Deidara sat in his seat of sculpting class, as he had done everyday for nearly six months. He thought his day would be normal and boring, but he couldn't have been more wrong.

His blue eyes looked up when the noise of a door opening caught his attention. The blonde took pride in his observation skills, and he was suddenly very thankful for them. Through the doorway stepped a girl, and she wasn't a sight for his sore eyes, to say the least. Deidara analyzed her, as he did most people, looking from her black tank top to her pink, studded belt and matching pink Converse. She wore dark washed skinny jeans, just as he did, yet hers were much tighter. Long, black, curly hair reached past her chest (which he wasn't looking at; he was not and would never be a pervert.) Her appearance showed him that she didn't look like a mean person, and hopefully he wasn't wrong.

Because Deidara was rarely wrong on his analyzing.

Then he realized the empty seat beside him, and the girl's movements walking towards it. This was certainly his lucky day. Although the blonde didn't talk to many people, he felt as if he needed to befriend this girl, so that she wouldn't end up with the wrong crowd. As she sat down, he pushed his long bangs out of his face and flashed a kind smile. "Hi, I'm Deidara, and you are, un?"

She giggled, probably at the ending of his question, shyly smiling back. "I'm Alice."

"Well, nice to meet you, Alice. Have you been shown around the school yet, un?"

"It's nice to meet you also, Deidara, and no, I have not."

"Well, after this class, I suppose I could show you. Can I see your schedule? That way I know where to guide you to first, un."

She handed him the schedule, and he noticed her eyes were almost the same shade as his. He almost forgot to look at the paper in his hands, and her laugh brought him into reality.

"You won't accomplish anything by looking at me, you know," she smiled, and he laughed at himself.

"I'm sorry, un. I was noticing that your eyes and my eyes are almost matching."

Deidara noticed that her electives were the art classes he was taking, and that many of her other classes were the same.

"Honors English and Pre-Calc, really, un? Those are the only classes we have that are different. Are you some sort of genius?"

"No, I just like a challenge," she laughed, taking the piece of paper just as the teacher addressed the class.

"Good morning, students. As you may have noticed, we have a new exchange student. Could you come up here and introduce yourself?" Mr. Asashi commanded more than asked.

Deidara gave her a smile. "Trust me, you're going to have to do this in most of your classes. Might as well start it off, un."

She stood, going to the front of the room. "Hi, I'm Alice, and I'm from Scotland." Her quick retreat back to her chair was almost ended when she stumbled, tripping on her own feet and earning a laugh from the other students. She sat back down, slightly embarassed, from what the blonde could see.

Luckily, she came in at the beginning of a new project, a sculpture of something that reminded you of childhood, as it was explained. Deidara loved sculpting, and nearly jumped up to get his clay when the plan was finished. He would make a bird, because his mother used to birdwatch with him until she fell fatally ill. He glanced at Alice's picture, which was a beautifully drawn butterfly.

"Why a butterfly, un?"

"My father always called me a little butterfly when I was little. He and mother still do, sometimes. And may I ask you the same thing about your bird?"

"My mother and I loved to watch birds, un."

"Do you still? I mean, I'm sure it's different cause you're not young-"

"No, un. My mother died three years ago." He noticed her embarassed and nervous expression, adding to his statement. "It's okay. You couldn't have known, so don't feel bad, un."

The end of the class came too soon for Deidara, who wanted to work on his bird more. But he grabbed his bag and walked out of the class with the raven-haired girl, showing her to their next class: history. Definitely his least favorite subject and, as he soon learned, hers also. Through another introduction, and also nearly tripping again, the girl made it back to her seat at the far wall of the room, next to him, of course. He was excited to have her around, though he didn't know why. He had a few other friends, but not one of them was a girl. And, besides his best friend, they weren't interested in art. He must've been oblivious to what was going on, for soon a note was dropped on his desk.

"What's on your mind? You've been spacing out for like, twenty minutes?"

He glanced up at the girl, who was "paying attention" to the teacher's lecture about World War two. Not that world wars didn't interest him; Deidara loved bombs and explosives. Learning this shit over and over, he had decided, was what he hated. He took up the note, scribbling in his slightly messy print. "I was just thinking about my friends. You're different than alot of them, and you're the only girl who's really cared enough to talk to me for awhile."

He watched her respond from the corner of his eye. "Well, I suppose it's good that I came along then. When am I going to meet said friends?"

He got ready to respond, but Mr. Hatake decided to interrupt, stating the homework for that night. The bell was ready to ring any moment, and when it did, he threw his book and the note into his bag.

"So, are you going to answer my question?" the girl said, smirking as he looked at her.

"Oh, in about five seconds..."

"Hey Deidara! Oh, who's the babe? OW!"

"Hidan! How many times do I have to tell you, it's not proper to say that about girls. Hello, ma'am, I'm Kakuzu. Please excuse my friend, he doesn't have much experience with girls."

"Hey! That's a-"

"Guys! Don't scare her, un! This is Alice, Alice this is Hidan," pointing at a silver-haired boy,"and Kakuzu." The dark haired boy bowed, causing Deidara to roll his eyes. "And if you'll excuse us, I need to show her to her next class without being late to mine, un."

He grabbed her hand on impulse, pulling her away from his idiotic friends. At least she hadn't met Tobi yet. Then he realized he was holding her hand and pulled his back, hearing a soft giggle from the girl. He looked over to see her smirking at him. He remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He pulled her over to a door. "This is your class. Mine's across the hall, so I'll just meet you out here afterwards, un."

"Thank you, Deidara. I'll see you soon!" She smiled as she walked in the door, and he had to remind himself that he was not going to date after what happened last year. Besides, he thought to himself as he sat down in his Trigonometry class, he had known her for less than three hours. She was pretty, yeah, but she was his friend. FRIEND.

But he couldn't help but think about her when he should've been paying attention.