "i"s with a little more enthusiasm than necessary. Lucy was giving her strange looks, as she closed her binder and slipped in into her backpack, but Lisanna was not in the mood to appease her friend and rival. Instead, she stood up, all but throwing her notebook into her bag before stalking up to Bixlow's desk with nothing short of murder on her face.

He glanced up as she approached him, with his statement of a haircut and the sweatshirt that said something in a font that she couldn't read without squinting, his look of curiosity changing to terror. Lisanna stood in front of his desk, drawing herself up to her full height, five foot four, before slamming her fists on the wood in front of him. He jumped in his seat, but didn't stand.

"You."

He gulped, searched for someone else she might have been talking to, before meeting her eyes. He looked like he'd wet himself.

"Me?" Bixlow pointed to himself, as if he didn't know what he had done to her. As if he wasn't aware of the emotional turmoil he had put her through.

"Yes you! How?" Lisanna straightened up again, waving her arms around before whirling back. Forget about rational. Sitting in that class had wound her up; she was livid. "You took my spot!"

"Huh?" He looked so confused, it made her want to shake him. Instead she waved her arms around a bit more.

"My spot!" She gestured to the board, where the mock exam grades were posted, her eyes wide. "I'm always first! How?" She wasn't bragging. It was a fact.

"Oh." A smiled tugged at the corner of his mouth, a look of understanding in his eyes. He leaned back, stretching out his legs. She had to move out of the way to avoid getting hit. "Oh. I get it."

"How?" Lisanna repeated. "You never pay attention."

The smile stretched into a sly grin, eyebrows quirking. "And you know that because?"

"Answer the question," Lisanna snapped.

He shrugged noncommittally. "Wasn't too hard. Ever bet me a game I couldn't do it."

"A game?" Lisanna clenched her teeth, and swallowed hard. Natsu and her brother did ridiculous things all the time. But this was a whole new level. "A game? You did it for a GAME?"

"Ummm…" Bixlow winced. "Yes?"

"What…" She closed her eyes, as if to block out the ridiculousness of the world and the teen in front of her. "What game?"

"The Walking Dead," Bixlow offered. "Newest episode." She nodding, lips still pressed into a thin line, eyes still closed. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "You… wouldn't want to come play it?" he asked. Lisanna seemed to perk up. "To make it up to you?"

Lisanna opened her eyes. He looked terrified, like she was going to hit him, and ridiculously confident at the same time. "You know what?" She rubbed her temples. She needed a stress reliever, and blasting zombies sounded like a good one. "I do. I hope you're available today, because I'll be meeting you at the gates today after school. Goodbye." She stomped off, or maybe skipped, and Bixlow couldn't tell whether she was angry or not.

And she was, but then she wasn't, because she had gotten a date out of her loss. Sort of.